Doctor Who Series 12 Episode 2 - Spyfall Part 2 - Review

Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill, Sacha Dhawan & Lenny Henry

Written By: Chris Chibnall

Directed By: Lee Haven Jones

Welcome back to my review of 'Spyfall'. You can find my review of Part 1 here. So let's waste no more time and crack on with Part 2!

With the Master having made his presence known, the Doctor's companions trapped on a crashing plane and the Doctor herself marooned in another dimension, all hope seems lost. That is until the Doctor encounters Ada Lovelace, and together they escape back to their own reality. But although the Doctor has made it back to Earth, she finds herself stuck in 1834 and needs to get back to Graham, Ryan and Yaz. Being pursued through time by the Master, and with the threat of Barton and his alien allies ever-present, the Doctor must uncover their true plans in order to save everyone.

In my review of Part 1, I mentioned how I was a little nervous at just how thin Chibnall had spread the plot threads of this story. Part 2 has a lot to get done, and so the episode begins … by spreading itself thinner still. Not only do we have Barton, the Kasaavin, the Master, the companions stuck on a crashing plane, and the fact that this is still supposed to be 'Doctor Who's take on a spy-thriller, we're now adding more to the mix and going back in time. In the strange dimension she's trapped in, the Doctor meets Ada Lovelace and ends up in 1834, before then travelling further ahead to Paris 1943 where she meets Noor Inayat Khan. As if there wasn't enough to do already, there's two more characters to contend with and flesh out. Yet surprisingly … the episode pulls it off. Neither Ada or Noor are essential to 'Spyfall' but their inclusion is a welcome one. They don't get to contribute all that much either, but they're both extremely likeable and there's a great dynamic between them and the Doctor. It also continues this era of 'Doctor Who's trend of celebrating unsung historical figures and moments. I knew the bare basics about Ada Lovelace before this, and had never even heard of Noor Inayat Khan so it's enlightening for the show to celebrate them. 

But while the new additions to the mix work pretty well, there is a cost for that, the first of which is Graham, Ryan and Yaz. In an already overstuffed story, 'Spyfall' just can't do them justice. Even though we spend a reasonable amount of time with them, and Graham's hijinks with the laser shoes is good silly fun, their ultimate role in the story doesn't amount to anything. As they go on the run from Barton, the three are entertaining enough but if it were up to me, I'd have cut their segments from the episode. Keep the focus on the Doctor, Noor, Ada and the Master and leave the resolution to our companions being stuck on the plane until the end of Part 2. The other aspect of 'Spyfall' that gets hung out to dry is … the Kasaavin. In Part 1, the Kasaavin were effective and they felt like a proper threat. But in Part 2, they do nothing. They barely have any dialogue, and while we get a couple of answers such as what their ultimate plan is, it's nothing particularly special or interesting. 

Fairing a lot better is the Master and the shift in his relationship with the Doctor. Sacha Dhawan's Master seems to have gone down a hit and deservedly so. His scenes with the Doctor are the highlight of the episode, and reveal a pretty interesting take on the character. He's snarly and quick to temper as said, but underneath it he seems traumatized and not really out to achieve anything in the same way as Barton or the Kasaavin. Besides telling the Doctor about his trip back to Gallifrey (more on that later), he doesn't seem to really know what he wants. Him showing up through time, hunting the Doctor in different outfits and even having worked his way through the ranks to become a Nazi officer is in line for the character and entertaining in a cartoon-y kind of way. Plus the Doctor and the Master's telepathic communication and their meeting atop the Eiffel Tower are both wonderfully written moments. There is however one moment that's proven controversial, and not without good reason. Now no longer being the Aryan ideal that the Nazis idolize, the Master has only ascended their ranks through use of a perception filter … which the Doctor deactivates before throwing him back to them. Yikes! While I can see why this would make plenty of people double take, I've got to admit I kind of like how the Doctor handled this. The Master was willing enough to side with the Nazis in the first place so on that level it works as a moment of karma. But equally I don't think when Chibnall wrote this moment he knew the full implications of what he was doing. It's the Doctor's much darker side coming out and while I like that ruthlessness, I don't think it was intended the way it was written. 

Nonetheless, the Master survives and has to live through the 20th Century to catch up with everyone in the present. It's here where this huge two hour story begins wrapping up … and it's a very limp ending. How does the Doctor stop the Kasaavin from invading? How does she save Graham, Ryan and Yaz from the crashing plane? She goes back in time, plants a virus for the Kasaavin and leaves instructions for her companions to follow. It's the same get out clause from 'The Curse Of Fatal Death' spoof - she goes back and bribes the architect! "I went back in time and stopped you off screen" is not a satisfying resolution. It doesn't even feel like a proper ending: Barton just goes off stage ordering an extraction team and is never seen again, and the Kasaavin just vanish back to their own dimension. It's such an open-ended conclusion that I have a feeling Chibnall might be setting them up to return again in the finale, and I hope not. While I might not be opposed to the Master coming back, we've already done the "villain from the first episode comes back in the last episode" approach before in Series 11, and that didn't go too well did it? 

With 'Spyfall's plot dealt with the episode takes a few moments to address the Master's claims. Curious, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey to find he was telling the truth - the planet has been ravaged once again. Not only that, but it was the Master who did after learning of something called the Timeless Child. Everyone who got obsessed over this after 'The Ghost Monument' - rejoice! I don't have much in the way of theories etc. but I am interested. Hopefully it's something that gets resolved in Series 12 itself, because one of the many things I learnt with Steven Moffat's story arcs is that when they span multiple series, it doesn't go well. I'm invested though because the Timeless Child has already had a profound effect on the show. Whatever it is, it's clearly affected the Master and apparently has grave implications for Time Lord mythos. On the other hand, I have seen a bit of criticism that Gallifrey has been destroyed again after only being brought back a few years ago. To that I argue … this isn't a Chibnall problem, it's a Moffat problem. When Steven Moffat brought back Gallifrey, he could've done anything with it, and as 'Hell Bent' demonstrated he chose to do nothing with it. Since 'Hell Bent', Gallifrey has just awkwardly existed in the background - at least Chibnall's done something with it now. Gallifrey is of interest again, not to mention that scene where the Doctor revisits it gives us one of Jodie Whittaker's best performances yet. As much as I love the 13th Doctor's joy and optimism, I equally enjoy the glimmers of her darker, vulnerable side and the possibility of seeing more of that has me hooked. But this Doctor should absolutely not lose her bubbly side. With the world in such a sh*t state at the moment, this bubbly Doctor is honestly a tonic. 

Ordinarily getting bogged down with the Master, Gallifrey and with the Daleks, Cybermen and Judoon set to put in appearances in the near future, alarm bells would be ringing that would suggest we're going back to the fan-wank that bogged the show down pre-Series 11. But since Series 11 took a break from that, I don't mind it as much. Plus I think it's an interesting direction for the show to take - the Doctor being reclusive and distant over opening up about who she is to the people she's travelling with, and it beginning to cause friction. But as for the rest of 'Spyfall' and now that we have the full story - it's a decent opener. I've probably been harsher on it than I would normally be, but only because there's so many great ideas in here that haven't got the time to be properly executed. I still enjoyed it though, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, but I'm hoping the only way is up from here. 

Final score for Spyfall Parts 1 & 2

6/10