Monday, 3 February 2020

Who Reviews Spyfall 1 & 2 by Matt Rabjohns





“If you're seeing this, you've been to Gallifrey. When I said "someone" did that, obviously I meant... I did. I had to make them pay for what I discovered. They lied to us. The founding fathers of Gallifrey... everything we were told was a lie. We're not who we think. You or I, the whole existence of our species, built on the lie of the Timeless Child.”


Series 11 of the new rebooted era of Doctor Who bowled me over. I was so impressed by the quick and indelible mark that Jodie Whittaker made with her tantalising first season as the Doctor. Honestly, she must have been well and truly daunted by the task of being the first woman to tackle the role of the Time Lord properly on screen in the actual show proper. I was admiring the great amount of compassion and hope that shone through Series 11. That was most assuredly my cup of tea. Any apprehension was laid completely to rest within five minutes of seeing Jodie perform. Series 11 was a wonderful and diverse series. So, for me, series 12 had a lot to live up to.

I certainly wasn’t expecting the season two part opening story to be quite so brilliant and quite so mesmerizingly thrilling. There was a thick and enjoyable vein of past Doctor-ishness running through this story. From when Jodie is repairing the TARDIS with half its innards hanging out. This definitely put me in mind of Jon Pertwee’s third Doctor always tinkering with the TARDIS whilst exiled to Earth.

Spyfall is a story that has such a lot crammed into two hour long episodes. But Mr Chibnall has to be applauded for how he seems to do a Terrance Dicks (the ability to cram so many different characters in a story but the story still remain coherent and superb!) and keeps the plot of the story lucid and action packed. Yes, there is the true feel of James Bond weaving throughout this tale, but of course with the wonderful Doctor Who epic twists and turns along the way to add spice. The show has long been known for taking other well know literary and film plots and making something special and new of them.

Jodie is on amazingly good form in this story. She really truly delivers buckets of joy, charisma and hope that is so invigorating to watch. Her Doctor is laced with more decency and approachability than any of the other modern era Doctors. She is also more than ably assisted by the gifted trio of Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill. Graham, Yaz and Ryan all have their moments to shine in this story. When together they definitely give the feeling that they are more than just a team, no they are a true family.

Spyfall has many superbly realised moments peppered throughout an intelligent and multi layered script that for me at least delivers on almost every level. Then there is the superb cliffhanger and the mother of all twists when we are re-introduced to a brand new incarnation of the Master. This time he is portrayed by Sacha Dhawan.

Sacha succeeds admirably in making the new Master his own. He is mad, loud and nasty but with a tad more restraint than John Simm. I found John Simm at times was going to far with his nonsensical and silly OTT actions. I am glad to see that Sacha has plenty of madness, but is not verging into ridiculous territory. I must admit to feeling a longing for an actor who would calm down the Master and make him more creepy. Overblown bluster and maniacal laughter do not make an awesome villain alone. Luckily Sacha seems to know this and his Master is wonderfully wicked and has several superb moments with Jodie throughout this story. The strange bond between the Doctor and the Master is always interesting and surprising.

Sacha is not the only superb piece of casting in this episode though. Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry are both surprisingly good in their roles. In fact, Lenny gives a menacing and convincing performance as the disturbed and deviant Daniel Barton. The only sad thing about Stephen is he is barely in the story before being rather crudely and horrifyingly shot in the back of the head. But it’s good to see him handle his small role of C with restraint.

As a man who is deeply interested in history, it’s wonderful to see characters like Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan is inspired. What is even better is that both Sylvia Briggs and Aurora Marion treat their roles with respect. Giving both historical figures a very believable face without once coming near caricature or theatrical. It’s always so interesting to learn of historical characters, especially ones that I, up to seeing this two-parter, was almost completely ignorant of. Such roles should always be handled with care and responsibility and thankfully both actresses deliver this with ease. It is particularly special to see the first British female spy sent behind German lines being given a bit of recognition. And I breathe a sigh of relief that Mr Chibnall does not give any kind of sci fi gloss or joke onto any of these two historical characters like Steven Moffatt seemed to be prone to do during his run as producer.

The dark secrets that are revealed towards the end of the story may well be taken either way by fans of the show. Sometimes complete overhauls of the show’s history have not gone down well. I seem to recall lots of reviewers being taken aback by Steven Moffatt’s re-writing of the climax of the time war theme which had been laid down by Russell T Davies. In that story Tom Baker’s wonderful Curator of the Museum tells the Eleventh Doctor the picture he’s looking at is called Gallifrey Falls No More, but then we have the shocking reveal of Spyfall that the Master has destroyed the planet. And there seem to even be hints that maybe the Doctor and the Master aren’t even time-lords. Mr Chibnall’s mysterious “Timeless Child” gets a mention again, this time from the Master’s lips. I can’t begin to think how this will upset the world of fan theories! It will probably throw it right in the air for a good many months to come at least.

The scene between Jodie and Sacha when the Master reveals he has destroyed Gallifrey is surely one of Jodie’s finest moments so far. The sadness and hollowness in her superb portrayal are palpable and truly cement the fact that she most certainly is the Doctor. Another brilliant scene is where the Master forces the Doctor to her knees and gets her to speak his name. The Doctor does what she’s told but her defiant eyes are a wonder to see. Here is where she shows us all that she definitely knows what it means to play the Doctor.

There are also some wonderful moments where the three companions get to display their courage and worth. A touching moment is when they sit and talk about what they really know about the Doctor. It’s this kind of intelligent interplay that makes the series so timeless and brilliant.

Spyfall could easily have been overburdened with sub-plots and padding. But there is none of this evident throughout the story. There are plenty of un-answered questions along the way. The Kassarvin are given a menacing look and voice, and at the end of the story are displayed to be a palpable and extremely threatening new menace for the Doctor to battle.

The clear messages of the good and bad points to technology too are woven well throughout this story. These days one can’t help but feel there is just far too much reliance on technology and this story gives a scary nuance to just what possible could be made to happen if ever technology went wrong or was abused. The final moments of part two where the whole of the human race is starting to be transformed into drones is very very pertinent and vivid. A real aura of moodiness and creepiness leaks from these scenes.

Spyfall must rank as the strongest opening serial of the show since the programme returned to our screens in 2005. There is a mountain of moments to enjoy. The car chase in part one is extremely reminiscent of a full-blown James Bond style epic road chase. And the Master’s use of his Tissue Compression Eliminator is far better than John Simm’s sonic laser. The nod to the show’s past is very welcome and appreciated.

It was also a lovely touch to see the first episode being dedicated to Mr Doctor Who himself, the wonderful. Late, and much missed and loved Terrance Dicks. I feel I can say with some assurance that Terrance, as the man who was mostly responsible for the birth of the Master, would have been proud watching this story. The Master is still going well and strong almost 50 years after Roger Delgado fantastically brought this amazing villain to our screens. Sacha Dhawan has definitely done both Mr Delgado and Mr Dicks proud with his new rendition of this brilliant villain. One can only hope that Spyfall is not the last we see of him. The Master never dies. He/she always comes back just when you least expect it.

If this is but the debut series opener, one must hope that the rest of the series can live up to this high point. Spyfall ranks as one of, if not the top, best story of Jodie’s era so far. It is going to be mighty hard to better. Will all the questions be answered? We shall have to wait and find out….Mr Chibnall, you have definitively whetted our appetite for the future


No comments:

Post a Comment