#which is also a part of my missy/yaz dynamic

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

i Am sorta thinking about missys mysterious daughter through all this. i dont know what kinda parent the master is but the.... idk devotion? idk if thats the word. mrs coulter has does seem like.....not unlike the master

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

tentative alignment chart of my doctor who ship opinions. it should be noted that a significant amount of these i mean compelling in a 'that's interesting' way not in a 'i ship this' way b/c i also think the doctor is ace and/or aro Most Of The Time it makes sense i swear. explained under the cut cos oh boy do i have thoughts

like ten and river was set up quite compellingly but obv we dont really see much more of that (i think its in some audios but i haven't heard those) and then idk eleven was weird abt it sometimes. and thirteen and yaz was only compelling for like...... the last three specials in which i was losing my mind over 'not such a bad date am i' etc but doesnt make a lot of sense cos there was like zero lead up to that lol.

doctordonna qpr is of course peak, tendonna as a ship is not, tenmartha is..... weird........ like i just cant see a way to keep everything canon that happened and make that not weird. elevenamy and amyrory are like..... ok. like sure amy was a little bit in love with the doctor but it was handled in a kinda boring way imo.

tensaxon is on one hand INCREDIBLY HOMOEROTIC but im sorry i just cant with last of the timelords like sorry but he just genocided earth. like i understand the tension but just eueuuegh. but then end of time part two rolls around and yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. twelvemissy is fantastic because she is trying so hard to cast off everything she's done and she Wants the doctor to love her even just a little bit in any way because she has nothing else left and they are the only people who could possibly understand each other. spydoc is interesting because its kinda an extension of the same - spymaster goes and burns down gallifrey after discovering their secrets because OF COURSE it centers on the doctor, just as everything always does, and he just wants her to understand everything and to realise that despite everything they belong together, the last of the timelords. but of course super messed up because of course.

twelveclara i dont think makes sense romantically but they're just so unhinged about each other especially on clara's part..... its like they're not romantically involved because they have to pretend to themselves that they think about each other a normal amount and in normal ways because otherwise they'd have to realise that whatever they've got going on is messed up.

tenrose has its moments. like it really does. the way he looks at her at the end of the christmas invasion. obviously bad wolf bay. but a lot of the time its like...... they really are just friends!!! but also its a codependant lesbian teenage situationship. except for when its platonic. ninerose has a few moments as well but not as much nine is too emotionally repressed. ninejackrose tenjackmartha has SO MUCH GOING ON i didnt even know where to put those on a dynamic scale because they dynamic has So Much Going On yknow but like........... theres something there......... it sure is happening.........

rose and tentoo is....... fine i guess. like roses ending was so tragic as it was but it was such a strong ending? and bringing her back for journeys end was really cool and i liked it but tentoo commits genocide and then tens like yup uhmmm so i'm dumping him here with you. without asking. but he's me and you're in love with me so its fine bye i'll go cry by myself. which was weird. idk. rose and mickey were only interesting as the counterpoint to roses obvious adoration for the doctor vs her normal teenager relationship with mickey.

river song and missy is crack ship lol but i do think it would have been so fabulous is we'd got some screen time of them together.

[clarionglass]

it’s been three days and i still have a lot of Opinions about the new episode of dw, so i’m posting to get all this spam out. some of these thoughts i haven’t already seen in the dw tag? doesn’t mean they’re not out there, i haven’t checked the tag comprehensively, but i just want to add my 2c worth. obviously MASSIVE spoilers for spyfall part 1, so i’m putting this under the cut so i don’t disturb anyone who a) somehow hasn’t seen it and b) doesn’t have spoilers blacklisted

aight here we are chums we’re back with good old-fashioned nu!who feel--i loved the last series, but this came crashing back with a confident, punchy opening very much with the feel of nu!who, and i am So on board this is all gonna be about The Reveal because as we all know, i am rather obsessed with the master

firstly! the reveal itself was handled so well! for five main reasons: 1. we weren’t expecting to see the master so soon after apparent permadeath, even though we all knew the master was gonna come back, general feeling was that they’d give it a bit more time 2. it was a big reveal at the start of the series, not at the end of an arc with lots of teaser glimpses, where in all the speculation the master’s name is inevitably brought up 3. to scab an idea from a good pal, o wasn’t batshit insane. missy clearly was from day dot, as was razor, but o was this very normal, mild MI6 nerd who seemed plain ol average.  4. the master has changed genders before, but never race, so that may have set up unconscious bias/expectations, which were clearly thwarted 5. they kept such a tight lid on leaks and spoilers (unlike the return of simm!master) so all of these combined for a genuinely blindsiding reveal which i Loved

speaking of! thank you sacha dhawan for that incredible acting, oh my god such a switch-flip moment, he goes from nice background character to chewing the scenery and his delivery! ohhhhh my god j’adore 13 (in mounting dread): ...ohhhh o (excitedly): that--that’s my name! and that is why i chose it! so satisfying satisfying for me too, my boy, me too ”or should i say spy... master” fuck “you can’t be” / “i can be. and i very much am” and then the fuckign ”call me master”  chills, genuine chills (lol graham’s quiet, incredulous “call you what?” is amazing) his fuckin nose crinkle??? i think something happens with his hair as well, can’t pinpoint the moment even with several rewatches, but his hair goes from being very off his face to falling in his eyes, and gives him this manic cast which is oh-so-appropriate the return of the tce! so happy to see it in the new series, love me a good shrinky dink and the way he so casually tosses the matchbox aside he’s clearly very evil in this, and i’m hoping that won’t destroy missy’s character arc. current theory is that he’s post-simm, pre-missy (as possibly evidenced by the drumming in the preview? but unsure). definitely some callbacks to harold saxon tho, that trying to drive a subtle wedge between graham and the doctor with the whole “how well do you really know her?” thing is such a saxon move, and you could see it peeping through when he said that “nobody would create such a detailed legend,” yaz replied with “but it’s not impossible,” and his look was just. studiously blank which reminds me, his acting when he goes inside the tardis??? a gift, a treasure i choose to believe that “ridiculous” is his genuine comment on the decor, just as i choose to believe that the doctor’s suit pants started life as normal-length suit pants, but she cut the bottoms off herself to suit her style as has been pointed out in a million other meta posts, 13 is running from her past, and this new master is going to force her to confront it, which is a plot point i am so so keen for also, did anyone else pick up that his first words as the master were “got me. well done.” and his last words were “got you. finally.” he sees it as a constant game of one-upmanship, and as a spectator? bring it on

and not to be That Person but i’m going to be That Person that’s right folks it’s detailed character analysis time because there are two moments in that scene where the master is waiting for the doctor to catch up the first is the reveal, and he’s loving every moment of it. it’s not blood that runs through his veins, it’s dramatic bitch juice. he’s crafted this deception perfectly, he’s maintained it for literal years (”i met o! years ago!” / “i Know!!”), and it wasn’t meant to be seen through until the time he chose to reveal himself, even though he can’t help himself from giving a few little hints, playing games to see how much he can sneak under the radar. and when he reveals himself, he delights in the few moments of confusion before the doctor realises how clever he’s been conversely, the bit with the bomb it’s another switch-flip moment, all his excitement and giddiness and goofiness is drawn aside for a few seconds to reveal this burning core of anger “no! do you really think that i would not make it sonic proof, doctor? come on!” he’s properly angry there, because he didn’t think he had to explain himself, he expected her to have got it already to quote tRoS, they’re a dyad, they’re the only two people in the universe who really understand each other they understand each other, and they expect to be understood, on such a fundamental level and he’s angry because he expected her to know him. she disappointed him in that moment. fuck i just love their dynamic so much??? as friends, as enemies, as some ungodly combination of both

all in all this is just a long way of saying i loved spyfall, i loved the final five minutes in particular, and i’m so so keen for the next ep to see how some of my questions get resolved (also VOR better stand for something otherwise i was sniggering all ep at completely unnecessary vore references and that’s just disappointing)

[princess-of-the-worlds]

Doctor Who S12 Premiere

But I like 13's reaction to the Master reveal. And every time the Master is involved, there is something related to Gallifrey and the Time Lords. And the forest place Yaz and 13 ended up in seemed to be recognized by 13. Is it Gallifrey-related? The Timeless Child thing? As for O, he was inquisitive, resourceful, charismatic, and seemed to make for a great companion. I was hoping he'd stay longer, a la Captain Jack Harkness. With all the subtle foreshadowing, I was hoping that nothing would happen to him. Besides, he looked good in a suit. I was all for the Yaz and O moment, whatever that means for the future. It was sweet. Basically, GIVE YAZ MORE DEPTH. Whatever happened with her and the aliens seems to be a setup for more in the season. Will it lead to more i.e. Rose and Bad Wolf/Clara as the Impossible Girl? Also, the Torchwood reference got me bad. I'm still obsessed with the show; I miss Jack's team so much! Give us back Torchwood. And I guess this means that Gwen and Jack's revival of the org isn't on the same scale as it used to be, tho I haven't heard the Big Finish audios yet.

As someone who started watching Doctor Who in July 2019 and caught up on all the seasons (+ Torchwood and some books), here are my thoughts on the Doctor Who S12 premiere "Spyfall Part One." Of course, this means SPOILERS. SPOILERS!!!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

I’ll tag this and anything I reblog from now on as “doctor who spoilers.” Block that tag, cause I’ll probably be reblogging a lot of posts. Also, everything is under the cut.

Before I begin, while I like 13/she's everything a Doctor should be, I found her lacking in some of the danger and edge that 10, 11, and 12 possessed. I think Whittaker was a good choice and that it was the writing that lacked some 'oomph.' I can't wait to see her in s12.

As for Chib's writing, I liked some of his Torchwood eps, but really only Rosa, DoP (I'm desi, sue me), Kerblam!, and Witchfinders stood out to me. I liked Yaz, but she needs more depth, tho Ryan and Graham are kinda interesting. And I mostly skipped the s11 finale.

The callbacks to the last season are nice. Yaz's family. Ryan's struggles with the bike. Grace's death. The Doctor working on the TARDIS. Even before that, the hacked car reminds me of ATMOS. It was funny to see 13 drive, not really something we see the Doctor doing that often.

MI6 transporting the TARDIS gives me S8/S9 UNIT flashbacks. Speaking of UNIT, this is exactly what UNIT and Torchwood existed to do, world! It was literally their job to keep an eye on the alien and protect the Earth when the Doctor couldn't. Good job defunding UNIT, Britain!

Also, the Torchwood reference got me bad. I'm still obsessed with the show; I miss Jack's team so much! Give us back Torchwood. And I guess this means that Gwen and Jack's revival of the org isn't on the same scale as it used to be, tho I haven't heard the Big Finish audios yet.

The spy gags are kinda funny. Yaz and Ryan make terrible spies, though they are trying. And the aliens/creatures remind me of the ghosts from Army of Ghosts/Doomsday. 13 and Graham fair slightly better with O. I was so excited to see a South Asian spy/agent.

Was the party supposed to be in Napa? Anyways, the Fam all looked dapper, but I particularly liked Yaz's outfit the most. The motorcycle chase and the plane scene was also very Mission Impossible-esque. Lots of Bond moments too, especially with the casino. That much was obvious.

I was all for the Yaz and O moment, whatever that means for the future. It was sweet. Basically, GIVE YAZ MORE DEPTH. Whatever happened with her and the aliens seems to be a setup for more in the season. Will it lead to more i.e. Rose and Bad Wolf/Clara as the Impossible Girl?

As for O, he was inquisitive, resourceful, charismatic, and seemed to make for a great companion. I was hoping he'd stay longer, a la Captain Jack Harkness. With all the subtle foreshadowing, I was hoping that nothing would happen to him. Besides, he looked good in a suit.

But that reveal was unexpected as FUCK. I knew the Master would come back at some point - c'mon, no way that Missy was actually dead, but didn't expect it so SOON in this season. I'm all for it, tho. First Master reveal that has ever made me gasp.

From what I remember, Sacha Dhawan was a great Iron Fist villain. This Master seems charismatic and maniacal, a really "master" of disguise. Now that we know the truth, we can already tell that he was a great rapport/dynamic with the Doctor. I'm excited to see more of him.

But also...which Master is this? He could be from before Yana. He could be between Saxon and the Master (WIBBLY-WOBBLY, TIMEY-WIMEY). (Side note, how many regenerations does that Master have?????) But what I find to be saddest of all would be if he's a regeneration after Missy.

Because that would negate all of 12's efforts and the remorse Missy went through in s10, which made her rapport with 12 all the more sweeter. It would also imply that the Master cannot reform and is destined for malignity. That also gives his dynamic with 13 so much depth.

But I like 13's reaction to the Master reveal. And every time the Master is involved, there is something related to Gallifrey and the Time Lords. And the forest place Yaz and 13 ended up in seemed to be recognized by 13. Is it Gallifrey-related? The Timeless Child thing?

TDLR: There was a lot going on in this episode. I loved the Yaz moments and previous callbacks. The episode was fun. Interesting enough for a premiere, especially with that final reveal. Lots of unanswered questions. Can't wait to see the rest of s12.

[casual-eumetazoa]

mmmmmmmmmmmkay... gotta say Words about the episode, I guess

things I liked:

the show looks good, I’ll give them that - visually/aesthetically very pleasing, the music is amazing (I still miss Gold but I am starting to like this new guy a lot), everything seems modern, expensive, high quality

the theme music is wonderful and the title sequence slaps; love that shit! feels classic and brand new at the same time, and very Doctor Who; probably my favorite title sequence combo of the entire new run

the TARDIS design is gorgeous, like I cannot stress enough how much I love it; again, probably my favorite of the entire new run, and definitely top three of all that were ever made; it feels like a hybrid between Tenth’s TARDIS and Eighth’s TARDIS - bold, creative, beautiful design; on a related note, loved that “fixing the TARDIS” bit; I hope the fam will spend more time inside the TARDIS this season

the actors are giving their best; I feel like C was a huge waste of Stephen Fry, but perhaps it was a deliberate decision (because maybe Mr Fry wanted a cameo but did not have time for more scenes); 

Whittaker is good - idk if that was a move on her part or the writers/directors decision, but her Doctor feels calmer, more natural now; she is still quirky and mysterious and herself, but she feels more like a person, you know, and not a bunch of facial expressions and voice inflections thrown together

the companions are good too - Yaz is finally getting attention, and God, Graham and Ryan are like my favorite thing now! their dynamic is just a pleasure to watch; you can make a ‘comedic duo’ compilation just out of this episode alone

the new monsters are definitely my cup of tea; strange, spooky, not full on horror movie scary but still threatening... *chef’s kiss* I loved the twist of them getting through the TARDIS door - that has never happened before, I like that; I like how the Doctor quietly freaks out about it as well, cause she hates not knowing something and hates not being in charge; that scene where she keeps asking the creature and when it finally replies it is just mocking her? good shit right there; wanna see more of these guys for sure

and after some reflection, if you take it in isolation, I do love the final airplane scene; like if I just look at it as a piece of TV/storytelling, I think it is a really good scene; it’s loud, it’s chaotic, yes it is kind of all over the place but it is engaging, and the reveal was out of nowhere and predictable at the same time but I still enjoyed it; and yes it is a stupid cliffhanger but like... it’s Doctor Who! it has always had stupid cliffhangers and I for one respect that decision

things I didn’t like:

oh God... the writing; like I am sorry, okay, but that writing is bad; and it is so confusing to me cause the story overall was good in my opinion - the pace was okay, the events made sense, it has an actual plot, etc - but the writing is still bad? I think the dialogue is the worst by far, but the way the scenes were stitched together is really awkward as well; it feels like it has been written by a talented but severely inexperienced writer who understands more or less how a story is supposed to work but has no idea how to edit

specifically what annoys me is that the dialogue and, to a lesser degree, the sequence of events feels very superficial and forced; it’s not elegant, and it’s not surprising, and it doesn’t feel natural at all; the actors are giving their best but how the hell can you have a good delivery of those lines??? 

I wanna rewatch it already to give particular examples but the two things that come to mind are C explaining the whole deal with the aliens (telling instead of showing anyone? especially after you’ve already shown it???) and the interview with Lenny Henry’s character (again, telling instead of showing much?); and idk, the dialogue in general is just... eh, it annoys me that I can’t quite put my finger on why it is so bad - but it is so bad, that initially that thing alone made me dislike the episode 

and this is double annoying because I know that Chibnall is a good writer and can write excellent dialogue and put scenes together with no problem, and also because, traditionally, Doctor Who has always had great script editors that should have fixed this; like how do you give a dedication to Terrance Dicks and not fix these awkward fucking lines?? I am confusion

things I am unsure about:

the whole spy thing; initially was very excited about it, because I thought we would get a very Third Doctor era thing, but no, that was just a straight up James Bond knock-off; like, don’t get me wrong, Thirteen in a suit gives me life too - but they could, idk, Doctor-fy the whole thing a little bit? throw in some gaffs and alien words and the Doctor going “oh I was a spy so many times”; instead it felt kinda, idk, not integrated enough; like it made sense for the story, but not for the show overall

also I think that the episode had too much action; that car malfunction at the beginning? entirely unnecessary, could have replaced it with a conversation (Thirteen trying to get info out of the driver for example) and get better results; the motorbike chase? looks very cool, also unnecessary and could have been cut to twenty seconds easily; like, come on, this is Doctor Who! I want good dialogue, not Marvel-level action scenes

and now the most controversial thing... the Master; ufff, I have very complex thoughts about this

I’m not gonna lie, I do like that they are back; I think it was too early to bring them back, and it feels like a solely “for the views” decision with little to no creative thought put into it, but damn I love the character; the actor is great too - that being in disguise with no physical disguise bit? love it! like, in retrospect I can see how much he (the Master) must have enjoyed playing the sweet innocent bloke; and that switch in the final scene... that’s some good acting right there

I am kinda conflicted about his style in general, like I would have preferred for him to lean more on the Delgado side of things - more gravitas, calmness, but still with strong chaotic dumbass energy - but I do understand that the Master has to mirror and contrast the Doctor simultaneously, and this sort of more Simm-like delivery (more in the direction of bananas) works better for Thirteen, especially now that she is less awkward and more calm and collected; I like the homage to classics as well, like that tissue compressor thing, that was really good; and yeah the Master is hot again... nice

also the whole “the Doctor is still being secretive about her past” thing is really working for me - I’d love to see the Master slowly destroying whatever image she has built for herself and thus creating enough conflict between her and the fam to go on for the entire season

but having said all that, if we come back to the decision to bring them back... is Chibnall sure about that? because from what we have seen so far, it feels like we have cancelled out everything that Moffat has done with Missy; we’ve had such an amazing character arc with her in Capaldi’s era and now it’s all gone? now we’re back to blowing up planes and killing the Doctor? why? 

I am still holding on to hope that this is an earlier, pre-War incarnation of the Master that somehow slipped in to this timestream, but that seems unlikely; another way I could digest that was if the Master has lost their memory and doesn’t remember being Missy, which would make for a nice eventual reveal of the memories coming back to them and him being like “oh shit” - but if Missy’s entire character arc has been retconned, I am definitely not a fan

also, overall, I feel like Chibnall retconned one thing about the Capaldi era that I really loved - he brought Doctor Who from a proper serious drama (as one part of the show, obviously) to all cheesy, goofy, silly sci-fi nonsense; and like, has Doctor Who been cheesy in the past? definitely, and for most of its history, and I won’t complain about that; but this? this feels too cheesy, especially in contrast with Capaldi’s era; like please, Chibbers, can we please see some drama? if you’re going for the whole quality TV show feel, can we also get proper good dialogue and heightened emotion and higher stakes? cause I think you can overdose on ridiculous in Doctor Who

summary:

honestly if the writing - especially the dialogue - was actually good, this would have been a very good episode, an 9 out of 10 at least; but as it stands, those lines are spoiling it a bit too much for me, so I’ll give it a solid 6 out of 10

I know it is a part one of a two-parter so I won’t make any solid and final judgments yet, especially about the Master and the feel of the series overall; all I can say is that, again, if you ignore the dialogue (which I hope is a random fluke and will go away), this sets a benchmark for series 12 higher than series 11; so I am cautiously optimistic about it, and actually excited to see the next episode, but God do I have high standards now, having consumed a lot of Doctor Who media...

and now that I’ve said approximately 563 highly controversial things, feel free to rip me to shreds I guess - or agree with me, who knows

[purest-love-deepest-pain]

aight so I have a lot of (mostly non-positive) thoughts on the new episodes of Doctor Who so lemme rant for a bit because I’ve been wanting to do this for ages.

(if you enjoyed the new episodes and liked the storyline/execution/whatever or you just don’t want to get into The Discourse TM, I wouldn’t recommend reading this post, but do what you want):

This rant is mostly for myself to rant a bit, but also to see if anyone else feels the same way, which, is kind of the point of Tumblr anyway but akshjajsa 

this isn’t an attack on Jodie as the Doctor or a “Chibnall ruined Doctor Who!!!!1″ type of post, but a measured critique on the aspects of the premiere of Series 12 that I really didn’t like.

This is only discourse on Spyfall Part 1 and Part 2, as I haven’t watched Orphan 55 yet.

Here we go.

First things first, the things I actually did like:

I actually only watched a few episodes of Series 11, so I’d just like to note I love Team TARDIS with my whole ass heart ahsjahsja they are great companions and have a great dynamic

I liked the concept of the mission they had to deal with it, even if I didn’t like the execution

Sasha Dhawan was EXCELLENT in this. The way his demeanor changes completely when he stops pretending to be O, his portrayal of the Master, everything about him here was great

The plot twist scene was great. The Doctor’s reaction, the Master’s child-like attitude and excitement, Team Tardis being confused af, it was really good from start to finish and Jodie and Sasha’s acting truly made it click. 

Jodie was also really excellent here btw. The way she portrayed the Doctor’s feeling of being frozen during the reveal scene perfectly, her finally getting to show off the Doctor’s darkness, her dynamics with the Master, her seeing Gallifrey in shambles, etc. She killed it

Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan were GREAT additions and I kinda wish they were full-time companions lmao. Also I ship Thirteen and Ada a lot tbh

The whole scene with the back-and-forth between the Doctor’s message and Graham and Graham landing the plane was hilarious. Graham used to be my least favorite new companion but I think he’s one of my faves now

Part 2 was overall much more fun than Part 1, and the characters were more entertaining as well

I mentioned this before when talking about Jodie’s acting, but seeing Thirteen finally go dark is great. I’m excited to see where this is heading towards, and from what I’ve seen, it’s gonna cause Team TARDIS some conflict, which was kind of overdue. I just really hope Chibnall can lower his ego and allow other writers to execute these concepts in ways he can’t throughout the series

I was also left genuinely intrigued by the whole Timeless Child thing and am looking forward to that so. Yeah.

Now, what I didn’t like:

First of all, it’s written by Chibnall himself and he’s the only writer. ‘Nuff said

The episode seems to take a bit too long to introduce the characters once more and show their daily lives before we get to the point or even first see the Doctor. Maybe that’s just me but idk

Like I mentioned, I like the potential of this mission. A CSI-esque episode but make it sci-fi/Doctor Who. My problem lies with the execution. It wasn’t a fun storyline, and after the Master reveal, it just feels like it’s sidelined and simply there as “oh look Doctor, you looked away and the Master started using ANOTHER alien race to get your attention AGAIN”. It didn’t feel fun either, since there was just. So much info-dumping and not enough answers. The problem isn’t that it was unoriginal, it’s that it was uninspired and boring

Not to mention the Kasaavin ended up being sidelined so much that everyone was just ??? kind of confused about them. Also I’ve seen some people say they are literally just the Cybermen 2.0 and I kind of agree

I got the vibe that “O” and Yaz were flirting and just. Ew. I do not fuck with that

Part 1 in general just felt completely boring and the storyline was so generic you could replace the conflict with literally anything else and keep the twist and it wouldn’t change a thing lol

Also, as happy as I am that we have a POC incarnation of the Master, I’m...conflicted. I am going to miss Missy a whole lot, and the Master going back to being a man is...kind of boring, but that’s not my issue. I understand that, after what happened with her, Missy might’ve given up on redemption and decided to go back to her old Master-y ways, specially with the whole Timeless Child thing, that was so traumatizing the Master felt obligated to destroy Gallifrey, BUT it feels like it just inutilizes Missy’s entire character arc during Capaldi’s run and introduces a new plot element just to make the Master go back to their old villanous ways. It’s sorta cheap

Speaking of cheap plot elements just introduced to retconn things Moffat did, we’ll get back to Gallifrey later

The scene with the Master telling the Doctor to kneel made me uncomfortable. Having Thirteen be the first female Doctor (and arguably the gayest Doctor at that) and then have the Master, her antagonist, be a man...meh. But then have him tell her to kneel and to essentially humiliate her by telling her to call him “Master”, that had my stomach a bit uneasy. Like, yeah, Simm!Doctor did much worse to Tenth, but the implications are much, much, different in this context. Idk, I personally was left uncomfortable by that scene

The Doctor turning the Master over to the N*zi officers was so, so fcking shitty like. I’m not mad at the Doctor, I’m mad at Chibnall for putting that in the fcking script. WHY DID HE THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?????

The Doctor wiping Ada and Noor’s memories just felt so...unnecesary. Like, the Doctor has interacted with historical figures in the past and kept their memories intact (Agatha Christie comes to mind as an exception, though that was accidental). And besides, what for? Ada and Noor having memory of what happened interfered with nothing (I might be wrong on this as I kind of erased anything the Doctor said in that scene from my mind involuntarily lmfao but even so, I can’t come up with any good excuses that could be used there anyways, but if I am missing something notify me in the notes) and they don’t seem like the type to tattle about it or smth

Ah, and now we get to Gallifrey, or what I like to call, both the best and the worst example of what a retconn is. Listen, it doesn’t matter whether you liked Moffat and/or his decision to bring back Gallifrey, but you have to agree this is ridiculous. Chibnall didn’t want to have to deal with what Moffat left him with (a restored Gallifrey and the implications of that) so he had The Master just destroy Gallifrey by himself and discarded it like a chess piece, like. Am I the only one legit dumbfounded by this???? First of all, it took the Daleks an entire war to attempt to destroy Gallifrey, and they actually failed in the end, and yet the Master destroys it by himself, no stress. I legit don’t get it. Listen, I have mixed thoughts on Moffat’s decision to do so and I hate Hell Bent as much as the next person, but this is Chibnall discarding yet ANOTHER arc. That’s two arcs in one premiere. Wow. It legit sealed the deal for me that this premiere was a hot mess.

That’s it (that’s it, she says, after writing a whole essay). Again, this is not an attack on Chibnall’s Doctor Who, Jodie as the Doctor or me telling you how to feel about this episode. My opinion seems like an unpopular one from what I’ve seen but I stand by it lol. 

As a closing statement, fingers crossed that Chibnall lets other people write too this series lmfao.

(This is my first indepth critique of anything here so, hum, if you disagree, please be kind akhjahsjahs I doubt this will get much notes anyways but)

[grassangel]

When a writer doesn’t have five other episodes to write or contribute to, things get good

Yeah!

I know it’s ‘nani’ and not ‘nanny’, but you know that little thrill you get when you see yourself represented on-screen? like that, but with familial terms for grandmothers

Ryan (and Graham) going yes to staying because he wants to help Yaz’s grandma 😭

Space bats! *insert Echo Bazaar reference here*

mmmh, delicious last of their kind angst 💯

mmmh, last two of their kind witnessing the deaths of those who went unwitnessed 💯

And awww, the little mirroring the Doctor does when she learns what they do

Yaz & Graham got to team up for a bit! And I’m eager to see more of it. Yaz+Doctor and Ryan+Graham and Doctor+Graham and Ryan+Yaz are natural teams since Ryan and Graham are family and Ryan and Yaz were friends in school (and also splitting the team up into boys/girls, or older/younger). But the Doctor+Ryan and Graham+Yaz? Not such a natural team up, which creates an interesting dynamic and I liked the way Graham tried to connect with Yaz. (Though for their safety, it’s probably a good idea that the Doctor and Ryan don’t team up too much given they both like to touch things they shouldn’t.)

Hilarious “continuity does not apply here” wavy hair for the Doctor in the presumably rather damp and humid forest (which, very cute, do approve, hope River gets to meet her in a similar situation.)

The Doctor was adorable with the henna and being asked to officiate

Even with great grandma insisting things be ‘proper’ and I’m honestly surprised there weren’t more shots of Yaz being sympathetic about interfering parents

Also I dig that feel about love having no boundaries etc etc

And again that theme of not being able to act in order to preserve history, and this time, they couldn’t be active witnesses. If this is the way all historicals are going to be handled under Chibnall, I think I’ll accept it. (Even if I do like things all working out in the end, even if the circumstances aren’t quite right, type of stories. History is written by the victors, events are subjective, etc. but this is a nice change for now.)

Ehhh

That was a faint wisp of a radicalisation parallel. Don’t know enough details about the time period/event to know whether it’s a relevant historical parallel, though I am aware that Partition did literally divide families.

Did think the witnessing aliens were connected to the Stenza at one point

The debriefs in the TARDIS are... lacklustre. Just people standing. Talking in the TARDIS. Though at least this week we did see they made it back.

Maybe it’s just that I have half-uncles and half-cousins because my grandma also married twice, but Yaz was freaking out too much that Prem wasn’t her grandfather. You landed on the eve of a historical conflict. It’s very reasonable to assume that he died during it. 

Hmmm

‘Love is a form of hope’. Look, I posted about this right after watching the episode. And I know Doctor Who is a lot about hope and love and kindness, but I can’t help but think of Twelve’s line about the relationship with Missy about how hope is hard to resist.

So like... now I have a headcanon that in Gallifreyan, hope is a word with different inflections, and one of those inflections can mean love. And basically, Twelve was going on about how he’s trying really hard not to fall in love with Missy (again)

Oooh boy, that poppy symbolism. And on an episode that aired on 11/11 in the UK. (And with Prem serving in WWII too. 😭)

Nah

This is petty, but I do wish we’d seen the time the team returned back to Sheffield after they went onto the TARDIS willingly. I love the abundance of EU-gaps, but from e3 onwards, they all sort of start off very similar in tone, which makes it hard to gauge how far apart the adventures take place. Hooray for the companions still being a little part-time a la Amy and Rory, Clara and Bill, but it would’ve been nice to see that return in the previous episode.

I... am not a big fan of some important big moments about the Doctor happening off screen. We’ve had ticky boxes checked for things like the TARDIS, the outfit, the sonic, “I’m the Doctor”, but not other things like “I’m the Doctor” “Doctor Who?”, “it’s bigger on the in side” or an explanation about regeneration and how some people they might meet may be surprised the Doctor’s a woman now. Because obviously the Doctor’s had that talk with the team how they may look like a woman now, but they used to look like a man (and Yaz and Ryan have probably told her to keep that info on the down low because even now trans people aren’t welcomed warmly everywhere). And I can understand the reasons why Chibnall might not have wanted to have that particular moment hash out on screen, but this brief reference feels like a cop out. It’s just there. It doesn’t commit to anything.