WiC Watches: Doctor Who season 12

Auror Marion as Noor Inayat Khan, Sylvie Briggs as Ada Lovelace, Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor – Doctor Who _ Season 12, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/BBC America

Episode 1202: “Spyfall, Part 2”

I am just loving this multi-episode arc situation we have going on at the start of Doctor Who season 12. There’s something about this change of pace that really suits the series. An episode like “Spyfall” needed some extra room to spread out. And don’t worry, there’s plenty more of this format yet to come.

As this episode picks up, we catch up with Ryan, Graham, and Yaz, who are still midair in the crashing plane. Ryan manages to land the plane with video instructions from the Doctor herself.

Meanwhile, the living, breathing, two heart-thumping Doctor is still stuck in the weird realm from the end of last week’s episode. While there, she meets up with Ada Lovelace, a genius in her time who worked on a very early version of a computer. Who knew that when Jodie Whittaker took over as the first female Doctor, she’d bring historical female characters along with her? The Doctor also stumbles on Noor Inayat Khan, who was a British spy of Indian descent during World War II.

Anyway, Ada is trapped here, and has come to view the bright white aliens (known as the Kasaavin) as her guardians. Later, Ada and the Doctor travel to 1834 London where we meet yet another historical figure, Charles Babbage. If you’re wondering where the Master has been since he mysteriously disappeared from the crashing plane, we find out here.

I just have to point out that once again Sacha Dhawan does an incredible job playing the bewildered Master. He performs this conflicted character so well, and it’s nice to see his talents in something outside of Marvel’s Iron Fist, which was…well, it’s just nice to see him here.

Ada and the Doctor bump into the Master briefly in London before whizzing off to their next destination: Paris during World War II. This is my favorite part of the episode because we’re introduced to Noor Inayat Khan. It’s up to Noor to hide Ada and the Doctor from the Master and the band of Nazis he has working for him. Of course, they have no idea who the Master is as he is cleverly using a perception filter to protect himself.

All this action is great and all, but what I was really waiting for was a confrontation between the Doctor and the Master. There’s so much history between them as old friends and Gallifreyians, so when they finally cross paths atop the Eiffel Tower, I was ready for what would go down.

As it turns out, even the Master isn’t entirely sure what this alien race really is. But they do his dirty work for him, which is all he really needs. But what is up with the Master? And why is he so angry? Well, as we come to learn, Gallifrey has been destroyed. Their home is in tatters, and he’s broken over it. He’ll do anything to get revenge, and isn’t letting anyone get in the way.

Meanwhile, Graham, Ryan and Yaz manage to make it off the plane and away from Barton, even as the authorities are after them. This plot pretty much plays like filler. But what is cool about their storyline is that we find out the alien race is trying to gather anyone who has ever been involved with the invention of the computer, which is part of their plan to rewrite DNA, so there’s that.

Once again, Doctor Who leaves us with a big reveal at episode’s end, which is something I hope they continue to do as the season goes on. I don’t know what they’ve done this season, but it’s working. Just two episodes in and everything feels about 10 times as exciting as the previous season.

With the Master sent away to the weird realm, the Doctor can’t get what he said about Gallifrey out of her mind. So when she pays a visit to her birthplace, she learns the Master was telling the truth. It’s burnt to smithereens…because of the Master.

He reveals that the Time Lords have been lying to them all this time, and that both of them are not who they think they are…then what are they? Apparently, their existence is based on a big lie surrounding the Timeless Child.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the words “Timeless Child,” which also came up last season. Who is the Timeless Child, you ask? Honestly, I have no idea, but I have a feeling it’s going to be the younger version of the Doctor or even the Master. Or perhaps the Timeless Child once ruled Gallifrey and was overthrown by individuals who would later become known as the Time Lords. Ooh, I think I like that idea!

I think this story will continue to unravel and reveal itself as the season goes on, and I’m super excited about all of it.