[kdmorse]

For anyone just glancing, don't read any further, go watch it first. Untagged spoilers will abound past this post.

First hour or so, meh, maybe it'll come together. I hope it'll come together.

Then it kinda picked up.

Then I'm quite sure at some point I verbally gasped, "No, No, you ... just No....!".

I mean, if that's the arc you want to take, better do it well.

In the end, I enjoyed it. I hope they carry that level of energy forward, and I look forward to Part 2.

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

I'm a bit disappointed. Michelle Gomez was a good Master, but now they seem to have reverted to the John Simm silly clown version.

Up until the reveal, I thought it was good. It felt like they've really found their footing with Whittaker.

 

[LoadStar]

I'm a bit disappointed. Michelle Gomez was a good Master, but now they seem to have reverted to the John Simm silly clown version.

Not sure if I got "silly clown" from this performance... still a little unhinged, yes, but to me, this was more of a darker, far angrier, more menacing unhinged than the wacky Simm Master.

I'm juts curious if they're going to explain how they got from the end of "The Doctor Falls" to this episode, or if they're just going to continue on without explanation.

 

[TonyD79]

I'm a bit disappointed. Michelle Gomez was a good Master, but now they seem to have reverted to the John Simm silly clown version.

Up until the reveal, I thought it was good. It felt like they've really found their footing with Whittaker.

He actually reminded me more of the old series Masters. A bit more energetic but obviously working with something that he cannot control to dominate and get one over in the Doctor. Absolutely loved the compressed person. I didn't get clown at all.

 

[Beryl]

I’ve probably watched the last 5 or 6 of the 12 recent seasons and none of the early ones so I’m not as familiar with the characters. I‘m a Jodie Whittaker fan and enjoying it.

(I’m still sorry the wife of the older guy died last season. She was such a badass.)

 

[cheesesteak]

I thought the monsters climbing through the walls was some good cgi.

I watched tons of original series episodes from the mid 70s on. I still think all Masters should have goatees - even Michelle Gomez!

I was surprised that C was assassinated with a bullet to the head. I know tons of characters die in Doctor Who but a head shot seemed out of place.

I like Jodie Whitaker's Doctor. She still seems somewhat interchangeable with Tennant but I believe she'll become more of an individual as the episodes go by.

 

[dianebrat]

Put me down as disappointed, going to the Master this soon is like a Dalek, they have so much more they can mine from and it feels like this is just showrunner ego wanting to put a stamp on their Master as they do for their Doctor, I hope to be proven wrong, but episode 1 = meh.

 

[tomhorsley]

My impression so far is that Chibnall listened to a lot of the complaints about last season and tried to fix them, but he ignored the most important one: Keep Chibnall away from the scripts.

 

[Dawghows]

I liked it. And I'm still really enjoying Whittaker's Doctor. She seems a little too manic at times, but that's a nitpick.

 

[LoadStar]

This was an interesting episode, but I'm still very much "meh" on the Whittaker run. It remains the weakest, by far, since the series returned. There's a portion that is on her, but there's a lot of other factors.

 

[trainman]

Props to whoever did the music for getting "as close as possible without being legally actionable" to James Bond music.

 

[Craigbob]

I think Whitaker is finding the character more. While reminiscent of Tenent, she brings her own energy to The Doctor. Last season it seemed to me that she was very unsure of herself and the direction the Doctor should go. Here she seemed much more sure of her place.

The new Master, I found much more akin to the master of the 70's though coupled with a bit of Simms take on it. I miss Missy however.

 

[Shakhari]

The actor playing the spy Master was the villain in Iron Fist.

I was wondering about his regeneration into O. The Doctor had met O before ... was the Master always O and the Doctor just didn't recognize him until now? Or did the Master somehow control his regeneration so he could look like an existing person the Doctor knew? I'm confused by that bit.

 

[TonyD79]

The actor playing the spy Master was the villain in Iron Fist.

I was wondering about his regeneration into O. The Doctor had met O before ... was the Master always O and the Doctor just didn't recognize him until now? Or did the Master somehow control his regeneration so he could look like an existing person the Doctor knew? I'm confused by that bit.

The Master appropriates others for some of his regenerations. Exactly how that is done has never been detailed. It came from his lack of regenerations available in the past. He did it in the Keeper of Trakken in the original series after being a devolving mess for awhile, for example.

 

[LoadStar]

Technically, the Doctor apparently does as well... he did with #12 (the Capaldi doctor). 12 took the appearance of Caecilius (from "The Fires of Pompeii" episode). 12 just didn't realize he had done so until considerably after the fact.

 

[TonyD79]

Technically, the Doctor apparently does as well... he did with #12 (the Capaldi doctor). 12 took the appearance of Caecilius (from "The Fires of Pompeii" episode). 12 just didn't realize he had done so until considerably after the fact.

Using a likeness and actually stealing the body are a bit different, I would think. The Master either directly takes over the body or kills the original. The Doctor (and Romana) copied the likeness.

 

[LoadStar]

Fair enough. Not as familiar with classic Who.

 

[TonyD79]

Fair enough. Not as familiar with classic Who.

No worries. It is the same in that the time lords can pick their image. When Romana regenerated in the old series, she "tried on" several bodies before settling on the one worn by a princess in the previous season. Obviously, the Doctor has not always regenerated in a calm way so he undergoes a more traumatic change with less control. Yet he seems to have picked at least one body (one could say two since Colin Baker was in the show before he was the doctor as well) subconsciously that he was familiar with.

 

[LoadStar]

Except in this case, he seems to have just picked the appearance of the original O, at least if he was telling the truth about the shrinking of the original O and keeping him in his pocket.

 

[TonyD79]

Except in this case, he seems to have just picked the appearance of the original O, at least if he was telling the truth about the shrinking of the original O and keeping him in his pocket.

Yes. Although he has shrunk people before and taken their identity but more through makeup than regeneration.

Personally, it was a throwaway to nod at the original series.