Doctor Who: The Complete Twelfth Series [DVD]

I’m usually not fond of shows wandering into spy scenarios, because the spy action comes out goofy. But Dr. Who, in the two-part season starter, “Spyfall” (get it?), is campy enough that I ended up enjoying it. Plus they do a good car chase. And I loved how the series’ theme music was altered to be ames Bond-ish.I also have a favorite moment from the Closer Looks Bonus Feature C. Bradley Walsh (plays Graham) talked about performing his own stunt in Episode 9: “They wanted me to ease myself over. I said, I’m not doing that…. I’m going for it. I’m diving onto that mat…. [They asked] “Are you sure?” [I replied] “What? I’m 59, not 159.”I include a picture proving he did it!….Episode 1 & 2 “SpyFall” Part 1 and 2. Ryan, Graham and Yaz are back in Sheffield when they are politely escorted to a car by two sober-faced and implacable be-suited MI6 agents. The Doctor joins them, commenting, “Everything all right? Aside from the kidnapping?” Before you can say hop-scotch, the driver disappears and the SatNav intones it’s next direction: “In 5 seconds, DIE.”This two-set hops around a lot, but it eventually the story threads come together. For example, the doctor meets Noor Inayat Khan, who was a real person, the 1st British female wireless agent to be dropped behind enemy lines in WWII Paris. My favorite quote:Doctor: “Let’s take a look outside.”Graham: “Looking outside is actually quite low on my list.”….Episode 3 “Orphan 55”. This introduces a whole new story arc – what is the origin of the Gallifreyans? But in the meanwhile, Graham is excited. He’s collected enough coupons to take everyone on a free holiday to the Tranquility Spa. What could be the fly in the island paradise ointment?….Episode 4 “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”. As you can guess, Tesla’s terror is of extraterrestial origin, and the Doctor comes to the rescue.Trivia: The Wardenclyffe Tower was real and its awesome name is rea!. It was Tesla’s experiment in wireless transmission, well before its time. Also, Dorothy Skerrit was, in real life, a secretary/aide to Tesla.….Episode 5 “Fugitive of the Judoon”. Repeat after me: “Ko Fro Lo! Bo Fro Sho Toe! No Bo Ko.” You can now converse in Judoon. This episode brings back Captain Jack Harkness and has a good plot twist.…Episode 6 “Praxeus”. Three locations are important in this episode: Madagascar, Hong Kong, and Peru. Earth, once again, is in trouble, and it’s not just the aliens’ fault.….Episode 7 “Can You Hear Me?”. It is the year 1380, in what is now Allepo, Syria. At an ancient Bimaristan, literally “sick place” = hospital, a young aide tells the matron, “You need to rest – sleep will help.” Matron: “Sleep is when they’ll come.” Sometimes it is not so good to be right.….Episode 8 “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”. It’s 1816, and a group of British friends have rented a villa in Italy for the summer. During a continuing storm, the Doctor and friends ask for shelter. Not by mistake, as the Doctor says, “History is vulnerable tonight. I mean it.”I really liked this episode, particularly the way it weaves in the real. If you don’t catch it, the British group were real people who really rented a villa. Unfortunately, a massive volcano half way around the world spewed forth so much ash before the trip, that Europe had almost no summer that year. The gloominess helped inspire May Wollstonecraft Godwin to write her own monster story.….Episode 9 “Ascension of the Cybermen”. The introduction sets the tone: “The Cybermen were defeated. The victors of a billion battles, broken…. Ever empire has its time. And every empire falls. But that which is dead can live again, in the hands of a believer.”….Episode 10 “The Timeless Children”. The last episode goes out with a bang. The Master gloats, except, there is loss, also: “Look upon my work, Doctor. And despair.”….Bonus Features. English subtitles are available on the episodes as well as the bonus extras.….Bonus A “Commentary Track on Spyfall Part 1 & 2”. (Find this under “audio options”, not Special Features.) Commentators are Jody Whittaker (plays the Doctor) and Chris Chibnall (showrunner), with the addition of Tosin Cole (plays Ryan) for Part 1, and Silvia Briggs (plays Ada Lovelace) for Part 2. The subtitles on the commentary track are for the show itself, not the commentary.As commentary tracks go, this is a good one and recommended. At one point, Chibnall says, “My brother-in-law is an aviation expert…. I was, like… How would you land a plane without a cockpit?” He’s like, “Oh, that’s easy.”….Bonus B “Commentary Track on Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”. Commentators are Mandip Gill (plays Yaz), Nina Metivier (writer), and Anili Mohindra (plays Queen Skithra). Tesla detecting a feeble electrical signal from Mars really happened. Anili: “It led to a lot of people thinking he was a bit nuts.”….Bonus C “Closer Looks” for every episode. These range from 3 minutes to 6 minutes. Commentators include Chris Chibnall, Bradley Walsh (plays Graham), Tosin Cole, Jodie Whittaker, Nikki Wilson (producer), Crispin Layfield (stunt coordinator), Paul Bailey (stunt driver), matt Strevens (producer), Mandip Gill, Jo Martin (plays Ruth), Maxim Alderton (writer), and Danny Hargreaves (SFX supervisor).Not as good as some seasons, but still way enjoyable sci-fi for me.Happy Reader

IN the previous season, show runner Chris Chibnall had middling results when he tried out the classic who structure on the modern show. The Classic Structure, especially pre-John Nathan Turner, was the TARDIS landing some place, just because, often with multiple companions, and stuff happened. The modern structure, which requires faster pacing, less time to tell a story (13 45-minute episodes versus the Classic 26 half hour episodes) and consequently has less room for lots of characters to be developed. The result were some standout stories, like Rosa and The Demons of Punjab) but with no story arcs, most of the episodes, like many parts of the classic Who series, could have been shown in any order.Series 12 returns to the modern form, complete with series long story arcs and a defined direction to what is happening. The season kicks off with a superb 2-part James Bond homage, that includes a few uncomfortable truths about private tech, governments harnessing it and our individual relationship to it. The rest of the series does not disappoint with numerous surprise appearances throughout and a three episode wrap-up that finally brings out the darker shades to Whittaker's Doctor that she's largely avoided with her more motherly "fam" approach to the TARDIS companions.Yes, there are a few missteps, most notably the clumsy handling with Graham at the end of Can You Hear Me? that I honestly can't believe no one questioned at the read-through or time of filming. And more than one complaint has been lodged about "wokeness," especially in relation to the ending speech in Orphan 55, which wasn't subtle, but nothing that hadn't been done in some of the Star Trek TNG episodes. But these are minor distractions.The final reveal of the Timeless Child has divided fandom, with those against it clearly ignoring many hints and loose ends dropped in the classic series, ranging from pre-Hartnell Doctors appearing in the Brain of Morbius, to the constant extra special attention and place The Doctor seems to hold in Time Lord society. Then there's McCoy's Doctor making a slip reference to being with Rassilon in "Remberence of the Daleks," which he quickly corrects, as well as the character's outright essentiality to baling out the Time Lords, yet again, in "The Five Doctors. Then there's the power he wields over the Time Lord government in "Hell Bent." And none of these stories or others in the near 60 years of the show's existence ever explain as to how or why he has such position, especially being, to quote Time Lord President Barousa "the notorious renegade."All in all, the season is solid and opens the doors for a pile of new stories and explorations into the central mystery about the main character that remains "the oldest question. Hidden in plain sight. Dr. Who?"