Doctor Who recap: series 38, episode one – Spyfall

‘Remember the first rule of espionage – trust nobody.’

And we’re off again! Doctor Who can and should lend itself to every possible type of drama, from horror to space travel to romantic comedy and everything in between. So there’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t do the same with the spy genre. In fact, it’s a fine choice for a New Year spectacular. But … it’s a genre I’ve never really got along with. I’m not a James Bond fan, I’m a Doctor Who fan and I know I’m not the only person who feels this way. That said, showrunner Chris Chibnall has tremendous crowdpleasing fun here with the genre’s tropes, and Spyfall is far more spectacular and more assured than anything from the new team’s first run-out.

To recap: intelligence people from around the world are being assassinated for inexplicable reasons. So the fabled champion of the unknown, known to security services as The Doctor, is kidnapped along with her friends by the Men in Black via an exhilarating car chase. A charming cameo ensues in which Stephen Fry portrays Stephen Fry portraying “C”, the head of MI6, who recruits them to investigate the spate of killings, equips them with a Bond geek’s dream cache of gadgets, and is promptly assassinated himself. The Doctor and “fam” go international tag team. Yaz and Ryan are drawn into the murky inner workings of VOR, the world’s largest search engine, and plenty more malevolent activities besides.

Chibnall is hardly subtle in his portrayal of big tech – “Look! This is what you should really be scared of!” he tubthumps. But there is no denying that dream casting Lenny Henry is marvellous, emanating just the right balance of evil and charming as the company’s founder, Daniel Barton, who turns out to be just 93% human and in league with an alien race of evil nuns made from white light, hellbent on rewriting human DNA. The usual Zuckerberk stuff.

The Doctor and Graham take refuge with “O”, former MI6 expert, now in self-imposed tea-drinking exile in Australia and a man who could help crack the alien conspiracy. O is a lovely, self-conscious chap who idolises the Doctor. Until ...

‘Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.’

And the twist! O is no Romford misfit but the Doctor’s evil frenemy the Master, reborn as a hot camp psychopath. My heart will always belong to Michelle Gomez as the Master, but Sacha Dhawan’s Hot Camp Master looks like he will be terrific fun. It remains to be seen whether Chibnall can or will address how he got back from the end of Missy’s journey. But his introduction did feel fairly rushed. Remember how brilliantly put together the reveal of Professor Yana was, as Derek Jacobi regenerated into John Simm? Or the intricate dance to reveal Missy’s true identity? Here, they barely had time to jump on to the speeding aircraft before the Doctor called him out for lying that he couldn’t run and the “mwahahahas” commenced. Still, there’s clearly more to come, as long as they can all get off that exploding aircraft (spoiler, they probably will).

Life aboard the Tardis

The catchup with the fam was fun and a handy refresher as they explained their recent absences to their nearest and dearest. But it did rather dampen the central conceit that they have a time machine so the companions can return to the point they left as if they never went away. Graham seems to be getting through processing his grief for Grace, while Yaz and Ryan are growing closer. Right now it seems like a sibling dynamic, but romance isn’t off the cards – especially after Yaz’s refusal to give her amorous sister Ryan’s number. Remember what happened last time there was hanky panky in the time vortex?

Fear factor

Last year’s paucity of scary new monsters looks set to be addressed. But at the moment they’re basically just nuns made of white light, so the jury is still out.

Mysteries and questions

As effervescent as Jodie Whittaker always is, the Doctor almost felt like a bit player in her own adventure here. But there are clearly bigger, darker things coming for Thirteen. “Something’s coming for me,” she warns ominously in the series trailer. And it’s clearly something to do with Hot Camp Master’s warning: “Everything you think you know is wrong…” Yikes.

Deeper into the vortex

• It’s nice to see the cold opens return. They felt missing last series and really give episodes an extra bit of welly.

• “My name’s Doctor. The Doctor.”

• If there were any awkwardness about Lenny Henry’s recent comments about diversity in the show, you certainly couldn’t tell at the series premiere. He spent most of the Q&A gushing about getting to appear.

• How are we feeling about the demise of Christmas episodes in favour of New Year specials?

Next time!

Will Team Tardis make it off the plane? (Yes.)