Doctor Who: 10 Huge Questions After Spyfall Part One

Thanks to the James Bond influence, Chris Chibnall opened the curtain on series 12 of Doctor Who with a terrific pre-credits sequence, spanning several continents. Cue a slightly rejigged and spine-tingling opening theme from the mercurial Segun Akinola and another great British institution was back with a whoosh and a bang.

A guest cast that is up there with one of the series’ best helped to make this a highlight of this year’s Christmas and New Year entertainment. A special episode for New Year’s Day and the first in a new series, the production team had their work cut out. Disgruntled fans may feel a little short changed by such a convergence, but this was as bold a start to a season as we have seen in a long time (going back to The Impossible Astronaut).

The stakes are high in this story, with the universe, and indeed several parallel universes under threat from an unknown and incredibly powerful entity, but they are high too for the series. The producer has set a high bar that will be a tough ask to maintain over the coming weeks.

Throw in one of the best kept secrets in Doctor Who history and we have a recipe for plenty of talking points to feed a somewhat starved fanbase. With episode two coming just four days after the first, many of our questions will soon be answered, but in true Doctor Who style there are likely to be even more that will remain open to interpretation.

There are no guarantees that we will find out the answer in part two, or even by the end of the series. Perhaps, like the creature in Midnight, their identity will remain a mystery as befitting a species even the Doctor and the TARDIS have no knowledge of. What we do know is they come from another dimension and aren’t bound by the physical properties of planet Earth.

Some have speculated that they are Cybermen. Their blurred, ghostlike appearance is reminiscent of their look in Army of Ghosts and they have almost become the ally of choice for the Master. It’s also convenient that thousands of them are presumably still trapped in the void after the events of Doomsday. Could they be breaking through again into multiple realities, aided and abetted by the Master?

In the only direct communication the Doctor has with the creatures, she is told they have chosen to adopt a physical appearance that would mock the human race. It doesn’t sound like the kind of thing the Cybermen would do, especially as they are mostly interested in upgrading what they see as the inferior species.

This mocking could take multiple forms – humans from the present, visions from our myths and legends, and the silver-armoured creatures we allow ourselves to become. Looking at the silhouettes that appear throughout the episode, there isn’t a strict uniformity between them all.