Doctor Who: 10 Huge Questions After Spyfall Part One
9. Will UNIT And Torchwood Be Returning?
The Torchwood Institute was formally disbanded in 2009 and
save for a short-lived off-the-grid reformation in Miracle Day, the agency has
been non-operational, at least as far as televised Doctor Who is concerned. It
clearly won’t be the end of the story – in the 42nd century it would
still exist in the form of the Torchwood Archive (Gridlock), but for now it is
gone. A point that the Doctor makes to C. Could the former Torchwood producer,
Chris Chibnall, be sowing the seeds for its return, reminding us of the
importance of the agency in Doctor Who lore?
It is likely to be just a throwaway line, explaining the in-house dealings (and whitewashing) of the unexplained by MI5. But eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted the similarities between O’s containment cell in his Australian hideout and those that housed the likes of the Weevils in the vaults of Torchwood, Cardiff.
Unlike Torchwood, UNIT survived the move from Russell T Davies to Steven Moffat, lasting well into Capaldi’s time as the Doctor. The Doctor only learnt of its closure in last season’s Arachnids in the UK, in a barely veiled Brexit critique. But the question remains, what happened to the likes of Osgood and Kate Stewart? The chances of a UNIT return are highly likely, given Chibnall’s fondness for the Pertwee era. Have they gone underground, like Torchwood before them?