Doctor Who: Every Master Story In The New Series Ranked Worst To Best

The first episode of Spyfall seems to act as a direct response to the fan criticisms of Series 11, namely that it was slowly paced and was full of relatively low stakes adventures.

Spyfall Part One, meanwhile, is a globetrotting adventure showing planet Earth under attack by unknowable alien creatures that can seemingly breach even the TARDIS doors. The surprise reveal that one of the Doctor’s new allies, an MI6 agent known as ‘O’, is actually the Master also makes for a thrilling cliff-hanger and leaves viewers excited for part two.

Unfortunately, that part two kills that momentum by trying to do too many things at once. The episode cuts between the Doctor and the Master chasing each other through time and Thirteen’s companions attempting to evade sinister tech mogul Daniel Barton in the present day. The sheer number of characters involved in these plotlines means that nobody gets any room to breathe.

The Master’s plan is also pretty vague, with the closest he gives to an explanation being something about how he’s using the Kasaavin, the mysterious glowing creatures from another dimension, to get the Doctor’s attention.

This is a pretty tired motivation for the Master at this point and it’s a shame that after Missy’s nuanced emotional arc during the Capaldi era, Doctor Who has once again reverted to this simplistic characterisation of one of its best recurring villains.