12.1 Spyfall In mid-December, Den Of Geek popped along to an early screening of the Doctor Who series 12 premiere at a top-secret location in London. We are banned from saying anything spoilery, and nor would we want to, until the episode airs on New Year’s Day on BBC One. If you’re after some detail-light thoughts on the episode, though, you’ve come to the right place. We’re not going to get into story specifics, of course, but it seems okay to explain that Spyfall follows a similar sort of structure to the previous New Year’s episode, Resolution. It has an opening sequence that cuts between three different vignettes, and then Chris Chibnall’s snappy script chucks the Doctor and her fam into a fast-paced global adventure. There are no mentions of New Year’s in this episode, though, with the main thrust of the story being a spy spoof of sorts that plays on the conventions of James Bond and Mission: Impossible movies. You may have already have seen guest stars Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry in the trailer, and it should come as no surprise that both national treasures are on reliable form here. Fry is playing to type a bit more than Henry, but they both seem to be game for a laugh. Everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet here, and the episode rattles along nicely at pace. The packed cinema screen that we were in, with a fair few children in attendance, were laughing at the right bits and everyone clapped at the end. Another thing that has already been revealed in the trailers is the new costumes that make an appearance here: the whole gang looks great in their spy clobber, with everyone getting their own unique little makeover, and it’s easy to imagine the beautiful black-tie version of Whittaker’s usual outfit becoming a staple of comic-con cosplays. In terms of scope, there are some properly massive moments in here that make us wonder if the BBC has upped the production budget since last time. And there are also some smaller sections, when the whole gang descends into single locations for some more up-close-and-personal action. It’s a nice mix of big set pieces and more intimate ideas, even if neither side of the coin creates anything particularly tense. This is more of a rollicking romp than a ‘hide behind the sofa’ affair, but there will always be room for both of those things in Doctor Who. (Apparently, episode three is going to be a scary one!) That’s not to say that there aren’t any monsters in Spyfall. There seems to be a brand new threat presenting itself here, and it is represented in quite a unique way, but we’d be surprised if it gave you any nightmares. That being said, there is one location that may send a little shiver up your spine. We expected to see more of it in the next episode. That’s because this is the first time since Chibnall took the reins as showrunner that Doctor Who has done a two-parter. And boy is this is a proper part one, building to the sort of barmy climax that Russell T Davies used to love lobbing at David Tennant’s Doctor. And if it was Tennant instead of Whittaker taking part in this episode, you can just imagine him shouting “WHAT?!” repeatedly before the credits rolled. Read our review of the previous episode, Resolution, here.
