Doctor Who: 5 questions we have after Spyfall: Part 1

Series 12’s opening episode gave us many questions. We look at 5 of the biggest ones that we hope Part 2 will answer.

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

With the next episode of Doctor Who on tomorrow, we have some major questions after Spyfall: Part One. Will the next part answer all of them?

The first part of Spyfall was a great way to kick off the new series of Doctor Who. It had a huge sense of scale, taking place all over the world, it had some interesting new villains (and a very old one), and of course, it left us with plenty of questions. Questions that we’re hoping to get some answers to. Starting with…

1. Who or what are attacking?

A full episode in, and we still don’t know exactly what are attacking. We know that they’ve been attacking spies, that they have plans for the entire universe, and we know exactly who they’re working for. But what are they?

The fact that we don’t yet have a name for them is definitely suggestive. Could it be someone or something we know? One interesting theory going around is that they’re actually the Voord – a race that haven’t been seen since their one and only appearance back in Season 1. And we’re talking old-school Season 1 here – specifically, the William Hartnell story The Keys of Marinus.

It’s definitely a possibility. Particularly with the convenient company name of VOR, and the interesting shape of the outlines of their heads. And like I said, the fact that we don’t know the name of their race yet could mean that writer and showrunner Chris Chibnall is planning a major revelation. Are the Voord really coming back for the first time in over fifty-five years? More importantly: is it time for me to start digging through their appearances in the expanded universe for a later article?

We saw several Earths show up at one point, but what does it mean?

Photo Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/BBC America

2. What do the multiple Earths mean?

During one point of the episode, the Doctor and her friends decrypted an image from the alien spies. The image told us several things, including that there are hundreds of them already on Earth. But, even more intriguing is that we saw an image of multiple Earths. What could it mean?

The first thing that springs to mind is the idea of parallel Earths. We’ve seen parallel worlds before, although it’s certainly been a while since they last showed up. The Classic Series only gave us one parallel world story in the brilliant Jon Pertwee serial Inferno, but they were explored in more detail in both Series 2 and 4 with David Tennant’s Doctor. Journey’s End seemed to resolve that arc for good (although we did see the consequences of it in The Next Doctor).

Could parallel worlds be involved? It’s possible, especially with the Doctor’s message to O:

"Crisis. Big crisis. Serious crisis. Big serious crisis."

With so much emphasis on the word “crisis”, could this be a nod to DC’s classic comic crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths? The storyline is one of the biggest and most memorable in comics history, and as I’m sure you all know, it’s so big that the CW recently did their own take on it. Considering that this episode is named Spyfall, it wouldn’t surprise me if Chris Chibnall wanted to sneak in another major reference in the story, as well. But how are multiple Earths involved? That’s what we really want to know.

3. When and how did the Doctor and “O” first meet?

When we first heard about the Doctor and O meeting before, this didn’t seem too essential to the story. After all, there are plenty of stories where the Doctor conveniently knows someone who the audience has never met before. (One of the best examples of this is Commodore Travers from Terror of the Vervoids – a story that Chris Chibnall described as “boring”. So naturally, he’s taken a leaf from it for this one.)

The only thing we know about O’s and the Doctor’s previous encounter is that they met when the Doctor was still a man. We don’t know which incarnation it was, though – it could be Twelve, or it could be even earlier than that.

Like I said, their earlier meeting didn’t seem too important…until we found out who O was. Suddenly, that story becomes a lot more intriguing. Especially since this would have meant that the Doctor and the Master were essentially meeting out of order. Which brings me to my next question…

4. Where does the new Master come from?

We know extremely little about Sacha Dhawan’s Master so far, and there are definitely a lot of questions we have regarding his incarnation. But what immediately springs to mind is this: where in the Master’s timeline does he come from? Is he from after Missy, or could he be from before? Could he even be a Master from before the Time War?

One thing to keep in mind is that, even if this Master had met the Twelfth, he was still meeting the Doctor out of order. After all, Missy’s final appearance in The Doctor Falls leads directly into Capaldi’s final story Twice Upon a Time. And, for all we know, this Master may have even met the Doctor much earlier in the latter’s timeline.

He also seems to have a TARDIS of his own and is a fan of using Tissue Compression as a way of murder. Missy preferred to use a vortex manipulator as a means of travel, and neither her nor Simm’s Master used a Tissue Compression Eliminator. So is this incarnation from long before them – before Jacobi’s War Master, even?

Or is he after Missy? If so, how? While this wouldn’t be the first time that the Master has escaped certain death, it’s always preferable to get some kind of an explanation, at least. And if he is after Missy, why is the Master evil again after her massive redemption arc in Series 10?

5. The Master’s warning – What does it mean?

Before the Doctor was whisked away to somewhere else entirely, the Master gave her a warning:

"Everything that you think you know is a lie!"

What does this mean? What doesn’t the Doctor know? Is this something that we’ll find out in the next episode, or is it a question to be answered later in the series?

A warning like this is a little worrying. It basically promises a huge retcon. I’m hoping Chris Chibnall doesn’t write in anything too damaging, but we’ll definitely have to wait and see with this one.

Regardless, whether all the answers are coming next episode or whether we’ll have to wait for a while, there’s no question that Spyfall got Series 12 off to an intriguing start. I’m excited to see what Part 2 will bring tomorrow.

dark. Next. Happy fiftieth anniversary to the Third Doctor!

What are your biggest questions concerning Spyfall? What did you find most intriguing about the story? Do you think we’ll get all the answers in Part 2, or do you think we’ll have to wait for some of them? Let us know in the comments below.

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