Who Review: Spyfall Part One

Around the world, secret agents are being murdered by a strange, invisible enemy that appears as a bright light. Without U.N.I.T. or Torchwood to investigate such things, a concerned MI6 sends cars for the Doctor and her friends. But on route to MI6 HQ, their car is mysteriously hijacked and they are nearly killed by this same strange malevolent force. While MI6 is at a loss to explain what’s going on, they are sure that tech entrepreneur and owner of the largest search engine in the world, Daniel Barton, is involved. The Doctor and “fam” try out their spy craft as they team with an ex-MI6 agent code-named “O”–the only agent with any expertise in tracking strange goings-on. Kitted out with gadgets, they infiltrate Barton’s offices and gate-crash his birthday party to gather intel.

As the TARDIS team dig deeper into the mystery, they discover an extremely rare alien species with a dangerous agenda. With their lives on the line, not only do they find there’s more to Barton than meets the eye, but the Doctor is about to get the shock-surprise of her lives…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those who haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

Doctor Who returned for it’s 38th series (12th New Series) on New Year’s Day with the first of a two-part story called “Spyfall.” You only need to be casually conversant with the world of James Bond to get the reference. Since the team are working with MI6 in this story, the temptation to draw a link with Bond was only natural, I suppose.

Before I get any further into this review, let me preface with a brief word about my feelings toward Doctor Who at the moment. Obviously, I’m a fan of the show. However, I feel that lately it has been getting a bit stale. I didn’t think the last season was bad on the whole, but it lacked inspiration. There were no really exceptional episodes. No “Blink”s or “Father’s Day”s. I think Doctor Who needs another hiatus. A rest for maybe five or more years. What I want from Chibbers (Chris Chibnall, head writer and show runner) this season is for him to prove me wrong.

So, let me start my review by saying that this episode gives me hope. There were a couple of things that made me cringe a bit, but on the whole I thought it was a good story well executed.

The first thing that made me cringe was when the Doctor referred to her new female persona as an “upgrade” (i.e., from being male). Sure, a nice hat-tip to third-wave feminists, but I really hoped we wouldn’t be pandering as much to political correctness this season. Thankfully, this was the only occurrence I caught, so the cringe was minor.

The second cringey thing was the obvious over-play on James Bond. Fellow Whovians, do you remember the moment in the Tenth Doctor story, “The Lazarus Experiment” when the Doctor and Martha dress up to go to Professor Lazarus’s party? The Doctor’s in a tux and Martha comments how “Bond” he looks. The Doctor responds approvingly… and that’s it. Because this is Doctor Who, not James Bond. Granted, here we have the Doctor working with MI6. But do we really have to go the whole hog with code names, gadgets, and car chases? Most of the episode felt like Doctor Who on the set of the next Bond movie. Homage is great, but let’s keep it Who. Maybe I’m overreacting (I’m sure you’ll tell me if I am), but that was my initial reaction.

What elevated this episode, however, was the finale and cliff-hanger. If you haven’t seen the story, stop reading now. Serious spoiler ahead…

Did you wonder why “O” was the only one in MI6 able to track alien activity? Or why and how he had all that sophisticated equipment in his hut in the Australian Outback? And how he knew how to capture one of the creatures? Or how he seemed to know so much about the Doctor when the Doctor claimed they’ve only talked via text? Thanks to these clues laid down but easily overlooked, the reveal about “O” at the end was very satisfying. I didn’t expect that. And I’m looking forward to a full explanation, hopefully in Part Two, because last we saw s/he was dead. D.E.A.D. Deader than dead. Of course, s/he’s been dead before so…

I liked that the team split to explore two useful lines of inquiry (Yaz and Ryan to investigate Barton, The Doctor and Graham to visit “O” and find out about the creatures). This wasn’t merely a convenience to split the team–it actually served the plot. And for an hour-long episode, it didn’t feel loaded with filler material. Okay, perhaps the casino scene wasn’t absolutely necessary, but it was a nice, light, fun moment and didn’t last too long.

And I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing the resolution of this story. What are these creatures? And how did “O” survive to become this new incarnation?

Finally, this story boasted two guest stars: Stephen Fry playing the head of MI6, and Lenny Henry playing Daniel Barton. Both actors are very well known in the UK, though I daresay Stephen Fry’s US profile is a lot higher than Lenny Henry’s. Of the two, I thought Lenny Henry’s performance was by far the most convincing. It’s interesting that while both made their names in comedy, Lenny Henry seems to make the transition to serious drama much more successfully. Don’t misunderstand. I think Stephen Fry is an excellent actor. But whenever he takes on a serious role, there’s something about his manner or his voice inflection that makes me anticipate a punch-line. I just can’t take him as seriously as he’s trying to be. He can be looking straight-faced in the camera, but there’s always that twinkle in the eye. Again, maybe it’s just me, but I think he’s much better cast as a professor or a kindly uncle. Not head of MI6.

Lenny Henry, on the other hand. Wow. If you don’t know his previous work, search YouTube for some of his sketches from the 1980s and you’ll see what I mean about his acting range. While he can be as silly-funny as anyone, he’s as serious as a heart attack in this story. Very well played.

As I said at the beginning, I thought this was a good story overall, albeit will a few cringey moments. I have high hopes that this will be a welcome improvement over the last season, but I’ll reserve final judgment until after part two. Definitely worth watching.

If you watched this episode, what did you think? Let me know in the comments. And come back for my “Part Two” review next week. Subscribe to the blog and you’ll be notified when it posts… 🙂