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MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| 288 – "Spyfall" | |||
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Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by |
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| Written by | Chris Chibnall | ||
| Produced by |
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| Executive producers |
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| Music by | Segun Akinola | ||
| Series | Series 12 | ||
| Running time | 2 episodes, 59 and 60 minutes | ||
| First broadcast | 1 January 2020 | ||
| Last broadcast | 5 January 2020 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"Spyfall" is the two-part premiere of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 1 and 5 January 2020. It was written by showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall. The first episode was directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, and the second by Lee Haven Jones.
In the episodes, the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) are enlisted by MI6 to investigate a former agent and an alien threat. The episodes mark the return of both the Master and Gallifrey, last seen in "The Doctor Falls" (2017) and "Hell Bent" (2015), respectively.
The two episodes were watched by 6.89 and 6.07 million viewers respectively, and received generally positive reviews from critics. Part One is dedicated to former Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks, who had died in 2019.
Following attacks on intelligence agents around the world, the Doctor, Yaz, Graham, and Ryan are called in by the head of MI6, C, to investigate. The victims' DNA has been altered into something extraterrestrial. Their only lead is Daniel Barton, the CEO of the search engine media company, VOR. Additionally, the Doctor contacts Agent O, who was tasked with monitoring extraterrestrial activities before being struck off by C. C is killed by mysterious lifeforms, while the Doctor and her companions manage to escape.
While Yaz and Ryan investigate Barton (whose DNA they discover to be 93% human), who invites them to his birthday party the following day, Graham and the Doctor find O in the Australian outback. In their separate investigations, both groups encounter the same luminescent alien entities, who appear to be cooperating with Barton. In Australia, the Doctor is able to capture one of the lifeforms, who reveals their intent to occupy the universe. While sneaking into VOR's headquarters with Ryan, Yaz is attacked by one such entity and transported to a strange environment. The captured alien frees itself by swapping with Yaz, leaving her in O's base. Ryan is brought to Australia and regroups with Yaz, Graham and the Doctor.
Joined by O, the four investigate Barton at his birthday party. After being confronted by the Doctor, Barton denies all accusations put to him and angrily leaves in his car. The Doctor and her companions pursue Barton on motorbikes to his private jet. Leaping aboard said jet, O is revealed to be the Master – having been in control of Barton and the aliens the whole time. Barton then disappears from the pilot seat, leaving a bomb in his place. The Master says to the Doctor, "One thing I should tell you in the seconds before you die: Everything that you think you know, is a lie". The device detonates, shattering the nose of the plane and sending it into a nose dive. The Master teleports to his waiting TARDIS and two of the aliens cause the Doctor to disappear from the plane, reappearing in the same environment Yaz was in earlier; leaving the others in the falling plane.
In the dimension of the aliens, now revealed to be Kasaavins, the Doctor meets computer pioneer Ada Lovelace and grabs her hand when a Kasaavin appears, transporting them to an invention exhibition in 1834, where they encounter the Master. Though the Master knows the aliens' name and intentions, the Doctor realises he does not fully understand them when he asks her how she escaped their dimension. Ada takes her to the residence of polymath Charles Babbage, where the Doctor summons a Kasaavin via a figurine identical to the one in Barton's office, hoping to return to the 21st century. Ada suddenly grabs the Doctor's hand as she fades and they accidentally travel to Paris during World War II instead. They are rescued by British spy Noor Inayat Khan, though the Master continues to pursue them, posing as a Nazi officer through the use of a perception filter. The Doctor meets with the Master atop the Eiffel Tower, where the latter reveals that he had the Kasaavins kill spies in order to get the former's attention and claims that Gallifrey has been destroyed. With help from Ada and Noor, the Doctor destroys the Master's filter and turns the Nazis on him while her group uses his TARDIS to return to the present.
Back in the present, Ryan finds instructions to safely land the plane with help from a recording of the Doctor. By the time the companions land, Barton and The Master has branded them persons of interest, setting off a worldwide manhunt for them. Despite this, they manage to steal one of Barton's cars, which takes them to a warehouse containing the figurine. Speaking at a conference, Barton reveals that the Kasaavins will rewrite humanity's DNA to utilise its storage capacity as hard drives. The Master, forced to live through the 20th century without his TARDIS, arrives in time to see the figurine device activate, only for it to fail after the Doctor planted a virus in it in the past. Just before the Kasaavins are forced back to their dimension, the Doctor exposes the Master's treachery and they take him with them while Barton escapes from the conference.
After setting up the means for her companions to survive the plane crash, the Doctor returns Ada and Noor to their respective time periods and wipes herself from their memories. She also visits Gallifrey's ruins to confirm the Master's claim, where she discovers a recording of him confessing to destroying their home planet after realising their understanding of Time Lord history was a lie based on the "Timeless Child." Afterwards, her companions bluntly request the Doctor explain who she is, so she tells them of what she believes to be her backstory.
"The Timeless Child" had been mentioned briefly in the previous series' episode "The Ghost Monument", where the Remnants taunted the Doctor about her knowledge of the Child.[2]
"Spyfall" was written by showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall.[3] It is the first two-part episode not to use separate titles for its episodes since "The End of Time" (2009–10).[4]
Part One is dedicated to former Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks, who died in August 2019. Dicks co-created the character of the Master, as alluded to in his dedication.[5][6]
The episode sees the return of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor for her second full series.[7][8] Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill also reprise their roles as Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan, respectively.[9][10]
Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry were cast in the two-part story,[11] with Henry portraying Daniel Barton,[12] and Stephen Fry as C, the head of MI6.
Sacha Dhawan made an unannounced appearance as The Master, who had supplanted an MI6 agent codenamed O. Dhawan previously portrayed Waris Hussein, the director of the very first Doctor Who serial, in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.[13] Dhawan said he had been notified of the role in January 2019, about a week before filming began in South Africa. At the time he was working with Peter Capaldi, the actor who had played the previous incarnation of the Doctor, on a scripted play. Dhawan had found it hard to keep a straight face in front of Capaldi since he had to keep his role secret.[14]
Jamie Magnus Stone, who previously directed the fiftieth-anniversary minisode "The Last Day", directed the first block, which comprised the first and fifth episodes of the series.[15][16] Filming commenced on 23 January 2019.[17] Lee Haven Jones directed the second block, which comprised the second and third episodes.[18] Multiple countries were portrayed whilst filming in South Africa.[12]
The first part of "Spyfall" aired on 1 January 2020, with the second part moving to Doctor Who's regular Sunday timeslot on 5 January 2020.[19] Both parts were released in cinemas in the United States on 5 January 2020.[19]
| Part One | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer) | 93%[20] |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score) | 7.54/10[20] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B+[13] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B−[21] |
| Radio Times |   [6] |
| The Guardian | [22] |
| The Independent | [23] |
| The Telegraph | [24] |
| Part Two | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer) | 82%[25] |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score) | 7.18/10[25] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B+[26] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B−[27] |
| Radio Times | [28] |
| The Independent | [29] |
| The Telegraph | [30] |
"Spyfall, Part One" was watched by 4.88 million viewers overnight,[31] making it the second most watched programme for the day in the United Kingdom.[32] The first episode had an Audience Appreciation Index score of 82.[33] "Spyfall, Part Two" was watched by 4.60 million viewers overnight, losing to ITV's Dancing on Ice.[34] The second episode also had an Audience Appreciation Index score of 82.[33]
The two episodes received an official total of 6.89 and 6.07 million viewers across all UK channels respectively.[33]
The first episode holds an approval rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an average of 7.54/10 based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A fresh suit, new faces, and some exciting espionage are fun enough, but the Spyfall, Part 1's final moments inspire hope for an absolutely epic new season of Doctor Who."[20]
The second episode holds an approval rating of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an average of 7.18/10 based on 17 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "While definitely a welcome showcase of all that Whittaker's Doctor has to offer, Spyfall, Part 2's descent into well-trodden Doctor Who lore can't help but feel like a step back."[25]
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
"Spyfall" is the two-part premiere of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 1 and 5 January 2020. It was written by showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall. The first episode was directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, and the second by Lee Haven Jones. In the episodes, the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) are enlisted by MI6 to investigate a former agent and an alien threat. The episodes mark the return of both the Master and Gallifrey, last seen in "The Doctor Falls" (2017) and "Hell Bent" (2015), respectively. The two episodes were watched by 6.89 and 6.07 million viewers respectively, and received generally positive reviews from critics. Part One is dedicated to former Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks, who had died in 2019.
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and broadcaster. He began his career on the sketch comedy series Alfresco (1983–1984) and the sitcom Blackadder (1986–1989), before gaining recognition as part of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, appearing together in A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995) and Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993). His later television roles include Kingdom (2007–2009), Bones (2007–2017), and It's a Sin (2021). Fry was the original host of the comedy panel show QI (2003–2016), for which he was nominated for six BAFTA TV Awards. In 2025, Fry was knighted for services to mental health awareness, the environment, and charity. Fry's film credits include Chariots of Fire (1981), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Gosford Park (2001), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), V for Vendetta (2005), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), and Love & Friendship (2016). He portrayed the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and its 2016 sequel, and the Master of Lake-town in the film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit (2013–2014). For playing Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde (1997) he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Between 2001 and 2017, he hosted the BAFTA Film Awards 12 times. Fry is known for his work in theatre. He adapted Me and My Girl (1983) where it ran for eight years on the West End before transferring to Broadway where he received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical nomination. In 2012, Fry played Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe. The production was then taken to the West End, before transferring to Broadway, where he received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Fry played Lady Bracknell in the National Theatre production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (2025–2026). Fry has written and presented several documentary series, including the Emmy Award–winning Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (2006) and the travel series Stephen Fry in America (2008). He is also a prolific writer, contributing to newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and three autobiographies. He has lent his voice to numerous projects, including the audiobooks for all seven of the Harry Potter novels as well as the Paddington Bear books. Since 2011, Fry has served as president of the mental health charity Mind. In 2006, the British public ranked Fry number 9 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars.
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered by some to merit the title of "father of the computer". He is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer, the difference engine, that eventually led to more complex electronic designs, though all the essential ideas of modern computers are to be found in his analytical engine, programmed using a principle openly borrowed from the Jacquard loom. As part of his computer work, he also designed the first computer printers. He had a broad range of interests in addition to his work on computers, covered in his 1832 book Economy of Manufactures and Machinery. He was an important figure in the social scene in London, and is credited with importing the "scientific soirée" from France with his well-attended Saturday evening soirées. His varied work in other fields has led him to be described as "pre-eminent" among the many polymaths of his century. Babbage, who died before the complete successful engineering of many of his designs, including his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine, remained a prominent figure in the ideating of computing. Parts of his incomplete mechanisms are on display in the Science Museum in London. In 1991, a functioning difference engine was constructed from the original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage's machine would have worked.
The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In-universe, they hail from the planet Gallifrey and are stated to have invented time travel technology. They have sworn an oath to not interfere in the universe; those who reject this and leave the planet to live in the universe are referred to as "renegades". One of their number, the Doctor, fled Gallifrey, stealing one of their time machines known as a TARDIS. In the early days of the series, the Time Lords were not initially referred to, and though the Doctor was stated to be non-human, the character did not clarify beyond that. The Time Lords, as well as the Doctor's affiliation with them, first appeared in the 1969 serial The War Games. Following this appearance, the Time Lords serve as recurring characters, with many individual Time Lords serving either antagonistic or supporting roles in the series. Following the show's 2005 revival, it is revealed the Time Lords had been wiped out in-universe, killed by the Doctor during the events of a war against a species known as the Daleks. Though the Doctor is later able to go back and save the Time Lords in the 2013 episode "The Day of the Doctor", they are killed again by the antagonist the Master during the events of the 2020 episode "Spyfall". The Time Lords originally did not exist in the series' narrative, though the Doctor referred to not being human. When creating 1969 serial The War Games, the production team needed a way to resolve the narrative of the serial in a satisfying manner. The team decided to have him meet his own people to bring the narrative back to the Doctor's origins. The Time Lords are believed to have been conceived by producer Derrick Sherwin, who initially had assumed they were a pre-existing element in the series. Sherwin discussed and planned out the Time Lords' role with co-writer Terrance Dicks, laying the groundwork for the Time Lords' future appearances in the series. Though the Time Lords were initially portrayed as god-like figures, they were recontextualised significantly by the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin. The serial depicted them as having internal political struggles, with Time Lords being hypocritical and corrupt in their nature. The serial also established a distinct visual identity for the Time Lord race, having them wear ceremonial robes and large collars. This depiction of the Time Lords would be maintained throughout the rest of the show's original run. The show's 2005 revival would end up killing the Time Lord race due to showrunner Russell T Davies finding the Time Lords boring, while also wanting to establish them as mythological figures in the series' lore. The following showrunner, Steven Moffat, would bring them back to establish a new character arc for the Doctor, allowing the character to move on from their guilt caused by their actions in destroying them. The Time Lords have been treated with a mixed response, particularly for their depiction in episodes following The Deadly Assassin. The decision to kill the Time Lords was met with praise by critics, who noted how it helped to expand the Doctor's character as well as the Time Lords' role in the series' wider narrative. The Time Lords have been the subject of scholarly analysis for a variety of subjects.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Mae Jemison, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
