Doctor Who Is Back and Everything You Think You Know Is a Lie

The Doctor is back with an all-new episode of Doctor Who, and we’re thrust into a spy thriller that keeps us on the edge of our seat throughout the entire thing. All around the world, spies are being killed by aliens that the Sonic Screwdriver cannot identify. The Doctor continually gets no readings on these creatures, and when she goes to her old MI6 buddy O, they’re under attack from the same creatures.

MI6 brings in the Doctor and her companions when they see spies go missing. With a call from C (Stephen Fry), our favorite crew rolls into MI6, and Graham and Ryan are more concerned with the cool gadgets they get to use than anything else. But splitting up after C is, seemingly, assassinated by these aliens, the Doctor and Graham go to Australia to visit the former MI6 agent O—an analyst who studied the extraterrestrial life forms that the government came in contact with—while Ryan and Yaz went to San Francisco to talk with the man who was, seemingly, at the center of these attacks.

There are two jokes in this episode that hit in the best possible way. One comes when C says that the Doctor changed (meaning regenerated), and she responds that she “got an upgrade.” The second? Ryan trying to go undercover and naming himself “Logan” because he wanted to channel the energy of Hugh Jackman, but then was afraid that he couldn’t channel the energy of Hugh Jackman and broke down into nerves while trying to go undercover.

It was great because, for the first real time, it showed the Doctor’s companions trying to figure out how to get information without having the Doctor there for an excuse or the use of the psychic paper to help them. But then, the episode goes from a fun mess of the Doctor’s companions trying to be spies into a twisty-turny episode that had us all screaming by the end.

The twist? O is not who he says he is. In a moment that had me yelling in public, the Master is back with an all-new persona. There was a part of me that wanted Michelle Gomez back as the Master to take on Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, but I do have to say that I loved the reveal of O’s lies.

It was an episode of the Doctor in a tux, spy-thriller dynamics, and twists and turns that are typically found in a James Bond movie rather than Doctor Who, but it was a solid and fun start to season 12.

The episode does a great job of setting up the turmoil that is to come to the Doctor in this two-part episode, and Twitter was excited about the New Year’s Day premiere episode.

I’m excited to see where this season ends up taking us. Right now, the Doctor is separated from her friends while they’re on a crashing airplane, but as the Master said to her before separating the Doctor from Graham, Ryan, and Yaz, everything you think you know is a lie.

(image: BBC)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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