There were many things for fans to wrap their head around in last night’s season 12 opener of Doctor Who. Chief among them was the final scene, which reintroduced an iconic villain in an ultra-surprising way.
Much earlier in the episode, though, a line from Stephen Fry’s C reveals that two long-running alien-busting organizations have been shut down off screen: UNIT and Torchwood. While UNIT’s closure was previously referenced in 2019’s “Resolution,” this is the first time it’s been confirmed that Captain Jack Harkness and his team have stopped protecting the Earth, too.
And, as you’d imagine, fans aren’t happy with this development. Torchwood was last on our screens back in 2011, but there’s always been hope that the spinoff series would return in time, especially as star John Barrowman has been continually fighting to get something off the ground. However, this reference to the team in “Spyfall Part 1” appears to confirm that we’ve definitely seen the last of Torchwood.
https://twitter.com/babynewt_/status/1212451588419268608
“UNIT… Torchwood…”
“They’re all gone” 💔💔 #DoctorWho
— jaymie (@simmoslxter) January 1, 2020
"UNIT. Even Torchwood."
"They're all gone."#DoctorWho #torchwood pic.twitter.com/lATy9KXCzN
— Sarah (@areyouokayhun) January 1, 2020
Gwen when she hears the Doctor said Torchwood is over#DoctorWho
— Bad Wolf Archives (@BadWolfArchives) January 1, 2020
The weird thing is that Big Finish Productions has been officially continuing the story of Torchwood in audio drama form for years – not to mention UNIT – so this reference is raising a lot of questions about what’s canon and what’s not.
https://twitter.com/Smalledd/status/1212755900856963072
To be fair, some folks did enjoy the scene as they just liked hearing the word Torchwood in Doctor Who again, even if it was to say that they’re gone.
https://twitter.com/hipstershambIes/status/1212740985517748224
Here’s an idea: what if Sacha Dhawan’s Master is actually the one who’s behind the closing down of both UNIT and Torchwood?
https://twitter.com/hipstershambIes/status/1212497592992579590
Others are wondering if showrunner Chris Chibnall dropped this reference in order to tease a big plan he has for both teams in the future. Who knows, maybe he does have something up his sleeve and Barrowman really is finally coming back to the show?
https://twitter.com/mana_bear/status/1212760056858578944
Doctor Who continues this Sunday, January 5th with episode 12xo2 “Spyfall Part 2” on BBC One/America.