'Doctor Who' Season 12: Does 'Spyfall' Part 1 hint at the return of Torchwood and U.N.I.T.?
In Classic Who and even NuWho, the Doctor was not always alone in dealing with extraterrestrial threats in 'Doctor Who'. Classic Who created U.N.I.T., or United Nations Intelligence Taskforce -- a secret military organization that operates under the auspices of the United Nations, its purpose is to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth.
NuWho created the Torchwood Institute, an organization to defend Earth against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats. While described as beyond the UN, the Torchwood Institute is seen to cooperate with U.N.I.T. to some extent. In Season 11 of 'Doctor Who', it was revealed U.N.I.T. no longer existed as the government withdrew its funding and the organization had been suspended. Torchwood, meanwhile, is assumed to have been disbanded after the events of David Tennant's final season as the Doctor.
In 'Spyfall' Part 1, the premiere episode of Season 12 of NuWho, when C -- the head of MI6 played by Stephen Fry -- tells the Doctor that MI6 has never countenanced the possibility of extraterrestrial life and country has other organizations to deal with all that - Unit, even Torchwood, the Doctor replies that "they're all gone."
This now means that the Doctor and her companions form the only line of defense against any extraterrestrial threat and it is possible that after the events of 'Spyfall', the Doctor and humans might realize the importance of these now-defunct organizations.
Of course, fans certainly want these organizations back. One fan wrote, "Someone has to seriously get UNIT and Torchwood back up and running. The notion of neither being operational to defend Earth is not preferred by any measure. #DoctorWho."
While the mention of these two organizations warrant that they might be returning in some form, showrunner Chris Chibnall could also be intending to create a new organization combining both, but this, of course, remains to be seen.
'Doctor Who' airs on BBC America on Sundays at 8/7c.