Pre-Title Sequences Will Return for Some Series 12 Episodes
The “cold opens” were of course entirely absent in Series 11, but fans won’t have to wait long to see their return.
“It’s back – episode one [“Spyfall”],” Chibnall told the Radio Times. “There were just some episodes this year where I thought ‘Oh, that’ll be a great cold open.’”
He continued: “You won’t necessarily get the ‘scream’ of the opening theme, because the score will go into the titles and stuff like that. But yes [they’re back]!”
Chibnall went on to explain why Series 11 missed out, and why some episodes this year will still follow suit: “It wasn’t an absolute, hard and fast rule [last year] – I just think what you always want to do is, particularly now it’s series 12 of the revived series, you just want to be doing different things all the time, really.”
“So some [episodes in Series 12] have a cold open, some don’t. I think the danger is, if you shape everything towards it all the time then your shapes will become predictable.
“I think it’s really important in a time when television is moving so fast and there’s so much content, that nothing feels too fixed. It’s really important for the show.
“The show’s gotta be nimble, and so when you turn on you’re not quite sure whether you’re going to get a pre-titles, you’re not quite sure whether you’re going straight into the credits. I think that’s really good, that it should be per whatever the series demands, whatever the episode demands.”
