One of Series 8s several interconnected mysteries is the identity of Missy; a woman also known as the Gatekeeper Of The Nethersphere. Based on the end of Deep Breath, all were really getting from whats shown onscreen is that shes a strung-out Mary Poppins-type figure with an excellent landscape gardener. While the fact that she calls the Doctor her boyfriend is interesting (and the cue for a lot of Shes River Song theories), the most intriguing aspect of her identity comes from a single line:
"I do like his latest accent though. I think Ill keep it."
From this we can draw two important nuggets of information about Missy. Firstly, she has encountered more than one Doctor and is familiar with Regeneration. And secondly she is somehow intrinsically linked to the Doctor, having involuntarily changed her accent (and possibly more) along with him. While her name has sparked a persistent theory that she is the Master along with linking her to the constant theories about the return of the Rani, the last scene of Deep Breath implies that she is a much more ethereal being that has an incredibly strong and long-standing connection to the Doctor. Like an embodiment of the Tardis for example. Though Steven Moffat has always said that its more fun to create new monsters and villains, and there arent really any established characters that match up to Missy. The most likely answer to who she is at the moment is some kind of St Peter figure for robots. Though whether or not shes good or evil is still fairly ambiguous. Answers on a postcard please since weve got nothing solid on this one.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
