Doctor Who: 10 Times The Doctor Faced Consequences For Their Actions

One of the standout plot points of the criminally underrated Series 10 is Twelve’s short-lived stint of blindness. After removing his space helmet to save Bill’s life during the events of Oxygen, Twelve loses his sight due to prolonged exposure to the vacuum of space. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that he is still blind, despite telling Bill otherwise. I guess you could say he was keeping her in the dark, blinding her to the truth, pulling the wool over her eyes... No? Okay.

Sacrificing his sight in the first place is not the mistake we’re referring to here, but rather what comes after. For the duration of the first two episodes of the ‘Monk Trilogy’: Extremis and Pyramid At The End Of The World, the Doctor chooses to hide his blindness from Bill, not wanting to worry her, whilst also not having to face the problem himself, which suits him. Instead, he relies on his sonic shades and some ‘stating the obvious’ commentary from Nardole. Given that the Earth is under threat from a seemingly omnipotent race, this does feel like something that Bill should be made aware of.

After managing to prevent the spread of a biochemical virus that will end all life on Earth, and by extension, prevent the Monks from saving and subsequently subjugating the world, The Doctor’s mistake of lying to Bill blows up in his face (very nearly in a literal sense). After rigging the lab that the virus was created in to explode, The Doctor has but a few minutes to evacuate - however, he comes face to face with a combination-locked door. Unable to see the numbers or hail Nardole for help, he is forced to accept his death, until Bill consents to the Monks’ occupation of Earth on the condition that The Doctor’s sight is returned, allowing him to escape the exploding lab.

The Doctor then has to repel a full-scale dystopian occupation of the planet, which sees humanity’s freedom of speech and thought stripped away and very nearly results in the death of Bill if not for her mother-ex-machina. All of this could have been avoided if The Doctor had told Bill and the two had been able to plan ahead (or if he hadn’t, for some reason, allowed Nardole to step out into a lab contaminated with a virus that was fatal to him).

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don’t hide important, world-saving information from your friends. Alternatively, get yourself on FaceTime so that Bill can walk you through the combination lock…