Doctor Who Eve Of The Daleks: 10 Huge Questions After The New Year Special
5. Did The TARDIS Create The Time Loop?
The Doctor thanks the TARDIS for setting up the time loop that gave her the chance to defeat the Daleks. But she does so, not really knowing for sure if the TARDIS set it up on purpose. Was it a temporary fault in the workings while the reboot told hold? If so, this adds weight to our earlier speculation that the TARDIS might still not be fully repaired. What’s to stop it happening again?
The TARDIS has tried to save the Doctor before, for instance in her efforts to keep Clara out (The Rings of Akhaten), so it is exactly the kind of thing she would do. But why send her there in the first place, especially when the Doctor’s chosen destination was somewhere else entirely?
This might not just be the TARDIS playing up - another force could still be at work behind the scenes, similar to when Missy took control of the TARDIS in series 10 (Empress of Mars). When the Doctor hid the fobwatch inside the TARDIS, had she unwittingly introduced something, or someone else, into the ship’s workings?
The time loop saves the Doctor, but even some of her enemies
might have a vested interest in keeping her alive. They might need something
from her, or simply want to be the ones to kill her.