Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions We're Asking After 'Oxygen'
5. Who Is Nardole?
We know very little about the back story behind Matt Lucas’ robotised character. He first appeared as a hired hand for River Song and ended up being beheaded and used as a surrogate head for King Hydroflax (The Husbands of River Song), but his origins remain a mystery.
We know he plays a significant role in the latter stages of series 10 and all the talk up until now has revolved around the Doctor’s strange decision to reconnect his head to his original body and take him on as a companion (The Return of Doctor Mysterio).
Oxygen for the first time this series gives us a few little nuggets about his life before River Song and the Doctor, suggesting that he might have been a cyborg in the first place. He mentions having a different face, which seems to imply artificial intelligence, unless he turns out to be another Time Lord with the ability to regenerate.
There are also clues that he is a much darker character than his witty persona might otherwise have suggested. Is there a hint of implied racism for example, when he complains about Velma being a bit too orange for his liking, or when he tactlessly mentions knowing blueish people (even using the ‘some of my best friends are…’ line that has become synonymous with tacit racism)? Maybe that’s stretching it, but Nardole certainly seems to be hiding a shady past when talk turns to the possibility of bandits sabotaging the Space Station.