Doctor Who Series 12: 10 Huge Questions After Fugitive Of The Judoon

2. What Is Coming For The Doctor?

Doctor Who
BBC

Someone or something is coming for the Doctor, it was the tagline of the series trailer and she is sure of that now. Gone is the optimism of series 11 and a real sense of foreboding lies beneath the surface as we await to see who or what it is. Someone is also still after the Ruth Doctor. Gat and the Judoon were both hired hands and the identity of their paymaster remains a mystery.

There has to be a strong possibility that we are talking about the same person here. Whoever it is, it has to be big for the Master to be a mere puppet. There are no obvious clues, but if Gallifrey is involved then we are probably talking about a figure from Time Lord history and folklore, either one of their own or an ancient adversary.

The stellar engineer Omega, trapped in a universe of anti-matter, is one possibility. Already exposed as one of the Time Lords’ darkest secrets, another attempt by Omega to break out of his world could well be on the cards. The Kasaavin could fit in quite nicely if they were phantoms created by the engineer. This isn’t just season finale material, but something audacious enough to be the end game for Whittaker’s Doctor, if not Chibnall’s entire run.

It is possible that the ‘something’ coming for the Doctor is unrelated to the wider arc of the Time Lords, Gallifrey and the Timeless Child. In the trailer, immediately after this line there is a jump cut to the lone Cyberman. There is always more than one thing coming for her... this is, after all, the Doctor we are talking about. But like the Master, the Cyberman could end up being another puppet, another means of getting the Doctor’s attention.

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Paul Driscoll is a freelance writer and author across a range of subjects from Cult TV to religion and social policy. He is a passionate Doctor Who fan and January 2017 will see the publication of his first extended study of the series (based on Toby Whithouse's series six episode, The God Complex) in the critically acclaimed Black Archive range by Obverse Books. He is a regular writer for the fan site Doctor Who Worldwide and has contributed several essays to Watching Books' You and Who range. Recently he has branched out into fiction writing, with two short stories in the charity Doctor Who anthology Seasons of War (Chinbeard Books). Paul's work will also feature in the forthcoming Iris Wildthyme collection (A Clockwork Iris, Obverse Books) and Chinbeard Books' collection of drabbles, A Time Lord for Change.