Doctor Who Series 12 - 8 Major Rumours You Need To Know
2. A Darker Doctor
As intoned by the Tenth Doctor, regeneration is “a lottery”, and while he may have been coyly referring to certain… appendages, the sentiment is also applicable to personality. Gruff, pragmatic nine gave way to roguish, charming ten, who, in turn, bloomed into boyish, elastic eleven, who then morphed into curmudgeonly, world-weary twelve.
So far, Jodie Whittaker’s thirteenth Doctor has been depicted as an affable, scattershot adventurer with a deeply ingrained sense of righteousness, and occasionally wince-inducing word choices.
However, as elements of the series 12 trailer suggest, a personality shift, however temporary, is on the horizon.
In both trailers, a sombre Doctor declares that “something is coming” for her, and later, amid shots of weeping members of Team TARDIS, Grahame poses the ominous question, “what have you brought here, Doctor?” The snippets are in stark contrast to the rest of the footage, suggesting that whatever the mysterious “something” coming for The Doctor is, it is going to be the catalyst for the darker side of thirteen to take centre stage. The trailers still depict her as joke-savvy and fizzing with irrepressible nerdy energy, but beneath that, something is… off about her.
In a hostile exchange, Grahame asks “who are you, Doc?”, prompting an uncharacteristically barbed “you don’t know me” from The Doctor.
It could be a misdirect, something the show is infamous for, but the structure of the trailer appears to be gently coding viewers for the darkness to come.
A darkness potentially leading to entry number 8.