Doctor Who Series 12: Ten Huge Questions After Can You Hear Me?

There can be no doubt that a parting of the ways is on the cards. The Doctor was left talking to herself more than once, thinking her companions were still beside her, but just as in Orphan 55, her friends are happy to leave her to it. We have suspected that all three of them could be returning to Sheffield, but Ryan has now come out as the surprise prime candidate thanks to his poignant nightmare and his touching reconnection with struggling friend, Tibo.

Ryan’s fear is that he has abandoned his home and friends, and that he won’t be there when they need him most. Although the Doctor insists that the apocalyptic scenes on Orphan 55 are just one possible future for our planet, his worry is that his world will one day become a hell on Earth, burnt to the ground and overrun by the monstrous zombie-like Dregs.

Of course, returning to Sheffield won’t prevent that scenario from taking place and it isn’t as if he could reasonably make a difference and save Tibo and his friends, but the nightmare betrays a more general sense of guilt about not being around.

In a touching scene with Yaz, Ryan is seriously questioning whether he can carry on travelling with the Doctor. Yaz tries to reassure him that there is no need to hurry home, the Doctor could just return him seconds after he first left. Ryan rightly notes that he wouldn’t be going back as the same man. The fact that this reminds Yaz that the Doctor warned them about this on the day they chose to travel with her is the biggest clue yet that time is nearly up.