Doctor Who Series 12: Ten Huge Questions After The Haunting Of Villa Diodati
2. Why Did The Cyberium Choose The Doctor?
It makes for a lovely scene. The Doctor doing what she does
best and sacrificing herself to save others, but why did the Cyberium choose
her over the lone Cyberman? Is it simply a case of it selecting the most
superior mind in the room, or is there more to it than that? Is it a statement
about the Doctor’s suitability, or the lone Cyberman’s unsuitability?
It is possible that when the Doctor made contact with Shelley’s mind, the Cyberium formed a new connection, and that she was in effect a continuation of Shelley. Not even an upgrade, just more of the same. The Doctor has complete mastery over it, which is remarkable given the lengths the thing had gone to in order to protect itself from discovery. In this scenario, her Time Lord powers overcome any agency on its part.
But if the Alliance had hidden the device from the Cybermen, then presumably they have found a way of doctoring it. It seems implausible that the cyber technology would fight to stop one of its own from gaining access to it. Either that, or we are set for some time bending paradoxes and the Cyberium knows that it will end up being destroyed if the lone Cyberman gets hold of it. It could just be a case of the wrong Cyberman. The Doctor’s fix in the future could be a Jafar in Aladdin-like solution, where giving it what it wants turns out to be its downfall.