Now that we know a little bit more about the special — namely, who’s responsible for Time freezing over — I’ve been chewing over various theories and predictions still flying about elsewhere as to what will happen for Christmas. 😉
It’s been pointed out that if these Glass People (only one of whom has a speaking role, which may or may not be a significant detail) are the antagonists, this might just be the first revival-era regeneration story in which the Last Great Time War and/or the Daleks are not involved in any way, shape, or form. Which would make sense — Gallifrey hasn’t been so much as mentioned since “Hell Bent” (end of Series 9) and the Daleks have had only cameos since “The Witch’s Familiar” (top of Series 9), even though both stories left loose ends that could be picked up somewhere down the line yet have gone untouched so far — Twelve’s relationship with his people, the prickly relationship he had with Ohila, what became of Time Lord-energy boosted Davros and the Daleks (did some survive Skaro’s collapse?), etc.
But at least as long as rumors that One and Twelve would be teaming up for this special have been around, there have been rumors that the story would involve their respective hands in the events of “The Day of the Doctor”, finally tying off the long-standing question of when Twelve pulled that lever — a question I would argue is more pertinent after the endgame of Series 9.
I can see him sealing off the deal before they imprisoned him in the dial and tortured him, but afterward? I’d be sorely tempted to let ’em rot instead. Yes, he would still have to do it to keep the Web of Time on an even keel and insure his own existence, but — especially if he remembers Clara now, as the end of “The Doctor Falls” suggests — wouldn’t he have a moment of doubt? Frankly, seeing him hesitate over the decision before doing what’s right, remembering he’s doing it more for Gallifrey’s innocents than the Time Lords themselves, would be more dramatic than treating it as a formality, if it turns out that he helped save Gallifrey at the end of his life. (Wouldn’t Clara remember if he’d done it when they were traveling together, and maybe brought it up in “Hell Bent”? By comparison Bill and even Nardole don’t seem to know much about the Time Lords in general, so if he did it while traveling with them, well, they’d just think it was “a thing” he was doing.)
Frankly, at only an hour long I think trying to bring in “The Day of the Doctor”‘s events might be overstuffing the story, since there’s already an all-new alien race to establish as a genuine giant, time-quaking threat that needs two Doctors to fix, followed by what will have to be a somewhat lengthy denouement — getting the Captain back to WWI and revealing his final fate (and actual identity if it isn’t established earlier — we still don’t know his given name), said Doctors parting, (possibly) One’s regeneration, Twelve saying goodbye to Bill, a “proper” sendoff for the Twelfth Doctor as a character, his regeneration, and finally Thirteen’s first scene.
And all that is assuming that the special isn’t bringing in any other companions or villains — and we already have heard rumors of Clara and the diner TARDIS showing up at some point, along with tons of fan requests for Susan to make an appearance. And if we’re getting Bill, what about Heather? If we’re getting Clara, what about Me?
And sure, everybody says that Missy is NOT in this special, but if the Moff lies…
I suppose the Glass People could turn out to be pawns of the Daleks and/or Time Lords, especially the latter given their abilities sound similar to time extraction tech, but is that what we really want? Comments are welcome! 😉
WhoHar 3 months, 2 weeks ago.
