DOCTOR WHO Leak Appears To Reveal The Show's New Big Bad And A Potentially Divisive Romance - SPOILERS

DOCTOR WHO Leak Appears To Reveal The Show's New Big Bad And A Potentially Divisive Romance - SPOILERS

Intriguing new Doctor Who details appear to have found their way online, revealing who Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor will square off with and Russell T Davies' plan for a potentially divisive romance...

By JoshWilding - Dec 15, 2023 09:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Doctor Who
Source: SFFGazette.com

Shortly before Doctor Who's three 60th anniversary specials premiered, key plot details for all of them found their way online (including confirmation of that controversial bi-regeneration). Now, another - unearthed by a user on the r/gallifrey Reddit page - may have pulled back the curtain on Ncuti Gatwa's stint as the Fifteenth Doctor. 

The entire story for this month's Christmas Special is out there if you go looking, and while it's best to take this latest with a pinch of salt, we have good reason to believe it could be legitimate. Why? Well, the leaker in question was right about a lot of what we saw in "The Star Beast," "Wild Blue Yonder," and "The Giggle."

Before we get to the Whoniverse's potential new big bad, it's said (via SFFGazette.com) that Ruby Sunday's (Mille Gibson) boyfriend, played by The Little Mermaid star Jonah Hauer-King, falls for the Doctor as the series progresses. Showrunner Russell T Davies is supposedly looking to move away from the expected romance between the Time Lord and his female companion, and a love triangle is unexpected. 

As for the larger arc he has planned for Doctor Who, it will reportedly see the Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into an evil version of himself called the Valeyard. 

That's a real deep dive into Whoniverse lore as, in the original Doctor Who series, he was essentially a version of the Doctor who regenerated with his darker impulses no longer pushed down. The hero eventually managed to overcome and bury that facet of his personality, but it seems Davies now intends to put a new spin on the concept. 

Somewhat confusingly, it's said a future version of the Fifteenth Doctor - perhaps the Fourteenth Doctor after he regenerates? - will then have to travel back in time to try and get the Valeyard to turn back into his heroic self, with Davies hoping to enlist several previous Doctor actors to send Gatwa's iteration out in style. Presumably, that means the actor is just sticking around for a three-season run (which seems to be the maximum in this modern era). 

Finally, the leak also claims there are plans in place for the Daleks to return in next year's season 1.

We'll see if this leads anywhere but it's certainly intriguing to think about where Doctor Who could be taking us in the years ahead. Recently, Davies shared his thoughts on that big bi-generation twist leaking in advance. 

"It’s kind of leaked. So a lot of fans will know about this, but that’s just fans," he said. "And my sister will still sit there screaming [because] there will be an awful lot of people who don’t know what’s going to happen. The vast majority. And it plays with them so much here. 'What’s going on?' What a laugh."

Doctor Who's Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road," will premiere on BBC and Disney+ on Christmas Day.

DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special Trailer Brings Joy To The World As The Doctor Meets...The Doctor?!
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DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special Trailer Brings "Joy To The World" As The Doctor Meets...The Doctor?!

DOCTOR WHO Star Ncuti Gatwa Is Reportedly Not Long For Doctor Role As Season 3 Plans Remain Up In The Air
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marvel72
marvel72 - 12/15/2023, 9:29 AM
Keep it up, you ain't getting any new viewers or keeping the old ones.
Ginley
Ginley - 12/15/2023, 9:57 AM
@marvel72 -

"The Star Beast" has now passed 9 million viewers in the UK.

That makes it one of the most watched episodes of the year.

But you were saying something about losing viewers blah, blah, blah.
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/15/2023, 10:08 AM
@Ginley - Watching it live it gets about 5 million and with each 60th anniversary episode its dropping.

The new series will be no better.
LegendaryOutlaw
LegendaryOutlaw - 12/15/2023, 10:33 AM
@marvel72 - That’s not including iPlayer or Disney+ numbers. Streamings changed the landscape for viewership. People know they don’t have to catch it the moment it drops.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 12/15/2023, 11:36 AM
@LegendaryOutlaw - Yup, why all live viewing numbers across all UK legacy terrestrial channels have gone down every year over the past couple decades. That and the number of channels folk over here have access to has exploded from only five for most prior to digital in 2007 to 480 channels now, over 200 of those free to view. Certain stuff like Strictly or soaps is almost exclusively live viewing but most dramas upto half watch on catchup, sometimes more views on iplayer than live over time (and again, way more choices and content competing for viewers).
dragon316
dragon316 - 12/15/2023, 11:45 AM
@marvel72 - I know of series never saw any episode it looks like grounded Star Trek series with space ships maybe where Loki series took inspiration from is from doctor felt like I was watching dr who series with marvel characters in Loki series
The1st
The1st - 12/15/2023, 1:09 PM
@Ginley - I know why these articles keep getting released, just not who they're for necessarily.
Elle79
Elle79 - 12/15/2023, 1:27 PM
@Ginley - That's essentially a one-off. Overall the viewership has been dropping.
Ginley
Ginley - 12/16/2023, 2:05 AM
@Elle79 -

Either you know what you're talking about and you're being disingenuous or you don't.

Which is it?

Counting Chibnall's era and thinking that his and RTD's work is remotely comparable in terms of cultural, critical and ratings success is just silly.
Sleerfnivek
Sleerfnivek - 12/18/2023, 11:22 AM
@marvel72 - I've always felt like if you don't like it, don't watch it and if enough people do that the drop in viewership sends enough of a signal for them to change directions.
It's a bit egocentric to believe is more in line with the market than the data that they gather regarding their own shows. If you feel passionately about the direction being wrong, right to them and tell them.
As far as I'm concerned I know well enough that You're going to have great episodes and terrible episodes with everything else fluctuating in between. You're going to have great seasons and poor seasons that fluctuate the same way. You're going to have great doctors and poor doctors that do the same.
My case is simple. Following Matt Smith, my life went into upheaval and I got extremely far behind and never had an opportunity to catch up until recently and just now I'm beginning to watch again and I have two doctors to go through to get there. They may not be as good as 10 and 11. Or they may be better for all I know. What I didn't know is that I enjoy the concept of the show and I'm loyal to a show that has provided so much entertainment and so much thought and fun with my kids who are adults now and I don't anticipate ever abandoning it completely. And no matter how bad it may get, It's still better than 98% of the other garbage on TV. So I'll take it and be appreciative.
Sleerfnivek
Sleerfnivek - 12/18/2023, 11:35 AM
@Sleerfnivek - please pardon the speech to text errors. Sometimes it seems to appear correctly until I press the send button at which point My phone likes to make a mess of things. Lol
Elle79
Elle79 - 12/19/2023, 9:51 AM
@Ginley - What I said was factual. I'm sorry that facts trigger you, but not surprised about it
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 12/15/2023, 9:38 AM
LMAO
LMAO - 12/15/2023, 9:48 AM
Origame
Origame - 12/15/2023, 9:51 AM
Sigh. I'm reminded of George takai being AGAINST reboot sulu being gay. The reason being sulu was straight in the original timeline, and making the reboot gay implies it's a choice.
Ginley
Ginley - 12/15/2023, 9:57 AM
@Origame -

"making the reboot gay implies it's a choice."

LOL.

What a ridiculous suggestion.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 12/15/2023, 10:32 AM
@Ginley -

LOL!

Elle79
Elle79 - 12/15/2023, 1:26 PM
@Ginley - Then take it up with the gay male (George Takei) who made the point. Are you gay? If not, it's pretty bigoted to question Takei's view on the issue.
Elle79
Elle79 - 12/19/2023, 9:49 AM
@jst5 - So you're saying George Takei is stupid?
jst5
jst5 - 12/19/2023, 9:00 PM
@Elle79 - It's not Takei who I'm talking about here....but yea he's pretty stupid also and a pedo at that.
Elle79
Elle79 - 12/20/2023, 4:56 PM
@jst5 - So explain why you think Takei is wrong.
jst5
jst5 - 12/20/2023, 5:39 PM
@Elle79 -You have no choice in being a male or female...that happens in the development stage of child birth....you have the choice of being gay...it's idiotic to think otherwise.
Beer85
Beer85 - 12/15/2023, 10:02 AM
Show is pretty terrible. Good thing that they dont force people to watch it, even if I'm sure the BBC are working on a law that would force people to stare at this crapola, Alex/Clockwork Orange style.
DarkModeDan
DarkModeDan - 12/15/2023, 10:05 AM
Ayyyy, had a feeling this might lead to the Valeyard! RTD has definitely demonstrated a willingness to bring back elements from Classic Who, so I can totally see this being the plan. Love how a random story idea from the 80s could actually get paid off in the same show almost 40 years later.

Alternatively...I can't believe I'm saying this, but he might also be finding a creative way to make the "Timeless Child" actually kind of work?

Picture this:

In the past, the show had this Time Lord rule about limiting regenerations to about 12. Maybe that was a rule because regenerating beyond that point caused some sort of instability, eventually resulting in bi-generations.

How does that tie into the Timeless Child? Well, what if most or all of the Time Lords were actually just a result of eons of bi-generations. One person fracturing over and over again into a population of millions, if not billions.

All those original memories could just get buried over time, so characters like The Doctor and The Master could still be their unique selves in Time Lord society.

I really, really hated the idea of The Doctor specifically being the Timeless Child, but if basically ALL of the Time Lords were ultimately just bi-generations the Timeless Child too, maybe that could lessen the blow a bit. It would make the Doctor's choices as a person paramount again, and not the idea of them just happening to born as the "super-special most cosmically important person in existence ever" reasoning of the Timeless Child.




...Or you could also just retcon it, IDK. 🙄
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 12/15/2023, 10:14 AM
@DarkModeDan - I get ya and sounds like an intriguing idea

I do think the Timeless Child stuff could also be used to explore The Doctor more and why they keft Gallifrey initially , maybe a subconscious urge to go home the long way around?.

I do like that RTD isn’t ignoring it and the Flux though and building on it to further the Doctor’s character

He’s even said the Doctor being a “foundling” now will help him bond with his new companion Ruby who herself is adopted.
EarlChai
EarlChai - 12/15/2023, 10:16 AM
@DarkModeDan - 😳 When the Timeless Child first came out I joked “watch, they’ll reveal that *every* character has secretly been a regeneration of The Doctor!” Now with bi-generation, it could actually work…
DarkModeDan
DarkModeDan - 12/15/2023, 10:24 AM
@TheVisionary25 - Fair enough! I admittedly wasn't a fan of Chibnall's writing and style, but I do want to try to give every idea a fair shake. And I respect RTD's willingness to explore it too.

Hadn't heard that quote about how Fifteen could bond over it, but it sounds exactly like the sort of thing RTD would do to give us some solid character moments.
DarkModeDan
DarkModeDan - 12/15/2023, 10:24 AM
@EarlChai - Hey, you never know. 😅
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 12/15/2023, 10:38 AM
@DarkModeDan - I enjoyed some things about it but I wasn’t a big fan overall of Chibnall’s run either

I do agree , willing to give it a shot!!
Sleerfnivek
Sleerfnivek - 12/18/2023, 11:37 AM
@DarkModeDan - This sounds like a lot of fun to explore. I hadn't actually considered that But this is making a lot of sense.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 12/15/2023, 10:06 AM
I wish there wasn’t a romance element present at all in Ncuti’s run but I get both with both Russell & Ncuti being queer and the times we live in that they would want to show q queer romance with the Doctor ( or atleast a one sided crush) which is fine but oh well.

I do like them finally tackling the Valeyard again if true and likely the future Doctor will be 14th who has finally regenerated into 15th , that sounds intriguing so hopefully it turns out well!!.



Anyway , still looking forward to the new series and can’t wait!!.

Apophis71
Apophis71 - 12/15/2023, 10:19 AM
@TheVisionary25 - As I said prefer if they kept from any romance stuff, been too much of it and the assistants BF having a crush on the Doctor even if not reciprocated isn't a good move if true...

...and not for the reasons some would have, just not a fan of inserting romance stuff in most cases and has to be when required for the narrative of a story.

Find it very odd however that a likely long story arc has leaked, the Beeb tended to run a tight ship on that sort of thing where you could get minor stuff about the next episode slip out but never those long arc details. On the one hand that could be down to someone at Disney or it may just call into question validity and be more educated guess or intentional misdirect leak to find out who was to blame for spoilers on the specials.

Glad they are finaly going there with addressing the Valeyard stuff if this is true (and actualy better if we see the Doctor we are following head down that dark path rather than the 14th doing so offscreen) and that they seem to have implied stuff messed up in prior seasons are going to be retconned a tad by 'revealing' that was down to the Toymaker (jigsaw comment)) as ignore or cleanup of some of that was kinda required tbh.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 12/15/2023, 10:40 AM
@Apophis71 - yeah

Toymaker saying he’s made a jigsaw of the Doctors past certainly gives them ckearbce to to work around retcons & such.
DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 12/15/2023, 10:18 AM
Why does the Doctor even need a love interest..?
I mean he's over a billion years old now... wouldn't that make all humans jailbait? 😂
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 12/15/2023, 10:31 AM
@DevilsDreams - Nope, he doesn't need a love interest so hoping too much is being read into the someone falling for him and is both limited and not reciprocated if true at all. Another Mickey scenario where the BF starts off more antagoinistic in his feelings about his GF going off on adventures with the Doctor but eventualy falls for his charm, but NOT in a romantic way would be OK even if a tad retreading old ground.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 12/15/2023, 10:34 AM

I have considered trying out Dr. Who. Is there anywhere to stream it all including the very first episodes from decades ago?

DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 12/15/2023, 10:40 AM
@DocSpock - The Early stuff with William Hartnell through to Sylvester McCoy is available on BritBox in the UK. I'm not sure if Disney+ is carrying all of it in the US or just from when they started again with Eccleston.

Some of the really early stuff is missing though, but some has been filled in with some animation, I was watching an early one of Hartnell with the Cybermen and one episode was live action, the next one had the same voices, but was animated (still in B&W)
DocSpock
DocSpock - 12/15/2023, 11:03 AM
@DevilsDreams -

Thanks Dude!
DarkModeDan
DarkModeDan - 12/15/2023, 11:22 AM
@DocSpock - Another good starting point might be the 2005 series. It was specifically designed to be a jumping on point/relaunch for new viewers. Looks like it's currently streaming on "MAX" but I wouldn't be surprised if it all got moved over to Disney+ eventually.

Also, the show is a mix of many different tones and genres, i.e. it's got sci-fi, it's got horror, it can be pretty campy, but also dead serious. It'd definitely recommend giving it a chance for Series 1 and 2, that'll probably help you decide if its for you. 😅
DocSpock
DocSpock - 12/15/2023, 11:25 AM
@DarkModeDan -

Cool. I am gonna check it out.

Thanks again.
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