History WMG / DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor

** Mel is confirmed to be returning in Series 14. Perhaps her return to Earth will be explained then.

** '''Jossed'''. No such scene happens.

* It's also possible, given that she talks about checking up on other former companions in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', that Sarah Jane Smith had a hand in getting everyone together. Though the lockdown special "Farewell, Sarah Jane" is about her funeral, there's no indication that she's dead in the continuity of the TV series, so the events of "Farewell, Sarah Jane" are either non-canon or have yet to take place. And, given that Tegan and Nyssa being an OfficialCouple, as stated in "Farewell, Sarah Jane", appears not to be canon to the TV series, it's likely that the rest of that story isn't canon either.

** In the Classic Series Season 26 collection announcement minisode '24 Karot', Langford reprises her role as Mel, revealing the character now heads up an interstellar recruitment drive for potential investments. At the end of the minisode, she is reunited with the Seventh Doctor and once again becomes his companion, heading out into the galaxy aboard the TARDIS. It's entirely possible she is dropped back on Earth at the close of these unseen new adventures. However, like all expanded Who media, the canonicity of this minisode is debatable.

Given how much the Chibnall era has tried to ride off the major hits of the RTD era...

* Until now, Mel's last onscreen appearance was in the Seventh Doctor story "Dragonfire", which ends with her deciding to stay with rogue trader Sabalom Glitz. The Sixth Doctor story "The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet" establishes that Glitz comes from around 2 million years in Earth's future, suggesting that "Dragonfire" also takes place in that time frame. However, Mel is among the former companions attending the meeting towards the end of "The Power of the Doctor", which takes place in 2022. So how did she travel back in time by 2 million years? One possibility is that she crossed paths with the Doctor again and, presumably after a few more adventures, the Doctor set the TARDIS for Pease Pottage [[note]]Mel's home town[[/note]] and dropped her off there.

* Also '''Confirmed''', but only in the most literal sense: there are ''three'' regenerations - The Master forces The Doctor to regenerate into his form, which is later reversed, before Thirteen herself finally regenerates at the episode's end... into Creator/DavidTennant.

** '''Jossed'''. While this does become an awkward theme in the episode (note 13's look when meeting Tegan and Ace and compare it to 10's look in ''School Reunion''), it sets up the opposite theme of never leaving or forgetting about past companions. The Master acts as the bad influence for Yaz, actively wanting to corrupt them and future companions, and the guilt slinging is brought out by Tegan for feeling disposable. It is also briefly discussed by Hologram-Seven and Ace, with Seven fearing that he taught Ace some bad habits, and Ace responding that, on the contrary, he had been an important moderating influence upon her.

* Towards the end, some of the Doctor's former companions are shown meeting up to talk about their experiences. The ones we see are Ian, Jo, Tegan, Mel, Ace and Graham, but there are other companions who were last seen on present-day [[note]]at the time they and the Doctor parted company[[/note]] who are not present. Admittedly, several ex-companions are absent because the actors who played them have since died, but, in most cases, there's no confirmation that their characters have also died. So it's possible that at least some of these companions are still alive and are members of this group; we just don't see them. Not to mention that Polly, Mickey, Martha and Ryan could, in theory, also be members.

* Towards the end, some of the Doctor's former companions are shown meeting up to talk about their experiences. The ones we see are Ian, Jo, Tegan, Mel, Ace and Graham, but there are other companions who were last seen on present-day [[note]]at the time they and the Doctor parted company[[/note]] who are not present. Admittedly, several ex-companions are absent because the actors who played them have since died, but, with the exception of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, none of them are confirmed as having died in the TV series. So it's possible that at least some of the companions whose actors have died are still alive and are members of this group; we just don't see them. Not to mention that Polly, Mickey, Martha and Ryan could, in theory, also be members. It's also possible, given that she talks about checking up on other former companions in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventure'' episode "Death of the Doctor", that Sarah Jane Smith had a hand in getting everyone together. Though the lockdown special "Farewell, Sarah Jane" is about her funeral, there's no indication that she's dead in the continuity of the TV series, so the events of "Farewell, Sarah Jane" are either non-canon or have yet to take place. And, given that Tegan and Nyssa being an OfficialCouple, as stated in "Farewell, Sarah Jane", appears not to be canon to the TV series, it's likely that the rest of that story isn't canon either.

* One of the complaints in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]] was that TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter by killing off Ashad so early in the story. His defeat in this story is much less clear cut of a death, and electrocution is probably much more survivable to a Cyberman than anyone else.

* While this theory actually has basis in the show's history (There was a plan to regenerate Colin Baker's Doctor back into Patrick Troughton for a season before regenerating into a woman for the next) and it's happened multiple times in the ExpandedUniverse it would severely take the wind out of Ncuti's casting if David Tennant usurped his regeneration, even if for one story.

** '''Jossed''' in that Thirteen doesn't regenerate into Ncuti. But the Doctor does say the what line upon realizing they turned back into Tennant.

* '''Jossed''', at least for this special - Bel doesn't even appear.

Jodie Whittaker into Olly Alexander and Carole Ann Ford into Lidya West

** '''Jossed'''. While this does become an awkward theme in the episode (Note 13's look when meeting Tegan and Ace and compare it to 10's look in ''School Reunion''), it sets up the opposite theme of never leaving or forgetting about past companions. The Master acts as the bad influence for Yaz, actively wanting to corrupt them and future companions, and the guilt slinging is brought out by Tegan for feeling disposable. It is also briefly discussed by Hologram-Seven and Ace, with Seven fearing that he taught Ace some bad habits, and Ace responding that, on the contrary, he had been an important moderating influence upon her.

** '''Potentially Jossed''', however, as it appears the Master's Rasputin disguise is discarded with his seeming death on the disintegrating Conversion Planet, meaning ''someone else'' had to be there in Saint Petersburg for the nobles to poison, shoot and dump in a river...

In the promo pics, we see Cybermen with Gallifreyan writing on them but without Time Lord headpieces and cloaks, accompanied (led?) by one Cybermaster with a Time Lord headpiece and cloak. The Cybermasters we see in ''The Timeless Children'', all with headpieces and cloaks, are not all the Cybermasters there are. Perhaps those were made from the Time Lord High Council, while the ones with no Time Lord regalia are made from lower-ranking Time Lords (or ordinary Gallifreyans).

* That would ''really'' cement its destruction and make impossible (or at least significantly harder) for future writers to bring the Gallifreyan civilization back.