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Pre-release speculation
Potential villains
- Judoon have been confirmed.
- Daleks.
- Spotted
on location filming in Bristol, and given the timing (late October), most likely for the season finale. - Chibnall's claimed that there are no Daleks this season. Since outright lies don't appear to be his style for misleading people and keeping the audience in the dark as to future DW plot developments, combined with the fact that Chibnall almost certainly knew that people saw the Daleks in filming and certain rumours, they could be for some sort of holiday special for the 2020 holidays.
- The Daleks are indeed for a holiday special.
- Spotted
- Cybermen.
- Rumour has it (coming from The Mirror, which has had a good track record for predictions about the Chibnall era so far) that not only will they appear, but that they'll inspire Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. As the article points out, that is similar to Big Finish Doctor Who Eighth Doctor audio drama "The Silver Turk", but it wouldn't be the first time the new series has adapted an Expanded Universe story.
- Word from Empire magazine's 2020 preview issue confirms there's a Mary Shelley story, at the least, although whether or not the Cybermen are involved is unknown.
- Word
- Confirmed.
- Further confirmed by the first trailer, which briefly shows a rather rusty and somewhat the worse-for-wear Cyberman right after the Doctor says that something's coming for her.
- Further confirmed by the first trailer
- Rumour has it
- Sontarans: As the only member of the show's Rogues Gallery inclined towards particularly sexist beliefs, as an all-male One-Gender Race, they're the only one of the Doctor's regularly appearing enemies likely to at least initially treat Thirteen differently because of the Gender Bender. And they haven't been main antagonists of a story in more than a decade.
- Rutans could show up too. Considering that Vinay Patel is a returning writer, and he has shown deftness in writing about War Is Hell, maybe he could write an episode about the Rutan-Sontaran War.
- Jossed that Patel is writing about that topic. He's the writer of the Judoon episode.
- Rutans could show up too. Considering that Vinay Patel is a returning writer, and he has shown deftness in writing about War Is Hell, maybe he could write an episode about the Rutan-Sontaran War.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Drahvins could be interesting to explore, perhaps giving Ryan and Graham a taste of prejudice.
- The Minister of War.
- Autons.
- Considering the political bent in this series, maybe something about body image? After all, they are mannequins.
- And at least one throwaway joke about plastic waste, being the minor environmental issue du jour at the time of writing this point.
- No word on Autons, but the rumour is that there is a story about plastic pollution this season.
- Jossed, the plastic episode did not have Autons.
- Considering the political bent in this series, maybe something about body image? After all, they are mannequins.
- Weeping Angels.
- The Master.
- Confirmed.
- A renegade Time Lord other than the Master.
- The Monk
- The Rani
- Rassilon, post-exile. This one is made more likely considering Spyfall teased more exploration of the founding of Gallifrey.
- Similar to Rassilon above, Omega could show up again, maybe even with a link to the Solitract.
- Strangely enough, confirmed. The renegade Time Lord she faces calls herself The Doctor! Additionally, the major villain is the non-renegade but malevolent Time Lord called Gat. Finally, the Master creates an army of Cyber-converted undead Time Lords.
- The Valeyard, possibly with the story of how they came to be created.
- Silurians. Chibnall's written them before.
- Photos from "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" show a gun that looks extremely similar to the Silurian weapons from "The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood"...
- A Silurian weapon appears in "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror".
- Stenza. The second episode of the previous season seemed to have been setting them up as a recurring threat.
- Zygons. If UNIT's gone, the Zygons would be a major problem.
- Atraxi. Since the Judoon are in, maybe the other brutal alien police force will appear too.
- Racnoss seemingly appear in the trailer, though it could just be a lookalike.
- Jossed, the Skithra are more of a lookalike.
Yaz will be the focus of a major plotline.
One of the most common complaints about Series 11 was that Yaz was underused compared to Ryan and Graham. In addition, early rumours suggest that she will finally get her own plot.The restoration of UNIT will be a major arc.
- Alternately, The Doctor will run into Kate and Osgood as vigilantes.
There will be giant frogs.
The Noodle Incident from the "Rose" novelization will be resolved.Aaron will be a recurring character.
His and Ryan's relationship still needs to be addressed more. The Timeless Child arc will be resolved
Chibnall wouldn't abandon the series arc. More likely, he just wanted to wait until other major elements had been introduced.- Confirmed: the Master's message sets up the Timeless Child as the main arc of this series.
The Doctor will become the Valeyard this season
Because come on. There will be at least one Take That, Audience! to fans who dislike the left-wing politics and the female Doctor
Maybe there will be the villain(s) who liked the male Doctors but want to kill the Doctor for being a woman.The Judoon in Gloucester are a rogue group.
The first official news regarding the contents of this season is that there's an episode with Judoon in Gloucester on some kind of mission. However, their previous major appearances on Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures established that they have no jurisdiction on present-day Earth... so what are they doing? It's possible that they're a group of rogue Judoon so obsessed with carrying out their brand of justice that they will pursue the fugitive they're hunting even to areas they have no authority in.- The jurisdiction could have changed.
- Seemingly confirmed, as the synopsis describes them as "mercenaries".
- Partially confirmed: they still don't have jurisdiction on Earth, but the contract the platoon appearing in the episode have requires them to locate a fugitive who happens to be on Earth.
All returning monsters and antagonists in this season will be ones that haven't had major roles for a long time.
After all, the Judoon last played a major role on the show in their debut appearance in "Smith and Jones", so it's possible this could be a trend for this season. Potential other examples could include the Slitheen and the Sontarans (although the latter have had major appearances, they've only played the role of main antagonist in their new series debut, "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky").- Slitheen are given credence by the fact that the Doctor name-dropped them in "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos". This theory would support Autons too.
- Considering the Racnoss appear to be in after not appearing for 11 years, it seems this theory is correct.
- Well, it certainly looks like it could be a Racnoss, but there's no confirmation on that front yet...
- Jossed regarding the Racnoss; the species is called the Skithra and only bear a superficial resemblance.
- Well, it certainly looks like it could be a Racnoss, but there's no confirmation on that front yet...
- Jossed: The Master is back after only missing Series 11.
Judoon will be connected to racial issues with police brutality
Ryan might comment about the Judoon's heavy-handed approach being rather familiar to him. There will likely be more politics in this season.- If so, Yaz may get an Awesome Moment of chewing out the Judoon about how they're making things worse and giving the good coppers like herself a bad name.
- Jossed: They are connected to police brutality a bit, but racial issues are not brought up.
The Shadow Proclamation will show up again
Since the Judoon are here, this would make sense. Maybe, with a bigger effects budget, they can realize what wasn't possible in "The Stolen Earth".- Looking jossed. In "Fugitive of the Judoon", the Judoon were working for The Time Lords, not the shadow Proclamation.
One (or more) of the companions will leave at the end of the season.
One of the more prominent lines of criticism for Series 11 was that having four main characters is too much, given the new series' format. Perhaps, depending on how things go, one or more of the companions will leave at the end as a result, since we know everyone is coming back for this season. It's even possible they'll surprise us and someone will depart earlier in the season.- Almost certainly Graham. Yaz needs better storylines than Season 11, and Ryan would probably garner some backlash.
- If so, maybe Graham's cancer will return, forcing him to remain on Earth for chemotherapy and other treatments. The Doctor will apologize profusely that she can't arrange a sci-fi miracle cure for him, because the last time she tried drastic alien medical treatments on a human, things didn't work out too well for the patient in the (very) long run.
- It looks like Ryan (at least) may be leaving, given reports Tosin Cole has been cast in a leading role in AMC drama 61st Street.
- "Can You Hear Me?" further suggests that Ryan is going to leave, as the events of the episode lead him to question whether he wants to keep travelling on the TARDIS for much longer.
Guesses for Stephen Fry's character
He's giving the Doctor a mission in the trailer, so he's clearly an authority of some sort, and a major player in the arc. He could be:- A leader in a rebuilt UNIT.
- A Time Lord
- A hidden villain, perhaps a Time Lord or a human collaborator with the alien villains
- Either the head of a medical facility or a patient himself, as there's an IV stand with fluid bags behind him in the trailer
- A government official with a health problem that's possibly plot-relevant
- Both health-related ones are jossed: a "Spyfall" preview clip reveals that the IV stand is not connected to him.
- The synopsis indicates most of the above are definitively jossed as he appears to be a high-ranking MI6 official. The hidden villain one we have to wait upon.
- Jossed: He's C, head of MI6.
Goran Višnjić is playing Nikola Tesla.
One, he said he was playing one of his favourite historical figures. Two, he's in the trailer sporting late Victorian-era clothing and a moustache and looking very much like Tesla.- Confirmed, with Robert Glenister playing Thomas Edison in the same episode.
Teasers will return
- Confirmed for the first part of "Spyfall"!
The Master will be the main villain in "Spyfall"
- Confirmed.
If the Racnoss does not appear...
...the Huon particles will do."Spyfall" will involve the TARDIS team thrown throughout history
- As the Radio Times cast list lists Noor Inayat Khan in the second episode of Series 12.
- The cliffhanger may be the Doctor realising she is in 1943, Paris, as seen in the trailer.
- Jossed for the cliffhanger, but this theory looks likely for the second part.
- The WMG is jossed as a whole, but some parts of it are confirmed: the Doctor is sent first to 1834 London then to 1943 Paris, teaming up with Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan. Graham, Ryan and Yaz remain in the present.
Post-release speculation
In General
The Doctor will snap, and have her own Time Lord Victorious moment
- Almost every interview with Jodie Whittaker has mentioned she'll be darker this season, and "Spyfall" had a lot of moral ambiguity (mind-wiping Ada and Noor, handing a POC Master to the Nazis he betrayed), while "Orphan 55" has her plenty more moody and extolling the virtues of being passive aggressive. She's already had the feral smile anger moments in s11, and it's looking more and more like she was just trying to be as friendly as possible in that season, not really letting anyone in.
- Kind of. The Doctor comes close to killing herself and the Master with the Death Particle, but stops short. She gets much darker this season regardless.
A modified version of the Cartmel Masterplan is coming back this season
- The Timeless Child is apparently related to the founding of Gallifrey, and to the Doctor's past in particular. Some of the references also hint at other incarnations prior to the first Doctor. All of this points to a return to the Cartmel Masterplan, in which it would have been revealed an unknown Doctor helped found Gallifrey.
- "Fugitive of the Judoon" lends heavy credence to this theory with The Reveal that the titular fugitive is a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor who doesn't remember ever being Thirteen (or vice versa) and is on the run from Gallifrey.
- As of "The Timeless Children", confirmed in that the Doctor was integral to the creation of the Time Lords!
Thirteen will be Killed Off for Real
- The Doctor's adventures will follow Ruth instead.
- jossed Jodie Whittaker has signed on for another season [1]
- jossed Jodie Whittaker has signed on for another season [1]
- Alternately, maybe it could turn out that Thirteen is actually the Valeyard and will become the villain to the the Ruth Doctor.
Thirteen and the Ruth Doctor will both be active.
Most of the series will follow Thirteen, but there will be a couple of shared episodes where we follow the Ruth Doctor for large portions, then depending on fan reaction and competing acting jobs, eventually she'll have episodes without Thirteen taking part at all. On the plus side, seasons will increase in number of episodes from ten to twelve or more! Ruth will take a long time before she picks up any new Companions.
Ruth was with Lee on Earth as wife and husband, it's implied for ten years or more. Their relationship was intense enough that she'll need time to mourn, just like he did after losing the Ponds or Clara. Grief is why she seems so cold after she gets her memory back; her usual personality is much more like we're used to from the Doctor. The "Ascension" of the Cybermen refers to them becoming Time Lords
Maybe the dark secret of Gallifrey is that the Time Lords are actually the final upgrade of the Cybermen. It seems a little odd that the finale will apparently deal with both the Cybermen and the Time Lords' secret origin, so maybe they'll be connected.- As of "The Timeless Children", Jossed, it's actually the other way around.
At least one of the companions/fam will be Killed Off for Real.
No being made immortal by the Bad Wolf, being "saved" to a massive library computer, being mind-wiped, being trapped in the past, being unavoidably killed but functionally immortal until you return to that point in time to die or being Cyber-converted and then turned into a living puddle. A common complaint about the new series is that the producers (especially Moffat) didn't have the guts to really go through with killing a main character off, so having one of them die with no way to save them or otherwise have a happy ending would be genuinely shocking.
- Jossed; they're all still alive as of the end of "The Timeless Children".
"Spyfall"
Missy was Killed Off for Real.
Either Simm!Master regenerated into Dhawan!Master instead of Missy as he was originally supposed to due to time being rewritten, or that incarnation of the Master is before Missy.- Apparently jossed by the "Brief History of the Master" video on the official YouTube channel, which implies that Dhawan!Master is, in fact, a post-Missy incarnation.
The Master's Mutual Kill death in "The Doctor Falls" made them crazier than ever
It would explain why Dhawan!Master acts a lot more like the Saxon Master despite being (apparently) after Missy. Another possibility is that the Saxon Master's laser screwdriver blast, instead of permanently killing Missy, was actually designed to make her regenerate into an incarnation more like him. Or maybe it made her lose all her memories of being Missy when she regenerated.The Dhawan!Master is actually an earlier version of the character, possibly one who regenerates from or into the Delgado!Master
The heavy use of espionage tropes and James Bond references are call backs to the UNIT Years (whenever they actually were) as is the return of the TCE. Personally I’m hoping this is a regeneration or two after Delgado, the original performance of the character always seemed too confident and composed for someone with no regenerations to spare.- Apparently jossed by the "Brief History of the Master" video on the official YouTube channel, which implies that Dhawan!Master is, in fact, a post-Missy incarnation.
The Dhawan!Master really is Post Missy and isn’t quite insane as he is obsessive
He seemed positively gleeful when the Doctor recognised who he really was. He also had a shelf full of files on the Doctor, and had been texting Thirteen and an unknown previous incarnation. Perhaps this Master has decided the Doctor’s companions are what keeps their friendship failing. The Dhawan-Master is an alternate-universe version of the Simm-Master.
He shares a lot of the same mannerisms as the Simm-Master, right down to infiltrating a position of influence within the British government, and no indication of any influence from Missy. He's also working with entities that are apparently invading Team Tardis's universe, as well as several other alternate Earths. He's been collecting information on the Doctor - something that our Whoniverse's Master wouldn't need to do so much - and might well have been instrumental behind-the-scenes in getting UNIT operations suspended: a fate that the classic Master would probably consider insufficient punishment for the organization that's hindered so many Masterly plans. Finally, he claims that "everything you know is a lie", which is the sort of thing that someone familiar with alternate universes (which pretty much guarantee that everything you know is a lie in some universe) would say. So perhaps Missy really did die permanently, but a new Master has stepped in from another reality to take up the job of threatening the cosmos and/or messing with the Doctor for giggles.- Apparently jossed by the "Brief History of the Master" video on the official YouTube channel, which implies that Dhawan!Master is, in fact, a post-Missy incarnation.
The "spies" whose DNA was apparently re-written are actually alternate-universe lookalikes.
Their genetic differences are just the result of random genetic drift in "junk DNA" between one alternate Earth's human population and another's. The invaders switched the spies for people from another Earth who looked like them due to their functional DNA being similar, but their non-coding nucleotides don't match at all. The original spies were taken away to be interrogated, and unconscious duplicates from other worlds left in their place to conceal their abductions. The duplicates' brains were damaged so they can't tell anyone that they're not the original spies.- Jossed: alternate universes play no role in the story; they're people who've had their DNA rewritten.
Daniel Barton is in league with the Master because he is Rassilon.
When we last saw Rassilon, he was kicked off Gallifrey by the Twelfth Doctor. The Time Lords exiled him and, just like they did to the Doctor, forced him to regenerate. He escapes with a TARDIS, and decides to get revenge on the Doctor for ousting him. He travels to the ship from "The Doctor Falls" and in the chaos rescues Missy and heals her enough so that she can regenerate into Dhawan!Master. After the Doctor's teachings resulted in getting themselves killed, Dhawan!Master joins forces with Rassilon, asking him to plant him on Earth to steal O's identity. Meanwhile, Rassilon finds the "spies" who agree to help him and alter his DNA to human, leaving only a 7% defect. Rassilon then goes to Earth, assumes the Barton identity, and starts laying the foundation for his company VOR: Voice Of Rassilon.- Jossed: The aliens did upgrade Barton, but he is only interested in taking over the world with their help.
The aliens from "Spyfall" rescued Missy
But they erased her memory (the events of Series 10 being what made her redeemable) so the Master would work with them on their plan.- In fact, maybe the Master's last memory of being Missy is of the Doctor apparently executing her in "Extremis".
- Looking jossed: the Master claims that he found them instead of the other way around.
The alternate Earths have different time periods between them
- Hence why 1943 Paris.
- Jossed: alternate Earths don't play a role in the story.
The Timeless Child is The Nightmare Child.
- The Nightmare Child was (according to a potentially non-canon novel) the 'perfect' Dalek created by Davros during the Time War. Rusty called The Doctor a Good Dalek. The Nightmare Child went rogue, so it would make sense that the other Daleks and Davros would want to destroy all of its/her offspring. And it would seriously mess with the Doctor's mind.
The Master's return to villainy is because of what he found out about the history of the Time Lords and the Timeless Child.
This caused him to Go Mad from the Revelation (possibly combined with his new incarnation's change of personality and a belief that the Doctor betrayed him).- Confirmed, though it's much weirder than this WMG suggests. The Master is angry that the Doctor is some unknown creature much more powerful than the Time Lords whose abilities gave them all regeneration. From his perspective, this means the Doctor is more powerful than him, and this leads him to evil.
At some point the Master will reveal to the Doctor what happened to Missy.
The Doctor will explain to the Fam that the last incarnation, she tried everything she could to get Missy to reform, and she still chose to abandon the Doctor and desert those who needed help. Then the Master will tell her she came closer than she realized, that Missy had every intention of coming back to help. She just needed to get rid of himself, so she killed him — cue looks of horror from the Fam, which the Master will pooh-pooh, saying he was fine, she sent him to his TARDIS to regenerate into her (still horrified looks), but he shot her in the back before she could return.- Of course, it will probably turn out he only revealed that to sucker in the Doctor, so he could trick her in a moment of weakness/sympathy/hope....
- In which case, he might also say that it just hurt too much for him to bear, having to feel bad about all the horrible things he'd done, he slipped just a little, just to get a little relief, and like a drug addict or alcoholic, one little slip led into spiraling back to the depths. It would give the Doctor hope that, like a lapsed recovering alcoholic, the Master might be able to get back on the wagon, so to speak.
The Master had collaborators.
He didn't destroy Gallifrey all on his own; he had people so sick of everything they helped raze the planet to the ground in exchange for leaving and taking a fresh start. Other Time Lords showing up were in on the plan or were given enough warning to flee. Insert reference to Faction Paradox here...- His collaborators are a group that plays a major role in Series 13, in particular, Division. They were planning on destroying the universe anyway, having someone wipe out the Time Lords so that they couldn't interfere only furthers their plans, and having everyone think it was the Master meant that they could stay a secret for longer. Having this particular group around also nicely explains a minor issue in "The Timeless Children": the Timelord corpses are still capable of regeneration, as seen once they've been cyberconverted, so something must be stopping them from regenerating before that, and the people who invented Gallifreyan regeneration are great candidates for having a way to do the stopping.
- An intriguing possibility is that he didn't know Division was helping him—he threw in a bomb as a distraction, expecting Gallifrey's defenses to take it out, and watched it kill everybody instead. Part of the reason he's abandoned Missy's Heel–Face Turn so hard is that it's the only way he can live with having accidentally destroyed Gallifrey.
While the Master was on The Slow Path, he took on the identity of Michael Grade
And cancelled the show about the Doctor out of jealousy.- Alternately, he took Eric Saward's identity and ruined many scripts of the show.
"Orphan 55"
The big ending of Orphan 55...
- ...will be the Timeless child, the image of the Spa looked like the image seen at the end of Spyfall Part 2.
- Could be Susan, we see she is being held prisoner.
- ...will be Missy.
- Jossed.
The Dregs evolved into the Haemovores from "The Curse of Fenric"
- Well from what we see Ingiger was supposed to begin the evolution and the Haemovores seen in that don't look much like the Dregs... but the Dregs could be later Haemovores or a variant of them. Though the idea this is a Fenric-forced future also works.
"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror"
The Death Ray Tesla was attempting to sell to the US government before he died...
...was based on the Silurian blaster, which seems to have been left behind with him at the end of the episode. The Skithra are related to the Racnoss
They’re both based on arachnids, both have humanoid queens, and the Skithra have red accents all over like the red Racnoss. Possibly they’re related species, maybe even from the same planet who evolved the same way spiders and scorpions evolved from the same ancient insect. "Praxeus"
"Can You Hear Me?"
There's a connection between Zellin and the Remnants from "The Ghost Monument"
Both are played by Ian Gelder. The Remnants dragged people's darkest fears from their minds, and "Can You Hear Me?" seems to also involve fears. It could be a coincidence... but maybe not?- Zellin is not connected to the main threat of the episode in 1380 but is following Doctor around.
- Zellin has been set on Doctor by another foe, like the Master.
- All jossed; it seems to just be a coincidence.
The name dropping of the Eternals, Black and White Guardians and the Toymaker is Foreshadowing for next season.
Just a Continuity Nod or Wishful thinking? In the current season, Chibnall seems to be digging up Classic Who lore and bringing back enemies like the Judoon who haven't had an episode to themselves since 2007. It doesn't seem too far off to bring back some more classic monsters. Maybe not in this season, but the next... "The Haunting of Villa Diodati"
The Cyberium was reprogrammed to make it want to go to the Doctor
We know the AI was stolen by the resistance and sent back in time. It's clear that Captain Jack wanted to tell the Doctor about the Cyberium in "Fugitive of the Judoon", implying that he was aware of the Cyberium's existence. It's clear that the AI is trying to resist being taken away by the Lone Cyberman, and when it enters her the Doctor says that she must be its intended guardian. The odds are good that the reason for all of this is that the AI was programmed to want to go to the Doctor.
The Lone Cyberman is a Stable Time Loop
How did Jack know about The Lone Cyberman? Because the Lone Cyberman already got what it wanted because the Doctor gave it what it wanted. The Doctor will go and take the Cyberium back from the Cyberman, displace it in time and thus the loop will continue. The Cyberium will be affected for the better for being in contact with The Doctor
Especially if it was programmed to seek her out as suggested above, there's a good chance that it will undercut the Cybermen of the future when the time is right, even if it's not a time that will prevent the grave destruction of the war.- Jossed. It's just as evil as ever when hosted by Ashad, and then even worse with the Master.
Graham's visions will play a role later
Especially since he even ate some of the food they brought him. If they were simply ghosts, how could they have brought him food? The person responsible for sending the Cyberium back in time is Ruth
Explaining why the Cyberium seemed to be drawn to the Doctor.- Jossed: Ko Sharmus says it was him.
"Revolution of the Daleks"
There's an Enemy Civil War going on
With a title like that, what else would it be?- The Daleks are all spinning around?
- An all Dalek production of Les Mis?
- Sorta confirmed, but the whole battle is over in minutes, so it’s only a skirmish as opposed to the beginning of a war.
"Remembrance of the Daleks" will be referred to.
- C'mon, an Enemy Civil War story with two factions? We've seen that before...
- This is still possible, but the trailer suggests that it might harken back to Power of the Daleks instead, with a woman calling the Daleks "defense drones".
- Jossed.
Davros will be another inmate of the prison the Doctor is in
The episode has apparently both the Doctor in prison and Daleks. Davros made the Daleks, and he has plenty of crimes to answer for. As many people have pointed out, the title hints at an Enemy Civil War for the Daleks. Davros notably seems to be able to cause conflicts among the Daleks.- Jossed.
The war is between the New Dalek Paradigm and the bronze Daleks
Many people have complained that the New Dalek Paradigm was brushed off without an explanation. Maybe it will turn out two separate Dalek empires have grown up, now coming into conflict. Alternately, it could introduce a new design to fight against one of the old ones.- Looking jossed, the trailer shows only a new design.
- Surprisingly confirmed in regards to a new design vs the Bronze Daleks, not Bronze vs Paradigm. If anything, these bronze ones are from the Paradigm.
There will be a major retcon to Dalek lore
After "The Timeless Children" majorly changed the Time Lords, maybe this episode will radically change the history of the other side of the Time War. It helps that it's already very inconsistent.- Jossed. It only functions as a direct sequel to “Resolution”.
There will be references to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the scripts and filming were completed in late 2019, post-production on the episode has continued remotely. This could involve the addition of dialogue to account for the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has happened — episodes of Doctor Who set during the modern day are usually set around the time when they air, and Revolution of the Daleks will air in late 2020/early 2021.- However, it's also possible that there will be no action on Earth — the titular revolution could take place on Skaro or another planet occupied by Daleks.
- This solution is looking jossed — the Daleks appear to be invading modern-day Earth in the trailer. Just when you thought 2020 was done with you...
- Jossed. For one, there’s no widespread face masking...
This is a Doctor-lite episode
The trailer has minimal appearances from the Doctor, with more emphasis on Team TARDIS and Captain Jack. Perhaps the Doctor will be in prison for most of the episode, with the companions fighting the Daleks on their own for a while. The Doctor will only come to help much later. This could be a good way to add more menace to the Daleks by showing how terrifying they are when the Doctor isn't around to help.- Jossed.
Jack Robertson Is the Minister Of War
In the Peter Capaldi Story, Before The Flood, O'Donnell refers to the Minister Of War, which the Doctor has yet to encounter. Given Robertson's political aspirations, and seems to be directly connected to the Daleks as "Defense Drones" in this Story, is it possible the Story shall be picking up that potential Story Arc?- Well, it’s not out of the question, since Robertson could be a British citizen, and there’s no prohibition on foreign-born citizens running for Parliament...
- Jossed. Robertson helps an evil Harriet Jones-like MP ascend to the premiership, though...
Jack Robertson will have an Enemy Mine with Captain Jack Harkness and the “fam”
The special might have Jack Roberson in a similar role as Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion, he would align with the Daleks but plan to double-cross them in order to make himself look good. That plan would (obviously) backfire on him and he would reluctantly team up with Captain Jack Harkness and the “fam” to stop the Daleks- Confirmed, although he quickly teams up with the Daleks when his life is at stake.
The events of this episode were supposed to be the starting point for the Dalek Invasion of Earth
- 13’s presence changed that by calling in the pure Daleks.
- Further jossed with her using the suburban home TARDIS to pull a reverse Genesis Ark (i.e. send them into the Void) on those Daleks.
