It’s been more than a week since season 12 of Doctor Who ended with the shocking revelation that she is the reason why Time Lords regenerate, and that there may have been a lot more than 13 versions of her (15 if you count the War Doctor and RuthDoc).
For those who missed the big moment from “Timeless Children”, here it is:
There’s literally dozens of YT videos who say this was the best and the worst moment in Doctor Who history, and even more in websites like Radio Times and Screen Rant, among others. As far as she is concerned, it only showed her influence in the universe is a lot bigger than she thought.
It’s safe to say fans should wait about a year before we know for sure. For one thing, she has to escape from prison first.
This got us to thinking about what happened during an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in November 1997. It also changed the show forever, and its influence continued for years.
In “What’s My Line”, she was dealing with demons trying to kill her, and an effort by Spike to improve Drusilla’s health. Meanwhile, a mysterious girl comes to Sunnydale, and is spying on Buffy. Eventually, they meet, and a big plot twist is revealed:
In every generation, there is a Chosen One? Not any more, thanks to what happened in “Prophecy Girl.” No one thought a Slayer could come back from a brief death, but this would change everything.
It’s nearly impossible to get the original response from fans who saw this 22 years ago, but Kendra Young has since been embraced by fans. Her approach to Slaying was more traditional, and she had her doubts about how Buffy was so good if she wound up dying for a minute. Still, she’s making a comeback in the current Buffy comic series, giving an idea of what would have happened if she hadn’t died in “Becoming”.
The idea of a second Slayer created new possibilities, and more problems for Buffy. Season three was dominated by the arrival of Faith Lehane, a girl who enjoys the job but is not always moral. That’s revealed when she accidentally kills one of Mayor Wilkins’ assistants and admits she doesn’t care. That leads to her allying with the Mayor in his bid to become an all-powerful demon, and literally stealing Buffy’s body to avoid being captured by the Watcher’s Council.
She heads for Los Angeles, and briefly works for Wolfram and Hart before she finally realizes how far she has fallen. She is reunited with Buffy and have, at least, some respect for each other.
What if, in some way, the same thing happens on Doctor Who…or maybe it already has. In “Fugitive of the Judoon”, RuthDoc tells our Doctor that she had been working for someone she wishes hadn’t hired her. The Judoon was looking for her under orders from Gat, later revealed to be from Gallifrey. This was probably connected to RuthDoc working for the Division, a secret group where Time Lords can interfere if necessary. Gat grabs a rifle to kill RuthDoc, but winds up dying because it was sabotaged by RuthDoc. It’s like Faith being chased by one group of Watchers because of a mission she did for a covert group of Watchers the others pretend not to know.
Is it possible our Doctor will meet an evil version of herself, or even one the current Master would rather not meet? The Valeyard from the show in 1986 is supposedly an amalgamation of the Doctor’s dark side from his many forms, but maybe the truth is he was the “black sheep” of the unknown regenerations.
Fans of Buffy fully accepted the idea of more than one Slayer per generation, which holds up in the current comic book. The idea of the Doctor having a past even she doesn’t know about may have shocked and angered fans, but maybe it’s wise to see if there’s an effect on next year’s episodes. Maybe it’ll eventually make sense after all.
