Christopher Morley wonders if the Valeyard is set to make a return to Doctor Who in the very near future.
Just why have the BBC been so quick to damn those
who've leaked scripts for Series 8? Perhaps Doctor Who's
answer to Watergate has been front page news for a very good reason!
And that good reason might will be that the Twelfth Doctor will serve
as a lead into the coming of the Valeyard... Of course, we've seen
him before alongside the Sixth Doctor in the Trial Of A
Time Lord arc, perhaps most
notably in The Ultimate Foe...
Those who paid attention will have keenly noted the Master's statement that the Valeyard is a personification of the Doctor's dark side, from between his 'twelfth & final' incarnations.
The Great
Intelligence hinted that the Doctor would indeed be known by the name
of ' Valeyard' before the end of his life in The Name Of
The Doctor. But with the lifting
of the twelve-regeneration limit in The Time Of The Doctor...
...has Steven Moffatt moved the goalposts? A whole new cycle would suggest that the transformation into the Valeyard could now occur at any point- its not implicitly stated that it must happen during the twelfth incarnation's time. But with the hint that this new Doctor will be somewhat darker & more mysterious, it could be that the lead writer has decided that it should. Hence his understandable frustration at those damned script leaks!
...has Steven Moffatt moved the goalposts? A whole new cycle would suggest that the transformation into the Valeyard could now occur at any point- its not implicitly stated that it must happen during the twelfth incarnation's time. But with the hint that this new Doctor will be somewhat darker & more mysterious, it could be that the lead writer has decided that it should. Hence his understandable frustration at those damned script leaks!
And Moffatt's
fondness for wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff would seem to dictate
that either Peter Capaldi or another actor of similar gravitas (
rumours abound that Twelve will last only one series) could be called
upon to play a younger Valeyard, one at the start of his time-line
rather than nearing the end- you might recall the older man being
desperate to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations for himself
to prolong his own life in exchange for acting as prosecutor at the
trial of our favourite Time Lord. We should point out that similar
bargains are most certainly not accepted in any Earthly courts of
law!
And it would
certainly inject fresh impetus into the quest to find Gallifrey once
more if the Doctor were to receive a summons from a corrupt High
Council member ( or indeed whole Council) asking him to attend to a
high-profile legal matter. The fact that the evidence against the
defendant has been entirely fabricated through use of the Matrix
matters not to those seeking a quick conviction- knowledge which
might either horrify or interest Twelve depending on how far his
darkness is intended to spread. So begins a prequel to The
Trial Of A Time Lord! We might
also pause to consider just how the Master apparently knows so much
about the Valeyard...
There has been
rumour & counter-rumour suggesting that the Doctor's nemesis will
indeed return. But what if that comeback were to see him having a
hand in the coming of the Valeyard? It would explain the Master's
seemingly advanced knowledge of the whole business at a stroke. After
all should he become Lord President he'll need a similarly
no-nonsense ally among the judiciary ( if it could be called that
with the Valeyard in charge).
Perhaps the plan
works a little too well & the Master regrets underestimating the
Doctor's dark side? After all he does seem rather keen to be rid of
both the Valeyard & the Doctor in The Ultimate Foe!
A clash of egos between the two could make for incredible viewing.
The whole affair could, though, if played out another way, show there
is still good left in the Doctor- with a little lateral thinking.
If he's aware
that he could at some
point regenerate into the Valeyard, who's to say he couldn't at least
try to stop it if & when that happens, or stop it from happening
in the first place? With the now established fact that ' time can be
rewritten' fresh in his mind, perhaps the Doctor will attempt to do
just that by going into his own time-stream at a point before his
Sixth incarnation's defining moment- with the added caveat that doing
so could prove to be his own ruin. So begins a game of cat &
mouse unlike any the Doctor will ever face, chasing his own dark
side.
But where could
such a battle take place? Maybe at selected moments of his past from
throughout his lives, as a starting point. But also, consider the
most recent teaser for Series 8...
If you really put your mind to it you might come to the conclusion that only one man could look into the Doctor's very soul & see hatred- the very aspect of himself that exhibits it, alongside his other nastier qualities!
If you really put your mind to it you might come to the conclusion that only one man could look into the Doctor's very soul & see hatred- the very aspect of himself that exhibits it, alongside his other nastier qualities!
After all his use
of ' your' rather than ' our' could be interpreted as a continuation
of his quest to liberate himself from dependence on the continued
existence of the Doctor- a fool's errand most likely, but one to
which the Valeyard could remain dedicated, so desperate is he to rid
himself of the Doctor's influence. To which end he could have entered
into an alliance with the Daleks, hence the familiar metallic rasp of
' HATRED!' towards the end of the trailer...how such an arrangement
between the two parties would work is surely reason enough to want to
see it happen?
Plus Episode 2 of Series 8 is believed to be Twelve's first meeting with those who fear
him as the ' Oncoming Storm'- the presence of both they & his
distilled evil in Time Lord form having the potential to be quite
something. It could of course be that he pops up beforehand in
Deep Breath ( the new Doctor
getting a feature-length introduction in Victorian London alongside
the Paternoster Gang). Speculation abounds that a certain Jack the
Ripper could also have a big part to play. Not inconsequential, if
you've read the Matrix
novel- which has the Valeyard masquerading as/becoming Jack to feed
his victims to the Dark Matrix ( over which he has control).
While its highly
unlikely that Moffatt would simply adapt prose wholesale- the various
Doctor Who novel ranges not
considered to be canon- he might shape elements of the idea of '
Valeyard as Ripper' to suit his own ends if indeed ' Jolly Jack' does
make an appearance. He's told anyone who'll listen that the programme
needs to change, so perhaps he's preparing to take things in a much
darker direction. It could well prove to be the case that he's got
his own master-plan, similar to that of Andrew Cartmel in the final
years of the classic series!
Maybe the plan is
to finally deliver on the idea that the Doctor is indeed ' more than
just another Time Lord' in ways that John-Nathan Turner never allowed
Cartmel the freedom to do with the Seventh Doctor..........
