What’s Going on With The Valeyard?

Talking of future versions of the Doctor: “The Trial of a Timelord” is the worst ever Doctor Who story to absolutely require a sequel. The story’s big twist was that the Time Lord prosecuting the Doctor was one of his future incarnations, from “somewhere between [the Doctor’s] twelfth and final incarnation”, an amalgamation of the Doctor’s darker nature.

Of course, the weasel-wording of “between” the “twelfth and final incarnation” gives us some wiggle room. “Twelfth” incarnation could mean Peter Capaldi, or Matt Smith if we count the War Doctor, or even David Tennant if we count his “metastasis” incarnation as a separate Doctor (and there are fans who believe the Valeyard may have been the Doctor who went with Rose to a parallel universe, gone rogue). “Final” incarnation, of course, means we’ve got no actual set deadline to get around to this story.

Big Finish audios have played around with the character of the Valeyard a good deal, as have several Doctor Who books, but definitive answers are still thin on the ground. Indeed, we at Den of Geek have our fan theory about the Valeyard’s origins involving Red Dwarf.

But the door is still wide open for the TV show to finally address the question literally dozens of us want answered. Will it ever happen? Well, we already know Bonnie Langford is returning to the show as Mel, and she first appeared in Doctor Who during “The Trial of a Timelord”, so the answer is… maybe?

Where Do the Faces Come From?

When the Doctor, or any Time Lord, regenerates, they get a brand new face, body and even personality. But these faces rarely look the same, and often they will arrive deep with lines forged by a life already lived.

The Twelfth Doctor was the first to ask the question outright, and he was right to. It turns out his face was borrowed from one Lobus Caecilius of Pompeii, as a reminder to save people where he could. But even then, we’re never quite clear on who the message is from, or how it was chosen.

Danofgeek