Of course, as fans know, the last episode of Doctor Who‘s twelfth season, “The Timeless Children,” ended on a couple of major cliffhangers. First, the Doctor learned that she was the Timeless Child that has been referenced over the past few seasons, and that it was her DNA that gave the Time Lords their signature regenerative abilities. Next, she was captured by the extra-terrestrial police force known as the Judoon, given a life sentence, and locked away in an outer space prison, far from Earth and her friends.
That’s where the episode ends. If you want to see what happens next, you’ll definitely want to catch “Revolution of the Daleks,” which presents new challenges for both the Doctor and her friends. As Jodie Whittaker explained, this is “one of the first times that the Doctor is away from the gang, and from the Doctor’s point of view [she] has no idea about what’s going on Earth.” Instead, she’s biding her time in a Judoon jail cell, an image of which Whittaker shared during an online New York Comic-Con 2020 panel. “I would say from clues in the photograph that I may have been there for a while,” Whittaker quipped.
Not that her companions are having an easier time of it. “Basically, we don’t know where the Doctor’s gone. We don’t know if we’re now in Sheffield forever and our journey with the Doctor is over,” added Mandip Gill, who plays Yaz on the series. “I can speak for Yaz. She’s finding it very difficult.”
Things get even worse when the Daleks, one of the Doctor’s oldest and deadliest enemies, make an unexpected return. “We then do come across a plot that involves a Dalek, and we go, Okay, she’s taught us lots of things, how are we going to fight a Dalek without a Doctor?'” Gill said.
Her co-star Bradley Walsh expressed similar sentiments. “How do we sort of now as three save mankind, womankind, everyone?” Walsh, who plays Graham, asked. “Talk about being thrown in the deep end!” Still, while the adventure may be rough on our heroes, Walsh promised fans will love results. “What you’ll find happens next is extraordinary,” he said.
