It isn't very often that I post about "Real-life" Doctor Who here but having had time to amply digest series 6 in 2011 I have come up with a few theories as to what Steven Moffat might throw our way in 2012, especially with regards to the whole "Fields of Trenzelor/fall of the eleventh" prophecy.
It has been long discussed/muted/hoped by fans that Omega will return at some point in the future. Indeed, the uniforms of the church soldiers in series 5 Weeping Angels two parter, coupled with other prop based hints, seem to suggest just such a return.
Coupled with this is the now doom-laden talk of the fall of the eleventh, which is apparently when "the question" will be asked. A question that we all know to be simply, Doctor Who? My theory is that Omega and the question actually go hand in hand. To substantiate my theory I refer you to something known as the Cartmel Masterplan, which I will lift straight from
this Wikipedia article.
During the tenure of the Seventh Doctor, part of
script editor Andrew Cartmel's intention, now known to fans as the "
Cartmel Masterplan", was to restore some mystery to the character of the
Doctor.
[1] Cartmel felt that years of explanations about the Doctor's origins and the
Time Lords
had removed much of the mystery and strength of the character of the
Doctor, and decided to make the Doctor "once again more than a mere
chump of a Time Lord".
[1] Elements of this effort were liberally scattered through
Seasons 25 and
26 of the series, and occasionally included hints about the Doctor's past; for example, in
Silver Nemesis, when
Ace and the Doctor discuss the creation of
validium,
the Doctor mentions that it was created by Omega and Rassilon. Ace
asks, "And...?" and the Doctor is silent. Cartmel has written that this
was meant to indicate that the Doctor was "more than a Time Lord":
...
Omega and
Rassilon were the founding fathers of
Gallifrey.
They towered above the Time Lords who followed. They were demigods. And
Ace's nifty dialogue "And..." coupled with the Doctor's neatly evasive
response, are a subtle attempt to say that there was a third presence
there in the shadowy days of Gallifrey's creation. In other words, the
Doctor was also there. So he's more than a Time Lord. He's one of these
half-glimpsed demigods.
[1]
As this story was never followed through to volition it meant that this plan never really came off, but was also never really killed off either. I forsee that Moffat will look to use elements of this plan to bring about the "fall of the Eleventh".
My prediciton is that the Silence and all that they represent are minions of Omega, trying to stop the question from ever being answered. Omega does not want the question of the Doctor's identity answered because it would reveal him to be a fraud and also considerably change the history of the timelords.
This leads to the gaping plot hole of Omega being allowed back into the series. Knowing Moffats penchant for not worrying about this kind of thing, I think the real reason behind the Pandorica and the whole "Big Bang 2" will finally be outed. There's a specific question asked in the last episode of series 5
and again in the first episode of series 6 (with slightly different
wording) - "How could I forget? - How could I have forgotten?". That
raises the possibility that the question and answer relate to something
that everyone - even the Doctor - has forgotten
as a result of Big Bang 2
- either a person/event that is now missing from this reality or
something like him forgetting to reapply the Time Lock on Gallifrey, for
example.
Now if we take "the fall of the Eleventh" at face value then it my theory would of course bring about the possibility of the timelords returning again for the regeneration of the Doctor. But, with the 50th Anniversary special following in 2013 I wonder if they could be back to stay.
All in all it sounds exciting. I have never been a massive fan of either Moffat or Smith's work on Doctor Who I just hope whatever route Moffat takes it will lead to some long awaited answers to a lot of questions, especially the one hiding in plain sight...Doctor Who?
Although many of you have asked, I am afraid the answer is still no. You will not be seeing the new 12th Doctor until 2013. He will not be appearing the three 2012 specials, as these are stories that I want to experiment with and as such would not be well served to introduing a new doctor.
