The Doctor is preparing to face the Cybermen (Picture: BBC)

As Doctor Who series 12 prepares to come and end this weekend with the first part of an epic finale, we tally up all the fan theories (and some of our own) as The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) prepares to face down the Cybermen.

Last week’s epic The Haunting of Villa Diodati most certainly teased bigger and better things to come as The Doctor races off in the TARDIS to face down the massive armada of Cybermen that she accidentally created.

The last two episodes of the 12th series of the BBC’s long-running sci-fi drama certainly have a lot to sort through. From the return of (another) old enemy, to the thrilling unveiling of the first-ever black Doctor and the enigmatic mystery of the Timeless Child to sort out, the Thirteenth Doctor has a lot more on her hands than just Cybermen.



In anticipation of this week’s Ascension of the Cybermen and the finale The Timeless Children, we’ve broken down all the best fan theories about what’s to come – and added our own thoughts into the mix too, of course.


1. The Cyber War will replace The Time War, re-writing Doctor Who history

The Cybermen are back (Picture: PA/BBC)

At the conclusion of last week, the Doctor returned the Cyberium (the living consciousness of the Cybermen’s hive mind) to the Lone Cyberman in exchange for him sparing Earth.

What that means, of course, is that the now-decimated Cyber Empire is on the rise again and our favourite Time Lord jetted off with Graham (Bradley Walsh), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) to confront this monster of her own making.

The preview for Ascension of the Cybermen teased a full-scale Cyber War, and one Reddit fan in particular thinks this could be a plot point to re-write Who mythos.

‘By the Doctor giving the Lone Cyberman what it wants she creates a parallel timeline,’ they theorise. ‘Where the Cybermen became the major intergalactic threat instead of the Daleks.

‘Thus, the Cyber War happened instead of the Last Great Time War.’

As we know, in the lore of the show, the Last Great Time War was the final battle of the Time Lords and the Daleks, with both races being seemingly wiped out by the end (of course, this proved to not be the case).

If there is a bit of re-writing of history here, this would essentially see the Cybermen replace the Daleks as the most central enemy that the Doctor faces.

2. Graham’s ghosts will (literally) come back to haunt the Doctor

Did Graham see more than he realised? (Picture: BBC)

One of the scintillating teasers from last week’s episode came in its closing moments, as it’s hinted that Graham did actually see ghosts in the villa – a mother and daughter who served him food that nobody else saw.

This could have just been a throwaway gag to reference the fact that ghosts do, possibly, exist. But another fan thinks this little cameo will actually turn into a big plot point.

‘So are we adding Graham’s ghost visions to the list of things that will probably come up later?’ they ask.

‘I guess it shows that the Doctor is so deep into her shady decision-making and emotional distance [from the companions].’



If there’s one thing that’s been growing week-on-week in this series, its the companions’ disillusion with life in the TARDIS.

This looks set to burst this week, too, with Jodie Whittaker’s blistering ‘mountaintop’ monologue some of her very best work as the Doctor. Could the TARDIS be headed for its first-ever conscious uncoupling?

3. Are The Timeless Children and The Timeless Child linked?

‘Something is coming for me…’ (Picture: BBC)

This long-running plot was hinted at all the way back in the second episode of Whittaker’s first season, where the Doctor is spooked by the very ominous-looking Remnants.

‘We see deeper though, further back,’ they said. ‘The Timeless Child… we see what’s hidden, even from yourself. The outcast, abandoned and unknown…’

Fan speculation only increased when the Master (Sacha Dhawan) told the Doctor he destroyed Gallifrey because of ‘the lie of the Timeless Child’.

Is it a coincidence, then, that the finale for series 12 is called The Timeless Children? We think not – this has got to be a red herring, right?

Because, in a way, the Cybermen are timeless children – they’re basically immortal. And there’s definitely a singular Timeless Child, so we think this is a clever diversion of showrunner Chris Chibnall’s part.

4. Where does Jo Martin’s Doctor fit into it all?

Will Jo Martin return as the (other) Doctor? (Picture: BBC)

There’s been a few massive shocks this season. The return of a new Master in Sacha Dhawan, the unexpected comeback of Captain Jack Harknass (John Barrowman)…but none compared to the unveiling of a completely new regeneration of the Doctor, played by Jo Martin.

We’ve already covered the theories that have surrounded the new Doctor but we think it’s safe to say that she will play an integral part in the show going forward – we have to find out, eventually, where she fits into the Doctor’s timeline.


However, big boss Chibnall has already teased that the story arcs from this season have ‘long-term plans’ so we don’t expect every single question to be answered in the next two weeks.

We do have at least one more series with Whittaker after all…there’s plenty more time (and space) to get the answers we need.

Doctor Who continues Sunday at 7.10pm on BBC One.

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