The Magician, the Witch and Something New?
Guest contributor Zach Porter offers an alternate theory on Series 9.
Note: This article does not contain any potential spoilers based on the recent Mirror rumour
So far in the long wait for Series 9, we have had little but speculation to go on. We know only four of the episode titles and only a handful of filming pictures have been seen online. Therefore, it’s time to start wildly theorising!
You may have read Ruth Long’s excellent article, ‘The Magician, The Witch and the Impossible Girl,’ and her theory that the title ‘The Witch’s Familiar’ refers to Clara. However, I would like to offer an alternative view, one which I would love to see the Series 9 story arc follow.
A New Companion
With Clara continuously changing her mind on whether she wants to travel with the Doctor (she’s only just jumped back in the TARDIS at the end of ‘Last Christmas’), I find it unlikely that this theme will be used again in the next series. This has lead me to speculate that Missy will get her own companion. Imagine a contrasting plot line between the ‘Magician’ and his ‘Apprentice’ (The Doctor and Clara), and the ‘Witch’ and her ‘Familiar’ (Missy and her new companion).
This opens up some potentially drastic options for the show, which should be possible considering Steven Moffat recently suggested that Doctor Who has become predictable for the viewers. For example, it could be that each “Doctor” episode is followed by a contrasting “Missy” episode. This would explain why episodes 1 & 2, and 5 & 6 have linking titles. Maybe Missy is following the Doctor, or maybe it will highlight his actions as questionably “good” when similar choices are made by the villain and the hero. A more likely approach of course is the “snippet” style where the audience sees little segments of the Master’s adventures. Whatever the direction, it would certainly end in a big clash in the finale, or possibly the Christmas Special.
Once you start to ponder this theory, everything becomes possible. Want an alien companion? Easy. Need a bit more tension in their relationship? Perfect for Missy. Want the companion to be put in actual danger for once? Missy can do that for you!
What does an adventure with the Master look like?
Clearly Missy gets up to something when she’s not plotting outrageous ways to defeat the Doctor, plus there’s that small matter of how she escaped her demise in ‘Death in Heaven’… Of course it’s possible that she really did die and that the Missy we will see in Series 9 will be a past version of her. Oh Moffat look what you’ve done to me…
But what does Missy do all day? Does she travel around saving worlds like the Doctor, or does she have more evil intentions? The NuWho Masters have all seemed to enjoy a bit of fun (OK, maybe Derek Jacobi wasn’t the cheeriest incarnation) and these side adventures could give us a chance to see a more friendly side to the Master, and explore the complex character that I’m sure Steven Moffat has fully fleshed out in his mind anyway.
Now, I’m not denying that the suggestion of Clara being snatched up by Missy isn’t intriguing, and who knows, both these theories could come to fruition in some shape or form throughout the series. Let’s just hope that something original happens, to end the trend of the Doctor Who TV comments containing more interesting theories than the plot of the actual show…
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to comment with your own theories and suggestions!
