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October 14, 2022
Her time is drawing to a close. With The Power of the Doctor nearly upon us, it's time for the Thirteenth Doctor’s final fight.
However, the road to this epic finale has been filled with friendship, an awful of running and massive moments. Here are thirteen of the biggest, most defining moments from the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures!
1. The Fall to Earth
Regeneration is a traumatic experience for any of the Doctors; yet for the Thirteenth Doctor, there were a few added complications. For a start, she lost the TARDIS. That probably would have been top of her ‘to solve’ list if she wasn’t also, quite literally, falling to Earth – Right onto a train with an alien bounty hunter’s electrical tracking device, a Gathering Coil. Yes, within minutes of coming into existence, she was already in terrible danger. An iconic start for an iconic Doctor!
2. Reunited with the TARDIS
One alien hunter, a brief misunderstanding with a teleport and a death race later, the Doctor and her newly acquired group of friends, or her ‘fam’, were reunited with the TARDIS. Seeing the new interior of the most famous time machine in creation is always a big moment, and it was no different here.
3. Fighting the Daleks
Daleks are like a hyper-aggressive form of killer, fascist glitter. Just when you think you’ve got rid of them all, you keep finding more of them in the strangest of places. In this case, a long-buried Reconnaissance Dalek – without its casing - was revived in Sheffield and attempted to conquer the Earth.
The Thirteenth Doctor would go on to have more legendary battles with the Daleks; including causing two Dalek factions to fight each other, and being stuck in a time loop with a Dalek Death Squad! Still, nothing’s quite as big as the first clash between a Doctor and the Daleks...
4. A Terrible Surprise from an Old Enemy
You’d think that being constantly defeated would tell most villains it’s time for a career change. Sadly for the Doctor, that isn’t the case with her enemies. No sooner had she dealt with the Dalek attack, than she was confronted by the Master.
In a twist that none of us saw coming, the Master’s return was a massive shock. And Oh! What a reveal.
The two Time Lords fought across several different time periods. While the Doctor ultimately triumphed, the Master had a final nasty surprise in store for her…
5. The Desolation of Gallifrey
The Doctor thought she’d sacrificed Gallifrey and the Time Lords to the end of the Last Great Time War. Then, by multiple incarnations coming together - along with some really long sums - Gallifrey and the Time Lords had been saved. All was good. Well, good-ish, there was that one time the Doctor went home and Rassilon tried to have them shot. But other than that, all was good.
Then, after all that, the Master turned up and massacred the Time Lords. For real this time. In a heartbreaking moment for the Thirteenth Doctor, she went home and had to witness the aftermath of the Master’s killing spree. The reason for this slaughter? Well, more on that later.
6. An Alternate Earth
A barren planet full of monstrous creatures might not seem like an ideal place to go for a holiday, but in Team TARDIS’ defense, someone had built a lovely spa on it. A seemingly lovely spa might be more accurate, as it kept falling apart… and had secrets behind it…
What none of the TARDIS crew was expecting thought, was that this ruined world was, in fact, Earth in the far future. Luckily for us all, this was only a possible future, one we could still prevent.
7. Meeting a Fugitive Doctor
In a series full of twists we didn’t see coming, this was probably the biggest. The Doctor was brought face-to-face with… herself. Except, it wasn’t any version of herself that she recognised. Simple, right? This other Doctor was obviously a future version of her - at least, that’s what the Doctor thought - but this new Doctor didn’t recognise her either.
She wouldn’t get her answers until she learnt the truth about the Timeless Child...
8. Who is the Timeless Child?
Possibly the biggest moment of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era. The lie of the Timeless Child had been alluded to ever since her second adventure, but the Doctor was forced to face the truth by the Master. This was why he annihilated the Time Lords, as their entire history was constructed around a lie. A lie that the Doctor was at the heart of...
9. The Death of the Universe
Having parted ways with Graham and Ryan, the Doctor and Yaz set off together to explore the universe by themselves. This string of off-screen adventures led them to confront Karvanista, a former agent of the Division. The Division were the organisation that sent the mysterious Fugitive incarnation of the Doctor out on her assignments.
Chasing Karvanista quickly led into meeting Dan Lewis, a deadly new enemy in the Ravagers, and also dealing with the Flux, a deadly cosmic wave that was going to destroy the entire universe, and very nearly succeeded!
10. Becoming a Weeping Angel
During their attempts to halt the Flux, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan had to deal with the terrifying Weeping Angels. However, these weren’t just your standard nightmare fuel group of statues. Oh no, this squad of Angels worked for the Division, sent to track down another Angel who’d gone rogue. Things came to a head when these Division Angels took the Doctor back to Division with them.
Their transportation method of choice? Turning the Doctor into a Weeping Angel!
11. Meeting Tecteun
Tecteun was the explorer who stole the ability to regenerate from the Timeless Child - aka the Doctor - and gifted it to the Time Lords. Tectuen, it also turned out, was the head of the Division and was also responsible for causing the Flux which would wipe out the universe. In short, she’s not a very nice person.
When the Doctor finally managed to confront Tecteun, she was none too pleased about having her past stolen from her!
12. Coming Face-to-Face with Time
She’d dealt with Daleks, the surprise return of the Master, and even the woman who stole her past. You’d think after all of that, the Thirteenth Doctor wouldn’t be able to top of all that.
Then she met Time itself. Yes, literal Time. Taking the guise of the Doctor, but in a darker coat, Time had an ominous warning for the Doctor. Evil forces were massing against her…
13. Her Feelings for Yaz
Throughout her adventures, the Thirteenth Doctor has had one constant companion: Yasmin Khan. As her time in the TARDIS went on, Yaz developed romantic feelings for the Doctor. And during a dangerous encounter with the return of the Sea Devils, the Doctor and Yaz confronted their feelings for each other.
What awaits next in the Thirteenth Doctor’s final adventure? We'll have to wait and see...
Tune into The Power of the Doctor on the 23rd October 2022.