Following three 60th anniversary specials featuring David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprising their iconic roles as the Doctor and Donna Noble, "Doctor Who" returns to BBC One and Disney Plus on Christmas Day This special episode of the sci-fi series will be the first official adventure of the 15th Doctor, played by Nucci Gatova, as he takes off in the Tardis to explore space-time

But the clever Time Lord's latest regeneration (by-generations Of course, not everything comes together neatly yet, as these three stories mark the beginning of a new era of long-lived programming As is often said, patience is a virtue But while we are busy being patient, there are a number of questions that concern us about the future of "Doctor Who" before season 14

It is tempting to say that Tony Miceli (or more accurately, Angela Bower, as Abed pointed out in "Community") is the boss, but in the Warnieverse the answer may be different After Meep was arrested at the end of "The Star Beast," the villain mentioned that an alien with two hearts was quite unusual This fact led Meep to declare that he would tell "the boss" about the doctor Since Meep is being escorted to some sort of intergalactic prison, the 14th Doctor brushed off the remark, saying, "It's a crock I hate that"

But who was Meep referring to? Given that a new season of Doctor Who is on the way, we may find out next year Or was Meep referring to the toymaker played by Neil Patrick Harris? Neil Patrick Harris is a character who will reappear after a long absence in "The Giggle" two episodes later After being defeated by the doctor duo, the Toymaker utters, "The Legion is coming" Was Meep among them? Or are there other big villains to worry about? Actually, something like that, which leads to the next question

After the toy maker tells the Doctor's past in a delightful puppet show, his diabolical adversary writes out a list of opponents he has defeated in a game Among the losers was another prominent figure in the Doctor's rogues' gallery: the Master [The Master was played by Sacha Dhawan in the 2022 episode "The Power of the Doctor" This version of the character was believed to have died on a collapsing planet after causing the 13th Doctor's regeneration However, the Master actually arrived at one of the Toymaker's games and "begged for his life" before being trapped in his gold teeth forever

The Toymaker was pleased to have defeated the Master, but was hesitant to confront the one known as "The Waiter" Instead, the gamesman, a typically confident man, ran away because "it's someone else's game" Is the "one who waits" really Meep's boss? Is that person a whole new and different threat that awaits Team Tardis at some point in the future? Or is he a familiar face who has returned after a long absence to further annoy the Doctor? The Wovians await the answer to that question

Returning to the Master, he is apparently still very much alive after the events of the 60th anniversary of "Doctor Who" In the process of the toymaker's banishment from reality, his gold tooth was apparently left on the galvanic beam stand at UNIT headquarters However, as soon as this fact is revealed, a red manicured hand enters the frame and picks up the gold tooth Other than the color of the remarkable fingernails, there is currently no way to determine who took the prison that houses one of the most feared villains in the universe

Previously, Lucy Saxon was married to the John Simm version of the Master and helped him carry out his evil plans However, in the 2009 holiday episode "The End of Time," this was probably not her, as she played a rather large role in the attempt to stop his resurrection

Instead, it may be another follower of the Master As seen in the first part of that episode, Miss Trefusis was the one who picked up the evil Time Lord's ring in a very similar way to initiate the ritual The Dawan version of the character also had his own minion as Grigori Rasputin

Of course, this may be a way for showrunner Russell T Davis to leave open the possibility of the Master's return in the future It does not necessarily have to be a story he tells, but it is very possible

Now that we are on the subject of Davis, has anyone noticed the number of callbacks to his original work from 2005 to 2010? The biggest one was undoubtedly the return of Tennant and Tate, which brought a much happier ending to one of the Doctor's most beloved companions But there was also a toymaker's laugh that echoed through time, similar to the drumbeat that haunted the Master in "End of Time" And the whole concept of bi-generation allowed the Doctor (formerly the Meta Crisis Doctor), played by Tennant, to spend more time with his beloved companion and go on adventures at the same time

Look, this is not something we necessarily dislike This was part of an anniversary special, a look back into the past to send the program into the future However, there were many references to RTD's last run in particular Will these connections continue now that Gatwa has control of the Tardis console? Or will they live elsewhere?

Another feature of Davis' "Doctor Who" predecessor was spin-offs Under Davis' administration, he started "Torchwood" and "The Sarah Jane Adventures," both of which brought former companions into their own spotlight While a Donna Noble spinoff is probably unlikely to happen, the 60th anniversary special could perfectly set up a show featuring the military organization UNIT, led by Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (played by Gemma Redgrave) Shirley Ann Bingham, played by Ruth Madley, could also play an important role in the show

And while Donna and Mel would not be part of the regular cast, it is easy to imagine other associates coming in and out of the office as needed to meet the mission John Barrowman is eager to wear the coat of Captain Jack Harkness again It has been a long time since we have heard from the Paternoster Gang And what if the Doctor's daughter Jenny (played by Georgia Tennant) actually came to Earth to team up? The possibilities are endless And given RTD's affinity for spin-offs, there is at least a non-zero chance that there have been conversations about this with the BBC

Thanks to the bygone era, many fans are beginning to speculate about a spinoff of David Tennant's 14th Doctor, who, as we saw in the final scene of The Giggle, despite having "retired" with the Nobles, still eager to venture off on adventures here and there However, when asked point-blank about the character's future, Davies said that he will only focus on the 15th Doctor from now on, Radio Times reported

"I'm sorry, but it's Nuccio's time now, it's 'David Who ' These two (Gatwa and Millie Gibson as companion Ruby Sunday) will sail through space and capture your heart"

The magazine also noted that the showrunner revealed that on the companion show Doctor Who Unleashed, the Doctor, played by Tennant, "parks himself with Donna for a happy life "That may be the case for now, but when will special guests and surprise cameos become a reality in a storyline that requires multiple Doctors? The franchise has a long history of having past performers return to the Tardis for special occasions From these comments we could probably pin this question Instead, however, our final lingering question is truly thought-provoking

As we learned in the third installment of our 60th Anniversary Special, bygone generations are supposed to be a myth But as we have done so many times before, the Doctor has done the impossible and bygone the 14th and 15th Doctors There is still much mystery surrounding this phenomenon, but here is a theory: What if these two Doctors are time-looping?

Earlier we saw the epic and comprehensive story of River Song, which basically began and ended with the episode titled "Silence in the Library" The 15th Doctor, played by Gatwa, said, "You healed yourself, I'm fine We are Time Lords We're rehabilitating you in turn," which actually sounds like the 14th regenerating into the 15th at some point in the future when his self-care situation is fully sorted out Then, after regeneration, the Fifteenth is pulled back to the moment of bygeneration before embarking on the "first" adventure

This theory is perhaps a bit more spacetime than necessary, but it is possible, and likely If so, how would the 16th Doctor eventually return? In order for the Doctor to continue as usual, the loop must finally stop

Hopefully this last of the questions we have posed here will actually be resolved If not, our brains may begin to malfunction like Dr Donna's overstuffed Time Lord memories