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David Tennant’s surprising return to Doctor Who could be the key to solving one of the show’s oldest villain mysteries: the Valeyard. David Tennant may be famous for playing the beloved Tenth Doctor, but “The Power of the Doctor” saw him return to the TARDIS once more, supposedly as the Fourteenth Doctor. The unconventional regeneration and unprecedented return of a past Doctor’s face, however, mean Fourteen may not be who he claims, potentially setting up a new nemesis for Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa, and finally resolving a classic Doctor Who mystery.
The Valeyard is a Time Lord foe of the Sixth Doctor and, according to the Master, a future regeneration of the Doctor “somewhere between [their] 12th and final regeneration.” Both “The Time of the Doctor” and “The Timeless Child” seemingly debunk this claim. The former showed the Doctor reaching the end of his regeneration cycle, while the other revealed the Doctor has infinite regenerations, is not actually a Time Lord, and has existed far longer than they believed. This theory suggests David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor may secretly be one of Doctor Who‘s greatest foes, and could retcon continuity once again to reintroduce the Valeyard.
Classic Who Confirms The Doctor Is The Valeyard, But Which Regeneration?
The Valeyard’s true origin has been a point of contention in Doctor Who for decades. While the villain was originally presented as a future Doctor regeneration, it has also been suggested that the Valeyard is simply a sentient manifestation of the Doctor’s dark side, similar to the Dream Lord, who echoed the Eleventh Doctor’s more sinister traits. Doctor Who audiobooks have also explored how the Valeyard may be a “Watcher.” This is part of the regeneration cycle that occasionally manifests as a separate entity before physically joining the Time Lord to complete their renewal, as seen with Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor regeneration.
Nevertheless, Doctor Who‘s most common Valeyard origin explanation involves him being a future regeneration of the Doctor. The Master attributed the Valeyard to the Twelfth Doctor, but due to John Hurt’s War Doctor and David Tennant’s Meta-Crisis Doctor messing up the numbering, that explanation no longer works. By the Master’s logic, the Valeyard should be a product of David Tennant’s regeneration into Matt Smith, who played the final Doctor of the original cycle. Since the Eleventh Doctor clearly is not the Valeyard, and because the Timeless Child makes such numbering irrelevant, the Master must have interpreted the number wrongly.
The Fourteenth Doctor’s Corrupted Regeneration Checks Out For The Valeyard
The Thirteenth Doctor’s regeneration may be unique due to the Master forcefully regenerating the Doctor in “The Power of the Doctor,” distorting the process by making Thirteen transform into himself. This would also explain why, for the very first time in Doctor Who history, the Doctor changes clothes while regenerating. If something has gone wrong with Jodie Whittaker’s regeneration process, it is possible that Thirteen transformed into the Valeyard, and the classic Master simply got the number wrong by one in classic Doctor Who. Since David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor will only be appearing in three specials throughout 2023, and is clearly an unconventional regeneration, a villainous role would make sense.
After the Master forced the Doctor to regenerate into him during “The Power of the Doctor,” it is plausible that Sacha Dhawan’s villain left a piece of himself inside Doctor Who‘s protagonist. The Valeyard claims to be a dark version of the Doctor, and if Fourteen is currently carrying a slither of the Master inside him, that darkness is much more likely to manifest. Of course, this theory does not take into account the Timeless Child, which revealed that the Doctor is not a Time Lord at all, thereby rewriting the Valeyard’s mythology. With a regeneration as strange as the Thirteenth Doctor’s, however, the Valeyard explanation cannot be ruled out.
The Tenth Doctor Himself Was Associated With The Valeyard
David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and the Valeyard have been associated before through Doctor Who season 4’s Meta-Crisis Doctor. Some have suggested that this literal offshoot of the Doctor created by Doctor Who companion Donna Noble is, in fact, the Valeyard. As established above, the suggestion that the Valeyard arises during the Twelfth Doctor’s regeneration no longer holds up due to a slew of contradictions. The Tenth Doctor also makes clear that his Meta-Crisis self is filled with rage and hate, and as a Doctor offshoot with a darker personality, one can see the similarities to the Valeyard.
Irrespective of whether the Meta-Crisis Doctor is the Valeyard, the theory demonstrates how David Tennant has already played a character very close to the Valeyard in Doctor Who. Russell T. Davies evidently has big plans for David Tennant’s Doctor Who return, and the actor is already confirmed to be playing a very different iteration compared to the Tenth. With Davies potentially setting up a Valeyard-like character way back in Doctor Who season 4, it seems suspicious that Tennant is back as yet another unusual variant of the Doctor, hinting at a possible connection.
A Tennant Valeyard Reveal Would Impact Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor
The return of the Valeyard would have huge implications for the incoming Fifteenth Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa. It would seemingly reveal that the Master was always correct in claiming the Valeyard is part of the Doctor. The fact that the Valeyard chooses to take the shape of one of the Doctor’s past regenerations would be even more insulting than stealing his body, particularly as “The Day of the Doctor” and “The Girl Who Died” confirmed the Doctor can somewhat influence the body they regenerate into. The Fifteenth Doctor would surely struggle knowing his prior incarnation was actually an old foe from Gallifrey’s courtroom.
The Doctor is already undergoing an existential transition after the Timeless Child reveal shook Doctor Who lore to its core. If Russell T. Davies sneakily brought back the Valeyard, played by the beloved David Tennant in a bait and switch, the Fifteenth Doctor would have an even more severe identity crisis, potentially leading to exciting new character developments. Whether Tennant is playing the Fourteenth Doctor or the Valeyard, his return will inevitably set up fascinating new angles for Ncuti Gatwa’s incarnation when the Fifteenth Doctor finally makes his Doctor Who debut.
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