‘Doctor Who’ and the Many Ones Who Wait
Doctor Who (all two of them) defeat the Toymaker. But before that, he mentions “The One Who Waits”. Who’s that when they’re at home? Well…
Mysteries abound on Doctor Who. And arguably no one loves a season-long mystery quite like current (and also former) showrunner Russell T Davies. Who is Bad Wolf? What is Torchwood? What do you mean the Doctor isn’t alone?
And with Davies back in charge comes new, unsolved mysteries. The first of which is: who is The One Who Waits? The Toymaker makes several claims throughout the Doctor Who 2023 special “The Giggle“. He says his “legions are coming”. And that’s set up the idea that a number of less science fiction and more fantastical foes are on the way. We’ve seen goblins already.
But The One Who Waits is another matter entirely. Whoever they are, the Toymaker didn’t dare face them. Whoever or whatever that is must be very powerful—but likely not fantastical.
So, who is The One Who Waits? Going on the presumption that this is someone from the Doctor’s distant past, there are A LOT of possibilities. For fun, here’s a list of the most likely contenders, how deadly they may be, and how likely it is that they are The One Who Waits. Ready?
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
The Valeyard
Full disclosure: the entire reason this article exists is because of another article about the Valeyard. Specifically, it’s about how the Valeyard is the only villain who makes sense as The One Who Waits. But there are loads of other possibilities. And, hence, this list.
But, yes. the Valeyard may be The One Who Waits.
“Who is the Valeyard?” Great question. The Valeyard is the Doctor. Or, more specifically, the Valeyard is an incarnation between the twelfth and thirteenth incarnations of the Doctor. Even more specifically, the Valeyard is basically everything negative about the Doctor made flesh.
And during the classic Doctor Who series “Trial of A Timelord” the Valeyard teams up with the corrupt Timelord High Council. Their goal? To frame the Doctor before he can reveal that the high counsel effectively destroyed a future Earth. In exchange for the assist, the Valeyard would get the Doctor’s remaining regenerations.
It doesn’t work out. However, unbeknownst to the Doctor, the Valeyard does escape.
Not only is it possible that the Valeyard is The One Who Waits. But it’s also possible that the Valeyard is a bigeneration that connects him with the modern series in a major way.
However, bigeneration comes as a shock to the Toymaker. So there are other arguably better possibilities for who The One Who Waits may be.
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
The Meddling Monk
When people think of the Doctor’s Timelord nemeses, the first name that comes up is the Master. The Master is the Timelord we see more than any other (besides the Doctor)—so yes, that makes sense.
But he’s not the first Timelord nemesis the Doctor encounters. That would be The Monk.
The year is 1066. The Saxons are about to face off against the Vikings. But someone is there to change the course of history—the Monk. And the Monk is a Timelord, just like the Doctor. But unlike the Doctor, the Monk is totally cool with altering time. In this case, his plan is to prevent the Viking assault on the Saxons so that the Saxons can defeat William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings.
The Monk says this is to move humans forward faster, but it’s really about personal gain. The Monk is selfish to the core—and the Doctor will not abide that. So with the help of his companions, Vicki and Steven, the Doctor breaks the Monk’s TARDIS, shrinking down to an unusable size. The result? The Monk is trapped in 1066.
1066 to 2024 is an awfully long time. If the Monk catches up with the Doctor now, we could definitely refer to him as The One Who Waits. And in that time, the idea that the Monk may have grown very powerful and very angry is entirely plausible.
It’s also worth noting that the First Doctor episode explored in the Tales of the TARDIS series is “The Time Meddler”. So the Monk’s story is one Russell T Davies wants us to remember. And Tales of the TARDIS gives us a number of possibilities for who The One Who Waits may be. Including…
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
Omega
The very first multi-Doctor story “The Three Doctors” delves into Timelord history. In particular it reveals a figure who is responsible in many ways for the shape of Timelord society—Omega.
Omega is one of the first Timelords and a stellar engineer. Unfortunately in his efforts to wrangle the power of a nearby star, he winds up “dying” in a supernova. However, Omega survives in a world of antimatter. And over the many years of waiting, he grows angry with the Timelords.
On two separate occasions, Omega attempts to use the Doctor as a means to escape his parallel dimension. In his second story “Arc of Infinity” he even tries to take over the Doctor—just like the Master does later in “Power of the Doctor”.
If Omega is still alive, he’s been waiting for eons longer still. He’s certainly been trapped long enough to be “The One Who Waits”. And given how much we know now about the history of Timelord science especially as it pertains to regeneration, it would be fascinating to find out how the Doctor and Omega actually connect.
Worth noting that, yes, “The Three Doctors” is another Doctor Who story that received focus thanks to “Tales of the TARDIS”. And our final two entries are also future there as well. The only catch is, they’re both dead.
Or are they?
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Fenric
There are episodes of classic Doctor Who which make every fan’s list of best episodes. And high on most lists is the Seventh Doctor serial, “The Curse of Fenric”. And when the Seventh Doctor and Ace meet again in the Memory TARDIS, the story they relive is this one.
Fenric, according to the Doctor, is an evil force from before creation that shatters (along with its opposing “good” force) thus creating our universe. Fenric is alive and likes messing with the universe while possessing other beings. The Doctor traps Fenric in the 3rd century where it remains until 1943 when it’s released during World War II.
We find out during this time that Fenric has humans across history it manipulates for its own purposes he dubs “wolves” of Fenric. The Doctor’s companion Ace is one of those wolves. Fenric also has a group of vampirized humans called Haemovore led by the Ancient One. The Haemovore are from one possible future where life on Earth is destroyed by pollution.
Fenric intends to use the Ancient One to defeat the Doctor and ensure the polluted potential future becomes reality. But the Doctor defeats Fenric. We assume Fenric dies, but we don’t know. It’s also possible that Fenric merely returns to having no body.
Considering Fenric exists dating back to the dawn of time, it can certainly be considered “The One Who Waits”. Fenric returning would bring back one of the most popular characters and stories in Doctor Who history.
That being said, there is one other character worth considering.
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
Adric
Everyone assumes “The One Who Waits” is a past villain. But what if they are a former ally of the Doctor instead? Consider that Adric’s final appearance in the story “Earthshock” is the one that comes up between the Fifth Doctor and Tegan for “Tales of the TARDIS”. And also consider that in “The Giggle” Adric’s name comes up, not once, but twice.
“The Giggle” features the return and redemption of one of Doctor Who’s least favorite companions — Melanie Bush. And if she’s an experiment for successfully bringing back once-loathed characters, then the next logical return is the whiny and bratty genius Adric.
Adric is one of Doctor Who’s most fascinating failed experiments. Adric is a young man from the pocket universe E-Space. His knowledge of mathematics makes Adric capable of piloting the TARDIS. The Doctor effectively makes Adric his protege.
Adric and the Doctor fall out at the start of the episode “Earthshock” and Adric plans to return to E-Space. However, before that can happen, the TARDIS team runs afoul of the Cybermen. And in order to defeat them, Adric sacrifices himself, plunging a spaceship-turned-bomb into prehistoric Earth.
However, all we see is the ship blow up. Adric’s death, however likely, is not definitive. If somehow Adric survived, it would mean he’s been out there for hundreds of millions of years. The final shot of Adric is literally him waiting. And potentially furious with the Doctor for abandoning him.
Of all the potential foils for the Doctor, the most deadly and most exciting would be Adric. Actor Matthew Waterhouse is still out there, we’re just saying.
