Is Doctor Who series 10 returning to an older episode?
And could it involve Captain Jack Harkness?
Doctor Who series 10 is still a long way away, but since the sci-fi series began filming its next run a couple of weeks ago we’ve started to discover a few new details about what we can expect for the new Tardis crew.
And the latest tidbit, found in the form of this set video filmed by new companion Pearl Mackie and returning star Matt Lucas, is particularly tantalising – because it could hint at some of the storylines we’ll be seeing next year.
Take a look at the video above, and note the background. You see, we’re pretty sure that the pair are filming in the Wales Millennium Centre, a concert hall, arts centre and theatre in Cardiff Bay that has often doubled as a filming location for Doctor Who (and RadioTimes.com has some personal experience with). So could we be seeing the cast return to the site of a previous adventure?
Well, it’s certainly possible. In previous years the WMC has stood in for the Louvre museum in France (in Vincent and the Doctor) and two different futuristic hospitals (the cat hospital in New Earth and the time stream-accelerated quarantine in The Girl Who Waited), and while it’s a bit of a stretch the show could be planning a return to one of those locations.
Alternatively, it could be that we can take the location as a clue for whatever episode they’re filming might include – if it’s been some sort of medical facility twice before, could it be filling the same function again this time? Or perhaps the interior (see below) could be planned to double for some other kind of advanced alien world?
Or perhaps, just perhaps, we could take this more on face value and consider that the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff is only standing in for the Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff. In other words we should consider the idea that the Doctor, Bill and Nardole are paying a visit to the former headquarters of Torchwood Three, aka Captain Jack Harkness’ old stomping grounds, which was located just across the way from the WMC.
Sure, it’s a bit unlikely considering we haven’t heard anything about John Barrowman’s involvement, but who’s to say the Tardis didn’t need a fuel pit-stop on the Rift like it did in the 2005 and 2007 series? Or maybe the Doctor had to be called in to deal with some Welsh beastie that slipped in from another world? In the big interconnected world of Doctor Who, anything is possible.
Still, whatever the truth we can think of some people who’ll be happy – the staff at the WMC, who may be seeing an influx of new Whovian visitors after the series airs in 2017…
Doctor Who will return to BBC1 this Christmas and for a series in 2017
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
