The Doctor Who Holiday Special could see the Doctor need help to escape the Judoon - will she need the assistance of Jo Martin's Forgotten Doctor? Doctor Who season 12 came to a dramatic conclusion, with Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor imprisoned by the Judoon for unspecified crimes. She's separated from her fam, who frankly have no idea she's even in trouble at all.
It came at the end of a season that redefined Doctor Who. The Doctor learned she is not a Time Lord at all, but rather she is the Timeless Child, the base genetic code for the entire Time Lord race. What's more, Doctor Who season 12 also introduced a mysterious "new" incarnation of the Doctor known as the Forgotten Doctor, played by Jo Martin. She appears to be a pre-Hartnell incarnation of the Doctor, and she was on the run from the Time Lords of her era and their agents, the Judoon.
It's safe to assume Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor has been imprisoned for the Forgotten Doctor's unknown crimes. And it's also safe to assume the Doctor Who Holiday Special will see the Doctor escape the Judoon. But how can she possibly break out of their cells?
The Doctor's Escape Will Not Be Easy
The Doctor has been imprisoned countless times over the millennia, and she's become something of a dab hand at escaping. It rather helps that she's had lessons from some of the best escapologists of all time, including the likes of Harry Houdini, and by now her experience with countless different prison cells means she can swiftly spot the gaps in any system. There's just one problem; according to a promotional photo for the Doctor Who Holiday Special released at NYCC 2020, it looks as though even the Doctor can't find the gaps in the Judoon prison. It makes sense that they'd be able to hold her; the Judoon used to work for the Time Lords, meaning they most likely know all the Doctor's tricks.
The promotional photo shows the Doctor keeping a tally of days on the wall of her cell, and she's clearly been in there for a long time. Showrunner Chris Chibnall is an old-school Doctor Who fan, with a deep knowledge of the show's lore, and the image feels reminiscent of Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman's 1998 novel Seeing I, which saw the Eighth Doctor almost broken because of his experience in a prison he could not break out of. The Doctor's mind rebels at stagnation, and he was simply unable to cope with a sustained period of incarceration. It's entirely possible Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor will fare no better.
The Doctor's Fam Don't Even Know She's In Judoon Jail
If the Doctor is unable to escape of her own accord, then she's going to need help. The problem is, though, her fam have no idea she's in trouble. The Doctor Who season 12 finale saw them take another TARDIS back to Earth, and they weren't with the Doctor during her final confrontation with the Master - and they are unaware the Judoon breached the TARDIS to arrest the Doctor. "As characters, we're... back in Sheffield, not knowing where she's gone," actress Mandip Gill explained. In fact, from Gill's comments it sounds as though the Doctor's friends think she's abandoned them, leaving them to get on with their own lives.
Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who run has seen the TARDIS crew expand to an unprecedented size, and scripts have typically handled that by setting up A-plots that focused on the Doctor and B-plots about the companions. That formula was followed by even the best episodes of Doctor Who season 12, such as "Fugitive of the Judoon," but it sounds as though the Holiday Special will invert it. This time, the A-plot is the Doctor's fam back on Earth, encountering at least one Dalek - hence the title "Revolution of the Daleks" - and having to deal with it on their own. The B-plot is the Doctor in prison, completely separated from her fam. They are not coming for her.
Jo Martin's Doctor Could Come To The Rescue
If the Doctor's fam aren't coming to her rescue, then presumably help must come from an unexpected quarter. The most likely candidate is Jo Martin's Forgotten Doctor, the mysterious incarnation who's actually wanted by the Judoon. She learned of Jodie Whittaker's incarnation in "Fugitive of the Judoon." If she hears the Judoon have successfully captured the Doctor, then it's entirely possible she will join the dots and break the Thirteenth Doctor out. The Forgotten Doctor worked for the Time Lords in the past, possibly even alongside the Judoon, which may well mean she has the knowledge to navigate the prison.
This would make sense in narrative terms; the Doctor Who season 12 finale may have focused on the Timeless Child reveal, but it went to great lengths to remind viewers about Jo Martin's Forgotten Doctor as well. The Thirteenth Doctor was then arrested because she is a Judoon "cold case," an apparent reference to the Judoon's hunt for this mysterious incarnation. Thus it would be quite appropriate to bring Martin's Doctor into the story again in the Holiday Special, hopefully answering some of the many questions currently being asked by the fans.
It's true that, right now, there's no evidence to indicate Jo Martin will appear in the Doctor Who Holiday Special. Under Chris Chibnall, however, production on Doctor Who has been more secretive than ever before. Twice in Doctor Who season 12, Chibnall successfully concealed major twists from the public until the episodes aired, unveiling a new Master and the Forgotten Doctor. The latter was particularly interesting, because he hid this major development behind a plot twist everyone was anticipating, the return of Captain Jack Harkness. He could well be taking a similar approach with the Holiday Special, because everybody thinks the main reason to tune in is to see the Doctor's fam go up against a Dalek. It would be just like Chibnall to add another massive twist - and turn the Holiday Special into a key chapter in his Doctor Who run.