Doctor Who: New Season, Higher Stakes

To quote Neil Diamond, Doctor Who is "coming to America...today!" The new season, following everyone's favorite Doctor, kicks off tonight in Monument Valley, and boy is it going to be crazy. We here at Tableau Your Mind haven't opined openly about our love of the good doctor, but the show has been a growing obsession of ours for quite some time (the new version: still haven't gotten to watching Doctor Classic. And each season (or series), we've seen the stakes get higher and higher. The first season was about a battle on board a fake game show ship. Last season saw the Doctor recreating ALL OF EXISTENCE to ensure that Amelia Pond survived. Needless to say, things have gotten more intense and way more complicated. So, in this game of higher stakes, what kind of crazy - and usually family friendly - antics can we expect this season? After the jump, check out the top eleven possibilities for this year, and the probability that each will occur.

 1. A main cast member will die. Odds: 1:1

Death used to be the realm of secondary characters on Doctor Who, often the realm of the character that the audience had grown to love the most. Last season, though, Rory died, and even though he was eventually sort of brought back, the game has changed. Steven Moffat has said that a main character will die in a big way in the first episode, so color us scared (though, we imagine it's some sort of wordplay). We know it can't be River Song, and the Doctor probably won't die, so either Amelia or Rory are kicking the bucket. If it's Rory again, it might feel lazy, but we trust the writers to find a way to make it super emotional. And we doubt it's permanent.

2. River Song and the Doctor will fall in love.  Odds: 1:1

This is definitely going to happen, and it's an idea  that has filled us with conflicting emotions. On one hand, River's journey is a bit less interesting since we know how it ends. On the other hand, Alex Kingston has serious chemistry with pretty much everyone she talks to, so the idea of a more romantic element will be exciting, to say the least.

 

 3. More Daleks. Odds: 2:3

This is probably happening. They come back every season, to the point that it's almost anticlimactic when they all end up dying. But the writers always find a new way to make them interesting, even in the critically maligned New York "pig people" episodes where they genetically fused with humans.

4-5. Amy Pond's eyes will open to heretofore unseen wideness. Odds: 1:2

The optimist in us wants to see those peepers bug out to iguana proportions, but we don't really see how that could be possible. Still, we eagerly await what we're calling the first "eye gasp" (where the eyes are so large that they actually look like they're audibly gasping) of the season, which will probably happen in the first episode.

6. There will be a great Doctor or Companion-light episode. Odds: 1:4

In the reboot of the show, there have been a few episodes that feature the Doctor and his Companion in a diminished role, and those episodes are often great. Chief among these episodes is Blink, wherein Carey Mulligan fights off sentient weeping angels which are incredibly frightening. It would be sad if an episode doesn't feature much of the witty banter between the Doctor and Amy, but it could also be really great.

7. Amy will sacrifice herself for the Doctor. Odds: 1:5

Everyone eventually does (usually not causing their deaths), though this may not be the season for it.

8. A past Companion will return. Odds: 1:8

This is more wishful thinking than anything else.  It would simply be great to see Martha Jones, Rose Tyler, or Donna Noble. They've all had their goodbyes, though, so it probably would be a bit ridiculous to see them again. If one of them does pop up, even money says it's Martha.

9. The Doctor will regenerate. Odds: 1:10

We don't see this happening this season, or at least not til the very end. One of the exciting things about Doctor Who is that when a new actor becomes the Doctor he brings with him is own take on the character. As Matt Smith recently put it, it's like playing Hamlet. And we've hardly gotten to know this Doctor at all. The death that Steven Moffat has promised could be the Doctor, but we doubt it. Still, this could easily be Matt Smith's last season (how's that for wishy-washy?).

10. Amy and the 11th Doctor will fall in love. Odds: 1:20

It was such a big deal when the 10th Doctor fell in love with Rose and actually got to be with her (in a sense), so we doubt that this will repeat. Doctors and Companions should engage in witty flirtation only.

11. Doctor Who will stop being amazing. Odds: 1:1,000,000

Yeah, that's not happening.

So tune in tonight to see the return of the Doctor, this time in America and with higher stakes than ever. Allonsy and Geronimo!