Doctor Who’s Alternate Timeline May Reveal What Happened To David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor
SUMMARY
- The disappearance of the Fifteenth Doctor in “73 Yards” explains how the Fourteenth Doctor must have stepped in to protect Earth in his absence.
- Despite being missing for over 65 years, the world in Ruby’s Doctor Who timeline remains largely intact and free of alien invasions.
- UNIT and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart likely played a role in defending Earth during the Fifteenth Doctor’s absence, alongside the Fourteenth Doctor.
The most recent episode of Doctor Who season 14 depicted an alternate timeline that may explain what happened to David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor. Entitled “73 Yards”, the fourth episode of the new season portrayed a reality where Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor mysteriously disappeared, and it fell to Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday to work out how to get him back. Doctor Who is no stranger to exploring alternate realities, but the one seen in “73 Yards” could hold the answer to an ongoing question.
After playing the Tenth incarnation of the Doctor between 2005 and 2010, David Tennant returned to Doctor Who in 2023 to portray the Fourteenth Doctor in three special episodes celebrating the show’s 60th anniversary. The ending of the Doctor Who 60th specials marked the show’s first bi-regeneration, which saw the Doctor split into two versions of himself. While Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor set off on new adventures, Tennant’s Fourteenth incarnation retired to lead a quiet life with Donna Noble and her family. However, “73 Yards” might indicate that the Fourteenth Doctor’s life hasn’t been as quiet as imagined.
The World Didn’t End When The Fifteenth Doctor Disappeared
Earth Experienced A Suspicious Lack Of Extra-Terrestrial Threats
“73 Yards” takes place over the course of 65 years, depicting the entirety of Ruby’s life from the day the Doctor vanished atop a Welsh cliff to the moment of her death. In that time, Ruby is stalked by a ghoulish woman who is always exactly 73 yards away and stops a trigger-happy politician from firing a nuclear weapon. However, despite the Doctor being missing for over six decades in Ruby’s Doctor Who timeline, the world remains largely intact and seemingly free of alien invasions. This is odd considering the last time the Doctor wasn’t around to save the day.
The Fourteenth Doctor Must Have Replaced The Fifteenth In “73 Yards”
There’s No Way He Would Turn A Blind Eye To An Alien Invasion
The obvious explanation for how the world managed to remain safe from alien invasions for over 60 years is that another incarnation of the Doctor took care of things. Given the timey-wimey nature of the show, it’s always possible that there is more than one version of the Doctor on Earth at any given time. While any number of Doctors could’ve been around during the events of “73 Yards”, David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor is the one that, due to his status as a retired Time Lord, was almost certainly on Earth.
If an alien threat were to present itself, it’s hard to imagine the curious and adventure-loving Doctor turning a blind eye.
Of course, the whole point of the Fourteenth Doctor settling down with Donna and her family was to embrace the quiet life after spending so many years running from place to place. Nevertheless, if an alien threat were to present itself, it’s hard to imagine the curious and adventure-loving Doctor would turn a blind eye, especially when it appears no one else is around to save the day. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the Fourteenth Doctor took over from the Fifteenth Doctor in the latter’s absence.
This makes a lot of sense and solves a glaring Fourteenth Doctor problem. The idea of the Doctor giving up his life of adventure altogether never really made sense, particularly because he still owned a TARDIS. In many of his previous incarnations, the Doctor was shown to get easily bored with regular life after just a short amount of time. 65 years is no short amount of time, particularly given that Donna, Sylvia, Wilf, and Shaun presumably perished at some point in that time frame. With most of his family gone, it’s likely the Fourteenth Doctor would’ve embraced his role as Earth’s protector once again.
There’s Another Reason The World Didn’t End In Doctor Who’s “73 Yards”
The Doctor Has Allies That Are Always Defending Planet Earth When He’s Not Around
Intervention by the Fourteenth Doctor is just one explanation for why the world didn’t end in “73 Yards”. Also present on Earth during that period was Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT. Owing to the fact that UNIT’s sole purpose is to defend the world from alien (and increasingly supernatural) threats, it makes sense that they would be one of the primary forces in keeping the planet safe during the Fifteenth Doctor’s 65-year disappearance.
UNIT did play a role in “Turn Left” and managed to restore the timeline with the help of Donna and Rose. However, since the Tenth Doctor’s era, when UNIT was portrayed as a fairly standard military force, the organization has grown into a more efficient and powerful entity under Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. In “Turn Left”, UNIT was capable of lessening the impact of some extra-terrestrial threats but didn’t have the intelligence or resources to stop them. The version of UNIT in “73 Yards” is feasibly more equipped to prevent alien invasions.
The Doctor being brought back as though he never vanished during the conclusion of “73 Yards” essentially renders the events of the episode’s alternate timeline moot. Therefore, there’s a good chance that Doctor Who will never return to that version of reality again, and viewers won’t find out who exactly defended planet Earth in the Fifteenth Doctor’s absence. It’s possible that Doctor Who extended media, such as Big Finish’s audio dramas, could fill this void. After all, 65 years of the Fourteenth Doctor and UNIT saving the world provides a wealth of storytelling potential.
