Maisie Who?
Guest contributor Zach Guida looks at some of the theories on Maisie Williams’ Series 9 character.
With every big announcement that comes from Doctor Who the conspiracies, theories and fake headlines appear across the web. And this article is no exception! Ever since the BBC announced Maisie Williams was to guest star in “The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived” Whovians quickly began plotting as to who or what she might be playing. Maisie herself even stated the following in an interview a few weeks after the announcement:
“There’s been a lot of speculation about whether she’s like a younger Clara or whether she is a new character completely. I’m not going to tell you which one. Whether she is good or bad is up for discussion, I think. She does put the Doctor to the test and it’s sort of a dynamic that we haven’t seen before.”
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some possible theories as to who Maisie will be, both good and bad ideas…
A Young Clara
Let’s just go into what many people are already guessing already. A younger Clara might make sense based on the title. Series 8 went about focusing more on Clara’s struggle to maintain life with the Doctor and that with Danny, Series 9 could continue that with Missy (Purely based off the premiere titles The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar). If we assume Series 9 will be focusing more again on Clara, Maisie would make a wonderful casting choice for Clara’s younger self.
However, why cast a young Clara? Her timeline is already as confusing as the Doctor’s with the “jumping into his timeline” and “The most important leaf in history” stories already having been played out in Series 7. Why would we need to go back further? Perhaps Missy has been constructing Clara since day 1. Who knows?
A Young Missy
I’ve read some comments where Whovians think she could be playing a younger Missy. While it’s quite possible, it seems very unlikely because the whole timeline between the Master played by John Simm to Gomez is still shrouded in mystery. And as far as I know, no Time Lord has regenerated from an adult into a young adult/teen. It may also appear possible as regeneration seems completely random in most cases, but this theory is just rather improbable on the whole.
A Child of the Doctor and River
The idea of a child between this pair has been thrown about since The Impossible Astronaut. This would and could have worked way back in Series 6, had they gone down that route. However Steven Moffat has stated that he thinks River’s story is done and that she was Eleven’s Doctor. So this idea is again unlikely. Introducing the Doctor’s child with 12 just doesn’t really fit the darkness of the show that Moffat is currently giving us. We may have to bag this idea for a future theory.
And for my personal favorite theory as to who Maisie will be…..
A Whole New Character!
That’s right! Doctor Who is a show about the Doctor meeting new faces and saving new planets. It would get quite old if we saw the Doctor and Clara go to different planets and meet Missy, Rusty the Dalek, and a moon that hatches every single episode. The show refreshes itself not just with a new Doctor, but with each individual episode. For Maisie to play someone new and freshly created, is what the show has done and always will.
Sometimes we as Whovians like to pick and break at every single seed from the announcements that the BBC will give us and sometimes we can spot something coming from a mile away (Missy as the Master for example) and sometimes were just seeing things that just isn’t there. Maybe that’s why we theorize and try to hope for one thing over another. We fear what could or might be. Remember fear is a superpower!
