Theories on Osgood’s Return
Guest contributor Taryn Davis shares a few theories.
November 23, 2013. What a date. Whovians all across the world gathered around their television sets and watched the epic Doctor Who story The Day of the Doctor, my personal favorite. At the end of the episode, our minds all dwindled on so many things: Tom Baker, the freezing of Gallifrey, John Hurt, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi, Billie Piper, The Moment, Zygons, Daleks… there were so many mind-blowing things. In all of those moments, there was one that I believe most of us forgot, or stored in the back of our minds.
If you’re like me, you probably have every scene in the episode memorized. Think back to the Black Archive, and when Clara went there for the very first time. Once they entered, Kate Stewart (well, her Zygon counterpart) and Clara had a brief, but intriguing exchange:
Kate: …The whole of the tower is TARDIS-proofed. He really wouldn’t approve of the collection.
Clara: But you let me in.
Kate: You have a top-level security rating from your last visit.
Clara: Sorry – my what?
At this point, Clara then goes over to the bulletin board and sees multiple pictures of her walking within the Black Archive with Kate Stewart. Unless Clara is lying about not having been to UNIT before – which I doubt she is – this means something mind-boggling is happening. My main theory is time travel. For some reason the Doctor and Clara went back to an earlier point in time. My guess is that Kate and Clara’s previous adventure in the Black Archive took place sometime between The Power of Three and The Day of the Doctor.
This theory originally came about in my head almost right after I saw The Day of the Doctor, and I wondered whether UNIT in Death in Heaven would be an earlier version than what the Doctor saw. This was not true, and the theory sank back into the back of my mind. That is, until I heard that UNIT will be back for Series Nine. And now Whovians across the world are in celebration that Osgood is returning!
What does this mean for my theory, you ask? Well, if the Doctor and Clara travelled back in time before The Day of the Doctor’s events took place, they would meet a younger Kate Stewart and a living Osgood. To us viewers, this would all take place in Series Nine. This unfortunately means that Missy may still have killed Osgood (tear, tear), and we’re just seeing Osgood for one last adventure.
Other Theories
That is my primary theory. Of course, I’m sure there are many Osgood theories circulating the net as I type. I know one is probably that Osgood’s Zygon counterpart was the one that was killed, or that Ingrid Oliver is actually returning as Osgood’s Zygon. That would certainly explain the Zygon presence in Series Nine!
If you want an actual “Osgood never died” theory? Well, has anyone else noticed that Osgood’s little pile of ash in Death in Heaven looks almost exactly like the pile of ash when Rose was supposedly “disintegrated” by the android in Bad Wolf? We later found out that Rose was not disintegrated and instead was teleported. Did Osgood get teleported? If so, what is Missy doing with Osgood? I can totally see Missy scaring Osgood and pretending she’s about to die, just for the fun of it, and then teleporting Osgood away instead. I can also see her secretly elated that the Doctor thinks Osgood is dead. If only Missy was coming back too… oh wait, she is!
When you think about it, coming back after being “killed” isn’t as impossible as it may seem. Especially in Doctor Who.
