Doctor Who' Season 12: Is the show foreshadowing the Doctor's companions exiting in the two-part finale?
Companion exits on 'Doctor Who' are always emotional -- right from Rose Tyler who was the first companion of NuWho. She got split up from the Doctor and stuck on a parallel world during the Season 2 finale, 'Doomsday'. Of course, Rose came back and got a second farewell, this time with a human version of the Doctor.
The most emotional exit of the David Tennant era was undoubtedly Donna Noble's farewell. The Doctor had to erase her mind after she absorbed regeneration energy. In the Matt Smith era, Amy Pond and Rory Williams got a heartfelt departure too.
The question is, is it time for the first exit of a companion during Jodie Whittaker's era? Rumors started flying in January when Tosin Cole -- who plays Ryan Sinclair -- booked the lead role in the new AMC drama '61st Street', which is already said to have two seasons of eight episodes each.
Within the show itself, one can already see the hints. It looked like Ryan was starting to have enough of his traveling life with the Doctor. In an episode during the current season, he has a conversation with Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) where he voices his concerns. He asks her, "How long is this gonna last Yaz? Hanging out with the Doctor? Is this our lives?" He goes on to say, "Going from one place to the next, ignoring home. We’re getting older but without them. Missing out bits of their lives."
Yaz tells him that the Doctor could drop him off where he wanted after he was done. “Yeah but we’ll have changed,” replied Ryan. “They wouldn’t have. It’s like we’re living at different rates.”
But it might not just be Ryan that we need to be worried about. What pushes him over the edge could be a tragic turn for another companion -- one we think has been hinted at growing more reckless and impatient with the Doctor.
Yaz has been quite eager to go off on her own since the events of the season premiere, where she was trapped in the Kassavin dimension. Even in the latest episode, she was all too willing to disobey the Doctor's orders and go searching for clues on her own. In a previous episode, she readily traveled solo to get to the bottom of a mystery, even thinking she discovered an alien planet on her own.
Yaz's recklessness could lead to an unfortunate end. This won't be the first time a companion was killed off. Bill Potts was unfortunately turned into a Cyberman and knowing that the big foes of the final two episodes will be the Cybermen makes us pause.
Meanwhile, Graham O'Brien's health concerns have also been talked about, with him worried that his cancer might be coming back. Should Ryan decide to stop traveling with the Doctor, Graham could very well join him.
Only Jodie Whittaker has been confirmed for the 13th season so far, and we will have to wait till the final episode of the current season to be sure. We just hope it won't be as tragic as the show is hinting it to be.
'Doctor Who' airs on BBC America on Sunday nights at 8/7c.