Doctor Who’s New Villains Create A Big Clue To The Toymaker’s Real Plan (& Season 14’s Story)

Warning: spoilers ahead for Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials “The Star Beast” and “Wild Blue Yonder.”

The Meep and the Not-things may not have much in common at first glance, but these two villains from Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary specials reveal an emerging pattern that could provide a significant clue for the future. Given the magnitude of Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary, audiences would have been justified expecting a mammoth multi-Doctor episode featuring famous monsters and big cameos galore. Truthfully, “The Star Beast” and “Wild Blue Yonder” are both standalone adventures. The former features the Meep as a main villain, while the latter debuts the Not-things. On the surface, both look suspiciously like one-off Doctor Who antagonists.

Unless, of course, this is just another example of classic Russell T Davies misdirection. One villain is a fluffy megalomaniac hypnotized by a sentient sun; the others are formless monsters from another universe. Aside from each falling foul of the Fourteenth Doctor inside 60 minutes, the Meep and the Not-things share one other important trait in common – something impossible to unsee once it is noticed. Moreover, this parallel between the Meep and the Not-things offers a big clue ahead of both the Toymaker’s return and Doctor Who season 14.

The Meep & The Not-things Both Share Aspects Of The Doctor’s Species

Doctor Who‘s “The Star Beast” makes several references to how the Meep and the Doctor both have two hearts. To underline the significance of that strange coincidence, the Meep promises to inform his mysterious Doctor Who “boss” about the Time Lord’s cardiovascular system before being escorted to jail. Then, in “Wild Blue Yonder,” the creepy Not-things are revealed as hailing from beyond the known universe. As the last of the Time Lords – allegedly – the Doctor hardly ever encounters individuals biologically similar to themselves.

Beings with two hearts are extremely rare in Doctor Who, and the same can be said of beings from outside the prime universe. Yet, strangely, the Doctor has encountered villains with parallels to their own heritage in two consecutive adventures – Meep with the twin hearts, and the Not-things from another universe. If the BBC had commissioned more 60th anniversary episodes, the Doctor might encounter a villain that can regenerate itself, followed by an enemy that forgot its own past, before a final encounter with a terrifying monster that wears tight suits past the age of 35.

Doctor Who’s Villain Similarities Hint A Bigger Plan Is In Motion

David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor meeting villains with similarities to his own species one after the other cannot be a coincidence. Some higher power seems to be orchestrating events, pushing the Doctor toward these encounters. Indeed, Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary specials have already teased a larger plot is in motion. The Doctor is still mulling over why the TARDIS landed next to Donna Noble in Camden Market, thus leading them directly to the Meep. Adding to the curiosity, the TARDIS then lost control and landed on the ship harboring the Not-things before promptly running away.

Fate, destiny, or something much darker appears to be guiding the Doctor’s path, and the Toymaker could be pulling the strings here. Neil Patrick Harris is confirmed to be playing the classic 1960s villain, whose dimensional powers allow for the reshaping of reality itself. If the Toymaker’s plan is to torment the Doctor, they might have been deliberately pitting the Time Lord against mirror images of themselves. Making that happen is certainly within the Toymaker’s power, although their motivations will only become clear in the final Doctor Who 60th anniversary special, “The Giggle.”

Are Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Villains Connected To The Timeless Child?

Any story involving the Doctor’s background, species, and biology takes on a whole new meaning after Chris Chibnall unveiled Doctor Who‘s Timeless Child twist. The show’s titular hero is no longer a Time Lord, but something else entirely, unknown to even themselves. Whatever race the Doctor actually belongs to possesses two hearts and comes from an outside universe. If something – be it the Toymaker or another force entirely – is leading the Doctor on a trail that includes one villain with two hearts, and other villains from a different universe, Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary may be building toward a development in the Timeless Child story.

Given his galactic presence, the Toymaker might know the Doctor’s true planet of origin, and will reveal it in Doctor Who‘s “The Giggle.” Maybe Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor will continue following these breadcrumbs and eventually discover the secret for himself in Doctor Who season 14. Or, now that the Doctor has been made aware of the Timeless Child, the TARDIS could deliberately take its owner toward aliens with the potential to shed some light on the Doctor’s murky past.