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Is Doctor Who’s Midnight Entity Making a Surprise Return in the 60th Anniversary Special?

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In the third installment of Season 2, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Varada Sethu’s Belinda Chandra encountered a long-forgotten adversary in an unanticipated turn of events. Instead of its usual course, the TARDIS was propelled 500,000 years ahead, landing them in the midst of a perilous assignment on a desolate, barren planet. Joining forces with a squad of eleven investigators dispatched to probe the vanishing of a mining settlement, the Doctor and Belinda stumbled upon gruesome evidence that the colonists had been brutally slain, leaving behind only one living soul. It was later unveiled that this planet held tragic memories for the Doctor as it turned out to be one she had previously visited, and the colonists’ demise was traced back to an ancient adversary.

On the strange world where the Doctor and Belinda landed, they initially recognized it only as 6-7-6-7. But the Galvanic radiation that plagued its air could have been reminiscent to some enthusiasts of “Doctor Who,” and for a valid reason. Eventually, the Doctor discovered that long ago, this planet was called Midnight, a fact revealed in the 2008 episode titled “Midnight.” This planet was also home to a perplexing creature that stole voices to survive, a being revisited in “The Well” under the name of the Midnight entity. However, it’s possible this creature may have appeared earlier in “Doctor Who,” although “The Well” might not be its first return.

Was Doctor Who’s Midnight Entity in “Wild Blue Yonder?”

The Creature From Midnight May Have Returned Before “The Well”

At midnight, David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor embarked on a bus tour that took a chilling turn. This journey introduced one of the most enigmatic planets – Midnight. The planet was illuminated by the lethal light of an X-tonic star, and the Doctor hopped aboard a shuttle bus to witness the breathtaking Sapphire Waterfall. However, as fate would have it, the bus malfunctioned during the journey, and something infiltrated it.

It was thought impossible for any life form to exist on Midnight’s surface, but a hidden creature had sneaked into the bus and took control of Sky Silvestry, one of the Doctor’s fellow travelers.

In the story titled “Midnight,” the entity remained unseen and silent throughout, instead appropriating the voices of others for its own growth. At first, it mimicked everything spoken by the other travelers, but later focused on synchronizing its speech with the Doctor. Eventually, the creature initiated conversation ahead of the Doctor, causing the passengers to suspect that the entity had moved from Sky into the Doctor and attempted to expel him from the bus, exposing him to Midnight’s harmful environment. Thankfully, the hostess discerned that Sky was speaking in the Doctor’s voice, and she bravely sacrificed herself to eject both Sky and the creature out of the airlock.

It turned out that the hostess’ selfless act in “Midnight” didn’t prevent the Midnight creature from coming back, as it reappeared in “The Well.” Although it might have been a relative or another member of its kind, the Doctor seemed to think it was the same entity. The way it recognized his name suggested this could be the very same creature that once invaded the Doctor’s mind, potentially taking more than just his voice. Intriguingly, the Midnight creature’s return in “The Well” might not have been its first appearance within the realm of Doctor Who in recent times. The nature of the Doctor Who entity remains enigmatic.

In the limitless expanse of the cosmos, the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble found themselves aboard a spaceship teetering on the brink of existence. Herein, enigmatic beings emerged from the blackness beyond the universe, mimicking not only voices but physical forms as well. These entities concealed their true shapes, instead materializing as replicas of the Doctor and Donna. Initially, these copies were inaccurate imitations, struggling to grasp the concept of form, but they gradually evolved to become nearly indistinguishable from the original duo.

Much like the Midnight entity, the more these beings managed to copy those they attached themselves to, the stronger and clearer their forms became. Their true nature remained a mystery.

“The Well” Might Have Hinted the Midnight Entity is a Not-Thing

Did “Wild Blue Yonder” Reveal the Midnight Entity’s Origins?

In the time span of 400,000 years between “Midnight” and “The Well,” the mysterious entity known as Midnight underwent significant changes in its nature and behavior. It no longer relied on imitating voices or stealing them, instead choosing to hide behind a host, compelling them to murder others by means of its whispered commands. A chilling rule seemed to apply here: if any person stood directly behind the host from the vantage point of other onlookers, they would be targeted for death. This potentially deadly phenomenon might suggest that observing the creature in this way could trigger it, as demonstrated by the fact that the creature was vulnerable to its own reflection.

The implication in “The Well” that the Midnight creature had adapted and transformed suggests it might have manifested elsewhere within the Doctor Who universe in a different guise. While the Not-Things in “Wild Blue Yonder” behaved differently from the Midnight entity, this discrepancy could stem from the fact that we encounter the creature at varying stages of its life and evolution across these episodes. The exact period when “Wild Blue Yonder” unfolded remains unspecified, but it’s plausible that this event occurred earlier in the creature’s existence than either “Midnight” or “The Well.” In “Wild Blue Yonder,” we may be witnessing the origins of the Midnight entity, with the storyline hinting at its extraterrestrial origin and unique abilities to evolve beyond the constraints of conventional lifeforms.

Upon discovering that the creature would harm anyone positioned behind it, the Doctor cleverly placed its reflection there, leading to the creature hurting itself. This vulnerability towards its own image might imply that this entity didn’t originally possess a fixed form. It could be that these beings, being unfamiliar with physical forms due to their association with the Not-Things, developed an aversion to seeing their true form in reflections. Since there were no mirrors on the deserted spaceship where the Doctor and Donna encountered the Not-Things in “Wild Blue Yonder,” it could provide them with a suitable hiding place.

Does the Midnight Entity Hail From Outside the Universe?

Doctor Who has Introduced a Pantheon of Powerful Beings From Beyond the Universe

The Midnight entity in “Doctor Who,” if originated by the Not-Things, implies that this enigmatic being comes from beyond the conventional universe. The episode “Wild Blue Yonder” delved into this concept, depicting how the Not-Things could distort the Doctor and Donna’s appearances grotesquely as they attempted to mimic them, fabricating physical forms out of thin air. This is not dissimilar to the Midnight creature’s self-evolution through the voices it absorbed. The creature’s capacity for self-shaping and evolution, its amorphous nature, and its seemingly eternal and enigmatic characteristics all hint at an extraterrestrial origin where the traditional laws of physics are irrelevant and the impossible thrives.

In celebration of Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary specials, it seems the Doctor’s encounter with the enigmatic “Wild Blue Yonder” hinted at entities beyond our universe. The Toymaker and the Not-Things were among the earliest representations in the current era of such beings, followed by creatures like the Goblins and the Toymaker’s counterparts, the Gods of Chaos – Maestro, Sutekh, and Lux.

The Midnight entity might not be one of these gods, but it shares striking similarities with the Goblins from “The Church on Ruby Road.” This could suggest that it hails from a different dimension, much like them, allowing it to adapt to our universe upon arrival. If true, this would establish a connection between the Midnight entity and the Pantheon of the Gods of Chaos, making it an inhabitant of their realm. In essence, I found myself facing not just one terrifying enemy, but a being from the domain of the chaotic gods.

In the final moments of “The Well”, it was disclosed that Shaya’s selfless act of sacrificing herself to destroy the monster proved futile, much like the hostess in “Midnight”. At episode’s end, one of the remaining troopers, Mo, seemed to conceal something about her person. Moreover, Mo submitted a report to her superior, hinting that the enigmatic Mrs. Flood might have orchestrated the Doctor’s arrival on Midnight. It appears that she too may originate from the realm of deities and possesses the power to control the Midnight entity. This could pave the way for the monster’s return in the Season 2 finale of “Doctor Who”, thus solidifying the links between “Wild Blue Yonder”, “Midnight” and “The Well”.

Every Saturday, you can stream the latest episodes of Doctor Who on BBC iPlayer within the United Kingdom. For those outside the UK, they’re available on Disney+ when accessible.

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2025-04-27 05:22

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