This article contains spoilers for the Doctor Who Anniversary Special, "The Giggle"

Summary

• The final Doctor Who anniversary special name-drops a new villain, "The One Who Waits," setting up major villain reveals for Season 14.
• The Toymaker teases The One Who Waits as the most powerful foe the Doctor will face, suring even the Guardians of Time and Space.
• Speculation arises about the identity of The One Who Waits, with theories ranging from new characters to connections with the Meep and the Time War.

The final Doctor Who anniversary special, "The Giggle," sets up the introduction of a mysterious new villain - "The One Who Waits." Returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies has always loved to play the long game; during his first era, he tended to drop obscure hints and references throughout seasons, setting up major villain reveals. Davies is back, and Doctor Who is bigger than ever thanks to the injection of Disney cash and the prospect of streaming internationally on Disney+.

The Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials have served two purposes. On the one hand, they look back, celebrating Doctor Who as it has been; it even features the return of classic Doctor Who villain the Toymaker, now played by Neil Patrick Harris. But these specials also feel like something of a sales pitch, welcoming new viewers and giving them a taste of the kind of adventures they will soon be able to experience. Unsurprisingly, then, the anniversary specials include setup - and, in fact, sets up the most dangerous villain in the show's 60-year history.

The Toymaker Teases Doctor Who Season 14's Main Villain Is "The One Who Waits"

The Toymaker is one of the most powerful villains ever seen in Doctor Who, an elemental force bound only by the rules of the game. He originally existed outside the universe, but the Doctor accidentally let him in, and he's enjoyed wreaking havoc across the universe. Crucially, though, according to the Toymaker there was one being he didn't dare face - The One Who Waits. This comment clearly follows Davies' typical format, establishing The One Who Waits as the villain of Doctor Who season 14. The Toymaker refused to reveal the identity of The One Who Waits, suggesting this being is hiding, and that this is "somebody else's game."

The One Who Waits Is Set To Be The Doctor's Most Powerful Foe Yet

The Doctor famously hates cryptic, and he tried to persuade the Toymaker to tell him more about The One Who Waits. He was unsuccessful, however, because the Toymaker clearly fears this entity. That in itself suggests this is the most powerful foe the Doctor is ever going to face, because the Toymaker's power exceeded the likes of the Guardians of Time and Space. As seen in "The Giggle," the Toymaker claimed he could treat gods as playthings, reducing planets to baubles at a whim. Whatever The One Who Waits may be, it's clearly something with power on a scale the Doctor has never seen before.

Who Doctor Who's "The One Who Waits" Could Be

Naturally, viewers are going to be left speculating who The One Who Waits could be. The Toymaker's rules out some of the most powerful beings seen in Doctor Who history, such as the Black Guardian, a Guardian of Time so dangerous the Doctor began to randomize his journeys for fear of being tracked down by this enemy. Doctor Who's broader continuity has established the Toymaker as one of the Great Old Ones, entities that predate the universe, also including the likes of the Great Intelligence, Fenric, and the Nestene Consciousness. To intimidate the Toymaker, The One Who Waits must be beyond any of these.

To intimidate the Toymaker, The One Who Waits must be beyond any of these.

The comparison to Fenric is particularly instructive. Fenric's power was so great that his influence pervaded space and time, and he was able to orchestrate complex events using time storms to pull people from one point of spacetime to another. There were even hints Fenric was able to interfere with the Doctor's regenerations, because one story claimed he had tried to ensure the Seventh Doctor would not be a threat (although, of course, he failed). If The One Who Waits is beyond even this, the story possibilities are tremendous.

It's possible Davies has indeed planted hints of The One Who Waits in his earlier run, perhaps with s of the Time War. There were hints of temporal creatures beyond even the Daleks and the Time Lords, beings caught up in the conflict who played a key role in the war. The most interesting of these was the Nightmare Child, which apparently came close to destroying Davros. A short story by Dave Rudden, "The Third Wise Man," revealed this was a new type of Dalek - but it remains to be seen whether Davies will stick with this.

That said, the most likely scenario is that The One Who Waits is someone new - a character never seen before in the history of Doctor Who. Davies appears to be doubling down on the controversial Timeless Child twist, which means it could conceivably be a being from the Doctor's own universe of origin. The interesting question, though, is what The One Who Waits is waiting for - and what, the Toymaker implies, it is hiding from. This in itself may be a clue, a hint at a massive power escalation set to happen in Doctor Who season 14 and beyond. The Doctor could easily find himself working against The One Who Waits, and later against whatever it was hiding from.

The One Who Waits Could Be Connected To The Meep

The Doctor Who anniversary specials have set up a number of different plot threads for the future, and it's possible they tie together; even the Toymaker has hinted his story is not yet over, because he warned the Doctor his "legions" would be coming. The Meep, meanwhile, hinted he was working for someone he called "Boss," someone who would be interested in the Doctor because his two hearts make him unusual. The Meep's "Boss" could easily be The One Who Waits.

At the same time, though, The One Who Waits feels like a separate entity. There's no evidence the Meep has any connection to time travel, or to cosmic power on the scale hinted at by the Toymaker. If that is the case, then the anniversary specials haven't set up one potential enemy ahead of Doctor Who season 14 - they've set up multiple.