Sutekh's return in Doctor Who's Disney era was his first episode since the 1975 story, "Pyramids of Mars," starring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. The signs of Sutekh's comeback were subtle, but they were certainly there.

With Doctor Who season 14 serving as a stealth sequel to "Pyramids of Mars" all along, the clues to the true identity of the first big bad of Ncuti Gatwa's era are much easier to spot in retrospect. The Pantheon leader's evil plan to wipe out all life in the universe was retroactively established as the biggest looming threat of the post-Baker era, and the fact that Sutekh was able to remain concealed for so long only compounds his fearsome power.

8 Doctor Who Season 14's Multi-Colored Marketing

Gatwa's first season's promotional material shared a color scheme with some original Sutekh shots

Like almost every other time a new actor is cast in the show's lead role, Doctor Who underwent an aesthetic overhaul when Nucti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor entered the fray. The bright marketing for Doctor Who season 14 promised a vibrant and visually pleasing run of episodes, but it actually teased Sutekh's return at the same time. The eye-catching color scheme may seem innocuous, but it's a startling match for an iconic shot from Sutekh's original story.

One of the harsh realities of Doctor Who's classic era is the fact that many of the special effects haven't stood the rest of time. By today's standards, Sutekh's method of traveling to Earth in "Pyramids of Mars" consisting of bright colors doesn't particularly align with the insidious atmosphere the story is trying to establish. So, when the same palette was used to Doctor Who season 14, it concealed the return of the known villain even more.

7 The Beatles' Song In "The Devil's Chord"

The Fab Four sing about a dog not being dead

Although Doctor Who season 14's Beatles episode, the lyrics to one of the Fab Four's intentionally underwhelming compositions quietly acknowledged the coming arrival of Sutekh. With Maestro's plot to rid the world of music, the remaining songwriters started penning lyrics with almost no heart, and The Beatles' song about a dog revealed more than it originally seemed.

The song in question included lyrics such as, "My dog is alive, he's not dead."

The song in question included lyrics such as, "My dog is alive, he's not dead." Sutekh may not be an actual dog, but the resemblance between a domestic pooch and the most powerful being in Doctor Who's Pantheon of Gods isn't unremarkable. Until "The Legend of Ruby Sunday," the Doctor believed Sutekh to be dead, so The Beatles' quiet foreshadowing refuting that assumption is very important after the events of the two-part finale.

6 The "Susan Triad Technologies" Wordplay

The Sue Tech/Sutekh connection was a little heavy-handed (but it kind of worked)

Showrunner Russell T Davies liked to play with words in Doctor Who season 14, even if some of the anagrams were a bit of a reach. Triad Technologies was referenced as early as the 60th anniversary specials, but without Susan's first initial, it was a little tricky to arrive at the "TARDIS" tease that could be constructed from "S. TRIAD." That being said, when Susan Twist's character was revealed to share the same first name as her actress, it became much more difficult to avoid the Suetkh/Sue Tech connection due to the tech mogul's field of work.

Susan Triad was revealed to be one of Sutekh's avatars.

There is probably a reason why this "anagram" was only made available in the same episode as the Sutekh reveal. It's incredibly on-the-nose, although the incomplete nature of the available letters could arguably have kept viewers in the dark for much longer. Clunky nature of the clue aside, it still allowed Sutekh's presence to remain undiscovered by most of the Doctor Who fan base as well as all the characters.

5 The Strained TARDIS Noises That Started In "Wild Blue Yonder"

There isn't much that can make the TARDIS groan

The TARDIS made a sound it had never made before in David Tennant's second full episode as the Fourteenth Doctor. The mysterious noise seems a little worrying at first, but ultimately harmless. It happens again a handful of times after Gatwa stepped into the role of the Doctor, but the fact it often occurs in the middle of a much bigger mystery/crisis means it can swiftly be swept under the rug until the time is right.

Doctor Who never really fully explains why the TARDIS groans, but the most salient theory is the Doctor's sentient blue box is under a lot of strain from carrying Sutekh around for so long. Although it's been doing so for centuries by the time season 14, the God of Death's attempts to emerge may have been enough to alert the TARDIS that something is very wrong. Watching these moments back, the TARDIS may as well be yelling, "Sutekh is coming, Sutekh is coming!" Thankfully, the TARDIS doesn't communicate conventionally, so the Suetkh twist remained under wraps.

4 The Toymaker Being Retroactively Added To The Pantheon Should Have Been A Big Clue

The Toymaker and Sutekh both originate in Doctor Who's classic era

The Pantheon didn't exist during the Toymaker's debut in Doctor Who's classic era. Instead, he was simply an independent villain. However, when Doctor Who's Disney era brought the character back with Neil Patrick Harris in the role, it was as one of the franchise's new gods. When Maestro appears in "The Devil's Chord," the Doctor mentions the Pantheon as if the group has always existed, teasing there were more . If any Doctor Who villains from the classic era were going to follow the Toymaker into a Pantheon hip, Sutekh should have been a prime suspect.

The fear the Toymaker and Maestro both voice about "The One Who Waits" should have been a huge signifier of the moniker being held by Sutekh.

Despite only appearing in one previous TV story before season 14, Sutekh was still one of the most powerful beings to ever feature in Doctor Who. His ability to kill with a single touch, as well as sharing this power with his terrifying avatars, makes him an incredibly formidable opponent. The fear the Toymaker and Maestro both voice about "The One Who Waits" should have been a huge signifier of the moniker being held by Sutekh. Then again, the mysterious title could refer to almost anyone out of context, including a brand-new Doctor Who villain.

3 Doctor Who Brought Back Sutekh's Original Voice Actor

Sutekh's monologue that eventually leads up to revealing himself in "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" would have spoiled the big twist for fans of Doctor Who's classic era. Gabriel Woolf, who played the villain in "Pyramids of Mars," was recruited to voice the reimagined version of the character in season 14. So, for anyone particularly familiar with Woolf's Doctor Who debut back in 1975, it would be easy to work out the imminent return of Sutekh. Woolf has an incredibly recognizable timbre that could have given ruined the reveal away ahead of time.

Woolf's return to the role could also have been an attempt at misdirection. The actor voiced the Beast from Doctor Who season 2, episodes 8 and 9 - "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit." The David Tennant-era villain shares several similarities with Sutekh, and Woolf's dual-casting is a great way to throw fans of the scene. Ultimately, the ploy ended up being far less meta than a connection between both Gabriel Woolf characters.

2 The Title Of Doctor Who Season 14's Finale Episode Is Huge Nod To Sutekh

Maestro's endgame looks like Sutekh's goal as well

"Empire of Death" is a title that could (and did) easily slip under the radar of even the most devoted Doctor Who fans. It's just general enough to sound ambiguously ominous, but a semi-generous reading declares Sutekh as the story's main villain. Sutekh isn't an especially layered bad guy, as his sole aim is simply for death to be the reigning state of being throughout the universe. So, any victory enjoyed by the character would surely fit the description of an Empire of Death.

The Doctor Who season 14 trailer also includes a dust cloud, which is a big reference to Sutekh's classic era episodes.

Of course, Sutekh is far from the only Doctor Who villain with strong ties to the concept of death, but he arguably has the strongest and most direct connection to wanting as much of it as possible. Plus, Woolf's character even uses the word "Empire" when telling Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor about his plans in "Pyramids Mars," strengthening the overall possibility and eventually-correct prediction that the "Empire of Death" will belong to Suetkh.

1 Maestro's Apocalyptic Goals Are Very Similar To those Of Sutekh's Master Plan

Sutekh's Death Wave achieves the same thing as Maestro's calculated plan

When the Doctor and Ruby travel to the present day to witness the impact of the death of music, the complete lack of human life aligns with Sutekh's desires. While the God of Death's plan goes beyond that of killing Earth, it's still a big clue about what's to come. However, it's the nature of Gatwa and Gibon's character's return to the present that makes Sutekh's return feel even more inevitable. While it's easy to miss without seeing "Pyramids of Mars," that doesn't make it any less relevant.

In the 1975 Tom Baker story where Sutekh debuts, Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith asks the Doctor to return to her native time from 1911. The Fourth Doctor uses the TARDIS to show Sarah Jane the impact of Sutekh's actions if left to be successful. The Fifteenth Doctor does the exact same thing with Ruby when she states the world can't end in the 1960s because her existence is evidence to the contrary. He manages to make Ruby understand that Maestro can be successful in changing history, and it's a replication of a moment from Sutekh's Doctor Who debut.