WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for the latest episode of Doctor Who, “The Timeless Children,” which premiered Sunday on BBC.

The start of the new year brought with it a new season of Doctor Who. It had been a long wait for fans, considering it had been exactly a year since the series’ last episode, the 2019 New Year’s Day special, “Resolution,” had aired. What’s more, there was a lot of anticipation for the BBC series’ return, given that Season 11 somewhat divided the fanbase, with some viewers loving its standalone episodes, which worked with a mandate of featuring nothing but new villains, while others longed for the return to an overarching storyline and classic villains.

With the 10-episode Season 12, Doctor Who delivered a perfect mix of old and new, and of episodic and serialized stories. And, as a result, the series gave fans its best season in years.

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The Master from Doctor Who

Doctor Who’s Season 12 hit the ground running with its two-part season premiere, “Spyfall.” The season opener brought forth a kinetic sense of energy, and the introduction of Sacha Dhawan’s Master left fans surprised beyond belief. The new version of the classic villain was as mad as he was charming, and he only left fans wanting more. Moreover, the character’s return led to the start of a season-long mystery that tied back to Whittaker’s second episode in the series in the form of the Timeless Child.

Things only grew better from there, with standalone episodes that delivered on some classic Who tropes, offering new twists and inspired adventures set in the future, the past and different corners of the universe. Then, the season delivered a massive twist with the introduction of another version of the Doctor, played by the uber-cool Jo Martin. Her introduction changed the scope of the entire series and made things all the more mysterious at the season’s halfway point.

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This all led to an epic three-part finale that involved Cybermen, the Master and the revelation to end all revelations: the Doctor is the Timeless Child. She is not who we think she is -- she is far older, and she comes from a universe or a dimension that fans know nothing about. The very fabric of the 57-year old series has just been changed, and it has revitalized it in a manner that has never been done before. Suddenly, there is a real sense of mystery, of the unknown around the Doctor, and no one has any idea what to expect next.

What’s more, while Season 11 examined the Doctor more as an adventure-seeker, Season 12 made her a much more three-dimensional, fully-realized character. Fans once again got the sense that she had been alive for thousands of years, that she had loved and lost and that she was like no one else in the entire universe. Season 12 not only allowed Jodie Whittaker to show her incredible range, but it also allowed fans to get a much better grasp on her take as the immortal Time Lord.

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Doctor Who has seen plenty of ups and downs in recent years. The series reached new heights of popularity when Matt Smith joined the series as the Eleventh Doctor and in its fifth season, the show reached new audiences, becoming bigger than ever for a few years. However, its popularity quieted down after Smith’s departure. With Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, the series kept a stable balance and delivered good-if-not-stellar seasons. Then, Whittaker’s debut as the Thirteenth Doctor proved to be an exciting departure, but the actor’s first season failed to captivate with a departure from the usual formula. But all of that changed in Season 12.

After the standalone nature of Season 11, the new outing offered an overarching story that brought back familiar faces, both heroic and villainous. The season once again introduced a true sense of excitement, one that kept growing with each subsequent episode. Suddenly, fans couldn’t wait for the next installment and were forced to mute social media channels to ensure no spoilers would be revealed beforehand.

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Suddenly, every episode was crucial, and every moment could surprise the audience. The questions fans had were dissected continuously, and the answers that were eventually delivered have opened up the floodgates for the future. Season 12 didn’t just continuously deliver -- it left everyone eagerly anticipating Season 13.

Doctor Who stars Jodie Whittaker as the 13th iteration of the titular Time Lord. Whittaker is joined by co-stars Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill in a series spearheaded by showrunner Chris Chibnall. The next episode, "Revolution of the Daleks," will air this holiday season. The new season and all previous 11 seasons will stream on HBO Max later this year.

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