Warning: Spoilers ahead forDoctor Whoseason 15, episode 1, “The Robot Revolution.“Christopher Eccleston’s lone season as the Ninth Doctor primarily introduced newDoctor Whovillains rather than revisiting too many from the classic era, and one of those bad guys Nine faced should definitely have shown up in the season 15 premiere. As the first lead actor ofDoctor Who’s modern era, Eccleston’s 13 episodes in 2005 brought the show back after decades of inactivity. Although Paul McGann’s failedDoctor Whomovie arrived in 1996, the show itself was canceled in 1989.
With Gatwa becoming the first new Doctor ofDoctor Who’s Disney era, he has a similar task of bringing the show to new audiences. However, the canon remains intact across all eras ofDoctor Who, which raises an interesting question about one moment in “The Robot Revolution.” Although Fifteen has encountered very few ofDoctor Who’s recurring villains, the season 15 premiere opened the door to an exciting reunion that never happened - but it isn’t the first time the long-running British sci-fi has ignored this clear opportunity.
The Ninth Doctor’s Encounter With The Reapers Explained (& Why They Should’ve Returned By Now)
The Reapers' absence is one of the biggest Doctor Who mysteries since 2005
Althoughthe Doctor has crossed paths with the Reapers more than once acrossDoctor Whomedia, only the show is considered part of the established canon. So,Doctor Whoseason 1, episode 8, “Father’s Day,” remains the only confirmed appearance of the temporal creatures. Nine explains in the episode that Reapers appear to “sterilize the wound by consuming everything inside” whenever someone alters a fixed point in time and causes a paradox, which Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) does by stopping her father from dying when he was supposed to.
Nine states in “Father’s Day” that the Time Lords would have once prevented the Reapers from attacking, but their absence means there is little else to stop them.
Since the end of “Father’s Day,” the Reapers haven’t shown up again, but they really should have done. Rose’s intervention wasn’t the last timeDoctor Whohas shown the timeline being altered in ways it shouldn’t have been, but theReapers have remained conspicuously absent since the end of “Father’s Day.“In a show likeDoctor Whothat will inevitably be filled with paradoxes, it was perhaps a bold move to introduce such a villain without also explaining why they would never return.
The Physical Contact Of The Two Star Certificates In “The Robot Revolution” Should Have Summoned The Reapers
Belinda and Alan’s union set up a Reaper comeback
Althoughthe initial appearance of the Reapers is caused by Rose’s dad surviving the event that was supposed to kill him, what gives them even more power is when Rose holds herself as a baby. The crossing of her own timeline in such a quantifiable way creates a new paradox and allows the Reapers to break through the only defensible position she and the other characters can find - the walls of an old church, the age of which slows down the Reapers' attempts to attack and kill everyone.
In “The Robot Revolution,” Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and Alan “The AI Generator” Budd touch together two versions of the same certificate from different points in its own timeline.This is an incredibly similar scenario to what happened with Roseand her much younger self in “Father’s Day,” but the Reapers are nowhere to be seen. While this isn’t the only instance inDoctor Whothat should have brought the Reapers out of hiding, it’s certainly one of the purest examples of their confusing absence.
Why The Reapers Haven’t Returned To Doctor Who Since “Father’s Day”
The most likely reason is how repetitive the monsters could have become
There are two main explanations why the Doctor hasn’t faced the Reapers since their lone appearancein 2005. The first isn’t anything to do with the in-universeDoctor Whocanon, but rather the writing/continuity issues that the monsters cause. In short, the introduction of the Reapers made for an excellent episode, but it would restrict the show far too much if the Doctor had to fight them again every time a paradox happened. So, it was easier to just kind of let them fall by the wayside rather than have to bring them back so often.
What I think is the most reasonable theory is that the joint effort of the Doctor and Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) to defeat the Reapers was as permanent as it looked and that they were the last group of the creatures in existence.
Doctor Whohas never explained the Reapers' absence, but there must be an in-universe reason. What I think is the most reasonable theory is that the joint effort of the Doctor and Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) to defeat the Reapers was as permanent as it looked and that they were the last group of the creatures in existence - if there were ever more in the first place. Pete sacrifices himself to fix the paradox, so the Reapers have nothing to feed off in that instance. As such, it could’ve been enough to wipe them from theDoctor Whouniverse.
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Doctor Who
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An alien from the planet Gallifrey travels through time and space to explore, solve problems and fight injustice while also making friends with human beings. His spaceship, called TARDIS, resembles a police box, but it is much more than it appears to be.
Doctor Who: Released on August 08, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
