So I'm thinking the most likely arc is probably the obvious - the Master's daughter.

In the first two-parter, Missy mentions the gift the Doctor gave her when her daughter was born, and Davros asks the wink-wink-at-the-camera question to the Doctor "Why did you really originally steal a TARDIS and flee?". Aren't these likely connected - ie, yes, the predictable, that the Doctor and the Master had a child, something went tits up, so the Doctor fled.

Tonight's episode had another wink-wink at the camera moment - the Doctor abandoning Clara, and her stating something to the effect of "he goes away for a while, sorts things out, and comes back. That's just what he does".

And we have Maisie Williams (an obvious "daughter" actress) coming as the season's major guest star... in an "ünusual style" of two parter - ie possibly two unrelated plots involving her, which would make sense if one was set in the (show's) past, and one is dealing with the present's ramifications. That would also help explain the opening scene of the season, with the Doctor, played by Capaldi, playing a different incarnation, explained away by Missy as "They're all the same to me": ie we'll have past Doctor/Master scenes, but played by Capaldi and Missy, so get cool with that, audience.

So I'm presuming that the season's thread is going to be about he attempting to prevent the cock-up that occurred due to him siring a daughter with the Master and having to subsequently flee with a TARDIS and Maisie WIlliams' daughter.

I personally thought that the Master's daughter reference was a bit of a blink-and-you'll-miss it reference... I for one seemed to miss it on first watch. Then again that may just be me, but I did have to do a double-take when I saw it again just for the line to sink in.

I personally think the arc will be the TIme War hybrid though, and the confession dial. Whether you can call it an arc if it doesn't actually play out across the series, rather than simply cropping up again at the end is another question so I may be completely wrong.

I'm not sure Maisie Williams' character will end up being integral to this series outside of her two episodes, but then I could be wrong again. The one hint that she may be is that Moffat has co-written the Mathieson episode...that showrunner intervention is sometimes a sign of greater significance to the plot.

The confession dial could play into my theory too - it's the reason he left, abandoning his daughter - and also why it went to Missy - s/he's the one he's confessing to, as the one he betrayed.

I wondered in another thread whether the Doctor and the Master are in-laws, with the Master being Susan's mother's father and the Doctor being her father's father.

Their relationship could be reduced to stereotypical in-law dislike!

That could work too!

The entire series has actually been about grandparent visitation rights over Susan...

If the Masters Daughter has any significance at all and does lead into a plot about how the Master and the Doctor had a child together I would abandon every Doctor Who forum on the Internet.

Who fans complain at literally everything and that? That would create one hell of a s***storm. Some fans to this day still can't deal with the fact that Smith/Capaldi/Coleman and Gomez were or are part of this show so i feel like something genuinely controversial like a Master x Doctor relationship reveal would cause all kinds of non stop bitching. Personally, I think it could be cool to see though

I remember a theory from many years ago where it was suggested that the Master married the Doctor's daughter and thus Susan was the Master's daughter.
Then the Master turned evil and destroyed his family and the Doctor fled with his grand-daughter to save Susan from her evil, mad father.
It sort of makes sense, though is perhaps a little too EastEnders to really work satisfactorily.

I've said many times already, I believe that the arc is regarding the timelord hybrid, and that they made it pretty obvious that it was the case, by making that information seem prominent and linking it in to the reason the doctor left Gallifrey.

I also believe the confession dial will be his confession on the details of the hybrid project and his involvement in it, and his subsequent guilt/shame, then in the last episode he will possibly come face to face with the hybrid, and somehow have to deal with it.

I find it strange how the Op says the idea of the arc revolving around the masters daughter is 'probably the obvious' as I don't see it that way at all. I took it as a brush off little insignificant tidbit of information, that was just put there to tease a bit of the doctor/masters ancient past, and nothing more. The only way I could even imagine the masters daughter even being possibly slightly involved in the finale at all is if she were something to do with the hybrid project. I feel pretty certain she wouldn't actually be the basis of the arc though, and personally I actually don't expect to either see the daughter or hear her mentioned again really. Time will tell.

I think this years arc is about finding the best cheese-burger in the galaxy.

I think this arc is simply... "Things that have two parts".

I agree actually, do you think the Masters Daughter makes them?

I think she might be an ingredient (especially if her name is Patty).

Think the Burger theory is a load of tripe.


In seriousness, I think the series theme has something to do with not being able to save Clara, he seems to have made a really big deal about saving her from death a lot so far, breaking rules, ripping Davros out of his chair ....

I hope they don't try and explain why he ran away from Gallifrey as related to why he is so keen on saving people, i.e. There was someone he couldn't save and so he ran away ........

Think its all part of the moving on from the past to allow the show to survive another 50 years.

Some people have remarked that Series 9 seems more like Classic Who than any other New Who series. So, as Classic Who tended not to have arcs, maybe Series 9 won't either.

I think it's already been said that Series 9 does and will have an arc come its conclusion. If I was to draw a parallel I'd say that it's perhaps a bit more like Series 4 in that rather than having just one recurring element (i.e. Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, cracks in time, Lake Silencio, impossible girl, Missy) it'll instead potentially take on different elements... for example we could see an arc that involves the confession dial and the hybrid from The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar, the Minister of War mentioned in Before the Flood, and potentially other elements scattered across other stories including, it seems, Clara's own mortality. It's very similar to Series 4 in that regard if it does this, though opts for something much more vague... which is again a refreshing take on the arc, and far less in-your-face.

Maybe, the something else the Dr gave Clara is a baby, she pregnant and their daughter is someone already in it like the master in another time zone or universe

So is the Master's daughter Keenan or Kel? And when did she regenerate into a man?

I've said this a few times. But nobody seems to be paying attention.

Has the series arc got anything to do with the werid painting on the wall of the underwater base?

A wooden boat ensnared by a giant serpent creature..... It's so out of place.

It looks very much like a hint at Ep 5 more than anything else, certainly doesn't look like a proper arc.

Looking at it thematically, the recurring elements from the opening two stories have been the Doctor (and Clara to a lesser extent) dying (and I know that that's always the case but this year more so than ever) and also how far the Doctor is willing to go to prevent Clara's death. This was more clear than ever in Before the Flood but it's an element that was present in The Witch's Familiar too.

Also, the synopsis for Episode 12:

The primary job of the Doctor in Wartime is to stay alive. Secondary job to help the sick and wounded. What good is a dead doctor?
So, I surmise that the War Doctor may touch on a loop in the Doctor's mortality. Can a timelord's death occur partway along his timeline?

I don't think Missy's daughter will be referenced any more this year, if ever. The hybrid thing will be the finale story probably, which is a shame as what we've heard so far on-screen is generic crap, but hopefully an interesting spin can still be put on it.

That's a good theory; not heard of that one before.

Perhaps start a thread on that?

Could it be something to do with eyes? We have a lot of eyes, the handmines, Davros and his eyes looking very similar to the ghosts eyes. The message imprinting from peoples eyes.

The main season arc seems to be about War. The tank in The Magician's Apprentice, The Doctor carrying a Dalek weapon in The Witch's Familliar , Russian figures theme in Under The Lake, Vikings were always known for fighting, which maybe brings the words spoken by River back into The Doctor's life, when a good man goes to war.

I responded to this at some point before already, but the painting on the base was the Fisher King. I assumed that as soon as I saw it, and knew it when we subsequently saw the Fisher King. It's admittedly an artistically creative way of looking at it, but it was probably painted there by those who constructed the base, in the knowledge that it would serve an important role in the future of its existence. You only need to compare a shot of the painting to a shot of the monster to realise the similarities. The eyes are hollowed and black in both examples, the huge over-arching tank-like thing on the monsters back has been reimagined as a horn, and in both instances it's retained the reddened mouth, sharp teeth and tusks. The boat I would presume is a means to convey the fact that it is the 'fisher' king. If you were to be particularly poetic you could argue that the three people represent the three human lives lost to the Fisher King's scheme (a shame that one isn't a black man and another a woman to accurately represent that, but that would perhaps have prematurely ruined the story for anyone who decided to nitpick all the details...ahem ).