Doctor Who: The Cancelled Years - The Destiny of Sally Ryder

The Destiny of Sally Ryder would’ve been a 90 minute special to mark the BBC’s Centenary Special. It would’ve starred Rakhee Thakrar in her first proper adventure as the Sixteenth Doctor, as well as starring former Doctor Who stars Robert Carlyle & Sheridan Smith as the Twelfth Doctor & Sally Ryder.

Promotion & marketing for the special would’ve largely focused on the return of Carlyle & Smith to Doctor Who, who, by this point in history, were seen to be the stars of Doctor Who’s golden age (similar to David Tennant & Catherine Tate from our own universe).

The Special would’ve aired on the 23rd of November 2022, with the next season of Doctor Who being announced for broadcast in early 2023. The special would’ve been written by both McTighe & Dollard. This would be Dollard's final contribution as showrunner, with Pete McTighe going solo for Season 57.

THE DESTINY OF SALLY RYDER

WRITTEN BY: Pete McTighe & Sarah Dollard
DIRECTED BY: Jamie Childs
PRODUCED BY: Nikki Wilson

The episode begins with a voice-over from Sally Ryder, who explains who she is, how she met the Doctor, was separated from the Doctor & then met him again, only to discover she was now travelling with a younger version of him. This would be played over a series of clips featuring the Twelfth Doctor & Sally from Seasons 44-45.

We then cut to a TARDIS in-flight. The Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS. We then cut to the Twelfth Doctor & Sally inside the console room (the TARDIS being created through the use of the original console, an old wall piece & some CGI, given how the original set had been long dismantled), where we see the duo discussing some off-screen adventure. The console begins to emit a signal & the Doctor checks it out before telling Sally “That was from Rani. Says she needs us on Earth”. The Doctor begins to work at the controls as we hear the TARDIS taking off.

Suddenly, the TARDIS appears to crash. We cut to outside the ship, where we see another TARDIS merging with 12’s TARDIS. Cut back inside the console room & we see Sally screaming in shock as she’s zapped from her Doctor’s TARDIS into the other TARDIS, which we see to be the 16th Doctor’s TARDIS. We then see the ending of The Union of Omega, with 16 & Sally meeting, before going into the titles.

After the titles, we see 16 awkwardly greeting Sally before the console room begins to tremble again. We cut back to space, where we see the 2 TARDISes separating from each other & being hurtled through space. We then see 16 stabilising her TARDIS before attempting to track down Sally’s Doctor. The Doctor, while working on the controls, asks Sally “So which Doctor are you with? The tough looking one with short hair? Or have you not met him yet? Or better still, has he regenerated into the long haired one? Tell me, how early in your timeline have I met you? Do I know you or do you know me?”. Sally awkwardly responds with “Long haired one. & no, he doesn’t know who i am yet”.

16 is able to track 12 down to a planet named Thuria in the year 3405. The Doctor flicks some controls before the TARDIS begins to materialise & begins to shudder a little. The Doctor is able to tame the TARDIS & successfully land, before she & Sally head out onto Thuria. There, they eventually meet up with 12, where 12 & 16 meet for the first time. There, 16 discovers that the brief shudder accidentally sent her to the wrong time, as 12 reveals he’s been stuck on Thuria for 2 months.

The 2 incarnations exchange banter between them, with 16 making fun of 12’s hair & 12 calling 16’s jumper a fashion nightmare, before the 2 turn their attention to examining their TARDISes. It turns out that both TARDISes had their shields down for a brief moment, which resulted in the brief merge. This has resulted in both of their TARDISes being damaged in some way. 16’s TARDIS is mostly fine, however 12’s Dematerialisation circuit is very damaged. 16 apologises for this before offering to help finish the repairs on his TARDIS. Meanwhile, 12 has been summoned to meet with the council of the planet, who he had gotten to know during his time on Thuria. 12 asks Sally if she would join him, however 16 asks her to stay, as she may need her help.

We’d then see 16 & Sally finishing some repairs to some circuits on 12’s TARDIS in a makeshift workshop, where we’d get to see the 2 of them talk without any secrets about where they come in their timelines. We see 16 telling Sally that a lot of things made sense in hindsight, such as her not being scared off by 11’s regeneration, as well as Sally telling the Doctor that she forgives her for the death of Nikki Williams.

This would be semi-intercut with footage of 12 meetings with the council in their chamber, where they explain to the Doctor that they’ve received reports from their neighbouring planets that they’ve been invaded by beings from another world, who’ve managed to wipe out most of the population & put the rest into slavery. Suddenly, the council receives a video message from one of these planets, where we see the person on the camera being killed by a laser. Then out of the shadows emerges the thing responsible for the laser… a Dalek. We see the Doctor’s face filled with horror & dread before the Dalek exterminates the camera & it cuts to static. The council are in chaos & ask for the Doctor’s help. He tells them that they must be prepared to fight, before running back to his TARDIS to warn 16 & Sally.

Cut back to 16 & Sally, where they see Dalek saucers emerging from the sky & Daleks flying out of their ships. 12 dashes over to the group as the Daleks begin their attack. We see the people of Thuria firing back at the Daleks with little-to-no success. Then cut to the Dalek mothership interior, where we see the Dalek Supreme observing the attack. An intercom turns on, with a Dalek announcing that the rebels are fighting back. The Supreme Dalek responds with “Release the Seffium”. We then see a strange gas leaking from the Dalek ships & making its way towards the people of Thuria. The chemical enters the body, which results in them burning up & melting into a puddle.

16 is able to retrieve a sample of the melted flesh puddle & uses a computer device to scan the liquid, which she identifies as Seffium, much to her horror. She then says “This is wrong. The Daleks should never have gained Seffium, not ever. I- i mean you (turning & looking at 12) stopped it. Unless… no”. 16 then asks 12 what he was doing before she collided with him, to which he explains that he’d been summoned to Earth by Rani. Then it hits 16 & she realises what’s going on.

Explaining the situation to 12 & Sally, we learn that 16 has accidentally altered 12’s timeline. It turns out that Rani was summoning 12 & Sally to Earth due to a Dalek invasion… the same one from the Season 44 finale. However, because 12 & Sally were now never on Earth to stop Davros & the Daleks, their plans to create a plague that wipes out non-Dalek life has succeeded. Now that history has been altered, 16 must work with 12, Sally & the people of Thuria to both hold back the Daleks & repair the TARDISes so that she can correct history.

We then see 12 & 16 briefly working together to finish repairing 16’s TARDIS, before 12 asks what exactly was meant to happen. 16 explains the events of the Season 44 finale, while clearly trying to avoid mentioning Sally’s death. However, 12 can tell 16 is trying to hide something from him, so he pushes her into revealing Sally’s fate. This then throws 12 into a fit of frustration & anger as he realises that he’s now destined to lose another companion. 16 tries to calm 12, but it’s no use. 12 tells 16 that he refuses to abide by the laws of time anymore & that he is saving Sally. 16 tries to stop 12 but to no avail, as 12 throws her to the ground & pushes past her into 16’s TARDIS. He then deadlocks the doors, dematerialises & travels back in time.

The story then follows 12 (who I'll refer to as Rogue 12) in 16’s TARDIS, where we see him essentially going rogue against his own rules concerning the Web of Time in order to save Sally. First, he corrects history by knocking 16’s TARDIS off course, which results in the earlier version of 12 & Sally (who, for now, i’ll refer to as Original 12 & Original Sally) reaching Earth as originally intended. Rogue 12 then travels forward in time to near the end of the Season 44, just before Sally is destined to die.

Then, using the heart of the TARDIS, Rogue 12 is able to replace Original 12 with himself. We then see Rani in Original 12’s console room, with Dervla Kirwan reprising her role, before she’s zapped into 16’s console room with Rogue 12. Then, with time running out, 12 is able to save Sally from dying at the last second. We have an emotional moment with 12 & Sally, with 12 hugging Sally with a tear in his eye & Sally just being relieved to see the Doctor. After this, 12 drops Rani back on Earth, before he & Sally dematerialise into space.

We then cut back to 16 & Sally (who I'll refer to as ALT Sally) on Thuria. We see time & space splintering & cracking around them. Not only is the Web of Time cracking, but the history they’re in is slowly being erased, as the timeline created by 12 is becoming the dominant timeline again. With no time at all, 16 is able to finish repairing 12’s TARDIS & travel back in time with ALT Sally in order to save the universe & stop her previous incarnation.

We then see Rogue 12’s TARDIS in space, with 12 & Sally discussing where they should go next. Suddenly, a beeping is emitted from the console. 12 checks the scanner & sees 16 closing in on him. Without a second to lose, 12 begins dashing around the console & flicking every switch in order to escape 16. 12’s TARDIS zooms off into the vortex, however 16 is able to lock onto 12’s flight path & follows him through the vortex. 16 then activates her scanner & attempts to make contact with 12. Initially, 12 keeps shutting 16’s communications down. However, after 16 uses her sonic to lock their connection, he’s forced to talk with his future incarnation.

12 warns 16 to leave him alone or else he’ll send both of their TARDISes into a collapsing supernova. Original Sally hears 12’s threats & forces herself past him to see who he’s shouting at, where she sees the 16th Doctor & herself (ALT Sally). 16 is forced to tell original Sally what 12 has done & how she was meant to die. 12, in a fit of rage, then yells out “WHY?! Why does she have to die! It’s not fair, it’s just not fair!” 16 then tells 12 that she knows & totally agrees with him. Sally was taken away too soon &, if she could, she would save every single one of her companions from death. 12 then responds with “So why don’t you? Don't you see? We’re the only Time Lords left. They all died. I- I mean we, we killed them all!”

Realising she has no choice, 16 reveals to 12 the fate of the Time Lords, explaining that the Time Holder worked & that they’re safe in another universe. She says it’ll take some time but one day, the Time Lords & Gallifrey will stand tall & mighty in the universe again. We then focus on 12, leaning on the console & breathing in heavily, with sweat plastered all over his face. He then glances up, flicks a switch on the console & looks back at the scanner. He sees the universe before him, dying, cracking & collapsing in on itself. He then un-flicks the switch & sees 16 again, before saying “I’m sorry”.

12 then turns to ALT Sally, also apologising to her. ALT Sally tells him not to worry & that he’ll be alright. 12 begins to tear up, before stating “but i’m never gonna see you again”. Sally, unsure on whether to tell 12 about his future, simply says “You will, one day. Trust me”, as the two hug. After this, 12 turns back to the scanner & asks 16 what they’re going to do next.

We then cut to a minute later, where we see 16 & ALT Sally back in 16’s TARDIS & 12 & Original Sally back in 12’s TARDIS. We then see the two Doctors working together, flicking multiple switches on their consoles & spouting out techno-gibberish, as they work on fixing time. Eventually, they’re able to save the Web of Time by going slightly back in time & stopping the earlier version of Rogue 12 from replacing the Original 12. Suddenly, time freezes around 16 & ALT Sally, mere seconds before Sally is destined to die.

We see that 12 & Original Sally are back in their rightful places, with Original Sally falling to her death. 16 then tells ALT Sally that all she has to do to correct history is activate a switch on her controls. However when she does this, ALT Sally will be erased from history. We then see the 2 of them saying their final goodbyes, before sharing one final hug. ALT Sally breathes in as 16 turns her back to her. She flicks a switch on the console & time resumes. We cut to recycled footage of Sally’s death, before we cut back to 16. She turns back around & finds herself alone. Time has been corrected & Sally Ryder is dead.

We then fade to black, before cutting to a shot of a graveyard on a cloudy day. We see the TARDIS landing in the distance & 16 stepping out. She slowly paces through the graveyard, before stopping next to a grave, with 16 obscuring the view of the name on the grave. 16 pulls out Sally’s old watch from her pocket & places it beside the grave, before stating “I’m sorry”. She turns away & heads back to the TARDIS, though the camera remains focused on the grave. We’re now able to see the name on the grave: SALLY RYDER. We slowly zoom in on the grave, with the sounds of the TARDIS in the background, before fading to black.

CONCLUSION

That concludes The Destiny of Sally Ryder. Overall, reactions to the special were mixed. While the return of 12 & Sally were naturally praised, their return was also criticised. Rakhee Thakrar was mostly well received, though most people still weren’t too sure of her yet, given how she hadn’t had a complete season to herself & was somewhat overshadowed by Robert Carlyle.

A major complaint about the special was that it felt more like a celebration of the Carlyle/Moffat years, rather than a celebration of Doctor Who’s history with the BBC. Furthermore, casual audiences found the plot to be confusing, with too many references to things from Seasons 44-45 that only fans would get, as well as a plot that was “too convoluted”, with many fans saying that it “Out-Moffat’d Moffat himself”.

THE END?

With the end of The Destiny of Sally Ryder comes the conclusion of this chapter to Doctor Who: The Cancelled Years. So, what now? Well, good news: I plan to return to YouTube.

I’m not done with Cancelled Years. Far from it. In a way, I'm just getting started. Now that we know pretty much everything & we can follow the show's history from 1990 to 2022 clearly, it’s time we go back to the beginning & work our way through each Doctor's era, fixing some things & even adding some things as we go.

I'd also like to take this moment to thank TimeLordMaster108, whose been helping me through this long series with mine. He's been here since day 1 & has helped me turn this series into what it is today. Couldn't have done it without him, so thank you TLM. Legend

I hope to see you all very soon for Doctor Who: The Cancelled Years - The Definitive Edition

Until then, thank you & goodbye!