The Doctor is almost here. It’s been an epic wait. And for that we get a prologue.

I have all the thoughts and no thoughts about this development.

As a writer, I suspect prologues are for the artsy bits authors believe are too well written to throw out when editors demonstrate they’re not needed for the meaty part of the story. In a thesis, the prologue is a bit the supervisor thinks is too controversial for the main argument for examiners. With Who it could be either or neither or a bit of both.

This prologue links directly to the Time War and The Night of the Doctor mini-prequel to Day of the Doctor. Excellent.

So he’s back on Karn, attending some kind of counselling confessional thing with Ohila (the terribly good Clare Higgins) one of the Sisters of the Flame of Eternal Life, (or as he called it back in the day, Keepers of the Flame of Utter Boredom).

Players of the Music Accompanying the Sitters on the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort, two planets over from the Sisters of the Flame of Utter Boredom.

And, it was a bit artsy, a bit introspective, and self-indulgent, what with Ohila and the Doctor talking in riddles and offering throwback lines to the Curse of Fatal Death (oh for a sofa of reasonable comfort). However, given the links to the Time War and mention of an enemy, and, also given the YouTube comments, this could all indicate an around about way to involve Davros. And maybe to end Clara’s run too?

If you were thinking this was a Master/Missy mention, praps not. M was a friend and colleague as well as enemy. Davros has always been an enemy, but he’s also dead. But dead don’t mean a thing with our Doctor.

Then there are threads to take up from last year.  Missy being one of them. And the spoilery news of the return of Osgood, the Unit side kick. Apparently not as killed as she got during Dark Water. Or is she? Zygon-it?

Then there’s the unseen nemesis of the train episode from last year. What of him? Hey? Also what of those beings littering the Earth with cubes. They just disappeared. What about the return of them? Huh?

And then there’s River.

But before all that, there’s this.

Use this redundant star map to pinpoint the coordinates of Gallifrey, before the Time War.