Doctor Who season 11 finale preview: A final battle awaits

Doctor Who season 11 comes to a close this week, with an episode that follows nine distress signals to the same far-off planet, where a battle awaits.

Doctor Who season 11 wraps up this week, with an installment that certainly appears as though it’s determined to go out with a bang. Possibly literally. (We’re not quite sure on that last bit yet.)

The finale, entitled “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos,” will see Team TARDIS attempting to track nine distress signals across a deadly battlefield on a far-off planet.

It’s certainly pulling out some big guns, casting-wise: Both Mark Addy (The Full Monty, Atlantis) and Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey) will be popping up as guest stars.

But what, exactly, could happen? Anything, it would seem.

Given that this is Chris Chibnall’s first season running things, we don’t really know what to expect from a season finale proper just yet. Will he lean into the idea of a big, epic battle since it’s the last episode of the season? Or will he continue to tell the smaller sorts of stories that often exist around the edges of a conflict like this?

The official BBC synopsis certainly sounds ominous, but doesn’t exactly give us much in the way of detail.

"On the planet of Ranskoor Av Kolos lie the remains of a brutal battlefield. But as the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan answer nine separate distress calls, they discover the planet holds far more secrets.Who is the mysterious commander with no memory? What lies beyond the mists? Who or what are the Ux? The answers will lead the Doctor and her friends towards a deadly reckoning."

A deadly reckoning? With whom? Most of this season hasn’t exactly been about the Doctor and company making enemies, or doing anything other than their level best to help people.

Many on the internet appear to think that this vague wording indicates that the Stenza will somehow return for the season finale. After all, Thirteen did defeat the disgustingly tooth-faced Tim Shaw at the end of premiere episode, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth”. So there would be a certain kind of symmetry in her having to face off with him to wrap the season up in “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos”.

On the other hand, making the finale all about the Chibnall era’s first repeat villain would sort of undercut the interesting work that season 11 has been doing in deconstructing the idea of what a villain is in the first place. There’s been so little focus on “real” monsters to fight this year that it feels almost disingenuous for season 11 to go out like that.

The trailer for the finale does imply that the Doctor is going to run into someone she knows, however. Which means Tim Shaw could certainly show up once more.

We won’t know for sure until we watch.

Doctor Who season 11 concludes Sunday, Dec. 9 at 8 EST on BBC America.