Yesterday’s Doctor Who season 11 finale, “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos,” saw things come full circle for Jodie Whittaker’s first run of episodes as the Thirteenth Doctor as the foe from the season premiere returned to wreak havoc. The enemy in question was T’zim-Sha, mockingly called Tim Shaw by the Doctor, a would-be leader of the vicious Stenza alien race.
Tim might have been the big bad of this year, then, but the finale actually left it open for him to return in a future episode. The last we saw of the tooth-faced villain, Graham and Ryan locked him in one of the same stasis chambers in which he’d previously imprisoned a bunch of soldiers. It was depicted as a fitting punishment for the baddie, and also one that showed that Graham – despite initially having intentions to murder him – was the better man.
However, the last shot of Tim Shaw saw him place one of his clawed hands on the glass of the chamber. That’s not threatening on its own, but it’s worth remembering that he can administer a killer electrical sting by touch. There’s every chance that this handy ability could make short work of that door then, meaning that he can escape to live another day. But will the TARDIS team see him again in season 12?
Honestly, we think the majority of fans will be hoping that they don’t. The season finale left a lot of viewers disappointed, with many feeling that Tim Shaw fell short as a big bad in comparison to the greats of past years. It seems that most agree he was a solid antagonist for the opener, but there just wasn’t enough to him to sustain a return appearance. Let alone a third episode.
In any case, it’ll be a while before we learn of his future, as we have the New Year’s special in a few weeks to look forward to and then that’ll be it for Doctor Who until season 12 finally airs in 2020.
