Very long post incoming - prepare your eyes, ears and/or screen readers. I start with an introduction, then a TLDR and episode TLDR just in case. I go through the trailer for the next episode, but only at the very end, so there be some spoilers!

Also this is only my theory. (Guys at r/blind) I loved your theories as well, and you're right that they shouldn't try to make the doctor's blindness a non-issue for him, nor make him 'helpless' while blind. My theory is that they do neither of these things, and that the Doctor's own perception of 'blindness is weakness' is the only thing stopping him.

Thanks to u/ScottSaw - whose post $1 can be found in the above link,

and u/awesomesaucesaywhat whose post, $1 is definitely worth a read especially if you happen to be in the BBC... or a writer or media creator of any kind.

(Guys at r/doctorwho) Hi, I lurk the sub sometimes... and came across some people saying the end of Pyramid we got would be a good way to 'fix' the Doctor's blindness. I theorise here it isn't that simple, and also there was no reason to fix his blindness as he could get around the challenge being blind posed- he just did not want to accept it or let anyone else know.

Here I seek to establish that the 12th Doctor’s blindness in the BBC series Doctor Who, is not arbitrary but meaningful to the Doctor’s character development, unfortunately having good ideas but bad execution in portraying everyday blind people, and – although this may be a stretch – that his blindness is not likely to just end in the next episode ‘The Lie of the Land’, at least not without repercussions. Specifically, I posit that the Monks would not give the Doctor his sight back without a catch involved. And that when the Doctor ‘was’ blind, he was not helpless at all – he only seemed that way to the audience because his only constrains were those he put on himself.

TLDR:1. That the Doctor doesn’t say the name of his screen reader, nor does he use a white cane because he doesn’t want Bill to know, is the product of him not being honest with her about his blindness and trying to hide it- not accepting it himself. He only gets to the end of this stage by ‘The Pyramid At the End of the World’; or ‘Pyramid’ as I’ll call it.

2. The three episodes actually appear to suggest that the Doctor is wrong to try and hide his blindness or try to fix it. It is even shown that when he uses the assistive tech given to him he can continue to save universes from disaster (ie the screen reader- though I feel your pain that it wasn’t called by name, but it allowed him to realise they were stuck in a computer game simulation.) Also, when he accepts his blindness he can even use it against his enemies – ie blowing the candle out so the Monks couldn’t see him, and escaping, yet becoming dependent on the light and so falling.

3. The Monks are given consent and gain ultimate power not because the Doctor asks this, but because Bill, his companion, who has never found out his blindness before and believed Nardole ‘cured’ him in Oxygen – has just realised he is blind. This sudden realisation makes her act drastically, making a metaphorical ‘deal with the devil’ completely out of love for him, apparently not fear for him or herself, nor strategically thinking that this would be the only way to survive. I think it’s a mix of three, but love was the strongest, hence the Monks detected it. Knowing that the Monks say ’Enjoy your sight, Doctor. Now see our world’ implies they pretend to want human consent, but really only care about world domination. This isn’t the tired old ‘miraculously gains back sight and all is well’ trope – because all is not well.

I shall argue this chronologically, at least, in the order we see the episodes in.

(Episode TLDR) The three parter in question:

1. **Oxygen**- (In which the Doctor first loses his sight after saving Bill in outer space, yet manages to save Bill again from becoming a space zombie by working out what it is they want)

2.**Extremis** (the veritas book episode in a game – the Doctor discovers he has some limitations and refuses all help, trying to act as independent as he can. This works well enough to avoid Bill knowing he is blind, which is his intention – far from being noticeably dependent because of his blindness. He tries to restore his sight, which fails and puts him in danger. He works out what is going on using a screen reading software on a computer, presumably by hacking into the game simulation they are– yet can’t tell Bill it’s a screen reader as she doesn’t know he’s still blind, and he wants to keep it that way at this point. (Yet they could’ve given us a good old Capaldi monologue on the computer with a new screen reader before Bill entered.)

3. The Pyramid at the End of The World (The Doctor continues his plan of refusing to tell Bill he is blind. Yet he noticeably has two times where he tries to tell her the truth, but in both is stopped by the antagonists, the monks. His ‘cure’ for blindness isn’t one he himself wanted, it was Bill, who only JUST found out he is blind and believe this stops him from opening a combination lock. With the situation seeming apparently dire, she believes she must make a deal with the Monks - yet this isn't a 'good way to solve his blindness' because his blindness didn't need 'solving' for reason above - and it creates even bigger problems - Monks controlling world.

So, first off, we have Oxygen. The episode in which the Doctor becomes blind. As he is blind from halfway into Oxygen, I’ll start there.

The Doctor becomes blind due to a selfless sacrifice in outer space to save Bill. Not only does he give Bill his own helmet, exposing him to lack of oxygen and possible death, he attempts to encourage her across a bridge while another crew member is shot from a faraway laser blast. This, given that he’s only met Bill four episodes ago but already has a connection to her and is willing to protect her from death, implies one of the core tenants (pun intended) of this theory – his care for Bill. The fact that he doesn’t want any help from Bill or Nardole, even as he becomes adjusted to blindness and when they’re in danger, implies his will to be completely independent, and avoid others worrying about him, all to protect Bill (and to a lesser extent, Nardole).

In Oxygen there is an underlying theme of telling yourself it’s going to be ok, even if it isn’t. The doctor doesn’t come to terms with his disability, he fights against it because he is lying to himself. This theme is externalised in Bill as she calls out ‘tell me a joke’, wanting the Doctor to comfort her as her suit malfunctions and the other suited zombies catch up. Yet her thoughts of her mother may be, instead of another cry for help, her way of coming to terms with ‘dying’ and being where her mother is. (wherever that may be for you personally) Yet the Doctor has not yet come to terms with being blind, even though he pretends he has as always.

The Doctor pretends to Nardole he is fine, even when he decided to destroy the whole station. This is absolutely not him wanting to commit suicide because of their seemingly impossible situation. He’s realised that the whole point of the space station was some corporate plot, and that destroying the station would be a last act of rebellion against their distant masters, denying them profit. He brings up a computer (**to be honest, I thought they were going to bring in the speech-to-text software here – come on BBC!**) and is good enough at touch typing to set a bomb WITHOUT SUCH SOFTWARE???? This last act, he believes anyway, is one he will instigate himself, still giving him the title of the most powerful character in that room at the moment, and the one reason why the suits don’t kill them – they are worth something alive as perhaps the Doctor won’t kill them.

(In a scene at the end, the camera angles, supposedly from the Doctor’s viewpoint as Nardole leans over him, use Moffat’s classic misdirection to suggest that Nardole is helping him heal his eyes, and that this is the moment the Doctor regains his sight. Only he doesn’t. This was a $1 – and a welcome one from Steven Moffat, who thought just making the Doctor blind for one episode would be a cop-out. He would be correct. Whether that means he’s decided that a grand total of 3 episodes is less of a cop-out, we may find out soon- but I doubt that.)

Moving onto Extremis – the episode with the Veritas book. My theory is that, because this takes place inside a simulation, - all- of this is in the Doctor’s head, and he imagines himself as dependent because this is how he still perceives himself to be – not how he really is.

The Doctor discovers he has some limitations when blind, (such as his sonic glasses not sensing the Pope for some reason, nor the Veritas book or any physical (or digital) text. That said, he refuses all help apart from by Nardole, trying to act as independent as he can. This works well enough to avoid Bill knowing he is blind, which is his intention – far from being noticeably dependent because of his blindness. This is also the reason the Doctor at this point wouldn’t want a white cane as he doesn’t want to seem ‘visibly blind’ - though it would be cool for him to have one (or perhaphs his sonic screwdriver which can echolocate for him, could be a similar guiding tool?)

The Doctor’s inability to explain about his blindness reaches its climax in this episode, and the writers do mention many times that not accepting that he is blind is only hurting him.

At one point he sends the others away, because he wants to ‘fix’ his blindness without them knowing or worrying about him. However, in no way does Moffat suggest this is a solution for him, in fact, he suggests any attempt to fix the Doctor’s blindness will hurt him more, hence the electricity shocking his temples, and that he gains back only blurry vision, not enough to read the diary- to hammer home the danger point, the Monks appear at *this* exact moment when the Doctor feels he is vulnerable FROM trying to get his own sight back without help.

Therefore, he escapes without his full vision, cutting the lights so that they are as blind as him – and he is much better at being blind after just 1 (IMPLIED) day of it than they are. When they are in light again he begins to rely on that, and
therefore collapses. Therefore, the Doctor wanting his sight back, and refusing to let anyone help him (as we all need help at least sometimes) actually leads to his downfall and this is shown throughout the episodes.


I hear what you’re asking… How did the Doctor not know what a screen reader was, so his simulation self would actually call it that and not a ‘thing… its very useful.’ While this isn’t an excuse, it could be an explanation…At this point, Bill has just escaped a near bomb blast and lost Nardole in the software of the game; the fact that she doesn’t yet know the Doctor is blind, even in his head, means he is not going to tell her this and cause her what he thinks is more possible worry.

(And while we’re on assistive technology, u/awesomesaucesaywhat is absolutely right in that the Doctor would NOT be able to see a ‘FAINT GREEN OUTLINE’ in his sonic sunglass. I guess that this faint outline is only for the benefit of the sighted audience, and the Doctor is not ‘seeing‘ this. (Strangely, the audio description didn’t mention much about this, and even called them ‘shades’) Yet why can it only detect only walls and doors, and not words or even the numbers on certain combination locks? I think the sonic sunglasses may be echolocating for him, hence the sonic, due to the fact it can only register bumpy surfaces, and has no chance in flat surfaces. This he may get as sound input. The return of the $1, found in the episode The Magician Apprentice, I thought was a good way to repurpose them.

Noticeably, he says he doesn’t want to let his enemies know he’s blind – however it isn’t this at all, because he tells the Monk who shows up to attack him. He doesn’t want to tell his *friends* that he’s blind, not to protect himself but what he THINKS is to protect Bill. However, it is even shown that keeping this a secret is NOT protecting Bill at all, and only makes her concerned for him that one time he tells her in Pyramid.

(Noticeably, Bill is also trying not to tell her adopted mother something, as she is lesbian and brought her partner Jenny home for a date- when the Doctor ‘brings the Pope into her bedroom.’. This refusal to be open with others could be paralleled, and knowing the BBC are largely in support of diversity and inclusivity (hopefully they get it right though) they wouldn’t be saying it’s the fault of Bill or the Doctor that they are “different” but more the fault of possible prejudice around them.)

So let’s go onto The Pyramid At The End of the World. After the Doctor has kept his blindness a secret in every way possible, this is the episode where he actually tries to tell Bill about him still being blind (which she still does not know) He tries two times in a safe environment, yet both times the Monks stop him. The first time after he’s thinking of a strategy to deal with them and the soldiers from all across the world send out their militia, only to be brought down by a laser beam and – possessed? With the second time being in a meeting – where the Doctor tries to tell Bill as they find out how they can stop the laboratories in the Monk’s control producing bacteria – yet as he tries to tell Bill, this gives him another idea (again to make them ‘blind’ by turning off their camera, thus allowing him to know which it is.) Yet I agree, the TARDIS computer needs to have text-to-Speech software on it at least.

This is after they’ve found out what the Monks want, to ‘take this world and rule its people… but only when we’re asked’. This is important, even more so is that the Doctor is the only person who does not trust them at all, while the others eventually give in.


‘Somewhere, unnoticed, the silence in the darkness… has already begun’ – the Doctor. (He faces his own self- imposed silence because he doesn’t want to let anyone know.) I also noticed the audio description doesn’t mention that he’s playing guitar, which he must’ve re-learnt to after 2 episodes of being blind. Probably not hard to pick up again.

Side note and speculation on the laboratory: About the laboratory in Pyramid…(The other guy, Douglas working with Erica appears… suspicious. I theorise he was planted by the Monks. This is why the Monk’s camera watches Erica, and not him. This is also why he had the worst security abilities ever, and explained that last night there was a drink and a glass crash. He says he's hung over, and enters a higher amount of bacteria with a misplaced decimal point- causing the bacteria outbreak. Because he seems to be the cause of everything wrong in the lab- the Monks probably hijacked him as they hijacked the bomber crew… possessing them. Particularly he doesn’t seem concerned with his own safety, leaving his helmet off and leaving every airlock door open. This doesn’t seem like the behaviour of a responsible lab person, even while drunk. No, I theorise that the Monks either got him drunk, or that is an excuse and they otherwise possessed him. This would imply why he has little concern for his own safety- the Monks inside/controlling him doesn’t care what happens to him… while Erica (who’s a little person/dwarf, by the way) has to prevent him from being a hazard.)

The doctor initially wants to use force against the monks. This is why Bill has’ that look on her face', and goes to talk to the Doctor. The doctor believes she wants to ask about his blindness, and eventually begins to tell her, removing his sonic sunglasses – but then the pyramid launches a laser bean upwards to a aircraft that the armies sent and possession of the pilots occurs, showing that these Monks cannot be defeated with force and would stoop to any level as they only think of humans as 'corpses'.

Bill, when talking about traps as they go through the pyramid, asks him wheter they should risk a trap if its going to kill them. The Doctor replies that they might as well try. This doesn’t sound like a person who’s given up, nor does it sound like someone who the writers are trying to ‘perpetuate the inconvienence’ of. The Doctor is still the Doctor – and the President of the World (apparently.) He is still in control – even when the Monks try to suggest otherwise. The Doctor says it himself, that if anyone invites the Monks to help, giving their ‘consent’, that will be the last free action they take. Therefore he wouldn’t ask the monks to restore his sight, and the reason why Bill was absolutely shocked and therefore went and trusted them, was because she had never been told he was blind before this. (And he’s on the wrong side of a combination locked door… really, if that was a button combination lock, he could’ve used it fine. Also, there was another fire safe door open in the lab, which Erica didn’t tell him about. The fact that he apparently cannot escape implies The writers appeared to make his not telling Bill have large consequences, rather than passing the whole thing off as a gimmick.)

The monks also seem to taunt the Doctor from afar, having gained his sight back, they say ‘Enjoy your sight Doctor. Now see our world.’ With their world seeming to be one in which the Monks are revered and have taken it over completely – with statues of them $1, they appear to be defiantly taunting him. The irony for some that he can see again but this isn't making his situation any better, appears to be very clear.

I’ll just describe that trailer if you’ll wanna take a chance with the next episode.

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT EPISDOE TRAILER. Repeat, here be spoilers.

Next episode trailer – Lie of the Land.

The static sound you hear appears to the Monk’s logo, flashing up twice at the beginning. I noted it the second time I watched Pyramid - the logo's found on a laboratory computer. This could suggest the whole thing is being filmed from the Monk’s cameras- which the Doctor may have infiltrated as he is on TV. Large statues of the Monks are seen in Paris, in New York, and other major cities, implying they have taken it over.

Missy suggests that they have to find whoever opened the door to the Monks and kill them – with this being Bill, it appears she will now face the consequences of what she did. A Monk is looking at Bill, circling her as we hear Missy saying this.

Then we see the Doctor grabbing something and his eyes glow blue. Not sure what this means, and not sure also if he still looks blind here.

At some point, Bill and Nardole are on a ship.

Nardole tells Bill that they’ve only seen the Doctor on ‘those broadcasts he does’. He is shown on many TV screens and in a close up - looking not blind.

We also see Bill shooting a gun, and the Doctor falling soon after. In the description of this trailer on youtube, you can read a possible explanation why. Again, obviously spoilers.

In 27 seconds, the trailer is over.