As we rapidly approach the end of series 8, many viewers are waiting with baited breath to find out just who the nefarious Missy is.

As all good Doctor Who fans do, I’ve done my fair share of speculation and I have a few thoughts for your consideration.

Following the events of ‘In The Forest of the Night’ and speculating on the tantalising trailers shown for ‘Dark Water’ it’s pretty fair to say that excitement is building for the big reveal as to Missy’s true identity.

In preparation of writing this article, I’ve been making notes on who Missy might be. In fact, I’ve been reading up on some of the most popular fan theories online and some have been pretty convincing I must say. Some seem to believe that Missy could be a reincarnation of River Song, though this seems very unlikely as River sacrificed her regenerations in order to save the Doctor in ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’. I’ve also seen people claiming she could be a future incarnation of either Romana, the Rani, Tasha Lem, or Susan.

Indeed, any of these could be a potential solution, though Missy’s comment about the Doctor being her boyfriend would take on some very uncomfortable connotations if she is indeed Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter!

While these would make some element of sense in terms of the overall Who universe, I feel these would be ultimately dissatisfying as a denouement; furthermore, many casual viewers would be unfamiliar with many of these characters from the Doctor’s past and could, therefore, alienate the average Saturday night viewer.

For the same reason, I’m also ruling out characters such as Susan’s Grandmother (the Doctor’s first wife), his mother and any other potential character that hasn’t already made a return since 2005.

However, one person I feel is an apt candidate for Missy’s real self is none other than the Doctor’s old adversary; The Master. Many others have made the connection between ‘Missy’ to ‘Mistress’ to ‘Master’ and that seems a likely connection to make; however, the similarities don’t stop there. If you’re to take her costume, for example, it’s easy to see a gothic Mary Poppins thrown into the mix… Indeed, it could be taken as an appropriate female alternative to what Anthony Ainley or Roger Delgado wore in their interpretations of the character.

Similarly, in the teaser released on Monday 27th of October, Missy states while wearing a Machiavellian grin “You know who I am”. While this could be said by any returning enemy of the Doctor’s, it seems most fitted to the Master. Evidently, she seems to be taking a lot of glee and enjoyment out of her new female form, using it to flirt and taunt the Doctor; perhaps this is why she refers to him as her boyfriend in ‘Deep Breath’?

It’s also interesting to imagine the Master taking on the role of the anti-Doctor in a way which has never quite been experienced before. Now in a female form he can truly be the opposite of everything Doctor ever was. In Seb we could very well see Missy’s companion and photos from the filming of the finale show a red telephone box quite prominently placed… Could this be the Master’s TARDIS? It would seem deliciously twisted for the Master to be referencing the famous police box exterior of the Doctor’s Type 40 in this aesthetic choice (though perhaps his chameleon circuit is just working, whereas the Doctor’s is not).

Indeed, if Moffat has truly made Missy the Master (or vice versa, depending on your view… (Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey)) he would have made an amazing shift in the dynamic of the Master’s relationship with the Doctor. For decades now, the Master has been painted out to be the Doctor’s antithesis… Now in Missy, we could literally have the polar opposite of everything our favourite Time Lord is. This could be Moffat proving he’s the ultimate fan boy with ultimate power over his fandom! And frankly, who could blame him?

Another potentially damning piece of evidence is that Missy seems to be salvaging certain people from the Doctor’s recent adventures. Originally many fans thought that perhaps Missy was saving people who sacrificed themselves because of the Doctor, however, this theory seems to have gone out of the window in recent episodes and her selection process seems to be entirely random. She may well be trying to capture people she knows would be useful as leverage over the Doctor. Could she use these ghosts of his past as some sort of torture? Is she hoping to play on the Doctor’s innate sense of guilt?

It’s also been theorised that, due to the high number of Cybermen on display, Missy is converting these people. It could also be that what she calls ‘Heaven’ is actually her TARDIS… Which is now equipped with a Cyber conversion factory which she uses to transform the Doctor’s failures into the very tool for his destruction…!

Indeed, the Nethersphere to which Missy is the Gatekeeper could be Gallifrey – the ‘Promised Land’ for which the Doctor has been searching since the events of ‘Day of the Doctor’. The droids in both ‘Deep Breath’ and ‘Robot of Sherwood’ were seeking this Promised Land and could have been looking for the secrets behind time travel and other Time Lord tech. Perhaps Missy is using this knowledge to have others do her bidding, making her the ultimate puppet master.

It all seems pretty damning but I’ve been wrong before and I’m sure I’ll be wrong again. The truth is, in spite of all my theorising, I just don’t know.

And I hate not knowing.