Attentive fans might have noticed the phrase "the long way round" pop up in the 2024 Christmas special, as the future version of the Doctor hinted at the year he would spend in the Sandringham Hotel. It's a phrase that appeared multiple times while Steven Moffat was the showrunner, which makes sense since Moffat wrote "Joy to the World."
But while that might have just been an easter egg, it also appeared in the Season 2 teaser released the same day and the trailer that dropped months later. There, the Doctor warned his new companion (played by Varada Sethu) that he might not be able to get her home without a few difficulties along the way. That seems much harder to dismiss, especially since Steven Moffat claims he did not write any episodes of the upcoming season.
That suggests that the use of this phrase has a deeper meaning than just some self-referential fun. With that in mind, we're going through the history of its usage in Doctor Who, along with some speculation about what it will mean for the new season.
Why does "the long way round" sound so familiar?
The path to Gallifrey
Most fans remember this phrase because it was an important fixture of Steven Moffat's time as showrunner, usually referring to the Doctor's longing for his home planet. The Doctor used it for the first time in the 50th Anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor." Throughout the episode, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors had to reckon with the War Doctor, who had been responsible for the destruction of Gallifrey. It was eventually revealed that it hadn't been destroyed at all, but hidden.
That story ended with a monologue from the Doctor, explaining that he dreams of where he is going. While there used to be a bit of an aimless sense of adventure, he now had a set destination: "Home, the long way round." Once he knew his world and people still existed, the Doctor was intent on finding his way back to them.
Fittingly, the line was then used again in "Heaven Sent" when he succeeded in that task. After being trapped and tormented in a confession dial, the Doctor broke free and emerged on Gallifrey, where he told a boy to find someone important and tell them he'd returned. He continued, saying, "And if they ask you who I am, tell them I came the long way round." The phrase is apparently something that should identify him as the Doctor to the other Time Lords, either because of how long he was in the confession dial or because it was otherwise associated with him.
The Doctor then claimed control over Gallifrey, with the military choosing him over Rassilon. He was informed that "Gallifrey is currently positioned at the extreme end of the time continuum, for its own protection. We're at the end of the universe, give or take a star system," to which he replied again that he "came the long way round."
The rest of the finale dealt with questions about the Hybrid, a mythical monster that was the merger of two warrior species. After it was suggested that the Hybrid might actually be a representation of what the Doctor and Clara would do for each other, breaking all their rules for each others' sake, Clara erased the Doctor's memories of her and left in a stolen TARDIS alongside Ashildr/Me. When asked what her plan was, she admitted that she would go back to Gallifrey to be returned to her death... eventually. But there was no reason not to explore before she got there. Her destination, like the Doctor's, was "Gallifrey. The long way round."
The path to a new version of the Doctor
Although the first several usages of this phrase referred to the various tangents taken before reaching Gallifrey, it took on a new meaning in the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration episode, "Twice Upon A Time." There, the First and Twelfth Doctors ran into each other, both intent on not regenerating.
Much of the episode focused on how the First Doctor became the Twelfth Doctor and how he developed his morals and principles, a plotline that culminated in their individual regenerations. After the First Doctor decided to allow the regeneration, he asked the Twelfth if he was also ready. He replied, "You'll find out. The long way round."
The First Doctor repeated the phrase as his (retconned) last words before regenerating, seeming to be referring to the lives he would lead between this regeneration and the Twelfth Doctor's. Thus, "the long way round" expanded from being about the detours on the path to Gallifrey to being the detours on the way to being the Doctor.
This is a similar narrative to the one seen in "Joy to the World." The Doctor wanted to focus on his adventure with Joy and the briefcase, but he couldn't continue it until he became a future version of himself. In this case, that required spending a year at the Sandringham Hotel with Anita, an unusual kind of adventure for him that was defined as being "The long way round." There could also be an argument that the entirety of the Fourteenth Doctor's therapy lifetime is the long way round to returning to being the Doctor.
The REAL first appearance of the phrase
Although the phrase was used by both Clara and the Doctor in non-Gallifreyan contexts, it almost always appeared when a character was using convoluted means to get to safety or home. Which is what makes it so interesting that the line actually first appeared in the Classic Era, when the Doctor was finally able to return companions Ian and Barbara to London.
Barbara and Ian were teachers who were poking around for more information about Susan, their student and the Doctor's granddaughter. Because they learned too much, the Doctor effectively kidnapped them to keep them from telling anybody the truth about himself and Susan. While they eventually earned his trust, the Doctor was unable to return them to Earth in the correct time period.
In the Season 2 serial "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," the Doctor and his companions landed in London for the first time since their unexpected departure in the pilot. The Doctor told Ian and Barbara that they are "Back home. Your planet," to which Ian responded: "You brought us a long way round, Doctor." Unfortunately for them, they actually landed about two centuries in the future, where the Daleks had conquered the planet.
While the teachers didn't actually get home for another thirty or so episodes, there are a couple of major moments that come from this story. The obvious one is the return of the Daleks, but perhaps the more important, especially when trying to guess what is coming this next season, is that Susan got left behind.
The idea of Susan leaving was woven throughout the serial, beginning with her commenting that she didn't understand the desire to stay and fight for a home planet, claiming that "I never felt there was any time or place that I belonged to." One of the rebels, David, told her that she would have to stop traveling and make a home sooner or later, an idea that was played with more as she fell for him and became excited by the prospect of helping rebuild the Earth.
At the end of the adventure, David asked Susan to stay with him, telling her that he could offer "a place, a time, an identity." She liked the idea but said she couldn't leave her grandfather. But the Doctor knew what was happening, and he knew that she would sacrifice her happiness for him. So he locked her out of the TARDIS so she could "belong somewhere, to have roots of your own."
It's a complicated moment, because while the Doctor was doing what he thought was best for Susan, he also took the choice out of her hands. The betrayal was softened by his promise that "One day, I shall come back," but, according to the Fifteenth Doctor, he never did. The canon is fairly dubious on that point, but we have to accept the most recent information given until proven otherwise.
What could "the long way round" mean in Season 2?
It's possible that the re-emergence of this Moffat-era phrase is a complete coincidence. It's not an uncommon turn of phrase, and it could just be what the writers came up with when trying to make a point. However, that seems highly unlikely, given that the phrase was connected to major events like the 50th anniversary and the First and Twelfth Doctor's regenerations.
So if it's not a coincidence, what does it mean? There are a few options, with varying levels of plausibility. It's possible that the phrase, which has pretty much only been used in modern Doctor Who while Clara was a companion, means that Clara is finally coming back. Despite technically dying, Clara stole a TARDIS and flew away. She could show up at any time, and the fact that Mrs. Flood has worn identical outfits to Clara seems like a good hint.
However, that seems like the least-likely option. Jenna Coleman is doing very well in her career, and she just had her first child. It's unlikely that she will come back to Doctor Who for at least a few more years. Furthermore, if Steven Moffat truly hasn't written any of Season 2, one of his companions is probably not returning, as he has a reputation for being pretty territorial about that kind of thing.
More likely is that the Clara clues are intended to point fans toward Gallifrey. The planet was usually the destination for journeys taken "the long way round," and Clara was integral to each stage of bringing it back. However, the planet has since been destroyed on multiple occasions, with the Master desecrating Gallifrey and killing all the Time Lords (again) during the Timeless Child arc.
Unfortunately, fans have been jerked back and forth too many times at this point for Gallifrey to be a particularly exciting plot point. Especially since the Fifteenth Doctor spent so much time discussing his new lore of being adopted, it seems unlikely that he would even consider Gallifrey to be 'home' anymore.
With that being said, it seems most likely that Season 2 will actually be about someone from Gallifrey, rather than the planet itself. The Master's newest return was teased in the 60th anniversary specials, and some fans have theorized that Mrs. Flood is actually the Rani. We could easily see the return of either of those characters, or even the introduction of a new Time Lord character.
But perhaps the best way to tie all these ideas together is the most obvious. Season 2 will feature the return of Susan Foreman. She fits all of the Gallifrey references as well as any other Time Lord character, but she also left in the very episode where "the long way round" was first coined. It only makes sense that we finally get to see her long way round, returning to her grandfather.
Season 1 did a lot of set-up for Susan to return, and that doesn't have to be one big fake-out. Susan is an excellent example of someone who was abandoned by the Doctor, not just as a companion but as a family member. Even if he did it for her own good, the Doctor kicked Susan out and never came back for her. That could easily set up a situation where the Doctor's friends don't even support his actions, especially Ruby.
Nearly every theme set up in Season 1 makes sense with the idea of Susan returning, and most of the fan theories would work with it as well. Maybe Susan will be Mrs. Flood, seeking revenge against her grandfather. Maybe she will actually be Belinda Chandra, who cheekily named herself "the Nurse" in the latest trailers. Either way, it seems likely that the journey being teased by the return of this phrase is actually the one Susan has made since being left behind by her grandfather, and the one that brings her back to him.