While fans of Doctor Who might Nardole’s exit as bleak or uncertain, it turns out his fate wasn’t as grim as it looked at the end of “The Doctor Falls.” Thanks to a novelization of “Twice Upon a Time” and a Doctor Who webcast that aired in June 2020, lovers of the amicable cyborg can finally stop worrying.
Doctor Who last featured the real, non-glass Nardole in the finale of season 10. Nardole, Bill, and the Doctor are faced with an ethical dilemma regarding who should battle the Mondasian Cybermen and who should escort the colony ship’s humans to safety. After a heated argument with the Doctor, the trio agrees that Nardole will guide the humans to floor 502 and protect them from Cybermen indefinitely. Although Nardole’s acceptance of his new role offers a glimmer of hope, being stranded on a Cyberman-infested colony ship for the rest of his life isn’t exactly the ending anyone wanted for Nardole.
In April 2018, a novelization of 2017’s Christmas special, “Twice Upon a Time,” was released. The novel, written by Paul Cornell, follows the same basic plot as the televised version, but it offers some new details. Nardole’s glass avatar tells the Doctor that Nardole will live happily ever after until the age of 728. He remains at his post on the colony ship, enjoying good times with six wives, two of whom he’s married to simultaneously. Towards the end of his life, Cybermen start to show up every spring, but Nardole keeps his promise to protect the humans.
A June 2020 webcast elaborates on Nardole’s life on the massive ship and even gives some insight into his relationship with the revived Bill Potts. In the Steven Moffat-penned webcast, Nardole s Bill from the colony ship for a “daily positivity outbreak.” He describes how beautiful the black hole looks from the ship and then discusses a one-day delay in the Cybermen’s attack, meaning the colony can continue its barbecue. Bill then tells Nardole about pandemic life and manages to see the positives in her situation too.
Nardole’s ending is a happier one than fans ever could have hoped for. At the Cybermen attacks on a doomed ship trapped near a black hole. Nardole's fate perfectly embodies his character: a provider of light in even the darkest situations.
Unfortunately, the trajectory of Nardole’s storyline probably doesn’t open the door for the character to return to Doctor Who. It’s unlikely that the Doctor would ever visit the Mondasian colony ship ever again, and it’s now confirmed that Nardole never leaves. But who knows? Maybe fans will be treated with a past version of the cyborg, or even another visit from his testimony.