The Rani faked the Doctor’s demise, and has trapped him in the TARDIS Brig. She used a Tansmat beam and holograms to fake his regeneration, and then spent two seasons doing all she could to ruin his reputation. Everything since then has been faked CGI footage published galactically to slag him. WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: River, Susan, and the Doctor’s Daughter undertook a season of a massive, action-packed, Fem-hero driven questing, finally rescuing The Doctor, but in the battle, 12 died, and regenerated into Jackson Lake.
I like how you think! :-) At the very least the Rani should be involved. It sounds a bit like the “Dimensions in Time” special that ran 30 years ago and that’s not a bad thing.