*Warning* *Spoiler Alert*
Seriously—this is full of big spoilers
In July 2017, when Chris Chibnall chose Jodi Whittaker to play the first female “Doctor Who,” you might have thought he really made his mark on the show, and you’d be right. But even that tectonic moment doesn’t measure up to the 1The Timeless Children.1
Chris Chibnall and Jodi Whittaker and company have made their indelible mark on Doctor Who – the character, the history, the franchise.
Who is “Doctor Who?” Answered
Who is Ruth? Answered
Why is Jodi the 13th Doctor, when a Time Lord should only have 12 incarnations? (Or 14th, if you add the War Doctor, or 15th, if you count both of David Tennant’s regenerations, or 16th if you include the Valeyard, the dark version of The Doctor)? Answered
So much canon has been added with this finale. So many questions have been answered. It’s a bit staggering.
It’s been an interesting two seasons with Whittaker as The Doctor, along with her companions, Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham. They were part of a completely fresh start for the 11th season of the modern era, with the new Doctor, new companions, and new showrunner, Chris Chibnall.
In the 11th season or this crew’s first season, new territory was explored for “Doctor Who.” But the 12th season has seen a return of classic Doctor Who storylines and characters, including the Master, the Judoon, and the Cybermen, the Doctor’s second most famous enemy, after the Daleks. They’ve shown range, addressing mental health and depression in a creative and sensitive way in “Can You Hear Me?” They’ve had a romp with Nikola Tesla. It’s been a fun season.
In an earlier article this year, I asked, ‘Who is Ruth?’ Well, Ruth is the Doctor, from her earlier days, when she would often have her memory erased by the Time Lords who run the secretive “Division”. But to understand that, we have to get to the big reveal.
You saw the spoiler warning above, right?
The timeless child is none other than the Doctor. And the Doctor is not from Gallifrey. And she is not of the same race as the Time Lords. She appeared from another universe as a child and Tecteun, played by Seylan Baxter, adopts her. Seylan discovers this child “regenerates” and begins intensive research into the phenomenon. Eventually, she grafts the DNA of the timeless child into the DNA of her species, the natives of Gallifrey, giving birth to the Time Lords. This is when the twelve-regeneration limit is created; a law only followed by Time Lords from Gallifrey, NOT the timeless child from some unknown universe. So, our Doctor never really did have a limit of 12 regenerations. (I applaud Chibnall for this one – some of us were irritated the 13th, or 14th, or 15th, or whatever, was never explained.)
Bombshells. Our Doctor is not really a Time Lord. Our Doctor is not from Gallifrey. Our Doctor has lived an unknown number of forgotten lives before William Hartnell’s Doctor stole a TARDIS and ran away from Gallifrey.
There are beautiful little fan touches and history throughout the episodes. Whittaker says “have A ginger”, and offers up a paper bag. This fan instantly flashed to the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, and his trademark “Jelly Belly?” as he held up a similar paper bag.
They discover a fresh TARDIS on Gallifrey. It is full of those rings we know from Hartnell’s TARDIS and some of the later versions. Whittaker will steal this TARDIS to escape Gallifrey, just as Hartnell did so long ago.
The last human fighters are ready to use explosives on the Cybermen ship and I was reminded of the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. He had a companion named Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, who loved to blow things up.
There is some terrific drama and two great performances by Whittaker and Sacha Dhawan’s Master. These scenes in the Matrix are brilliant and beautiful as the only background is a simple color, highlighting the faces and performances of these two terrific actors. It is in these scenes that Whittaker delivers a classic Doctor speech, one I feel will be long remembered by fans.
Doctor Who to the Master: “You think you’ve broken me? You’ll have to try harder than that, you’ve given me a gift of myself. Do you think that could destroy me? Do you think that makes me lesser? It makes me more. I contain multitudes, more than I ever thought or knew. You want me to be scared of it because you’re scared of everything, but I am so much more than you.”
Where do we go after so many revelations? We end on a cliff-hanger, of course. The Judoon appears to arrest, convict, and imprison the Doctor in a deep space prison. Challenges continue, and the Doctor has more to do.
As I have talked about before, Chris Chibnall eliminated the traditional “Doctor Who Christmas Special” in favor of New Year’s specials. What will it be this year? We don’t yet know. We do know the next episode of Doctor Who is already filmed. We do know it will be shown at the “Festive Season” (think New Year’s again—or will he shock us with a Christmas Special return?)
Sadly, we also know the next episode will be the last for Graham and Ryan. Both actors have announced their intention to leave the show. Whittaker’s Doctor and Yasmin will continue for the foreseeable future. But fans can look forward to their last outing facing everyone’s favorite Doctor Who villain: the Daleks!
Written by Even Conroy
