The Written Podcast: Doctor Who – Season 12 Finale, The Timeless Children

I am aware this article is being released a long way from when the episode aired, and that’s because I’ve had difficulty comprising a definitive opinion. Every time I try, I bounce between arguments which are just as strong as each other. Starting off this article with the conclusion, my thoughts on the episode are: “I don’t know.” I simply don’t have a clue. I’ve never not been able to have an opinion about an episode or film, but this has broken me.

Chris Chibnall’s second series as head writer, after the poorly received series 11, which was intended for both Jodie and Chris to find their feet. It didn’t have an overarching story, essentially acting as a reboot of the show as it didn’t focus on too much of the past either. That all changed with series 12. It focused heavily on the past. Episode 5 was a rollercoaster of a ride, beginning with the surprise return of Captain Jack Harkness, much to everyone’s delight, and then throwing a massive curve ball by revealing a never-before-seen incarnation of the Doctor, played by Jo Martin. Episode 5, Fugitive of the Judoon, was talked about by everyone. Theories were ripe with who Jo Martin’s Doctor really was, but no one expected what we actually got. Safe to say, no one predicted completely rewriting everything about the show.

That’s what a lot of people’s complaints lie, rewriting the entire history of the show. The show’s 57 years old. The format has been changed many times, continuity errors are ripe, and blatant retcons have been made. In a way, The Timeless Children does fit in with this long list – a list of which fans just accept without hassle. So why is this episode rejected? Because it does more than a nonchalant retcon or a genuine continuity error, this changes everything that has been built across the 57 years of the show.

The reason why I’ve struggled to comprise a definitive opinion is because I wanted to do a little research beforehand to make it clear why this retcon doesn’t work, and for the most part it doesn’t, but I was surprised to find out this retcon wasn’t an original idea. Chris Chibnall merely took an idea that never saw the light of day before the show got cancelled during the 7^th Doctor’s run (played by Sylvester McCoy). Before the show got cancelled, the 7^th Doctor does say that he believes he’s more than a Time Lord, and it the big reveal was that his past ties in with the foundation of his race, meaning it would confirm there being incarnations before William Hartnell’s incarnation, the man who started it all. Ultimately, the show got cancelled, and 19 years late in 2005, Russell T. Davis came along and successfully revived it, adding the fact that the Doctor is now the last of his kind.

Steven Moffatt’s run as head writer saw many episodes looking at the Doctor’s past. No head writer has revealed more about the Doctor’s life than Steven has. When the show started the Doctor was a mysterious figure, but that mystery was slowly eroded away during Steven’s run. You could argue that Chris’s retcon brought back that mystery. The Doctor is not Gallifreyan, but instead is someone from another dimension. She was found by an adventure and brought back to Gallifrey where after suffering from a fatal fall was discovered to have the ability to regenerate – change her entire body. This leads to the child being studied and after many regenerations later, the secret to how it worked was cracked and the Time Lords were born. I idea behind the Doctor being this child from another dimension with the ability to endlessly regenerate brings back the mystery Steven partly unravelled. But a strong counterargument is the mystery didn’t need to be brought back. Just move on.

As I conducted more research, I discovered that Chris Chibnall actually pitched this idea to both Russell and Steven whilst they were head writers, and they both turned down the idea. Why Steven made Chris the head of the show when he was obviously going to play out his twice rejected idea. I couldn’t find out the reasons both Russell and Steven had for turning down the idea, but I can trust they’d be justified.

With the Doctor now having unlimited regenerations, and the Time Lords implanting the ability into themselves brings up a couple of plot holes. With regeneration now being artificially injected, River Song’s shouldn’t have the ability. It was established in series 3 that you stare into the Time Vortex as a child and you are given the ability to regenerate. The Master stared into the Time Vortex and went insane. River Song was conceived in the TARDIS whilst flying through the Time Vortex, therefore giving her the ability to regenerate. But nope, now it’s artificial implanted. The second plot hole involves around having only 12 regenerations. If the Doctor can regenerate unlimited times, why did the Time Lords grant him a new set of 12?

This brings me onto the next section of the article: Theories. You see, the only way I can truly make sense of this retcon is by injecting theories into it. Theory number 1 is the reason why the Doctor ran away. The 12^th Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) said he ran away because he was scared. Scared of what? Could he have found some information relating to him not being who he believes he was, so he ran away before it was revealed. Theory number 2 is the Time Lords granted him a new set of regenerations to keep the secret because the Doctor would have regenerated anyway, leading him to be curious as to why and eventually finding out the secret. Theory number 3 resolves the hybrid mystery which wasn’t fully explained in series 9 but was only prophesied. The hybrid isn’t one being, but a race of people: The Gallifreyan’s and whatever race the Doctor is. A strong counterargument to those theories is the necessity to make them to make sense of the show, when instead they should only be made for fun when confronted with a mystery which will be explained, or to add to an already understandable show.

Should I be mad that William Hartnell isn’t the first incarnation? Well, they alluded to there being 8 incarnations before William’s, and would have been confirmed during Sylvester’s run. But, 57 years of knowing William is the first is iconic. He started the franchise; he started an iconic show. Doesn’t answer my question though. That’s because I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t be mad. The theory that William’s incarnation wasn’t the first has been hotly debated long before series 12 came along, and I’m sure many believed it to be true. Let’s compromise; I shouldn’t be mad that there are regenerations before the first, I should be mad at the reason why there are regenerations before the first; and just how many are there, no one knows.

Maybe Chris could have handled the story differently. Have the Doctor be Gallifreyan, have only a set of 12 regenerations before William, have the Time Lords make him forget he ever had those incarnations, but only that one previous set. Instead of having the Cybermen in the two-parter, have both parts focus on the secret and drop in casual pieces of information regarding the previous set, and the reasoning why the had to wipe his memory. I would have accepted and understood that more than what we got.

The show has forever changed, that much is clear. All we can hope for is series 13 does everything it possibly can to justify why it made that retcon. If it doesn’t focus on the retcon but instead a completely different story, then I’ll be disappointed. Every episode during series 13 has be about justifying and explaining all the plot holes this new revelation has created, including how Ruth’s Doctor has a Police box as her TARDIS when it was clearly established that it changed into the Police box when it landed in the scrapyard and the chameleon circuit broke, that’s why it’s always a Police box. Every episode of series 13 cannot deviate from justifying everything, including where the Doctor came from and her race of people.

Chris Chibnall has changed the very fabric of the show. Can he redeem himself?

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)