The Timeless Children (TV story): Difference between revisions

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In this new account, the Timeless Child was discovered near a [[boundary]] to another dimension or reality by the [[Shobogan (species)|Shobogan]] traveller [[Tecteun]], who took her in as her own. Her [[regeneration|regenerative]] abilities were attentively studied by Tecteun, and eventually replicated. This is put forward as the true origin of regeneration on [[Gallifrey]]. A radical result of this [[retroactive continuity]] is that the Doctor, in their earliest lives, was the biological template upon which [[Time Lord]] society was founded.
In this new account, the Timeless Child was discovered near a [[boundary]] to another dimension or reality by the [[Shobogan (species)|Shobogan]] traveller [[Tecteun]], who took her in as her own. Her [[regeneration|regenerative]] abilities were attentively studied by Tecteun, and eventually replicated. This is put forward as the true origin of regeneration on [[Gallifrey]]. A radical result of this [[retroactive continuity]] is that the Doctor, in their earliest lives, was the biological template upon which [[Time Lord]] society was founded.


It also offers a new explanation for pre-Hartnell incarnations like the so-called [[The Doctor (The Brain of Morbius)|"Morbius" Doctors]], and continues to push the mystery around the [[The Doctor (Fugitive of the Judoon)|incarnation of the Doctor]] played by [[Jo Martin]].
It also offers a new explanation for pre-Hartnell incarnations like the so-called [[The Doctor (The Brain of Morbius)|"Morbius" Doctors]], and continues to push the mystery around the [[The Doctor (Fugitive of the Judoon)|"Fugitive" Doctor]] played by [[Jo Martin]].


''The Timeless Children'' also brought another redesign of the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] not long after the warrior-class Cybermen in ''[[Ascension of the Cybermen (TV story)|Ascension of the Cybermen]]'' in the form of [[CyberMaster]]s - a branch created by the Master with the ability to regenerate.
''The Timeless Children'' also brought another redesign of the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] not long after the warrior-class Cybermen in ''[[Ascension of the Cybermen (TV story)|Ascension of the Cybermen]]'' in the form of [[CyberMaster]]s - a branch created by the Master with the ability to regenerate.

Revision as of 17:36, 2 March 2020

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The Timeless Children was the tenth and final episode of series 12 of Doctor Who.

The episode brought to light an account of the Doctor's origins in which, prior to becoming the First Doctor, they had lived many forgotten lives as the Timeless Child. This new thread in the ongoing tapestry brings the Doctor, once again, to the forefront of Time Lord history.

In this new account, the Timeless Child was discovered near a boundary to another dimension or reality by the Shobogan traveller Tecteun, who took her in as her own. Her regenerative abilities were attentively studied by Tecteun, and eventually replicated. This is put forward as the true origin of regeneration on Gallifrey. A radical result of this retroactive continuity is that the Doctor, in their earliest lives, was the biological template upon which Time Lord society was founded.

It also offers a new explanation for pre-Hartnell incarnations like the so-called "Morbius" Doctors, and continues to push the mystery around the "Fugitive" Doctor played by Jo Martin.

The Timeless Children also brought another redesign of the Cybermen not long after the warrior-class Cybermen in Ascension of the Cybermen in the form of CyberMasters - a branch created by the Master with the ability to regenerate.

The episode also brought about another shift in the current status quo, with the Doctor's companions, Ryan, Graham, and Yaz being returned to the 21st century without the Doctor, for their own protection, with the group still being separated by the end of the episode.

Synopsis

Gallifrey is dead, the Master is in control of an army of Cybermen ready to take over the universe, and Graham, Ryan, and Yaz are trapped, being hunted down with the last remnants of humanity. But for the Doctor, one question remains... Who is the Timeless Child?

Plot

to be added

Cast

Special guest appearance by Jo Martin as The Doctor

Crew

to be added

References

Species

Organisations

  • An early incarnation of the Doctor was recruited by The Division, an organisation which officially did not exist nor had operatives and acted against the non-interference policy of the Time Lords.

Culture 

  • When showing the destroyed Citadel to the Doctor, the Master references "Ozymandias", a sonnet by Percy Shelley.
  • When the Master requests an alliance with the Cyberium, he references a TV show The Apprentice, claiming he "deserves to be its business partner, because he has performed well in all the tasks", a common excuse that the candidates from the TV show use to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

Weapons

  • One death particle was able to wipe out all organic life at least on a planet.

Story notes

  • This episode used the same kind of "cold opening" used in Spyfall: Part Two; a recap of the preceding episode.
  • This episode had the most extensive use of archive footage in any of the Doctor Who episodes or any other media, and indeed any of the spin-offs as of 2020.[source needed]
  • Tecteun's and the Timeless Child's regenerations mark the first time female to male regeneration has been seen onscreen. However, the first depiction of a female regenerating into a male in any media was in AUDIO: Enemy Lines. In the case of the Timeless Child multiple regenerations were shown, both female to male and male to female.
  • The episode's cliffhanger ending calls back to the cliffhanger endings of both Doomsday and Last of the Time Lords, in which the dumbfounded Doctor repeatedly utters the word "what?" in response to the events suddenly and rapidly unfolding around them.

Ratings

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity

Home video releases

to be added

External links

v • e
Doctor Who television stories
 
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v • e
The Master stories
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incarnation

Prose
.
Other
realities
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From stories
considered
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by this Wiki
"DWM"
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According to one account, the Master had the appearance of Roger Delgado while on Gallifrey. According to another, he had Anthony Ainley's likeness. According to another one, the one with James Dreyfus's appearance was the incarnation who ran away from Gallifrey.

Divided Loyalties, A Brief History of Time Lords and The Legions of Death feature, or otherwise acknowledge, the War Chief, but in the process contradicted the notion put forward by other stories that he was an incarnation of the Master.

One account suggests that the incarnation portrayed by Roger Delgado may be the same as the one portrayed by Peter Pratt while some others distinguish them.

According to one account, the incarnation portrayed by Gordon Tipple is the one portrayed by Anthony Ainley, while some others state that the Ainley one was already lost by then.

While fighting to extend his life at the end of his regeneration cycle, many bodies were possessed by the Beevers incarnation, but all kept somehow reverting to his real being until he finally regenerated into the MacQueen one. Hence, these sections cannot be strictly chronological
v • e
Cyberman stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Cyberman story" is one in which one living, authentic Cyberman plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as Dalek are absent due to only featuring deceased Cybermen on display. Stories like Carnival of Monsters, A Good Man Goes to War and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Cybermen's appearance being of little consequence to the plot of the story.
Television
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For the purposes of this list, a "regeneration story" is one in which a regeneration is actually and initially depicted. For this reason The War Games is not included below, even though it is commonly thought of as a "regeneration story". It doesn't actually include a clear scene of regeneration, and the preponderance of stories in other media confirms that the Second Doctor did not regenerate at the end of it.
Additionally, immediate post-regeneration stories, like the 2005 Children in Need Special Born Again — and ones like Castrovalva, where the regeneration sequence was replayed — are not included.
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