The Timeless Children (TV story): Difference between revisions

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* This episode used the same kind of "[[cold opening]]" used in ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall: Part Two]]''; a recap of the preceding episode.
* This episode used the same kind of "[[cold opening]]" used in ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|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.
* 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.
* 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 (audio story)|Enemy Lines]]''. In the case of the Timeless Child multiple regenerations were shown, both female to male and male to female.
* 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 (audio story)|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 (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' and ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|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.
* The episode's cliffhanger ending calls back to the cliffhanger endings of both ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' and ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|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.
* This episode is the first time in the show's history, discounting full red and full blue from various previous stories, that clips from the [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]] eras have been shown in colour.
* This episode is the first time in the show's history, discounting full red and full blue from various previous stories, that clips from the [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]] eras have been shown in colour.
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== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The Master and his army of CyberMasters mimic the rallying speech of Rassilon at the end of the last great time war. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* The Master and his army of CyberMasters mimic the rallying speech of Rassilon at the end of the Last Great Time War. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* The Master reminisces about assassinating [[Lord President|presidents]] with the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Birth of a Renegade (short story)|Birth of a Renegade]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'')
* The Master reminisces about assassinating [[Lord President|presidents]] with the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Birth of a Renegade (short story)|Birth of a Renegade]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'')
* The Master reveals the truth of the [[Timeless Child]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ghost Monument (TV story)|The Ghost Monument]]'', ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'', ''[[Can You Hear Me? (TV story)|Can You Hear Me?]]'')
* The Master reveals the truth of the [[Timeless Child]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ghost Monument (TV story)|The Ghost Monument]]'', ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'', ''[[Can You Hear Me? (TV story)|Can You Hear Me?]]'')
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* Graham and Yaz wear [[Cyber-suit]]s to disguise as Cyber-Warriors, similar to the gambit [[Bates (Attack of the Cybermen)|Bates]] and [[Stratton]] attempted on [[Telos]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Attack of the Cybermen (TV story)|Attack of the Cybermen]]'')
* Graham and Yaz wear [[Cyber-suit]]s to disguise as Cyber-Warriors, similar to the gambit [[Bates (Attack of the Cybermen)|Bates]] and [[Stratton]] attempted on [[Telos]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Attack of the Cybermen (TV story)|Attack of the Cybermen]]'')
* The Doctor sees the "Ruth" Doctor within the Matrix. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)|Fugitive of the Judoon]]'')
* The Doctor sees the "Ruth" Doctor within the Matrix. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)|Fugitive of the Judoon]]'')
* The Master reveals that the original inhabitants of [[Gallifrey]] were the [[Shobogan (species)|Shobogan]]s. This is a term which, by their time, had come to be used by [[Shobogan|a group]] that lived outside traditional Time Lord society. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors (novel)|The Eight Doctors]]'', ''[[All-Consuming Fire (novel)|All-Consuming Fire]]'')
* The Master reveals that the original inhabitants of [[Gallifrey]] were the [[Shobogan (species)|Shobogan]]s. This is a term which, by their time, had come to be used by [[Shobogan|a group]] that lived outside traditional Time Lord society. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors (novel)|The Eight Doctors]]'', ''[[All-Consuming Fire (novel)|All-Consuming Fire]]'') The Shobogans themselves were a sub-group of the [[Outsider|Outsiders]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Weapon of Choice (audio story)|Weapon of Choice]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors (novel)|The Eight Doctors]]'')
* The Master refers to the [[Great Cyber War]], which he claims to have lived through. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Last of the Cybermen (audio story)|Last of the Cybermen]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'')
* The Master refers to the [[Great Cyber War]], which he claims to have lived through. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Last of the Cybermen (audio story)|Last of the Cybermen]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'')
* The Master recalls fleeing from [[Borusa]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'') when they were young.
* The Master recalls fleeing from [[Borusa]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'') when they were young.
* The Master double-crosses Ashad and kills him as he done to a [[Cyber-Leader]] on the [[Death Zone]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
* The Master double-crosses Ashad and kills him as he had done to a [[Cyber-Leader]] on the [[Death Zone]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
* The Master names his Time Lord-converted Cybermen under his command the "[[CyberMaster]]s". Previously, {{Simm|n=he}} transformed humanity into what he dubbed the "[[Master Race]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') Before that, {{Jacobi|n=he}} named himself "[[Cyber-Master]]" while posing as a converted Cybermen. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Master of Worlds (audio story)|Master of Worlds]]'')
* The Master names his Time Lord-converted Cybermen under his command the "[[CyberMaster]]s". Previously, {{Simm|n=he}} transformed humanity into what he dubbed the "[[Master Race]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') Before that, {{Jacobi|n=he}} named himself "[[Cyber-Master]]" while posing as a converted Cybermen. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Master of Worlds (audio story)|Master of Worlds]]'')
** Incidentally, [[Karl (Silver Nemesis)|Karl]] believed the Cybermen to be "the [[master race]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'')
** Incidentally, [[Karl (Silver Nemesis)|Karl]] believed the Cybermen to be "the [[master race]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'')
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* The Doctor seeks to uphold the rule "No humans on Gallifrey", echoing her reason for leaving behind [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'')
* The Doctor seeks to uphold the rule "No humans on Gallifrey", echoing her reason for leaving behind [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'')
* The Doctor mentions [[Percy Shelley]] when she takes responsibility for the [[Cyberium]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati (TV story)|The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]'')
* The Doctor mentions [[Percy Shelley]] when she takes responsibility for the [[Cyberium]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati (TV story)|The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]'')
* The Doctor returns her companions home in a TARDIS while she prepares to sacrifice herself to destroy some of her oldest enemies. Similarily, the [[Ninth Doctor]] sent [[Rose Tyler]] home in the TARDIS as he confronted the [[Dalek Emperor (The Parting of the Ways)|Dalek Emperor]] and his [[Dalek of human origin|human-converted Dalek]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* The Doctor returns her companions home in a TARDIS while she prepares to sacrifice herself to destroy some of her oldest enemies. Similarily, the [[Ninth Doctor]] sent [[Rose Tyler]] home in the TARDIS as he confronted the [[Dalek Emperor (The Parting of the Ways)|Dalek Emperor]] and his [[Dalek of human origin|human-converted Daleks]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* The Doctor is prepared to sacrifice herself using a weapon that cannot be remotely detonated, only for Ko Sharmus to take her place. Previously, the [[Ninth Doctor]] offered to light the [[match]] which would stop the [[Gelth]] for the sake of [[Gwyneth (The Unquiet Dead)|Gwyneth]], who silently refused. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Unquiet Dead (TV story)|The Unquiet Dead]]'') Earlier still, [[Orcini]], despite the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s protests, chose to hand detonate a bomb to destroy [[Davros]]' [[Imperial Dalek|Dalek]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revelation of the Daleks (TV story)|Revelation of the Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor is prepared to sacrifice herself using a weapon that cannot be remotely detonated, only for Ko Sharmus to take her place. Previously, the [[Ninth Doctor]] offered to light the [[match]] which would stop the [[Gelth]] for the sake of [[Gwyneth (The Unquiet Dead)|Gwyneth]], who silently refused. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Unquiet Dead (TV story)|The Unquiet Dead]]'') Earlier still, [[Orcini]], despite the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s protests, chose to hand detonate a bomb to destroy [[Davros]]' [[Imperial Dalek|Dalek]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revelation of the Daleks (TV story)|Revelation of the Daleks]]'')
* Ko Sharmus was part of [[The Alliance (Fugitive of the Judoon)|the resistance unit]] who sent the Cyberium through time and space. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)|Fugitive of the Judoon]]'', ''[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati (TV story)|The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]'')
* Ko Sharmus was part of [[The Alliance (Fugitive of the Judoon)|the resistance unit]] who sent the Cyberium through time and space. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)|Fugitive of the Judoon]]'', ''[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati (TV story)|The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]'')
* The Doctor once again steals [[TARDIS 2 (The Timeless Children)|a TARDIS]] in order to run away from Gallifrey. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]''; [[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')
* The Doctor once again steals [[TARDIS 2 (The Timeless Children)|a TARDIS]] in order to run away from Gallifrey. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'', ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')
* The Doctor responds to being ambushed by the [[Judoon]] aboard her TARDIS by repeatedly exclaiming "what?", as the [[Tenth Doctor]] had previously done when caught by surprise aboard his TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'', ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'', ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'')
* The Doctor responds to being ambushed by the [[Judoon]] aboard her TARDIS by repeatedly exclaiming "what?", as the [[Tenth Doctor]] had previously done when caught by surprise aboard his TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'', ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'', ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'')
* The Cybermen use [[transmat]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'', ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'', ''[[Nightmare in Silver (TV story)|Nightmare in Silver]]'')
* The Cybermen use [[transmat|transmats]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'', ''[[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'', ''[[Nightmare in Silver (TV story)|Nightmare in Silver]]'')
* The Master once again works with the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]], and is once again instrumental in creating a new race of them. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', ''[[Dark Water (TV story)|Dark Water]]'', ''[[Death in Heaven (TV story)|Death in Heaven]]'', ''[[World Enough and Time (TV story)|World Enough and Time]]'')
* The Master once again works with the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]], and is once again instrumental in creating a new race of them. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', ''[[Dark Water (TV story)|Dark Water]]''/ ''[[Death in Heaven (TV story)|Death in Heaven]]'', ''[[World Enough and Time (TV story)|World Enough and Time]]'')
* The Cybermen again show their ability to convert the bodies of the deceased. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dark Water (TV story)|Dark Water]]'', ''[[Death in Heaven (TV story)|Death in Heaven]]'')
* The Cybermen again show their ability to convert the bodies of the deceased. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dark Water (TV story)|Dark Water]]''/ ''[[Death in Heaven (TV story)|Death in Heaven]]'')
* The [[Eighth Doctor]] previously uncovered another secret hushed up by the [[Founders of Gallifrey]]: the role [[Rassilon]] had played in the true [[genesis of the Ravenous|origin]] of the [[Ravenous]]. The Doctor hypothesised that Rassilon had invented the [[myth]] of their creation precisely to hide his own involvement in the events on [[Kolstan]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Master (audio story)|Day of the Master]]'')
* The [[Eighth Doctor]] previously uncovered another secret hushed up by the [[Founders of Gallifrey]]: the role [[Rassilon]] had played in the true [[genesis of the Ravenous|origin]] of the [[Ravenous]]. The Doctor hypothesised that Rassilon had invented the [[myth]] of their creation precisely to hide his own involvement in the events on [[Kolstan]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Master (audio story)|Day of the Master]]'')
* The Doctor states that she had fought the Matrix before and denied its reality. The [[Sixth Doctor]] previously entered the Matrix after following the [[Valeyard]] and had to deal with the Matrix and its reality. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'')
* The Doctor states that she had fought the Matrix before and denied its reality. The [[Fourth Doctor]] previously entered the Matrix to locate [[the Master]] after the [[President (The Deadly Assassin)|Time Lord President]] was assassinated, and was forced to fight against the Matrix, which was manipulated by [[Goth|Chancellor Goth]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'') The [[Sixth Doctor]] had also entered the Matrix after following the [[Valeyard]] and had to deal with the Matrix and its reality. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'')
* The Master had twice before secretly infiltrated and manipulated the Matrix for his own ends. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'')
* [[Peinforte|Lady Peinforte]] once threatened to reveal the Doctor's secrets concerning his role on Gallifrey during the [[Dark Time]]. She believed this secret would prove the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s downfall. ([[TV]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'')
* [[Peinforte|Lady Peinforte]] once threatened to reveal the Doctor's secrets concerning his role on Gallifrey during the [[Dark Time]]. She believed this secret would prove the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s downfall. ([[TV]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'')
** In a roundabout way, this episode also provides a televised fulfilment of the "[[Cartmel Masterplan]]".
** In a roundabout way, this episode also provides a televised fulfilment of the "[[Cartmel Masterplan]]".

Revision as of 08:06, 6 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. Their 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

Uncredited cast

Crew

to be added

References

Species

  • Shobogans were the original indigenous species of Gallifrey, who later genetically altered themselves into the Time Lords thanks to Tecteun's research.
  • The Timeless Child's species are a species from another reality or dimension that have the ability to regenerate infinitely and continuously change their appearance. Because of Tecteun's research, their DNA was placed into the Shobogans's DNA and thus created the Time Lords.

Biology

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 the TV show The Apprentice, claiming he "deserves to be its business partner, because he has performed well in all the tasks", which was a common excuse used to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

Weapons

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.
  • 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.
  • This episode is the first time in the show's history, discounting full red and full blue from various previous stories, that clips from the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras have been shown in colour.
  • This marks the second time the theme music has been used during a TV story, playing across the Doctor's Matrix mind-blow-up sequence. The first time was in The Woman Who Fell to Earth.
  • This story confirms that the faces in the mind battle with Morbius in The Brain of Morbius are incarnations of the Doctor, something long debated amongst fans.
  • The Timeless Children made such a huge impact on the fandom as a whole that the episode made it into the satirical website News Thump.[4]
  • The episode used an anagram for actor Sacha Dhawan on the Doctor Who website; "Barack Stemis" which, if re-arranged, means "Master is Back" and playing a false character called "Fakout".[5][6] This tactic, discounting in-universe examples from 2007's Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, has not been seen on television since The King's Demons in 1983. Back then it was used in the credits of the episode. Another more recent example is Mark Gatiss being credited, in the old tradition, as Sam Kisgart, for his role as a parallel universe Master, though this was more of a tongue-in-cheek reference to the classic trope than a genuine attempt at audience subterfuge.

Ratings

  • 3.78 million (BBC overnight)[7]

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

Footnotes