Doctor Who
Dr. Who ’s Timeless Child twist was foreshadowed in the definitive serial . No one can faultDoctor Whoshowrunner Chris Chibnall for a deficiency of ambition ; he promise time of year 12 would exchange the show ’s entire traditional knowledge , and he delivered . TheDoctor Whoseason 12 finale get a line Jodie Whittaker ’s Doctor memorise she is , in fact , the Timeless Child .
The Timeless Child was a mysterious refugee from another universe who was expose by the Gallifreyan IE Tecteun . Tecteun was astonied to ascertain this kid possessed the force of re-formation , and she dedicated her liveliness to unlocking the Timeless Child ’s genetic secret . She succeeded , and the Time Lords were born . The Doctor is far quondam than she ever realized , with an untold number of prior incarnation ; her retention was erase by the Time Lords , who concealed the Sojourner Truth from her for all these years .
Related : Doctor Who ’s Timeless Child Twist May Answer David Tennant ’s One Lasting Mystery
Chibnall ’s Timeless Child retcon does n’t model at all well with the relaunchedDoctor Whoseries . Curiously enough , though , it outfit perfectly with chemical element of classicDoctor Who . This does require TV audience to make certain assumptions , though ; namely that positive feedback shakes up the Doctor ’s neurons , and some doctor remembered more of their history than others . Indeed , the Chibnall era itself subtly hint the Doctor ’s memories bubble up to the control surface on occasion , but the Time Lord head - rub prevents the Doctor question too much . That would excuse a strange hint inDoctor Whoseason 11 that Whittaker ’s Doctor know there had been premature female doctor . Still , with that being say , let ’s examine the clue from classicDoctor Whothat can now be taken to point towards the Timeless Child .
The First & Second Doctors Claimed To Have Invented The TARDIS
It ’s well-situated to forget the Time Lords were themselves a retcon , and the first two incarnations of the Doctor take to have invented the TARDIS themselves ; in fact , the Doctor ’s granddaughter Susan in reality tell she was the one who came up with the word " TARDIS " in the first place . This is most expressed in the Patrick Troughton taradiddle " Tomb of the Cybermen , " where the Doctor insisted his time change of location was far superior to anything invented by humans from Earth . " Your father and Maxtible were work on the same trouble , " he told his new associate Victoria , " but I have perfected a rather special model , which enable me to travel through the universe of time . " aspect of this are still unclear - most notably the inquiry of Susan ’s identity - but the Timeless Child retcon opens the possibility the Doctor did , indeed , invent the TARDIS .
The Doctors Have Been Very Confused About Their Age
Just how honest-to-god is the Doctor ? This has always beenone of the most blazing trouble inDoctor Wholore , with the Doctor making countless conflicting statements :
The novel series has been almost as discrepant , but the Timeless Child retcon explicate this inconsistency ; the Doctor ’s memory has been at demerit , with some Dr. half - remembering more than others .
tie in : Doctor Who ’s Timeless Child Reveal Breaks Matt Smith ’s Name & Regeneration
The Tom Baker Era Involved Boundaries To Other Universes
In thestory " Planet of Evil " , the Fourth Doctor and his companion Sarah Jane Smith go to the planet Zeta Minor after receiving a distress call . The Doctor learned Zeta Minor was " the boundary between existence as you screw it and [ another ] universe , " one compose of antimatter . " From the beginning of time , " he explain , " it has existed side by side with the known population . Each is the antithesis of the other . You call it nothing , a word to address ignorance , then 100 ago scientist invent another Word of God for it . Antimatter , they name it . " This understandably establishes a precedent for the same variety of Boundary see inDoctor Whoseason 12 , and revealed to be the Doctor ’s descent .
Interestingly , the Doctor seemed only comfortable with the idea of boundary to other universes , and in one intriguing shot he suggested he was utterly positioned to negotiate a truce with the inhabitant of the antimatter universe . " I ’m not entirely without influence , " he observed cryptically . He was correct , promising the antimatter tool to return all samples of antimatter . Sarah Jane query if he meant his promise as a Time Lord ; rather than reply , the Doctor void the question .
The Doctor Has Psychic Power Beyond Other Time Lords
The Doctor has frequently march psychical powers beyond those of other Time Lords , successfully engage them in mental duels and using his mind to take controller of the Matrix . This has always appeared to be at betting odds with the claim the Doctor is just an ordinary , albeit rebellious , Time Lord ; some of the beings he ’s fit or beaten have numbered among the outstanding Time Lords of story , including the like of the solar technologist Omega and the Time Lord warlord Morbius .
The Brain Of Morbius Hinted At Past Doctors
The most decisive clue was offered in " The Brain of Morbius , " in which the Doctor engaged in the crucial psychic duel with Morbius . Memories of previous Doctors were displayed on a monitor , with Morbius declare , " How far , Doctor ? How long have you hold out ? Back , back to your showtime … " The images go on back after William Hartnell , expose eight more face , apparently in full stop dress , before the machine exploded . Producer Philip Hinchcliffe told theRadio Timeshe emphatically intended to suggest there had been other versions of the Doctor before Hartnell . " I just argue that it was solely possible that William Hartnell may not have been the first Doctor Who , " he explain . " So yes , as far as [ writer ] Bob [ Holmes ] and I were concerned , the other faces were meant to be past Doctors … it is rightful to say that I attempted to entail that William Hartnell was not the first Doctor . " Chibnall overtly acknowledged these face as canyon , because they appear in the Dr. ’s memories when she blasted her way out of the Matrix .
Related : medico Who Just remove One Of The Original Show ’s Most Frustrating Time Lord Rules
The Sylvester McCoy Era Revealed The Doctor Is “More Than Just A Time Lord”
In the 1980s , script editor program Andrew Cartmel and the variousDoctor Whowriters make up one’s mind they postulate to restore a sense of mystery to the Doctor . To that end , there are a number of lines of duologue in seasons 25 and 26 speck the Doctor has a long - forgotten account - and the references can now be taken as pointing towards the Timeless Child . They include :
The original serial was canceled in 1989 , andthe so - called Cartmel Masterplanwas never finish . These clue were set aside byDoctor Whoshowrunner Russell T. Davies when he relaunched the serial publication in 2005 , but they ’ve now been dissolve in the Chris Chibnall geological era .
More : Doctor Who ’s Timeless Child Reveal Breaks Matt Smith ’s Name & Regeneration