7 "Ruth" Theories | Doctor Who Breakdown 

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I don't think the Ruth Doctor's reaction to the sonic screwdriver necessarily meant she didn't know what it was, it felt more like she was making fun of 13 for having one. She also says "I am smart enough not to need one" implying that she understands what it does.

The ‘12 regeneration limit’ puts so much more of a meaning in David Tennants final line ‘I don’t wanna go’, as he knows this is his final life. His last chance. Even after however long he lived for, he’s still afraid to die

You can clearly see War becoming 9. Am I the only one who's seeing that? I feel like it's right there...

You can slightly see the 9th Doctors face start to from in The War Doctors regeneration.

The Ruth Doctor could also be a byproduct of one of the times the Doctor just sort of broke time, like with the Pandorica or Angels Take Manhattan. If that made 2 Doctors that would kind of make a sort of sense.

I think we learned one thing today.... How to count to 13...

Imagine she's actually missy. Just turned good and messing with the doctor 😂

Theory: She comes between two and three. 2 is granted an extra regeneration to disguise himself becoming the Fugitive Doctor. She is sent to do missions for the time lords but rebels. The events of Fugitive of the Judoon happen. After another encounter with 13 she is apprehended by the time lords and memory wiped and regenerated. But some aspects of her encounter seep through. For example although 2 used the screwdriver first 3 was the first to use it in almost all episodes. He was inspired by 13 but doesn't realise it.

My money's on her being a regeneration from between Troughton and Pertwee. It simply works so well! Remember, it's been arguably canon for years now that the Second Doctor was made to run missions for the Time Lords after his trial. The "Season 6b" theory is often used to explain his aged appearance in later crossovers with other Doctors. It's easy to imagine that that life finally ran out, and the new Doctor decided to quit being an errand girl for Time Lord black ops. Regarding the life limit, I wouldn't put it past the Time Lord government to promote a false standard by claiming that having more than thirteen lives is impossible in spite of having the resources to extend the limit indefinitely. They certainly gave Matt Smith's Doctor a bunch of new regenerations without much apparent trouble. So who's to say they couldn't slide an extra life into the Doctor's biology while also altering his memory at the beginning of Pertwee's run? So, yeah, my guess is that the "Fugitive Doctor" was running from conscripted service, having grown sick of spending years of her second life as a secret agent for the CIA. She probably had lots of secrets that they wanted to keep hidden. So when they eventually caught her they scrubbed her from every record and removed all memory of her in addition to TARDIS mechanics from the "Third" Doctor's mind before letting him on his merry way, never suspecting he was missing a whole lifetime. Heck, maybe her training as an agent was how he actually picked up Venusian Aikido! As for her not recognizing the Sonic Screwdriver, well, Jodie's version does look quite different from the original model. It's not unreasonable to guess that "Ruth" just didn't know it at a glance because it bears no resemblance to the first one. As I see it, it's the best theory available. So I'm hoping!

The master said "every thing we were told is a lie" or something like that, so maybe it's a lie that a timelord only has 12 regenerations and the total of the doctor's regeneration is not a problem

The whole thing where Chibnall says there’s no parallel universe thing going on could be a complete lie, he’s lied about what the show was going to do before...

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Here's my take. The new Doctor is a clone of The Doctor we know from way back when, and The Master we met in Spyfall is also a clone of The Master proper (Missy.) Hense why he feels betrayed, he knows he's not 'real' and was made as a tool of Gallifrey. He finds out and goes ballistic destroying them for what they have done. If she's a clone why does she not look like 13 or a previous incarnation? Well as far as I can see regeneration happens differently for our Doctor and the New Doctor because of the circumstances of their lives and deaths (12 looking like that Roman dude proves this.) So they are both The Doctor, it doesn't mess with canon and can contribute to the series arc.

I disagree with the idea that those additional faces are meant to be Morbius for a number of reasons. One is the dialogue. Upon seeing that Baker's incarnation is the 12th, he asks the Doctor how long he's lived? The 13 rule is, stupidly, created later that year. The Timeless Child offers a multi-faceted explanation. Had the Time Lords not interfered, Smith's Doctor might've gotten a great surprise when he regenerated anyway. As Division is super-secret, a possible shadow government, the Lords proper could have no knowledge of the ancient history before they forced the Doctor into the Hartnell version's childhood with the Master. The other is having read something, awhile back, where they listed the people who's faces were used for earlier Doctors.

I personally think that she comes from a previous regeneration cycle that includes the Doctors seen in the Brain of Morbius, perhaps coming from the earliest days of Time Lord society. When the Doctor reached their final incarnation, the Time Lords could've granted them a new regeneration cycle, mind wiped them. Their TARDIS might have been reset to factory settings, but it would still retain the police box form in its memory banks and therefore revert back to it when the Doctor "stole" it again (after being led to it by past Clara).

I personally root for a pre-Hartnell incarnation. In many medium, like books or Big Finish audio, we were introduced to the concept of Looms. And while it was never discussed in the TV show as of yet, the Looms do provide a perfect solution for all the other "Doctors" we don't know about, like the Morbius Doctors. In the novel turned audio Cold Fusion story, the 5th and 7th Doctors meet this woman, Patience, who used to be their wife, a long time ago. She tells them she used to know the Doctor when he had a beard. The author of the book had in mind the Douglas incarnation in my mind, one of the faces seen in The Brain of Morbius. Furthermore, in the book Lungbarrow, the 7th Doctor goes back to Gallifrey with Ace to investigate a murder in the House where he grew up. At the end of the book, we see glimpses of Gallifrey's past, when Rassilon was still alive, and "friend" with the entity known as "The Other". The Other was mentioned during the 7th Doctor era, and a cut scene from one of the 7th Doctor episode has him saying "I am far more than just a timelord". This is, in fact, because in Lungbarrow, the Doctor is revealed to be the reincarnation of The Other. Not regeneration, no, but reincarnation. And this concept gives more details about the Looms. The Other, to escape Rassilon, threw himself into a Loom, a machine able to unravel one's DNA while storing his or her memories in the Matrix, to save one's knowledge. The Other is described as being a Timelords from the future, here to help Gallifrey. He was also Patience's husband, and Susan was his granddaughter. We then see the 1st Doctor fleeing his own era, coming to the past of Gallifrey, during Rassilon's "death" parade. Susan sees him and immediately call him grandfather, recognizing his brain thought or waves or something. The point is, she recognizes The Other's DNA/brain in The Doctor. This is because, Timelords are "loomed" at their death, but also at their birth. In the DW lore, Rassilon took over Gallifrey when the planet was ruled by a group of superstitious witches. The leader of those witches, upon being thwarted, cursed Gallifrey into sterilization. Timelords could still regenerate, but could never reproduce again. To counteract this curse, the Other invented the Looms, which uses dead or dying Timelords' DNA to create new ones. Kinda like recycled paper in a way. The story written on the pages is wiped clean, and the new sheet of paper is a clean slate. In the case of the Other, because of his importance in Gallifreyan history, or because of his great mind, a trace of him is hinted to have survived the Looming process when he threw himself into it, alive. Which is why the 4th Doctor remembers faces before his actual 1st incarnation. The Morbius Doctors are hinted, in Cold Fusion, as being the Other's previous incarnations too. And in light of the series 12 finale, with the Timeless Children etc, it would make sense for the Looms to be a part of the process. The timeless children are experimented on, and forced to be loomed, to become a full-fledged Timelord. The newly loomed timelord would then have the faces seen in Morbius + Ruth, have kids with Patience (natural born ones) before becoming the Other and going back in time to create the Looms to save Gallifrey from extinction, and then threw himself into a Loom and be Loomed into the 1st Doctor. Well, at least that's my headcanon 😅

Don’t forget the character “The Valeyard” said he was the Doctor before he was ended. It was said a possible alternate universe Doctor, but Timey-Whimey.

I have another theory. Ruth is a regeneration of the Doctor’s daughter who is technically also the doctor since she is a clone. I’ll have to rewatch that episode but I think this theory will fit quite nicely.

Her being the valeyard is something I can actually believe.

My theory, entirely within the Chibnall era: In the Woman Who Fell to Earth, some regeneration energy escaped out of Grace's window when 13 is recovering and is never seen again. Could this somehow have given us another doctor as a split regeneration. Now during this episode the TARDIS is absent, having ejected 13 before dematerialising. It, being a sentient time machine, may have recognised the split regeneration as a paradox and rejoined the 'other' (ie Ruth) doctor, before ending up as the Ghost Monument. The sonic screwdriver comment could be the Doctor just being snarky.

I know you all just want to comment about a) your personal theory, or b) how poor you think the writing is, but take a moment to let us know how we did on this breakdown!

How about, Ruth is a regeneration of the Doctor/Donna. Sometime in the mid 21st century Donna dies. The Doctor blocked her memory because he thought that being the Doctor/Donna would burn her out, but did not look hard enough and did not realise she would regenerate on death. The regeneration burned away the human elements of the Doctor/Donna, so she was in effect a new incarnation of the Doctor. All this strange outburst of regeneration energy on Earth attracted the attention of the Time Lords, who were wondering if they had perhaps got rid of Troughton too soon. The new Doctor could be recruited by the CIA, had her memory wiped and be given some but not necessarily all the memories of the 1st and 2nd Doctors and be provided with companion Lee and a cloned Tardis to support her missions. Season 2C, simple (in an insanely convoluted way).

The most interesting facts for me are: she doesn't have a sonic screwdriver; she has an older style TARDIS; she doesn't recognise 13. I think these elements all point to Ruth either being pre-Harnell, post-Trouton, or something separate entirely (a parallel Doctor or a genetically engineered Doctor.) Personally, I'd only ever be happy with the latter. Something creative which doesn't fuck with cannon (I'm just crossing my fingers that the Doctor *isn't* actually the Timeless Child.)

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I'm going with the Ruth Doctor being an unknown regeneration between 2 and 3. This has already happened in the fan film Doctor Who Devious, which has Tony Garner as the 2.5 Doctor and Jon Pertwee (in his last appearance) as the 3rd Doctor. After some adventures, the film ends with 2.5 regenerating into 3, and then falling out of the Tardis in the opening scene of Spearhead From Space. Chibnal could have been unaware of the film, could have used it as the basis of the Ruth Doctor, or as in the case of the Big Finish 8th Doctor Mary Shelly story, just ignored the fact that there was a similar story.

I read a suggestion that she was a regeneration of River Song. The person never explained how they came up with the idea though

I always assumed that since Ruth's regeneration was erased from the Doctor's memory, the Time Lords also added an extra regeneration so the Doctor wouldn't be wondering where that regeneration went. Or maybe the 11th doctor only assumed the 10th doctor regenerating into himself counted. He might have been able to tell it was his last regeneration, and tried to rationalise why.

Note 1: Missy said she knew the Doctor back when he was a little girl. Note 2: What if Ruth is a clone of Doctor 2, because the Timelord bank timecard DNA, and clone them without their knowledge--leading the Master to be very angry, and destroy Gallifrey in the most recent arc.

I now go for Jo’s Doctor being something else entirely and I look forward to that revelation. 👍🏻

I reckon, when the Sisterhood of Karn regenerated McGann into Hurt, they inserted 12 regenerations of War Doctor, which ended with War-Doctor 12 jumping back onto the original track, and becoming the Ecleston Doc. So Hurt was just the first of 12 War Doctors, and Ruth is another one. Actually, I reckon it'll never make sense and never be explained. But, you know.

Is it possible that ruth is a regeneration of the doctor's daugter that is suppose to be similar to a clone so she is the doctor

She says "smart enough not to need one" not quite the same, plus the Sonic has changed it's form from looking more like a rod or rachet to what it looks like now

The way I see it is this: Hartnell into Troughton, as per The Tenth Planet; Troughton is sentenced to exile as per The War Games, but is first offered a temporary reprieve. Basically, the shadowy Time Lord bureau called the Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA) offer the Second Doctor a chance to prolong his existence by doing some unofficial work for them. This explains his older appearances in later stories, especially The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors. At some point after this, the Doctor undergoes a necessary regeneration, into the Ruth Doctor. She, along with her Time Lord companion, is forced to go into hiding, leading to the events we see in Fugitive of the Judoon. Now at some point, the Time Lords catch up with her, give her a change of clothes, and regenerate her into Pertwee. It then goes Pertwee, Baker, Davison, Baker, McCoy, McGann, Hurt, Eccleston, Tennant, Smith. The latter, believing it to be true, thinks the cliffhanger ending to The Stolen Earth counts, but he's mistaken. We then get the second regeneration cycle of Capaldi, Whittaker etc. As for the Ruth Doctor not recognising the Sonic Screwdriver; he didn't use it all that often and when he did it was used to remove screws via soundwaves and looked nothing like 13's. As I say, that's my theory. Additionally, there is a fan film called Devious, which featured an interim incarnation between Troughton and Pertwee, played by Tony Gardner. In this film we see Pertwee reprise his role as the Third Doctor. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, it's also possible that the Time Lords returned the Doctor back to his Troughton incarnation prior to regeneration, leading into the events of Devious. I realise it's long and convoluted, but I'm trying to cover all bases.

Great video! It's so nice to see that the show still has people excited enough about it to discuss and get excited about different theories. This series, although miles above the last, is still a bit shaky on its feet, but we've had some really intriguing episodes (I loved the last one with Mary Shelley). This video was an excellent breakdown for someone interested in the overall Who timeline.

The device built out of "Sheffield steel" barely looks like the device used by 9-12, or War. The device used by 8 resembles the one 5 lost, and the one 5 lost was consistent with the one 4 carried. That one was more advanced looking than the one 3 used, which was a variant of the one 2 invented. So the fact that the no-longer-Ruth Doctor or (Ruth-less Doctor) didn't recognize it is understandable. I favour the Doctor 2b theory myself.

Yay was excited to see take man! Glad you gave us all of the things you were thinking about. My initial thought was that it was the meta crisis doctor, I feel like it could be possible to write in a way it worked. Then CC put out that statement about it not being AU and I was stumped

you can very subtly see the 9th doctor's face in the war doctor's regeneration, but they didn't film the full thing because christopher eccleston didn't want to be in the special

This is the best set of theories I have seen so far, well presented.

As a long term Dr who fan this season really needed this story as some of the past episodes have been quite weak. Great content by the way, really liked the video.

I´m pretty sure the universe is changing because of a change somewhere in the Doctor´s past. That would explain this "alternate timeline" Doctor (not alternate universe), the new Master, etcetera. "Time is swirling around me", said the Doctor. Let´s trust her Timelord senses.

What’s your best Ruth theory? What did you think about ours? While you’re at it, like this video if you think others should check it out!

Excellent run through of the possibilities. Personally I'm going with an alternate timeline, as mentioned at the end of Orphan 55, but you've given me ideas to ponder that I hadn't thought of before.

You forgot to rule out the possibility that the Ruth could be A regeneration of the Doctor Donna Know That She did Become half timelord

Great video. I’d been thinking down the series 6B idea that she’s between 2 & 3 and working for the Time Lord CIA, or that the Idea of the Loom form the 90s novel “Longbow” is being brought in to tv cannon. I’ve always wanted Michael Jayston to return as the Valeyard, Trial is one of my favourite series of Who. We now the Time Lords have had the ability the grant more regenerations from the time of the 5th Doctor as they offered the Master a new Life Cycle in the Five Doctors.

The answer will be revealed by the time we know the whole story of the “Timeless Child”, because just like the cloth creature (forgot the name) said, the Doctor didn’t know about him/ herself, and just like the Master said, there are some surpressed memories inside the Doctor’s mind, and it’s the truth

I think that Ruth is in the doctor’s future, but was taken by a weeping angel, and maybe the angels evolve in the future and send the doctor back through the iterations

My own theory is that the Valeyard is the key. When the Valeyard was created, he wasn't just a one-off of that present Doctor. The Valeyard's creation created a whole secondary line of past-regenerations (hey, they're Time Lords. Nothing they do is simple or without consequences.) of which Ruth was the "Hartnel", the First Doctor of the Valeyard line.

My favourite theory by far is that Ruth is the original doctor and the doctor we've known for so long is an alternate universe doctor. I don't like this theory as such, but it's the only one that doesn't break the history of the show, so that's what I'm going for.

It was stated in The Three Doctors that Hartnell was the Doctor's earliest incarnation.

Great video. Chibnall has said she isn't a parallel world Doctor. What if she is a parallel timeline? We had talk in episode 8 of how Ryan would cease to exist if Shelly died due to the Cyberium that had been sent back in time. Perhaps she is past regeneration that has to sacrifice herself by allowing a future event affect the past to cause her to cease existing? Perhaps something similar to the Cyberium being sent back in time occurred? This changed a major event in the Doctors life. So instead of a past Doctor regenerating into Ruth they now regenerate into one of the familiar Doctors we know.

There are plenty of times where the Doctor was split, cloned, duplicated, hidden, forgotten or had children or grand children. The War Doctor was also unknown. The Doctor can basically disappear for a couple of moments and live several lifetimes before returning from "the bathroom". So anything is possible.

We don’t want any Ruth theories. Just for her to go away.

I originally thought she might b the doctors daughter Jenny.

I like to think that Ruth is actually 'The Rani' a Time Lord scientist with evil intentions, not afraid to kill using guns or maim creatures (the Judoon's horn). The doctor has defeated her plans twice and what better way to get back at the doctor than by messing with his head. The Rani could then become another returning baddie like the master. Would love for RTD to fix the Timeless child debarkle, by making it a Master/Rani plan to get the doctor. I hope Gallifrey is safe and not destroyed.

Great analysis - just a thought, but Romana seemed to be able to 'try on' various new appearances, before finally settling on the Lalla Ward version... I'm not sure the limitations were ever exactly stated, but it appears that a timelord can choose to change without 'wasting' a regeneration. If this is the case then the Ruth doctor could be either a temporary change for Paul Megan's doctor, or a 2b doctor. The lack of familiarity with the sonic might be put down to it's rather unusual construction? In any case, great content, keep up the good work!

I'm just watching Rise of the Cybermen and something was mentioned about how Time Lords were able to "pop between realities and be home in time for tea and then they died and took it all with them." I don't think Gallifrey is dead. Ruth is the same Doctor, just from another reality. Chibnall could be lying also. I've been thinking about the whole Ruth thing all day. I've even gone back and looked at old episodes, Hartnell and Troughton in particular and the console is the same. On top of that, the time capsule the Doctor, (Capaldi) stole has the same console. Which leads me to believe, that Ruth is the first or second Doctor from another reality. This is driving me crazy not knowing 😂

There’s no way she’s an after regeneration, they would have to sign her on for the future otherwise. Great actress though, would be good seeing her as the dr for a few seasons

Nice work on this analysis. Now that I've had some time since "Fugitive of the Judoon" to think about it, I feel as though Ruth probably fits best between Troughton and Pertwee...assuming, of course, that we ignore all the Timeless Child insanity, which is what I prefer to do, personally.

Idk anything about her but that little bit of audio click you showed made me love her.

I have this seriously out there theory. The timeless child is actually a version of the Doctor but a twin. So therefore shares the same DNA code etc. So yes Ruth Doctor can be the doctor but actually be our current Doctor's sibling. Hows that for a theory. Plus since the title of a future Who episode is called the Timeless Children i believe. So maybe this is what it is about.

While you cover a lot of good information, there is one key thing that you miss, and that is where my own theory fits in.... Time is chasing our Doctor? Why? Unless....she's the alternate version. Therefore, time would wish to erase her and her previous iteration from history. This would also make Ruth the 'official' Doctor, just not 'our' Doctor. Of course, this means something happened to alter the timeline, which I think means the timelords altered the timeline to be the way we have seen it, and ultimately, the ending would come down to, 13 sacrificing herself to let the original timeline happen, effectively rebooting DW, or, her stopping the original timeline from happening, essentially being the thing that caused the alternate timeline to happen (dooming Galifrey), and saving herself. Option 1 would be hated by fans, and option 2 would go against who the Doctor is, but I see option 2 happening. Notice the dark tone of S12.....

Problems: Of course I have thought from the beginning of the scene in the Brain of Morbius. And I noticed the old TARDIS interior. I also theorised the Fugitive could be between 2 and 3 or War and 9. But none of this is possible. You explained why. And remember: The 1st Doctor called himself „quite the original, you might say.“ in The Five Doctors. In The Three Doctors the Lord President himself called him „the earliest Doctor.“ and 2 3s predecessor or something like that. In Twice Uppon a Time 1 is also confirmed the 1st. The change from 2 to 3 did happen sometime AFTER the Two Doctors. It is explained in other media, that the Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA) intercepted him and made him their hired gun for a number of missions. Beween season 6 and 7 there was a Comic that showed him beeing shot by Scarecrows in the TARDIS. As the change started, they left. In flight. I did not thought of the Valyard. This would be also a Problem. I had seen the Movie before I saw The trial of a Timlord. So I knew that the executed Master was at least the 14th incarnation. I also knew immediately, that 12th and final is not 12th and 13th. When 11 talked about Captain Grumpy, I asked myself what is with the Valeyard? He should come. And than 11 was 13? So I knew that the Valeyard must still be in the future. Maybe the next. So Ruth must be most likely be before 1. However. And rememer what the Master saied at the End of Spyfall Part 2. Today I saw The Timeless Children. I was less shocked from the truth, then I thought. But I was right with above thoughts. Sadly the Master is not the Doctors Brother. In Planet of Fire his last words were „to your own…“ The wrighter himself said it would have ended with „brother.“ Martha thougth he could be „a secret brother.“ The doctor said: „You're watching to much TV.“ I read a commantary of a fan, that did not know Planet of Fire and other sources saying or at least indicating, that they are brothers, that the Doctor needed for him or her to long to answer to Martha. So it could be. I thought until today, it could be right. Maybe adopted?

Ignoring alternate realities there are 3 places where Ruth fits. 1) 2b. Probably as a special independent cycle nominally under Timelord control (eg Division), being a separate cycle this means we can ignore using up the Doctor's normal regenerations 2) During the Time War. The Timelords resurrected the Master so I see no issue with them resurrecting a covert side Doctor. Especially if War has given up using the name himself. 3) In the Doctor's personal future. But with memory shenanigans. It'd explain how 11 got an extra cycle so easily. It'd also explain the Valeyard. The first option fits more with what we've seen on screen as highlighted by this video.

I think she could be Jenny the doctor’s daughter. She was a clone of the doctor and thus would have the same DNA and thus technically be ‘the doctor,’ but not really.

I think her being the valiard doctor would make more sense given that he was still the doctor technically speaking

My theory is that the Ruth Doctor is another timelord, they might do a little bit of a retcon where the first doctor in his youth was taken on an adventure and decided to take the name and maybe some of the morals, alternatively they could be the doctors mother/father...

Apologies beforehand if this is a bit confusing to follow. A Tardis sees all of time at once, and they are sentient. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume it chose that form. It was never stated that Ruth's Tardis is stuck in that from. Why do people keep saying it is? Ruth's reaction to 13's sonic seemed more of disgust, rather than ignorance (ahh, you touched on this, but I'll just leave it in). Also, 13 mentions a bioshield (which I don't believe Chameleon Archs use, considering it rewrites the DNA rather than just masking the person). Which may give more credence to being the Valeyard. The Watcher is stated as being a future incarnation of the Doctor. Those who participated in the Time War were given more regenerations (take this as what you will). But with that said, I think Ruth might be either The Other or The Valeyard (right, the line is: "...between 12th and final..." keyword final [Trial of a Time Lord - 1986] not sure if this was the earliest, but it was established that new regeneration cycles can be granted [The Five Doctors - 1983]).

How about this: We know from River Song that a half Human half TimeLord can regenerate. Maybe the Meta-Crisis Doctor can too.

I’m just spitballing here, but what if Ruth is a regeneration of “The Other” one of the founding member of the Timelord society? I read somewhere on the TARDIS wiki, years back and now, that The Doctor is said to be the genetic reincarnation of The Other. So it’s possible that Ruth would have part of The Other’s regeneration cycle before her death and reincarnation into William Hartnell’s Doctor.

I think you've put more thought into this than chibnil ever did. I think the only way any of this makes sense is if the Fugitive doctor is a future incarnation that got memory wiped or something

I think Ruth being after the war doctor seems VERY likely: The time lords saw how using time he was able to save gallifrey and decided to use him for the division since he had just regenerated he wouldn’t remember who he regenerated into. And since they wiped his mind right after winning the time war he doesn’t remember that he just remembers having the thought of ending the war with the moment. It would also be a nice in show reason for the gap between the 8th and 9th doctors because he was working for division

If 'Ruth' was a regeneration of the Second Doctor and put to work before being exiled to Earth as the Third Doctor, would it have been possible if the Time Lords would have wiped the Doctor's memory and gifted an additional regeneration in order to cover up this fact? That would explain why neither 'Ruth' or 13 could remember one another. That would in theory put the 'Ruth' time stream at a point BETWEEN WarGames and Spearhead from Space (escape from Time Lord custody and avoiding exile), and it is perhaps that in this current story arc, that 'Ruth' will finally accept her fate and agree to regenerate again and become Third Doctor. This would also go well with the comment made during 'Villa Diodati' about not wanting to interfere with the past and prevent the Cyberman. If 'Ruth' is Doctor 2.5, and she tried to outrun the Time Lords and her exile to earth for too long, it may end up in the entire Doctor timeline post Second Doctor, never occurring.

I've always thought that the regeneration of the 4th to the 5th Doctor was odd and could have been away of gifting the Doctor with an extra regeneration that they forced him to use up earlier. The watcher could have just been an generic blank Timelord form that was merged with him to extend his regenerations. There is also the possibility that when we get a story gap mid-Doctor with no companions that the timelords could have forced him to change to the Ruth Doctor then change back to his previous form wiping the Doctor's memory.

i live in gloucester, the cathedral is like a small drive away from me. i felt so good knowing they filmed it in gloucester

What if Ruth is River Song and she just pretended to be the doctor to mess with everyone’s heads.

My belief... She's between Troughton & Pertwee, the only regeneration that was never filmed. Ruth didn't recognize Jodi's hand made sonic screwdriver... but it was hand made, so that's no surprise. Troughton used a sonic 3 times, but it was Pertwee who started carrying one routinely. Ruth says she never felt stupid enough to need one. That implies she never chose to carry one out of need... but doesn't rule out the occasional usage of one, out of convenience. My belief is that the Ruth Doctor was pressed into service by a covert Gallifreyan group.. the character of Gat..... And this group later erased the Third Doctor's memories of his time as Ruth, forcing the change into Pertwee and giving the Doctor an extra regeneration, to help cover up Ruth's existence.

I believe that the faces in Morbius are actually the incarnations of Morbius.

Important thing to mention - Curator exist. So there is possibility that one Doctor regenerated twice into one face and forgot in some accident all regenerations in between. And there is also possibility that Doctor was granted not full regeneration cycle, throughout the series. I mean he healed River and she healed him. Tennant's Doctor also did a trick. Also for all we know - the cycle count may be the lie Master was talking about. And actually there could have been for example 13+ regenerations, but Galifrey makes them a special agents as mandatory service and later erase their memories. But I do like the explanation you gave around 12:20. His appearance was changed and his memories disturbed, before his third incarnation. All of it without regenerating and maybe thats the reason why Ruth is a wanted criminal, cause she didnt agree with the exile and only after she actually regenerated she agreed to stay on Earth. The Valeyard theory would be also nice.

My theory is that it may be donna’s regeneration, since she’s half time lord. Now I know that the doctor said that she and the other meta-crisis would not regenerate, but for this theory we’re just going to have to ignore that. Firstly before you ask, she would call herself The Doctor rather then Donna because she is half Doctor, half Donna, and the doctor is just a more well known and feared name she chose to use. Now why, if she is Donna, would she not realise that the other doctor is, well, the other doctor rather then herself. I think that is because she has no idea that time-lords can change genders, as since she is a meta-crisis, she would have no idea about time-lord biology. So she would assume that time-lords can not change genders upon regeneration, so this other female doctor must be herself.

Wow, that was amazing. Thank you for all the hard work that you put into this Doctor Who Regeneration Class. I could begin to say where I think it goes, but am glad that you are here to help us through this. I do hope that Chris Chibnall knows what he’s doing and has a plan that is “fairly” fool proof. I believe that we will get most of our answers within this season, and am happy to know that Jodie Whittaker will be back for the next season. Again, thank you.

Maybe they bring back "The Other" and the story of Rassilion and Omega. It would fit to how the story arch started in Spyfall, the information that all the old Gallifrey stories are a lie. And the Information that the Doctor somehow ist "The Other" but is not fully connected (yet?).

The Ruth Doctor never says she doesn't recognize the Sonic Screwdriver she simply says she's smart enough not to need one. You can also see hints of Eccleston's face emerging at the end of the clip with the War Doctor's regeneration. Specifically the forehead and chin.

Great video. 👍

The should have kept hartnell as the first and didn’t make it where the doctor can regenerate endlessly. It ruins hartnells legacy and smiths regeneration.

Ruth is somehow tied up with the backstory of the Valeyard. Trust me.

I can only place Ruth as a future Doctor. Rule #1 Just because she said she didn't remember the Doctor doesn't mean it's true. She has a Police box Tardis so she is clearly post Hartnell and not a Timeless child crazy regen. She is more violent than any Doctor save maybe the 3rd. She purposely choose to live a life in the 90s as a human. She has a companion who spends years beside her as her faithful husband and dies to cover her escape. It's like something awful happens in the Doctors future and he does what the Master did when he ran and and became human. She choose an era she'd like to live in and and an unlikely profession, then buried the Tardis and used the Chameleon circuit to live out a normal life.

I would say the regeneration of War into Nine is implied not only due to the ears comment War makes, which granted, could be dismissed as just an real world in-joke, but just before the camera cuts away, you do see a slight glimpse of John Hurt's face changing to resemble Christopher Eccleston for a brief moment (at least that's what it looked like upon first viewing)

Here's my theory... this is a very poor retconn...

It's possible Ruth is the doctor's Daughter. Just as a older regeneration of her

What if she's someone who deserves a return to the series? Someone on par with the likes of the Master. Someone from the Doctor's past. Someone known to toy with the Doctor in a more twisted way than how the Master would. Someone with enough knowledge to actually manipulate the chameleon circuit of their T.A.R.D.I.S. to replicate any appearance regardless of time or location. What if she's a newer regeneration of *The Rani* ?

My favorite theory is that she's a clone or time split doctor of some sort. With all the HUGE timeline altering/ending events its hard to belive that a second version of OUR doctor, split from a previous incarnation, isn't running around out there somewhere in the same universe. Especially with something like The Pandorica which altered time SO HEAVILY.

I wouldn’t call the Meta-Crisis Doctor a new regeneration. Half of the artron energy was used to heal and the other was used to create the Meta-Crisis. Cloning the Doctor with Donna’s human side actually was the second use of that regeneration.

well they said the ruth doctor is the real doctor but what if the timelord we believe to be the doctor is actually not the doctor

I love how every theory proposed is better than what the actual explanation was

Great video, I think the Ruth doctor in doctor who could possibly be the the Valeyard in a different incarnation of the doctors darker side, who knows she could be mistakenly be the doctors future incarnation 😀 great video keep up the fantastic work😀👍

I think the clue had been given to us in fugitive of the judoon itself, jack says to the fam at a certain point that "the alliance" has sent something to the past to prevent the cybermen to raise again; i think this has changed the timelines in some way, due to them being malleables since gallifrey is no more again, and so ruth's is an alternative version of some doctor we know

I feel the best fit if it isn't an 'alternate/parallel universe Doctor' as Chibnall has suggested, or he could be lying, is an Doctor who is created by the Timelords at the time Matt Smith's Doctor was given his new regeneraion cycle, a Doctor they can control, which would explain why she is working for them. But due to the Doctor still having a rebellious nature after 1 escape attempt ended with a regeneration the Ruth Doctor does manage to escape and hide on Earth after using the Chameleon Arch. this would put Ruth on the same regeneration cycle as Jodie and therefore would explain 'the same brain/person' scenario we are left with.

I think that series 13 will show the 13th doctor running from the division (from a different point of time before gallifrey was destroyed, again) because she found out about the timeless child. Maybe the divison captured her and forced her to regenerate and wiped her memory, making her a normal time lord who lives her life on gallifrey ( before time war) knowing not knowing about her life as the doctor. Then maybe out of instinct she feels the need to leave gallifrey and steals a TARDIS again and becomes The Doctor once again, as this is who she is destined to be! This explains why she is so similar to the first doctor calling the TARDIS ‘ship’ and not having a sonic... Would be an epic story

I could see a version of the story where Ruth is the last Doctor of a previous cycle of regenerations that was forced to regenerate by the Time Lords and had her memory wiped as punishment for some perceived crime. We could then get into a story about how the Doctor is hardwired to rebel against the Time Lords, with the Doctor even stealing the very same TARDIS Ruth had taken from her, like destiny is at the wheel and the Doctor is just along for the ride.