The Timeless Children - The Final Rant 

My video on the issue of the BBC's support of Transphobia: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aN4uc0HZrWE.html My video on the BBC's response to complaints of its reporting: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-skh81N5lcYY.html My short on why I'll continue to put up the note at the front of these: ru-vid.comHpwwzjzFXiE Shaun's 1st video, which includes some additional confirmed information: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b4buJMMiwcg.html Shaun’s 2nd video, which follows how the BBC is trying to dodge accountability for all of this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qfjTG6SVjmQ.html Shaun’s 3rd video, following him escalating his complaints: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fRn1UZ4fhdE.html Shaun's 4th video, covering the BBC's response: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3F7GW7Ro4OQ.html Laura Kate Dale's protest speech outside the BBC offices: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hBjGnWkwAjI.html

e always thought, if they were going to do this, it should have been the Master. It explains his madness. His running away. His hatred of the system and Timelords aside from the one who wasn’t directly involved. It makes waaaay more sense for it to be the Master. Plus you can preserve the Doctor’s agency.

Going to be honest Gallifrey being destroyed again annoys me more than anything timeless child related, I hate it, I hate it so much

**The Master, one of the most untrustworthy and scheming individuals known to the Doctor, shows her Matrix records that are completely devoid of any tangible connection to the Doctor herself and then claims that the Doctor is the person shown in the records** **The Doctor, having nothing to base the Master's claim off of whatsoever** Yes, this thing must be 100% true and I will therefore let it affect me deeply despite there being nothing to suggest what I just saw/heard was in any way factual.

I really like your point about preferring the Doctor as a bit of a nobody (or alternately, "an idiot"). I don't like the notion of either the Doctor or the Master being smarter or somehow more powerful or important than the rest of the Time Lords. I'd rather see stories where the rest of Time Lord society is mostly indifferent but terrifying when roused - if they finally choose to call you on the carpet, then on the carpet you will be called. And then you spend most of a regeneration tooling around England in a stylish roadster.

Excellent rant. 14/10. (Yes, that's a David Tennant joke). "That's not mystery, that's packing peanuts!" may be the best single-line assessment of Chibnall's writing I've ever heard.

Perfect summation, Vera! And whilst I agree that this whole sorry (series of) episode(s) should be ignored, should RTD - or anyone - wish to put a lid on it and bury it a thousand feet deep, they could do it with just a couple of lines of dialogue... Doctor (to some future Rassilon): "You survived? All of you - Gallifrey, the Time Lords... How? I saw you destroyed - the Master showed me the Matrix. All of it... what you did to me, what _he_ did to _you_ ... Why would he lie?" Rassilon: "He didn't _lie_ , Doctor. D'you genuinely think that we couldn't control the Matrix? That we couldn't implant whatever we wanted in it? The Master is childishly easy to manipulate. He saw what we wanted him to see. He believed what we _wanted_ him to believe. What better way to get him out of our hair - make him believe he'd destroyed us, finally?" etc etc Or something like that.

The way Timeless Child throws the 50th, which was such a triumphant celebration of the show's history whilst still doing something new (and Clara's Impossible Girl arc too, now I think about it), into the fire so Chibnall can fulfil an idea he got watching The Brain of Morbius as a kid makes me feel ill. Thanks for vocalising some of that frustration.

OMG! Thank you for pointing out the cruelty of this era! And the Doctor is cruel, too. She deliberately keeps every single companion at arm’s length (hell, 35 foot pole length), none of them even know about what actually happened with the Timeless Child story except for Ryan in what could be looked at as a manipulative tactic by the Doctor to keep him traveling with her, and she’s downright abusive to Yaz throughout the entire last series and specials. I was partly hoping that we’d get a scene in Power of the Doctor where Yaz comes to realize this and decides makes a hard “eff this, I’m outta here” statement. And I’m a Thasmin shipper. But no. I don’t even think that Chibnall even realizes that he’s written the era in that way. In every interview and commentary with him, he makes it sound like they’re all one happy family, even to the point of putting in the whole “the REAL power of the Doctor is the friends she’s made” in 13’s final episode. It’s unbelievable. My god this video was satisfying to watch

The Thirteenth Doctor's passivity throughout this era has always been a massive issue for me, from her refusal to interfere in acts of historical injustice to her actively letting villains get away scot free at the end of the episode. But this episode really takes it to a whole new level - this is the season finale, and I don't think she has any actions that actually impact the trajectory of the story. She gets dragged off to Gallifrey by the Master and then shoved into the exposition machine (as you aptly put it) for the majority of the episode; she's incapable of breaking herself out of said exposition machine without the help of the Fugitive Doctor; she even proves herself to be incapable of resolving the episode's story without someone else coming in to sacrifice themselves in her place. I really don't think Chibnall considered the implications of what he was writing this era, because having the first female Doctor prove herself to be so inept and lacking in agency is honestly a really bad look. As a whole, this episode was the point where I really checked out of Chibnall's era. Prior to this episode, even though I wasn't fully enamoured with it, I was still willing to keep giving it chances. After it though, I still kept watching, but always with a sense of obligation and duty as opposed to actual enjoyment, like I was saying "alright let's get this over with" before watching each new episode. It's a dull meandering mess of an episode that offers no meaningful character moments, no exciting action setpieces, nothing except loads of stupid contradictory pointless lore, which I knew was going to be dominating the rest of this era. Add to that the complete lack of cohesion this episode had with its predecessor and the way it actively discarded major plot points from Moffat's era just so it could spin its own half-baked narrative, and I was left feeling hollow and dejected and thoroughly disappointed with a series I had actually been largely enjoying up to this point

I'm still convinced that, if anyone is the Timeless Child, it's the Master. Otherwise, I was just confused why we never got any resolution for the Brendan plot.

While I don't hate the idea of The Doctor having lives before Hartnell, I don't like the way the Timeless Child twist was handled. Given how the twist was treated as a game changer for The Doctor but then ignored in Whitaker's final story, it created more story plot holes about The Doctor then it resolved. It also negated the significance of Whittaker being the 1st female Doctor since Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor came before Whittaker. If anything The Timeless Child would have been a more interesting twist with The Master instead of with The Doctor.

18:34 yep, cruel is a good way to describe Chibnal’s era. It’s what frustrated me about Rosa - the first episode where the new Doctor has her TARDIS and her (POC) companion’s first full fledged adventure with her is to the Jim Crow South. The Doctor should never be in those types of situations where they literally can’t save the day. The Doctor has landed on alien planets with a similar oppressive society and they usually free the oppressed. They don’t say “Oh, well the bad guys will eventually lose in a few decades.”

100% agree! Prior to The Timeless Child 'reveal,' the Doctor was the thorn in the side of the other Time Lords - that one awkward, black sheep of the family who couldn't stick to The Rules and, once they realised they probably never would or could, decided to split and make their own way in the world. Now they're Cosmic Time Jesus, and it sucks.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: The Timeless Child is to Doctor Who what Highlander 2 was to Highlander.

If it were up to me I’d still frame this as the Timeless Child being the Master instead of the Doctor, and in this episode the Master is making the Doctor THINK she’s the Timeless Child to torture her while at the same time get some sympathy for what he’s going through. I would make the Fugitive Doctor an early version of the Master, perhaps dating back to when he and the Doctor were friends. I just think it makes more sense for the Timeless Child to be the Master as he has always been weird. He’s been a corpse, a catman, a ghost snake. He just seems to play by different rules, so it makes sense to me that he should be the special one.

While I don't mind the doctor being well known to others, my issue is that the doctor shouldnt matter to the universe, outside of their actions. The whole episode was everything people complain about moffat for turned up to 11. Like okay cool she's space Jesus or whatever What does it matter? It doesn't change anything

The coward or killer thing in Parting of the Ways was about killing innocent humans, and the Doctor having grown so much that he didn’t want to do the whole double genocide thing again. As horrible as it is, you could make the argument that it still would have been the least bad option. This time it just comes off as the Doctor herself being scared to die to save the universe, or scared to that her friend, who had just committed genocide, would be collateral damage. And THAT is real cowardice.

Few more things for the pile of unanswered/unaddressed points: - Why don't the companions (to my memory, anyway) react to Gallifrey being a still-burning wasteland? There's no moment after they find the Doctor where they acknowledge or offer comfort over her home being destroyed. - How are the Cyber Masters able to regenerate when they're converted from dead bodies, and it's been made clear in other stories that when a Time Lord dies, then that's it, they're dead, no regeneration. - Not really a fault of this epispde, but the Master explicitly says that regeneration is a 'genetic ability' and River Song was born with the ability to regenerate. Just think about that for a second.

The sheer rage in this video is what I feel every time I think about this episode... this era wasn't all bad, but this is easily my least favourite episode ever

I feel like Joe Brennan explained the problem with The timeless child concept the best: that it takes the Doctor's which made the Doctor so relatable away turning them from a random outcast with a dream who ran away from their controlling people to the most important being in the Universe.

If I were *forced* to write something like The Timeless Children, neither the Doctor nor the Master would be the Child. What if the Master sadistically revealed that the Child is still there, trapped, and the Time Lords have continued to siphon regenerative energy from them for millennia? All the good the Doctor has done has been made possible by the suffering of this innocent person, now what? I'll admit it's just a rough outline of an idea, but introducing a moral dilemma around the ethics of regeneration sounds more interesting to me than what we got.

Agreed that the Cartmel Master Plan was always a bad idea, it's a funny thing about the Seven'n'Ace era: what happens on-screen is great, the underlying planned arc is not so great. It was better left as mysterious implications that went nowhere.

It sounds like you hate the Timeless Child(ren? there's only 1??) for all the same reason I do. I quit the show after that travesty aired. Before November I'll watch Flux & the specials, but I'm not ready yet. Soon. I liked Series 11 more than 12 though, 12 was just a dumpster fire. 11 was soulless but not as incendiary. I actually liked parts of the Cartmel Masterplan. I LOVED Lungbarrow, that was Marc Platt though being the genius he is. He took a wonky Cartmel idea and polished that turd into an amazing lore building story that made the Doctor just another Time Lord, but more than that, a disappointment to his family, and established the cousins and looming and all kinds of cool concepts that fit well with existing lore and made sense!! Where it fell apart was making the Doctor somehow aware of his pre-Loomed self as the Other and picking up Susan, all that was a bit rubbish and needed a rework, but thankfully that bit was kind of hand waved with enough wiggle room you could rejigger that part to refit better again easily at some point, presumably. The Timeless Child though is Cartmel's worst ideas on Crack! It's a giant wrecking ball and I hate it. For ALL the reasons you gave and more! That said, I'm TRYING to mitigate the hate in my mind, tidying it up a bit. Maybe if the Doctor isn't aware of these other lives, then they still essentially happened to someone else, not them, with body changing and memory wipe the Doctor is essentially no more the TImeless Child than Jenny is the Doctor! She's just a clone, and the Doctor is just the current owner of the vessel? That's my Copium at the moment. Probably the only thing that is gonna get me through finally watching the rest of the Chibnall era, with it's crappy plot, hollow placeholder characters, and destruction of damn near everything in the universe (that I know of from you and others). I despise what they've done with the Time Lords, The Master, and the Cybermen though, this whole plot(?) sets fire to all of them! I love the Time Lords as enemies/rivals/sometimes allies - Gone. After YEARS of plots to bring them back, just for nothing!! The Master... we FINALLY had character development after ages, Missy was changing, becoming something Interesting Again - Gone. Now we get Snidely Whiplash tying Mel to the train tracks again. Grrrrr. The Cybermen? Moffatt started their ruination with Death In Heaven being his worst episode EVER, but this just furthers them along the path of stupidity. Remember when the Cybermen were actually Cyber cause they had to be converted from Living Beings? That was Cybermen! Now they're just robots with a skeletal fetish! The Cyber Masters/Time Lords... it's an idea I would expect from a child with too many Doctor WHO action figures! It's just LAME AF!! AND furthermore, since my blood is up now that I'm typing, I'm still ticked that Marc Platt is never given even a line in the credits of Haunting of Village de blahblahblah, when it is all the same basic plot as his audio the Silver Turk. If you steal an idea, don't even mention the original creator in the credits, I'm sorry, that's plagiarism. Chibnall & Maxine Alderton took someone else's work and passed it off as their own, and that's not cool. Yes, there are differences, but c'mon! Mary Shelley bases Frankenstein on an encounter with a damaged Cyberman? Pffffftttt!! He deserved at least a mention in the credits: "based on a story idea by Marc Platt," but no, not even that. Criminal. I only bring it up because the season finale started with that episode, and it was god awful from the start... I like Platt's original version of the same story way better. The whole season was awful. I can't think of a single episode of Series 12 that was worth watching... Maybe the Tesla one, I need to rewatch it I Guess... ugh.. 😮‍💨🙃😅

I can think of a way to fix the climax with Ko Sharmus dying. Have the choice to die a coward or killer be _taken away_ from the Doctor. In the episode The Poison Sky, the Tenth Doctor threatens to destroy the Sontaran ship, but gives the Sontarans a chance to leave. The Sontarans basically call his bluff, but I truly believe that Ten _would_ have killed himself as well as the Sontarans in order to protect the Earth. But that choice is taken away from him, when Luke Rattigan uses the Sontaran teleporter (Doctor Who REALLY loves teleporters) to take his place. In the episode Eaters of Life, the Twelfth Doctor tries to make the sacrifice play again, by offering to step into the time dilation portal to fight off the light eaters. But again, that choice is taken away when he gets knocked out. Just have Ko Sharmus, like, materialize a TARDIS around the Doctor, then exit the TARDIS and activate the Death Particle. Ko Sharmus appearing out of nowhere to make the sacrifice play instead of the Doctor is a deus ex machina, but it could've WORKED as a deus ex machina if the Doctor had no choice in the matter. The Doctor I know would have refused to let Ko Sharmus take her place. She would've fought for her right to sacrifice herself. That's why the Doctor always needs to be knocked out and/or handcuffed so the supporting character can make the sacrifice instead. Here, it's like the writers took the path of least resistance. The sacrifice play SHOULDN'T be easy.

How to fix the Timeless Child. Step 1: Drop the Cybermen. The new designs were cool, but they should have been in their own story separate from the timelords and the Master. Step 2: Make the Doctor being the Timeless Child a red harring set up by the timelords to protect the real timeless child. Also, don't make the timeless child responsible for regeneration. That conflicts with River Song's origins. Step 3: Profit.

There's a potentially fun explanation they could have given for the police box. We know the TARDIS can remember things that haven't happened yet and has somehow archived console rooms that haven't been made yet. A similar thing can happen with the exterior and the earlier Doctor could just explain that it sometimes changes into that shape for some reason like it's preemptively changing into a shape that will be important in its future. Sometimes she just lets it stay like that for a while to get it out of its system.

Chibnall is just a poor writer. When the timeless child thing first happened everyone said just wait he has a plan for this story. Recently Chibnall admitted he has no idea where the doctor/timeless child actually came from and he had no plans to ever expand on it lmao. I'm purging seasons 11-13 from canon.

Man, I had forgotten how bad it was as well 😅 I knew it was bad but PHEW. Me and my partner were flabbergasted watching it at the time, just in awe of how much it bungled everything. As fellow not-fans of the "most important person ever" versions of the Doctor, this was a real eye roller.

I rarely comment on videos but this made me laugh out loud (in a good way!) Your “WHYYY” had me in stitches 😂 And you expressed my thoughts about the Timeless Child story perfectly. Thanks for another great video

Thank you for this rant. Having just sat through Chibnall crash Jodie's Gallifrey One panel half an hour ago and hearing snippets of his panel yesterday, I still cannot get behind so many of his choices as show runner. The timeless children shattered so many different aspects of cannon without having any lasting impact on her era or her character. I wish (if the storyline had to exist at all) that it was anyone other than the Doctor. Let's just have it fall into oblivion and forget it ever happened.

I could only see the timeless child thing working if the timeless child was revealed to be the master instead of the doctor this wouldn't really break new who canon. It would explain the masters sheer survivability and could explain their madness if they kept getting their mind wiped and staring into the time vortex repeatedly. It could also keep the idiot in a box theme for the doctor being this rebel timelord who actually inspires the master to escape from the timelords and live their own life. Missy is the result of the master finally having closure and accepting there death but them being recalled to galifrey causes them to snap and destroy the place.

Thank you for acknowledging the children on Gallifrey. It has annoyed and frustrated me that the Master has not faced poetic justice for what he did (off screen no less) to the kids on Gallifrey.

I hate this episode. I hope to God or whatever deity exists that somehow the whole situation with the Timeless Child was all an elaborate lie or a misinterpreted event from some parallel universe. I hope that Gallifrey is restored SOMEHOW in order to make all that the Doctor achieved prior to this arc not have been in vain. I hope that Russell T Davies either redirects the show's narrative as far away from this as possible OR creates a well written explanation for how the Timeless Child was an elaborate lie. I'm rambling because this episode made me so angry. This undoes so much, and yet creates nothing to replace it. It's so lazily written and so catastrophic for the lore and emotional core of the show that I just cannot acknowledge it as canon.

Does anyone else feel that it’s only now the Chibnall era has finished that real Whovians can be free to give their honest opinion. Previously we had to defend the series, in spite of its shortcomings, because of the hateful, misogynistic campaign waged by people like Nerdrotic. They deliberately split the fandom; to them it was their way or you were a “Jodie-bot”. The sad truth is, that although their reasoning was wrong, downright bigoted, some of their criticisms about the writing and the Doctor’s mischaracterisation were correct. But true Whovians couldn’t acknowledge that at the time. The division created by the hate meant we had to stick up for our beleaguered program, especially at a recognised time of weakness. But now it’s over, and we can separate the haters from the criticism, we have to admit that some of what they said was true 😢

Thanks for mentioning why Moffat decided to save Gallifrey at 17:13 It bothers me whenever Gallifrey as a planet is conflated not just with the Time Lords but the Time Lord government. It’s like believing all of Earth’s population deserves to die bc of the actions of its ruling governments

I disagree that the Fugitive Doctor is pre-Hartnell, for multiple reasons. The main one being, of course, that the TARDIS is in the shape of a Police Box, in which - as you rightly pointed out - it first became stuck in The Cave of Skulls. Q.E.D. With this in mind, the Fugitive can only be between Troughton and Pertwee. There are further examples to support this placement: firstly, the interior of the Fugitive's TARDIS appears to be an amalgam of the Second and Third Doctor's interiors. Secondly, she calls herself The Doctor, a title the character adopted in their first incarnation, as played by William Hartnell. Thirdly, when 'Ruth' fights with Judoon in Gloucester Cathedral, it is shot in a manner that's reminiscent of similar moments in the Third Doctor era, i.e. The Curse of Peladon and The Time Warrior. The inference could be made that this is where the Third Doctor picked up Venusian Aikido; it was part of the training the Fugitive received while enrolled at Division, with 3 retaining some subconscious muscle memory. I've mentioned the 68% battery on 'Ruth's' mobile phone as being a subtle clue pointing towards a 6B placement (68 and 6B looking remarkably similar at first glance), so I shan't reiterate that point too heavily here. However, I will point out that Chris Chibnall himself stated in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine that Jo Martin's incarnation does indeed fit somewhere within the Doctor's first regeneration cycle (Hartnell to Smith, for clarity), although he's reluctant to confirm exactly where. Saying that, there's only really on place she can fit, in all honesty. I'm aware there are potential flies in the ointment regarding a 6B placement, but I'll attempt to address them here: 1) she doesn't recognise the Sonic Screwdriver, despite having used it in their second incarnation. My answer to this is fairly straightforward; she'd only just got her memory back at that point, so she can be forgiven for it slipping her mind temporarily. 2) the Tenth Doctor regenerated twice, at least according to the Eleventh Doctor. However, I suggest that 11 was simply wrong. Having no memory of his Fugitive incarnation, he simply assumed he'd wasted a life, given that he was on his final life at that point. 4) the Fugitive Doctor's clothes are different to the Third Doctor's (which, if we're being honest, weren't identical to Second Doctor's clothes, but that's neither here nor there). I would suggest it's not beyond the wit of Division to change the clothes back before forced regeneration and total mind-wipe. 5) While not mentioned on telly, I know there's a comic book that appears to suggest that the Fugitive is indeed pre-Hartnell. Now, I haven't read said comic, but I have seen a few panels. From these, I think it's ambiguous enough to be dismissable; I certainly think it would be extremely weird to have such a placement confirmed outside the TV show - in an American comic, no less - especially when it contradicts Chibnall's own assertion regarding her placement. Sorry for the long post, but I do think the misplacement of the Fugitive Doctor among certain fans taints their opinion of the era as a whole; or Series 12 onwards, at the very least.

Something I’ve noticed with Chibbers. To keep The Doctor pristine in her morals, any decisive conflict, violence or plot moving action is usually performed by other characters. It makes Jodie’s Doctor seem weak and ineffective.

I feel like a broken record here, but the whole thing would be fixed if the Timeless Child had just been the Master!

I love the outrage because it is so relatable to me and the people I know tell me I dont need to be that worked up about something thats just a story. Its nice to not feel alone in caring, critiquing, and not being able to "just accept it." Being told to just accept especially when it comes to major inconsistencies and bad writing just makes me feel so much the outsider. Thank you for sharing all this with us.

I'm fine with The Doctor being special to their actions like under RTD and Moffat but not to be literal space Jesus due to effectively their birth.

I agree with you on everything u say This not something I spotted, but once you hear it can't be undone. Tektaum is a Child Killer" when she starts her experiments into regeneration she has no idea how many times the regeneration works, she's a Child Killer doing it on purpose again and again and again and again. Keep shining keep ranting.

I'm less bothered about the idea, for me the biggest issue with this story is lack of originality or commitment to the idea, it's clear it was never the plan to have it go anywhere, just to be an arc like every other modern season that doesn't go anywhere much like the Hybrid or the Impossible Girl. Ironically these game changing reveals about the status quo have happened so often, they themselves are just part of the status quo. In terms of the episodes, it's a bunch of random strands that don't come together. If I was writing this, I'd have the Fugitive Doctor be a future incarnation from a potential darkest timeline where Ashad won and the Cyberlords are the ones who destroyed Gallifrey, making them the Timeless Children tying everything together. So instead of Koshamus being the one who sacrifices themselves, it's the Fugitive making up for running away from the war. Plus it gave future showrunners to recast Jo Martin but without the pressure of writing her the same as Chibnall.

Wait a minute Vera - just for my own clarification - what Chibnall said is that basically the Doctor is the Fons et Origo of the Timelords. So they (the Doctor) is at least 10million years old? (Trial of a Timelord)

The best thing they could do in the new series is to retcon this whole thing- it was the master manipulating the Doctor and tricking them or something.

If it went somewhere I wont be as angry with this episose as you are ...trust me we are same boat here. If Chinball did anything with it I wouldnt as angry, but The Timless Child is nothing but hot air. Im so thankful the Chinball is era is done because looking back he had 0 idea what he wanted HIS Doctor Who era to be. This IMHO worse finale than Hellbent because at least Hellbent is one and done and doesnt break Who lore like this does and it isnt called backed to in Series 10 . This is my top 3 worst Modern Who episodes the more I think on it

For me, the reason I hate The Timeless Children is for more of a meta/realworld reason than for its story (stupid though that story is). I hate it because it reeks so heavily of being a Chris Chibnall vanity project. It feels like he decided "I'm going to leave my own indelible mark on Doctor Who" and chose to do so by completely rewriting the Doctor's origins, so that he could say "Look, everyone! I rewrote Doctor Who." So he rewrites the Doctor's history, adds in a whole raft of generations that we've never met, never heard of and know nothing about. He rewrites the origins of Gallifrey society and time travel, rewrites the whole concept of regeneration, rewrites the Master's motivation for opposing the Doctor and - just for good measure - he completely wipes out Gallifrey (literally every living atom of it). That way, future writers under his tenure have to follow Chibnall's vision of what Doctor Who now is. Now I know that every show runner wants writers to adhere to their vision for the show, but never have we had one who attempts to so fundamentally rewrite the show. It smacks of vanity, it smacks of conceit, it smacks of a lack of humility by the showrunner and it's such a disrespectful, bullshit thing to do to a seminal TV series that has been around for so long before Chibnall got his hands on it. I really hope that this story is never acknowledged again in Doctor Who history and it just ends up being the same sort of diversionary cul-de-sac as the "half human" references - a strange little curiousity that has people thinking "well that clearly didn't work".

The things you point out about the Master might actually be able to crack the WTF of all this. Not that it makes it any *good* , but it makes more sense. I think, the whole Timeless Children thing was constructed with the Master in mind, completely not seeing how it wouldn't make sense for the Doctor. Chibnal is able to write the Master much better than he ever is the Doctor. He got enamoured with this incarnation of the Master and how this idea of the Doctor beinh the Timeless Child would affect him - and put the Doctor's perspective completely out of his mind, which is a bad thing when The Doctor is your titular character ^^

If you're going to rewrite the Doctor Who mythos in one story, be Robert Holmes, who can do it with style and humour in an exciting and well made story. Don't be Chris Chibnall, who can't.

They should have made the timeless child an overarcing villain who wants revenge against the timelords for taking their regeneration or something like that

I’ve rewatched this a few times to try and untangle my feelings and ultimately: I think Jamie Magnus Stone, as director, did a great job polishing this turd. But it is a turd.

Gallifrey falls no more -- no more.

16:20 - 20:10 This whole section about the Master's offscreen genocide and the unnecessary cruelty of the Chibnall era is so cathartic. 21:25 - 23:15 And this section is hilarious. If Series 13 didn't exist, that line from the Master about transmitting the memories would just be more evidence that he's seriously gaslighting Thirteen.

I’m not mad, I’m just baffled. It’s bad but Hell Bent did everything 4 billion times worse. I can say some positive things about The Timeless Children. The only positive thing I have to say about Hell Bent is I saw Farscape for the first time after I quit watching Doctor Who. Gram, the Lone Cyberman, and the Master was fantastic but were undermined by the episode repeating Hell Bent fuck ups. The overall positive thing I have to say about The Timeless Children is I saw the Legend of Korra for the first time after taking a break from Doctor Who.

I’m hoping we get more female doctors in the future someday

Love it! Great video 😁. You might be interested to know the original plan for the Five Doctors was to get Robert Holmes to write it. The plot? The Master teams up with the Cybermen to kidnap the Doctor and use the Doctor's innate genetics to turn the Cybermen into "CyberLords". Seems a bit familiar... In the end Holmes couldn't get it work so they got Terrance Dicks instead. "My Doctor" was McCoy and so I have a lot of sympathy for the so-called Cartmel Masterplan. But I don't think it should have ever gone to screen. Better as a weird undercurrent than explicit. I also saw a great comment on YT which said the whole Timeless Child could actually be Susan. That's one retcon I could get behind. Totally agree with all the rest of your points. The problem with this episode is that it half remembers what happened in both the recent and distant past of the series and then rewrites it with all the subtlety of someone touching up the Sistine Chapel roof with a 6" brush and a tin of emulsion.

This episode honestly feels like a first draft with too many ideas to handle. The reveal that the doctor is the timeless child really feels like a placeholder until a second draft came up with a better idea. The Master is right there to be the timeless child and for it to make at least a little more sense of a bad idea and you could see his motivation being more reasonable. The Doctor being the most important person in all of time and space is stupid when there is so much. I could buy some societies being thankful to a particular version of the Doctor but being the most important person in the universe nah. I think if this was a 3 parter things could have more things to breathe a touch more. This episode is the worst episode of new who (haven't watched much classic so I won't say of all time) it's just a mess and a sloppy first draft feeling

The funny thing about the Master killing all the Time Lords is that they were more effective than all the billions of daleks in the time war who failed to destroy the Time Lords. The Master single handedly did better than all the daleks.

My headcannon is that the Timelords continued experimenting on the Timeless Child long after they learned to regenerate, and actually duplicated the Timeless Child in order to get more test subjects. Most of them had their memories erased to keep them placid, something that's repeated as necessary to keep them in their place. This way they became a kind of underclass, although one only the elite of Gallifrey are aware exist as a distinct group, all originally a single person. The Master is another Timeless Child duplicate, although he kept this from the Doctor, so he is basically the same person and the Doctor could easily have ended up like him were things different. This makes the Doctor less special for being the Timeless Child, and also gives the Master more motivation for destroying Gallifrey, while maintaining much of the mystery the Timeless Child reveal was supposed to add to the Doctor.

I'll say one good thing about the title: it and the TC concept are respectively named in the plural and singular, which makes it easy to separate them if you need to discuss what you think about other aspects of the episode.

Something I've been thinking about after rewatching Clever Dick Films' (CDF) Doctor Who Era documentaries is this. When covering the costume of the 6th Doctor, CDF stated that Peter Davison (5th Doctor) said he thought the loud and flamboyant coat was in part due to John Nathan Turner (The then man in charge of the show) trying to put himself in the show - or to put a part of himself in the Doctor as I translated it. Fast forward to Chibnall. I'm pretty sure he said the fact he was adopted was part of what fuelled the Timeless Child storyline? But rather than apply this adoption or orphaned background story to a companion (Which could have been interesting) he does it with the Doctor, who he probably idolised and wanted to be in someway. I don't mean the 13th Doctor specifically, but just the character in general. So maybe that's why he did all this and ultimately was content with what he did, because he got what he wanted. He turned the Doctor into him. Anyone else think this makes sense?

Davies can fix it simply by just saying the master lied. It’s a tacky retcon but I’ll accept it

I’m just not a fan of anything that messes with the numbering of the Doctors.

The only way I ve been able to reconcile this it’s all one big lie from the Master. One HUGE practical joke to wind up the Doctor. Can we all agree to file this with the knowledge from Paul McGann that the Doctor is half human, and just never speak of it again.

I rated _The Timeless Children_ far lower than _Hell Bent_ - and I didn't enjoy _Hell Bent_ at all. I can also think of whole scenes in _Hell Bent_ that were quite good - which is why I merely rated it as "Shit" while _The Timeless Children_ got rated as "Utter Shit"...

I was fine with the Timeless Child reveal, this underdog Hero you're all trying to make out the Doctor was, was never a real thing and even if it was it stopped being a thing when they made The Doctor the last of the Time Lords. And I'm OK with that, I've always been fascinated with characters who are basically Gods but you still find them relatable because Gods are meant to be omniscient but these guys clearly have no idea what their doing. I like seeing Gods become humans. Also stop saying they made the Doctor "The Chosen One" because you've robbed that term of all meaning. You stretch the definition of the chosen one so it applies to everyone, then complain that everyone's the chosen one. Stop doing that. What does piss me off however, is that they destroyed Galifrey again, I mean come on! And now with Davis coming back and I'm dreading all the drama he's gonna try and milk out of it, you can't do that twice and expect it to have the same emotional impact that's just stupid. Litteraly no one complained about them bringing back Galifrey and Doctor Who fans love to complain, and yet they got rid of it again, why? My assumption was that they were trying to make it feel more like the Davis Era because they thought that's what the fans who were complaining loudest wanted, then they kinda confirmed that suspicion by bringing Davis back as show-runner. This is why I'm taking a break from Doctor Who, I'm not saying I'll never watch it again I'm just giving it some time to get it's Shit together because seriously, the worst thing a franchise can do is try to make it's older fans happy.

I think that a story or arch where the doctor does make an impression or a reputation due to their actions can be good as part of me does think that they save so many people, and make many enemies. I did like where they were going with 11's first series in that their enemies all team up to defeat him, stop him, capture him etc, but I hated that it then turned into the universe will end, the tardis explodes stuff. hated that. likewise with the concept of the silence i did like, again an organisation, church, army etc coming together to defeat the doctor because they dont like the good they do, or they dont see the doctor as good. liked that idea, but not the whole, kidnap amy, take the baby, who is a timelord, who is river, no no no , that was moffat not being able to stop. I liked the 10 stuff where davros makes him remember all the people who died for him, maybe a story where a relative died for the doctor and that created the origin story of revenege. but i do agree, it shouldnt be that the doctor is the most important thing ever, jesus type character, chosen one crap. no they are a random alien who likes to help people if they can but just likes to have fun. thats what the show began as, and i hope Russel can ground us a little and lower the stakes, not every episode, not every series ending event needs to be that they universe is in danger, why cant we just have a 'land on a planet, or different time, something happens, the doctor and co help out, then leave, repeat. yes maybe have it that a planet is in danger or a particularly dangerous foe must be stopped so they dont spread evil. lets bring the stakes down, lets make the doctor a nobody again in the grand scheme of things. yes they are still so important to singular things but not the whole of space and time. i would also like to see maybe 4 part stories like with flux, or classic who. so not a mystery box arch, not a whole 12 ep series arch, but not the chibnall contained nothing really matters at the end of the ep. somewhere in the middle. more historical eps, not just earth but maybe the 'cave-man' equivelant to an alien planet, then maybe we see the planet again but a 'future' era. i would also like more high concept, phisophical, mind f-ing eps like 'can you hear me' or 'it takes you away' or (edit) heaven sent , and more genre melting so horror spooky, maybe a thriller muder mystery but with aliens. i loved mummy on the orient express, and elements of angels take Manhattan, mary shelly ep, incorparate that into base under attack but with also someone is killing of crew from within the team.

Here's how I would redo the Timeless Child if I could Ok when Introducing the Ruth Doctor, don't use the Police Box TARDIS and don't have Ruth introduce herself as the Doctor, have her say that she's part of Timelord Black Op, have the Doctor say "Never heard of you " Ruth responds with "Wouldn't be very good at our job if you did. When the Doctor introduces herself as the Doctor have Ruth respond with "Who?" The Doctor is taken aback, she's never encountered a Timelord who's never heard of the Doctor. Have the episode play out roughly the same with the Doctor's idealism clashing with Ruth's ruthlessness but the two develop a begrudging respect for one another. Have the episode end with the Doctor asking for Ruth's name since she's never met a Timelord who's never heard of the Doctor. Ruth whispers her name into the Doctors ear, the Doctor face turns white, her eyes widen . After Ruth leaves one of the companions asks the Doctor who was Ruth and the Doctor replies "She's me". The Thing that Ruth had whispered was their true name. Ok next cut to the Cybermen story, have them be defeated in their episodes but keep the Cyberium. The Master appears out of the Portal and tells the Doctor to come with them and bring the Cyberium. Here's where the Master reveals two big reveals. The First is the Origin of the Timeless Child. Tecteun was a scientist and a supporter of Rassilon who after the disappearance of Omega was assigned to study the Untempered Schism to help perfect the Timelords knowledge of Time Travel while Rassilon worked to consolidate his power. During an experiment something emerged from the Schism, a baby, from their the Story plays out fairly similarly, the Child could regenerate, Tecteun and Rassilon found a way to steal the regeneration power for themselves but found that Timelords could only Regenerate 12 times naturally. Rassilon wanting Immortality for himself and his chosen followers built a machine to tap into the source of regeneration itself ,the Child, so rather than use up their own regenerations they would tap into the Child's regenerations causing the Child to feel the pain of regeneration. This is also how Rassilon is able to grant new regenerations as he sees fit. He creates a pocket dimension inside the Untempered Schism and keeps the Child in it connected to the Regeneration siphoning machine which links the Child to Timelords DNA across time and Space. Now the second Reveal, Hartnell was not the first Incarnation of the Time Lord we call the Doctor, before Hartnell, they weren't called the Doctor, their their past life their were Rassilon right hand and top enforcer , any threat to Time Lord or Rassilons rule they would take care of . However Ruth was the last of the their Incarnations and wanted a new Regeneration cycle. The Master reveals he found out this information and having been subjected to Rassilon inhumane treatment wants to help "End the child's misery " . He destroyed Gallifrey but admits that a good few of the Timelords survived and escaped including Rassilon so he needs the Cyberium as its the only other AI advanced enough to hack the Timelords Mainframe and access the pocket dimension holding the Timeless Child . The Doctor passes out from sheer shock and she enters her mind where she walks through an endless void and sees Statues of all the Past Doctors, she walks past all of them giving them each a look, eventually reaching Hartnell and saying "we've certainly come a long way ah old man " she looks into the distance and sees 12 figures covered in shadows with a 13th figure approaching her, its Ruth, she reveals that the Truth. She and her passed Regenerations did serve Rassilon because they believed his lies and believed they were doing the right thing. When the time came for Ruth to get a new regeneration cycle Rassilon trusting her revealed the Child to her, saying that she would be one of his chosen immortal Timelords. However Ruth was disgusted by what Rassilon was doing and tried to free the Child. While trying to rescue the Child , the Child ask them who they are and Ruth replies "I'm going to make things Better". However before she can free the Child she is captured and sentenced to Death However Ruth counters by saying Rassilon still owes her a new Regeneration cycle. So Rassilon decides to do both and have her reset, erasing her memories and regeneration cycle. Her last thoughts before she's reset and turned into the baby that would become William Hartnell are her own words "I'm going to make things Better" and 13's own "I'm the Doctor " . This shows why they chose the name the Doctor, they want to be the person who makes things better. The Doctor asks Ruth why the other Figures don't approach her as she's dying to meet them. Ruth reveals they're ashamed, they see the person they became and they know the person they were and believe they are unworthy . The Doctor reassures Ruth that she and any of her past versions are just as worthy of being called the Doctor as she is. The Doctor, Ruth and Shadow Figures all hug and reconciles.Waking up from her dream she joins the Master in his plan to help the Child. Once they make it into the Pocket Dimension the Master reveals what his plan is, he does want to end the Child's suffering but do so by absorbing all its regenerations, killing it and making himself immortal, his argument being that even if they free the Child its still traumatised from its experience and will never be free of its pain. As the Master starts to absorb Regenerations The Doctor manages to stop the Master and sends him into the Untempered Schism where he can be just thrown out in some random location for a Later Storyline with this you can always ensure the Master returns since the Number of regenerations he stole is never clarified . The Doctor in turn releases the Child who recognises the Doctor from all those years ago. The Doctor apologises for failing to save them and the Child Forgives the Doctor and before disappearing into the Untempered Schism gifts the Doctor with an undisclosed amount of regenerations thus ensure the Doctor can keep going on . What do you all think

i find it baffling when people compare this to hell bent. hate the reveals or don't, this is simply an episode of incredibly poor quality. the writing and directing and acting and cinematography in hell bent ain't the thing that divides people about hell bent. sometimes within the doctor who fandom I'm confused by how far removed people get from analysing the content critically. not talking about you, vera! loved your take on the episode-and your reviews in general. your comment just ignited a flame in me that is always there.

It almost seems that Chibnall knew how to write every character except the Doctor…a bit of a problem when she’s the main character.

I do think that the guy sending people through the portal was sending them to Gallifrey,. when he said "last time it didnt look like that" i think he meant Gallifrey. So he sent them to Gallifrey in the past. Iroinically, it would explain how the Doctor was half human from the TV movie, IF THE DOCTOR WAS FROM GALLIFREY *facepalm* But i think that's why he wasnt looking for the people. Also maaaaybe some timelords escaped? but yeah Chibnail's era is definied by cruelty. Even Flux wipes out most of the universe. *sigh*

Headcanon: The Master lied.

“Umm.. why is there information about a completely unrelated planet in our Matrix? That’s very weird, we ought’a look into this… ..what the fuck?!” aaaaaand the Timeless Child is exposed instantly. So much for secrecy lol.

But to all your other points. Exactly. Create a lot of chaos, create useless plot points that won’t be answered, divide the fan base… all for what? A pointless, poorly executed and written plot…. The very fact that the last season of Doctor Who has the same basic plot of Season Four of Star Trek Destiny and they did it better is truly sad. Doctor Who was never poorly written. Until now. I just hope that’s not gonna happen again.

I hated this episode, but held out hope that all the many plot threads still could be wrapped. What they did was basically throw them down the TARDIS's systems, or kill off everyone who had answers. As for cruelty, I'll never understand how having the giant spider in Arachnids in the UK die by suffocation was better than just shooting it! I do know of a lifelong Who fan who quit the show after that.

I'm guessing you're not a fan of lungbarrow/cartmel masterplan

I'm guessing CoSharmas doesn't question where his people went because there's no one to ask except maybe The Master. For the most part the people meant nothing to the master so probably wouldn't care less where they went so long as it wasn't Gallefrey. I think JayExci addressed the question of why The Timelords lied in the 5 hour essay but it's been a while since I saw it. Stubagful summarised this episode as "The Master gave a Powerpoint presentation which ended with you are adopted". When it first aired I did hope it would turn out The Master lied but then her mother showed up in Flux. I agree Moffat had already resolved the whole regeneration thing. I also agree the previous episode wasn't edited properly. The whole death particle thing apparently didn't work because nearly everyone showed up in The Power Of The Doctor. For The Jadoon to appear, all I can think of is Chipnall suddenly remembered he needed a cliff hanger for Revolution Of The Daleks. Although it wouldn't make sense from a story perspective it does make sense from a filming perspective. They knew they already had the costumes in storage, and people would be able to recognise them in the last 10 minutes with little explanation.

14:36 To further that point, addressing the elephant in the room. The Master destroyed Gallifrey. *While at the same time* killed every single Time Lord. Yet also did so in such a manner that they didn't simply regenerate or permanently expire????? This further goes to my idea (and the one I will champion forever) this character should have been Omega, _not_ the Master. Then there wouldn't have been a question as to "how" he was able to achieve any of this destruction. Because Omega had the ability to do this, without suspension of disbelief.

Honestly, my biggest problem with the Timeless Child that I haven't seen _ANYBODY_ talk about -- though I know it's unpopular -- is that it erases the possibility the Doctor is half-human. Yeah, I know, that concept is "objectively bad, and you're stupid if you like it!!" I guess I'm stupid then. Honestly, the reason I loved that twist when it was revealed is because, as a mixed-race fan, it gave the Doctor more of a marginalized status I could relate to. Like, people can forget the Doctor was originally a political refugee fleeing to exile on Earth when the show started, and that marginalized status was slowly lost over the course of the series. I liked the half-human concept, because as a mixed-race person it allowed me to relate to and look up to him even more as someone I had something in common with (and I suspect that was also true of other mixed-race fans). Honestly, what always bothered me about the backlash to that idea is that the whole criticism about why it "doesn't work" is... like, just that it makes him mixed race. That's it. Just him being mixed-race. Like, I have never heard a single criticism of that idea that boiled down to a narrative or storytelling issue, and solely boiled down to the Doctor _SIMPLY BEING MIXED RACE._ That always bothered me, as if it was like the Doctor being a "genetically non-pure" being wasn't acceptable. And now that concept is gone. Like, in a world where he's the Timeless Child, that implied backstory now can't have happened. So the show has now gone and taken away that beautiful idea that allowed me, and potentially other mixed-race fans, to relate to him on a personal level. And honestly, taking that away... yeah, honestly, that's an actual thing that I think "ruins" the character, at least for a certain demographic of fans. Like, Doctor Who has always been about a "yes and" approach to adding new concepts, not taking old concepts away. So here I not only feel Chibnall disrespected a previous writers work by saying it "doesn't count," I actually think he carelessly ruined a certain amount of bare-minimum allegorical representation for some fans. At least I still have Spock, I guess. Just not my favorite character of all time. EDIT: also, to clarify in terms of the Cartmel masterplan... what many people don't understand is that _Cartmel was never going to explicitly reveal that onscreen._ Like, even he knew that was a bad idea. It's kinda like Quentin Tarantino has developed backstories he knows about for his characters, such as how Colonel Raine got his neck scar, but that doesn't mean it needs to be revealed in the plot. Cartmel developed this, so that there would be a "secret show bible" of new things to hint at about his past, but he recognized the _MYSTERY_ was what made it great and never intended to actually explicitly reveal it (just to keep in mind when writing the character). Not to say it wasn't arguably a stupid backstory, as you put it, but therein lies a crucial difference.

How beautiful would it have been. In a very melancholy way. That the timelords did essentially steal the regeneration ability from another being. And this event being a fixed point in time, a doctor meets this being and can't stop the fate from happening. But by learning the stories of the doctor has done with this ability is okay with their own death.

I found out about this video way too late. this is just so on point.

Personally would have liked the timeless child if it was a big game for the master, like trying to convince the doctor she is something she isn't and has Gailfrey be an illusion, I could see the master destroying Gailfrey but not on his own but it's a bad idea

12:28 The Cartmel Masterplan was different from what you stated here. Quick summary: Time Lord society was founded by three people - Rassilon, Omega and the Other, whose name had been erased out of the history books by Rassilon. After they liberated Gallifrey from the Cult of Pythia, the followers of the cult cursed the Gallifreyans with infertility, forcing the Gallifreyans to create the Looms as a technological means to procreate. After the Other figured out that it was Rassilon who had been responsible for the apparent death of Omega as the latter was creating the Eye of Harmony, the Other tried to escape and in the end committed suicide by throwing himself into the Looms. Millennia later, his DNA was used to create a new Time Lord - the Doctor. The Doctor had subconscious knowledge of the life of the Other but had no functioning access to it until the Seventh Doctor became Time's Champion. Time being an Eternal that was part of a pantheon of higher beings which had been worshiped by the old Gallifreyans, who on the regular chose Time Lords to act as their champions on the mortal plane. The Master was also revealed to be Death's champion. No the Doctor being older than he was, no the Doctor being an actual founding father of Time Lord society, no the Doctor being the most important being in the universe.

What regeneration is this rant on right now? :-D I have some different reasons than you, some are the same but I almost fully agree with you. You hit all the reasons why I can't stand and why it should be ignored. The one point I sort of disagree with is the Doctor being the most important thing in the universe. Yes, there's all of time and space but they also travel within very close proximity to known things most of the time. How many times has Earth featured? So I was okay with but it was dealt with in Eleven's era, it didn't need to be touched on again. I said, right from when we started to get the details of the TC, that Chibnall did it for attention to get people talking. He had no idea of it's implications or where to go with it. He had nothing, and nothing came out of it. Are the Daleks the greatest enemy of the Doctor? Nope, Chris Chibnall takes that crown.

Chris Chibnall used his time as Show Runner to figuratively piss over everything everyone who wasn't Chris Chibnall has ever done for Doctor Who. From core concepts to specific things, like the entirety of the 50th Anniversary, he's gone out of his way to ruin or undo them. The question I want an answer to is "Why?" Was it just his ego, or was he jealous of what the others had done? Or both?

I'm just spitballing here, but what if the episode was the Master finding out about the timless child and he thinks it is the Doctor. The Doctor knows who the Timeless Child is but won't reveal otherwise, so on the Master's side its implied its the Doctor and on the Doctor's side it could be someone else. So it keeps the mystery of the Doctor, doesn't make him/her the centre of the universe but keeps it open ended.

At this point, I’m not a fan of what happened here because it never was paid off. However, the Doctor I never saw being “special”. For all we know, there are MILLIONS of people or even BILLIONS of people just like the Doctor. To me, it’s a tragic story. A child was oppressed and studied on, and potentially kid napped from their family… and that is what makes them special? How twisted is that? To me, it could have created new possibilities. New places to travel. New discoveries to be made. A new race of people that could very well have a bone to pick with the Time Lords for kidnapping one of their own and stealing a very unique gene they have. For killing and studying one of their kids. But the BBC never did this. And that’s also tragic. This should have been fleshed out.

"Poorly Handled" sums up nearly everything Chibnall has ever done in Doctor Who. Even when he wasn't the show-runner, the majority of the scripts he did for Doctor Who were utter shit because he seems to "just throw in stuff he finds exciting for the sheer hell of it".

I'm not sure if this is what Chibnall had in mind, but this Master's self-hatred makes sense given the context of how his previous incarnation(s) died. He presumably comes after Missy in the TV canon, and she was betrayed and killed by themself for trying to be good. According to the EU, he comes after the Lumiat, who was also betrayed and killed by themself for the same reason. I can see how the Master would've relapsed back to his evil ways, this time filled with self-hatred, in either timeline.

For me if the master was the timeless child it would have worked. It would make more sense, he blows up galifrey in response to their mistreatment. It would have worked so well.

The fist 10 minutes of this are my exact thoughts on Who post-Timeless. The timeless child, Tecteun, Division and the current incarnation of the Master are garbage in their entirety. The Doctor is being made WAY too important. Just let them be an idiot with a box and a screwdriver. Not the axis around which the universe turns! However, a point of disagreement. Series 11 is better than series 12 and Flux in every way possible

My thing about the Doctor not mattering is that while that might have once been true, they did both start and end the Time War which raged across all time and much of space.

I also suspect that this was meant to be a 12 part serial, with the specials completing it and possibly, the political pressures from the head of the BBC/ programming who are prejudiced and bigoted people linked to the governing party hobbled this.

I wish this two-parter had started with the Master allowing the Cybermen to invade Gallifrey and convert all the Time Lords into something new, something not even the Master can control. Instead they are upgraded about ten minutes after they arrive, and they have pretty collars and they regenerate. What a waste! This stupid, stupid story should be consigned to the same place they sent SeaQuest DSV and forgotten about forever. Bless you for diving into its misery once more and for making me laugh out loud several times. Packing peanuts, ha!

The thing is that there was never any point to this. It would have just introduced a new race of Not Time Lords that had no reason to not be the Time Lords

I always thought the 12 lives things was short-sighted, but I'm sure no one ever expected the story would hast so long. But, I'm sure there was some simpler way to recon the life limit. To me the Doctor will never be a god, and only just another Gallifreyan, if special in their quirkiness.

If I may, I ponder if you ever did a video regarding the nature of showrunners in the sense of changing hands and how... opinions on what's best for the show can be whiplash to say the least.

I actually think the fugitive doctor comes between 2 and 3. No form of doctor who media has ever shown the second doctor completing his regeneration.

The Cartmel Masterplan was supposed to merely be hints, and had no conclusive answer on purpose because that would’ve ruined the mystery. Lungbarrow only had an actual answer because a) it was a book & b) The show was at the time (1997) pretty much over so they thought there was no harm in it, having no knowledge that was going to be a revival series in 2005.

It makes the Doc look less like the universe's Mr fixit and out to be a God or in this case Goddess, he or she is sort of a warrior and piece keeper, not a whatever this is, and Time Lord history has been retconed to the point it will take another retcon to fix it, whatever were the writer's thinking, it sort of takes the Doc's mystique away and they might have just said his real name and have at it, love the Doc and hope they will do right by them