Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone
The Doctor: "What happened to the child? What? What's so funny? What happened to the child?"
The Master: "Oh, Doctor, really? Haven't you worked this out yet? The child is you."
Well, that happened then. It's probably a good thing that this plotline actually leaked weeks ago and I've been a little desensitized to it but other than that, I can't help but think - "is this really a good idea, Chris?"
In the last few days, I've seen people accuse Chibnall of disrespecting the show's entire legacy while others have claimed this revelation has merely added to it and explained a certain plot strand from The Brains Of Morbius. For me, I still cannot decide which side of the fence I should be on with this one.
Both sides raise decent enough points and both Sacha Dhawan and Jodie Whittaker played their scenes with excellence as the Master took the Doctor to a ruined Gallifrey, got her to the remains of the citadel before putting her into the Matrix in order to bring her up to speed on her own personal history, which by the end of this episode he was more angry about that she was.
After all, it happened to the Doctor, now a stranger from another planet who got picked up by a woman named Tecteun (Seylan Baxter), brought to Gallifrey and was repeatedly experimented on when the latter learned that the Doctor could regenerate. The rest of it then would be the Shobogans siphoned off the Timeless Child's regenerative energy, limiting it to twelve regenerations before rebranding themselves as Time Lords and the rest is history as the Master would say.
Essentially, Chris Chibnall has decided to do a variation of the infamous Cartmel Master Plan and the results are definitely on the polarising end of the scale. I just cannot commit to a feeling about it at the moment and I'm sorry if this makes this review a harder read for anyone actually reading this. Needless to say, it's something that Chibnall didn't need to do but at the same time, there's enough leeway here (because of course, certain memories would be REDACTED) that a later showrunner could undo the whole thing.
Anyways moving away from the Timeless Child malarkey for a bit, the Master also took Ashad out and took over the Cyberium and because the Cybermen don't get fucked over often enough, we can now add CyberMasters to the ridiculous list of things that no-one asked for. Seriously, they looked a state but trust the Master to have a morbid solution for all those Time Lord bodies he conveniently kept a hold on.
Somewhat resolving this plot, the Doctor then used the Death Particle (a part of shrunken Ashad) to somewhat take out the Master and his latest army, except for Ko Sharmus to step in and make the heroic sacrifice. Let's be honest - the Master ain't dead, Gallifrey's a barren planet and if I never see the CyberMasters again, it'll be too soon.
Then the remaining five minutes of the episode saw Graham, Ryan and Yasmin along with Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ethan all get into another TARDIS and wind up back on Earth while the Doctor found herself being arrested and chucked into a prison, courtesy of the Judoon as a means of setting up the festive special, which currently might be trimming some cast members. End scene wise, it was a nice call back to some previous finales.
- It seems that Brendan was a "false memory" in the Matrix to cover up some of the scandal surrounding the Timeless Child. He would've been an interesting character to have brought back next series.
- The Fugitive Doctor reappeared during the Doctor's time in the Matrix. Still not sure where she fits in but it's safe to say we'll be seeing her again next series.
- The amount of flashbacks in that scene where the Doctor frees herself from the Matrix was impressive. Especially when it's slowed down and you see how many faces Chibnall got in there.
- This is the first episode since Hell Bent to actually have a companion on Gallifrey.
- The Doctor (and Fam) will be returning in Revolution Of The Daleks. BBC have yet to decide whether it airs Christmas or New Year though.
- Chronology: From where Ascension Of The Cybermen left off.
The Timeless Children will definitely go down as Chibnall's most memorable episode of the show. What he does from here on out will be relatively tame by comparison, won't it? I didn't love it and I didn't hate. Performance wise, both Jodie and Sacha were on fine form but I still feel this might be have been a Pandora's Box that should not have been opened.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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