Doctor Who: The Timeless Children (2)

Master: 'The foundling had become the founder.'

I have mixed feelings about this finale. I quite liked the Timeless Child story, I'm just not sure it was very well executed. It seemed to raise too many immediate conflicts with established lore, and although it's feasible that some of the tensions will be resolved in future adventures, is that Chibnall's intention? How many times this season have we seen consequence ignored for the sake of spectacle? More importantly, is the show in danger of becoming unrecognisable?

The Doctor being the Timeless Child was an ambitious, if ultimately unnecessary, addition (amendment?) to the show's mythology, but just because something's unnecessary doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. I didn't like the way 'The Day of the Doctor' rolled-back the Doctor's destruction of the Time Lords—for me, it weakened our perception of Nine and Ten's guilt-ridden angst—but it's still a really good episode. So you can mess with continuity and succeed. 'The Timeless Children' tried to pull a similar high-stakes stunt, but in hindsight probably didn't go far enough. Most of the questions it raised are solvable, some are inconsequential, and others may even generate worthwhile new lore. In essence: there was some good stuff, some bad stuff, some neutral stuff, and I don't see the show changing much as a result of any of it.

Obviously the Doctor's history will have to be amended, but she's not going to change as a character... at least no more than she does after every regeneration. They're also going to have to address the carnage that's been inflicted on past events. Why River can regenerate for example, or the purpose of her sacrificing her regenerations when the Doctor evidently didn't need them. How Rassilon now fits into Who history will also need explaining, not to mention why Clara couldn't see beyond Hartnell's Doctor, and why Ruth's TARDIS looked like a police box. So I foresee a tedious season of reconnning ahead, and some cherished stories will undoubtedly suffer. But in general I expect season thirteen to continue in much the same vein as season twelve in terms of story quality, tone, and general content.

The irritating thing is that outside of the attempted shock tactics, this was a fairly tepid episode. From my perspective—and with a handful of possible exceptions—the show hasn't felt like Doctor Who since Chibnall took over. At best it feels like a Doctor Who spin-off, at worst fan-fiction, and tonight it veered worryingly towards the latter. However, despite being the most controversial part of the story, Tectuen I found rather beguiling. She initially came across as a likeable explorer, who built her own ship, and flew off to discover new horizons. But after discovering the Timeless Child's ability to regenerate, she appeared to take a huge swing over to the dark side, her obsession with immortality causing her to kill the child over and over again. Which let's face it, is a bit troubling, whilst also being rather fascinating.

And it's taken me two seasons to finally realise it, but Jodie is awful as the Doctor. The writing obviously isn't giving her much to work with—trapping your main character in a paralysis field so she can be talked at unimpeded for half an hour without any sort of meaningful riposte is not good television—but this doesn't explain why her facial expressions, eye movement, and body language are so unconvincing. I understand completely the Doctor being rendered speechless by the secrets of her past, and that she was in the matrix, etc., but non-reactions are so boring to watch. Any of her prior incarnations would've been livid at the shit spewing from the Master's mouth, but Thirteen was expressionless throughout. Doing virtually nothing in a scene without dialogue is not good acting.

Companion-wise, this was also a fairly average outing, with no real depth to any of their subplots, and them being separated from the Doctor yet again. Why give her three companions if the writers can't be arsed to use any of them? But I did enjoy their cyber-suit escape, and found the emotional exchange between Graham and Yaz rather touching. Obviously, it would've been better had they built Graham and Yaz's relationship over time, making the interchange all the more impactful, but it did its job I suppose. I saw trolls complaining online that people from Yorkshire aren't that emotionally detached, but I live in Yorkshire and took it for what it was: a playful poke at stereotypical northern reticence. And sadly none of the companions died, which presumably means they'll all be back for the special... worse fucking luck.

The Cybermen thread was probably the most solid albeit unoriginal part of the episode. The idea of them removing the humanity component from their makeup made sense, and having the Master in the mix, doing what the Master does best, was a sound pairing—even if them working together barely made sense. I was a little disappointed that Brendan turned out to be a much smaller part of the story than anticipated. Ditto Ko Sharmus being just some old dude who turned up at the end to save the Doctor, especially as the episode seemed to be gearing up for something big. That's not to say the Judoon appearing on the TARDIS and taking the Doctor prisoner wasn't significant—how did they even manage to get aboard?—but it was really just setup for the next episode.

So why do I say I have mixed feelings about the episode when it's abundantly clear that I was underwhelmed by much of it? The sad truth is that last season was so bad, mediocrity now feels like a triumph. And I would gladly take another season of Chibnall at least trying to do something novel with the show, over... whatever last season was. I honestly think he's abandoned his original vision of Doctor Who, and is currently writing a version of the show more in keeping with what he thinks fans want. Sadly, the results are in and he's no Steven Moffat or Russell T. Davies. But the story he sketched out tonight was so bare bones, that its ultimate salvation may be in what's yet to come. There's an opportunity here to tell a genuinely fresh and exhilarating story, but only if they don't shy away from answers.

On first blush, this drastic change to the landscape looks like it's punched a lot of holes in continuity, but the bulk of it can either be fixed, or at least improved with further revelation. Obviously some things are immutable. Chibnall's gone on record as saying that Ruth is definitely the Doctor, so save the Master being an unreliable narrator or the matrix being wildly inaccurate, we're going to have to accept that the Doctor now predates the Time Lords. But there's so much story still to be told that we can't rule out future story twists softening some of the sharper edges and helping ease in the new status quo. Like I said, I'm not sure as much has changed as Chibnall was hoping, but he still has a lot of work ahead of him before any of this sits right with fans.

So after a season of Chibnall's Who, followed by a season of Moffat/Davies pastiches, what can we reasonably hope for from season thirteen? Well, solid storytelling, with meaningful character development, in the Whoniverse we all know and love would be a start. But having Jodie at the helm is a worry. Does she have the range to tell the character-heavy story which must surely follow, particularly in light of how poorly she's handled the emotional scenes thus far? The most audacious part of this whole affair is that Chibnall's literally forced the show into telling this story, whether the fans like it or not. But does he have the writing chops to pull it off? At least he had the balls to go big, but whether his boldness ultimately pays off, or whether he needs to be castrated, are questions we'll be better equipped to answer next year.

Other Thoughts:

—No real explanation as to why Ashad was drilling Cybermen last week?

—How exactly did the Master destroy Gallifrey? I mean, it's fine saying it, but how did he do it? I'd sooner have seen that story than this one.

—The scene where the Master says he could see the Doctor thinking of ways to escape by looking into her eyes, only for her to immediately look away to hide her intent, was fucking awful.

—The consolidated viewing figures came in at 4.69, making this the lowest-rated episode since the show's revival in 2005.

—So they're basically just refusing to tell us where this Master fits in? 

—The Cyber Carrier landing on the ashes of Gallifrey was pog.

—For the second time this season the BBC have had to issue an apology in response to fan complaints. The first was over the Doctor's non-reaction to Graham's health concerns, and this time was to do with the show's ruined legacy. Have a read. Honestly, I think they should issue an apology over how weak their apology is.

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/bbc-responds-to-the-timeless-children-canon-complaints-93292.htm

—The Child's subsequent route from abused minor to active member of The Division is definitely something that warrants further elucidation.

Quotes:

Graham: 'I've got an idea. It's a bit of a mad one—quite dangerous and it might not work—but we've got form with plans like that, ain't we Yaz?'

Master: 'I should have said, "Someone needs to cut you down to size!" Then zapped you. I was just trigger-happy. I'll use it next time.'

Ko Sharmus: 'You can be a pacifist tomorrow. Today you have to survive.'

Doctor: 'Live great lives.'