The Timeless Children

"You don't even know your own life."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 1st March 2020

Series: 12.10

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

The Cybermen are on the march. As the last remaining humans are ruthlessly hunted down, Graham, Ryan and Yaz face a terrifying fight to survive. Civilisations fall. Others rise anew. Lies are exposed, truths are revealed, battles are fought, and for the Doctor – trapped and alone – nothing will ever be the same again. 

Verdict

The Timeless Children concluded the story already started in Ascension of the Cybermen in sublime style. This really did live up to the billing of being a game changer and absolutely had the feeling of a series finale. I haven't been as excited for an episode as I was in the lead up to today and it was even acknowledged by my girlfriend as I was strolling around our flat doing my Sacha Dhawan impression of "Everything you think you know is a lie". It was set up brilliantly, and what we got was just staggering. Not only was the information transformative for the show's entire history and beyond, but its delivery was incredible. Sacha Dhawan is absolutely amazing as the Master and after just three episodes, he honestly might be my favourite incarnation. He is staggeringly good here. I just love how impressed with himself the Master is and the way he's able to gloat to the Doctor for destroying Gallifrey is outstanding. Whilst doing that though, it's clear how much the Master is fearful of the Doctor and blames her for all of his rage which I think is great. The history between the pair is so obvious just from the way they look at each other. Jodie Whittaker was superb yet again as the Doctor and that moment where she shoves the Master down demanding to know more about her past was terrific. The Master discovering the truth of Gallifrey's foundation as Time Lord society was excellent and his displeasure at having a bit of the Doctor inside of him was magnificent. He was blaming the Doctor for something she had no control over. Something she couldn't even remember. So let's discuss the truth of the Timeless Child. It wasn't exactly surprising that it turned out to be the Doctor, but the meaning was something I didn't see coming. The Doctor was the origin of Time Lord society and her adopted mother Tecteun had experimented on her once she'd discovered regeneration. It's staggering and having the Master tell the story through the Matrix was just brilliant. We saw countless child incarnations, but eventually Tecteun isolated the regenerative qualities and transferred them into herself. From there, Gallifrey was built and those inside the Citadel became Time Lords. This changed everything of course and raises so many more questions. Where did the Doctor come from? What species is she truly? I like it a lot. I have one qualm though and that's how it all ties in with The Name of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor. We had Clara literally step into the Doctor's time stream and identify Matt Smith's incarnation as the Eleventh Doctor. She didn't know of the War Doctor until seeing him with her Doctor, so I guess they could get away with that. And we literally had the Eleventh Doctor ageing to death because he'd used up his regeneration cycle, yet this episode clearly confirms that it was the Time Lords who put on a limit of 12. It could be that they also imposed that limit on the Doctor or that the Doctor simply didn't know, but just some acknowledgement should have occurred in my eyes. I fully appreciate that the story is far from told though so I'm more than willing to wait things out. I have no issue with what the episode has done for Doctor Who continuity and anything that legitimises what we saw in The Brain of Morbius with the implied incarnations of the Doctor prior to William Hartnell's incarnation is quite something. The Doctor's overpowering of the Matrix with her memories was sublime and she was just outstanding throughout. Ryan actually had a pretty good episode and the moment where he blew up a batch of Cybermen was humorous because of how short-lived his gloating was as more approached from behind. Graham's heartfelt speech to Yaz was lovely if not a bit random and I liked how she was the one who had no qualms about stepping through to Gallifrey. The Doctor's home planet being in ruins was still an incredible sight to behold and I loved the talk in the Citadel panopticon with the reference to The Deadly Assassin. There was also a terrific reference to The Trial of a Time Lord. This episode had so much going for it. I haven't even got to the Cyber-Masters yet! The Master teaming up with the Cybermen isn't new and has actually occurred now in three of the last five series finales, but him offering them Gallifrey was outstanding. It didn't stop there either as we were introduced to some fantastically-looking Cyber-Masters. Cybermen who had the organics of the Time Lord bodies the Master had killed. Cybermen with the ability to regenerate. Truly an unstoppable force. The relationship between the Master and the Lone Cyberman was a real episode highlight and the moment he just turned and used the tissue compression eliminator on him was wonderful. His annoyance at not using a joke before enacting it was terrific too. I really don't have enough praise for this incarnation of the Master. The Master giving the Doctor the means to end everything with the death particle in the compressed Lone Cyberman was excellent, but it backfired as Ko Sharmus was more than willing to take out the Cybermen and serve his life's purpose. I'm sure the Master would have escaped, but the idea of all organic life on Gallifrey now being wiped out seems irreversible. The ending with the emergence of the Judoon into the TARDIS and quickly sending the Doctor into life imprisonment was good and exciting as we head for the festive season, and I like that she is separated from the fam. She apologised to the TARDIS for that which was lovely and I was glad that she sat down to try and take everything in. I still want to know how the Ruth Doctor fits in with everything, but there's still so much more to come. The scenes with Brendan from Ireland turning to be a perception filter on memory was a really good revelation. I was a huge fan of that. I also loved the concept of the Division and how secrecy was maintained. As a whole, a sublime two-part finale.

Rating: 10/10