SPOILERS AHEAD FOR FLUX: SURVIVORS OF THE FLUX
I just watched The Vanquishers, where we got some more information regarding the whole Timeless Child thing. So the master wasn't lying! And with that, the Doctor is officially the timeless child. With the Doctor seemingly about to receive back all her memories, it looks like there's no going back.
In this post, I'm not actually going to review the episode. To be clear I actually enjoyed many parts of it, but its main plotline was riddled with holes, not to mention the issues that are there with the whole idea of the Timeless Child. And, with the dreaded confirmation of the Doctor's existence being not as we thought, I think this would be an interesting time to look at just why it is so wrong, and an example of extremely good character change for the Doctor, that happened in the first RTD Era, with David Tennant's tenth Doctor. Over pretty much the whole of Series 4 and coming to a climax in 2009's Waters of Mars, Russel T Davies put the Doctor through one of his biggest character changes ever. Now it's known as the Time Lord Victorious arc, and it's really rather good.
Now, I want to make this very clear: I'm talking about the specifically TV stuff, and disregarding the weird multi-media spinoff they did in 2020. That thing wasn't amazing to be honest, and doesn't live up at all to the great character work in the TV show.
So. Back to now, and it's just been confirmed that the Doctor really was a child found on a planet with super abilities; she was taken by Tecteun and brought to Gallifrey where she was experimented on and formed the basis of regeneration, before working for the Division for apparently billions of years and having her memory wiped. Then, Hartnell's First Doctor came from that.
I just want to add that my problem is that the Timeless Child is the Doctor. Even if it was the Master, I'd be more impressed.
So why don't I like it? Surely it's an interesting, new direction to take the character! Ah, I don't think so. Here's why:
It stems from lazy writing
One reason I don't like this arc is it seems like Chibnall has been super lazy! He hasn't created anything new, he hasn't blazed a trail for the character of the Doctor, he's just sort of... awkwardly... shoehorned an absolutely origin-wrecking change into the Lore of a fifty-year-old character and called it new material! It doesn't stem from new ideas. And I know you could argue that it is a new idea, but I actually think it isn't. Origin-wrecking stories are very cliche in fiction at the moment, (They did it with Rey in Star Wars, Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man 2, etc.) It simply is lazily piggybacking off other people's work and changing them.
It ruins the point of the Doctor
Before this era, the Doctor was simply an ordinary Time Lord who ran away in a stolen TARDIS and started helping people. (Yes I know about the McCoy Series 27 idea, and although I'm sad we didn't get more McCoy era, I'm glad they didn't do that storyline.) That was the point of the character - that you didn't have to be someone special to help people and make a difference. Now, she's the very reason that Time Lord society exists as it does. So... The message and point of the character is now 'If you want to help people, I'm afraid you have to be an incredibly special, powerful person who formed the basis of your society.' I much preferred the old one, although I know many people like this new one, and that's cool! I just feel like it really takes away from the Doctor's character.
It feels disrespectful to previous writers
This third one is a bit different to the other two, being more about the BTS stuff rather than story stuff. But the point still stands: I don't think it is very nice to previous writers and creators, namely the original crew for Doctor Who, such as Verity Lambert and Warris Hussein and Sydney Newman. Like sure, the original plan was changed massively in ten years after it started, but making the First Doctor not the First Doctor seems so rude! The Doctor was never meant to be incredibly important, and now she suddenly is!
Basically, I really don't like this story arc.
But, I really enjoyed another big character arc: The Time Lord Victorious Arc. So, the question is, why do I like this one, and not Timeless Child?
I'll answer that by proving the opposite of the three complaints of the Timeless Child.
It's incredibly not lazy!
Making the Doctor a power-hungry maniac is absolutely not lazy! It's a very brave character choice, very controversial, and RTD was bound to know that. In fact, I know many people who really dislike this arc! This was a totally new idea, and hugely changed the character of the Doctor. Most writers would play it safe and not make the Doctor this unlikeable, but T Davies knew that this was an incredibly interesting move for the Doctor.
It understands the character of the Doctor
Unlike the Timeless Child, Time Lord Victorious really understands the complexities of the Doctor. The Doctor isn't just a happy-go-lucky man who saves people in a blue box. (Well I mean he kinda is.) He's a very broken man who messes up, and has sometimes used the power he's earned after years of travelling for bad. In Time Lord Victorious, the Doctor resolved that he was pretty much the ruler of the universe, and therefore he can do what he wants which turns him into a terrible person. The Timeless Child, on the other hand, doesn't actually change the Doctor as a person, it just gives her something to react to and rubbishly gives her this power and the right to rule over the universe. Time Lord Victorious understands and builds on the Doctor's character, but the Timeless Child does not.
It isn't disrespectful to previous Who
This one could be debated, but I don't think it is disrespectful. I would say it actually builds on the character, showing just what happens when this character we've seen for 57 years goes wrong. It's a genius bit of character work.
So, there you go! Hopefully that was informative! If you disagree, it's all good of course!
See you next time!
PS: Yeah, I know, first post in ages. I'm hoping to get this blog much steadier now.
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