Doctor Who: The Timeless Children

[andraste]

Alas, that did not work for me at all :(.

This is a shame, because there have been plenty of things I've liked about Season Twelve! But I had the same issues with the two-part finale I've had with a lot of Chibnall's era: interesting ideas but too many moving parts for any of them to get the space they need, inadequate development for the companions, a horde of minor characters who don't get fleshed out properly and a complete cop-out of an ending. Especially disappointing after The Haunting of the Villa Diodati actually pulled off a story that should have had those problems but didn't. In particular, Ko Sharma was a nothing character who clearly existed only so the Doctor didn't have to push the button, which really left a bad taste in my mouth.

I have more mixed feelings about what the episode does with Doctor Who lore as a whole - I don't have any problem with overhauling Time Lord history, since they've always been secretive and self-mythologising. I do have a problem with the idea of the Doctor as mysterious special chosen one - it was annoying and unnecessary when Cartmel did it and it's still annoying and unnecessary now. The Doctor is special because of the things they choose to do, not because of their inherent properties. (And if Martin!Doctor's conversation with Thirteen is meant to convey that, why mess with the character's back story in the first place?)

And, you know, I realise that the show is not in any way obligated to care about Romana and Susan and the Rani and the Monk and Drax and Narvin and Braxiatel and the General and every other Time Lord character that ever existed, but that doesn't actually stop me from caring about them and being irritated that we're meant to believe they all either died in the Time War or were casually murdered off-camera by the Master. I imagine Big Finish et. al. will get around to fixing that sooner or later, but wiping out the whole species again so soon after Gallifrey was restored still just feels lazy to me. Especially since I feel like the Doctor finding out their entire past was a lie would be somewhat more interesting if there was anyone left for them to confront about that.

On the bright side - I did enjoy Sacha Dewan's Master again, and hope that when he inevitably swans away from something that should have destroyed him he's still in that particular shape. And it was nice to see the wonderful Martin!Doctor again, even if I still desire an explanation for why her TARDIS was shaped like a police box.

Comments

[vilakins]

I did not like it.

Ruth's TARDIS being a police box puzzles me too. If she's a forgotten regeneration, she'd precede the "stealing" of it.

Feh.

[lilacsigil]

Same - I really enjoy the Master and Doctor parts, and I can absolutely see why the Master was so worked up about the Doctor being more special than him, but the whole thing really didn't hang together for me. I mean, if the Master is just now getting around to building Cyber-Lords how did he wipe out Gallifrey in the first place? And why didn't the dead Time Lords regenerate then, since they can do it now?

And the Doctor not having to push the button was super weak, though I did enjoy the Master being very into it!

There's so much just left unplotted, even if I really like Martin!Doctor and having more than one timestream of Doctors and Masters.

[andraste]

Yes - it shouldn't even be the same TARDIS, let alone the same TARDIS stuck in the shape it only got stuck in after the first episode of An Unearthly Child. Unless it's not actually 'our' TARDIS and it's shaped like a police box for some reason other than being stuck that way after a trip to 1963, in which case it would be nice if they would tell us that.

Meh.

[andraste]

I mean, if the Master is just now getting around to building Cyber-Lords how did he wipe out Gallifrey in the first place? And why didn't the dead Time Lords regenerate then, since they can do it now?

Maybe because he stuck them all in the freezer (that seems to at least slow down the process if the TV movie is anything to judge by) but that just raises the question of how he killed everyone on the planet and got them all into cold storage. Given what's said during Day of the Doctor about how many children were on Gallifrey during the Time War, it seems like the population of the planet is well in the billions. And if the Master is really capable of killing them all at once - something the Daleks never pulled off! - how is he not gloating about the plan he used???

And the Doctor not having to push the button was super weak, though I did enjoy the Master being very into it!

Honestly, the Master being very into doomsday devices was far and away the best thing about this episode.

There's so much just left unplotted, even if I really like Martin!Doctor and having more than one timestream of Doctors and Masters.

Is so frustrating - I want to like it! But I cannot, because too much of it stupid and/or not explained properly.