Episode 10
The Timeless Children
In the ruins of Gallifrey the Master makes a shocking claim about the Doctor’s origins - and creates a monstrous race of Cybermen/Time Lord hybrids…
EMMA REEVES
BBC One, 1 March 2020
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Director: Jamie Magnus Stone
Guest cast: Sacha Dhawan (The Master), Patrick O’Kane (Ashad), Julie Graham (Ravio), Ian McElhinney (Ko Sharmus), Tecteun (Seylan Baxter), Jo Martin (The Doctor), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of Cybermen & Judoon Captain).
Rating: 4.69m (seven-day, all devices)
Appreciation Index: 82
S o, the Timeless Child was the Doctor all along. According to the Master, anyway. And his story is backed up by the Matrix - although signifi cant portions are redacted. It goes like this. Much more than just a Time Lord, the Doctor was a foundling from another universe, discovered as a tiny girl at a mysterious interdimensional gateway between universes, back when all Gallifreyans were mere Shobogans. When her adoptive mother, Tecteun, discovered the child’s limitless powers of regeneration, she forced her to undergo multiple deaths in order to replicate and share this ability with others. Hence the long lifespans that allowed her people to develop time travel, creating a new race - the Time Lords. Then the exploited refugee was pressed into undertaking a series of missions for the Division, a black ops outfi t led by a Time Lord called Solpado. Finally, the Division thanked her for her long service by wiping her memory, taking “everything”.