'Doctor Who' Season 12 Finale: Chris Chibnall just changed the history of the Doctor and the Time Lords
Spoiler alert for Season 12 Finale: 'The Timeless Children'
Well, that was a fantastic ride, though we are certain that there are many of you who might disagree. Whatever your opinion may be, however, there is no denying that showrunner Chris Chibnall took a gutsy dive that Whovians have not seen in a while.
There is quite a lot to pick from that Season 12 finale of 'Doctor Who', the first being that some fans were right in guessing that the Doctor was the Timeless Child. It completely changes what we thought about the Doctor. Of course, in NuWho where we rarely see Gallifrey or other Gallifreyans, or shall we say, descendants of Shabogans, it does not make much of a difference.
The Master's (in a brilliant performance by Sacha Dhawan) plan was to unveil the Doctor's (an equally brilliant performance by Jodie Whittaker) history to her and through it, destroy her. It backfired on him, considering the Doctor knows that she is more than he ever will be.
Last week's story of Brendan was finally explained and as we guessed, he was the Timeless Child - the discovery by Tecteun (a Shabogan) viewed through a filter - visuals sent to the Doctor by the Master.
There were even more big changes as the Master plotted with the Cybermen to create a Time Lord-Cyberman hybrid army and shall we say that was quite the throwback to both Classic Who and NuWho.
The episode also canonized the Morbius Doctors - the pre-William Hartnell Doctors that were hinted to in Classic Who. It also canonized the eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann (though this was also done by Steven Moffat before the 50th anniversary special of 'Doctor Who').
These were seen through the montage of all 'Doctor Who' history as the Doctor tried to blow up the matrix, set to the tune of the 'Doctor Who' theme -- it can't have previously been used in the middle of the episode, can it?
Does the episode mess up 50+ years of the history of 'Doctor Who'? Potentially.
For the first time in a long time, we don't know what the Doctor is or where they're from. Is this something Chibnall will continue to explore? Another race of time-defying aliens that could potentially become part of the 'Doctor Who' lore? Or will the next showrunner simply rewrite or undo what happened (what Moffat did with Russel T Davies's 'destroyed Gallifrey' plotline)?
One thing is for sure - what has happened in the finale for Season 12 is magnificent, made more so through the brilliant performances. Needless to say, there is plenty to unpack and thanks to that, the nearly year-long wait for the 'Doctor Who' special (featuring another iconic 'Doctor Who' villain, the Daleks, yay!) won't seem as long. Let the theorizing begin!
The 'Doctor Who' special, 'Revolution of the Daleks' will air either on Christmas 2020 or New Year's Day 2021.