#Fugitive of the Judoon

[evviejo]

requested by @thirteensfavoritetoy >> thirteen under different lighting colours

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

imagine that a few days ago you saw your home planet razed to the ground and your entire race wiped out for the second time despite your every effort to keep them safe, except this time by your maniacal childhood best friend. and then you unceremoniously discover that you somehow have either forgotten or had major parts of your memory altered/erased. you have no idea how old you are. a version of you used to live in gloucester. the foundations of your entire sense of self are in slow collapse and then, if that wasn’t enough, you get smacked in the face with “captain jack harkness says hello”. poor baby.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

I would like to thank RTD for making so many people look back at Thirteen's Era and start to go "you know what? Maybe we judged the writing too harshly on this one." Maybe it is a good idea to bring in new writers and more women and people of color behind the scenes and allow them to write and direct things like Demons of the Punjab (top 5 ever Doctor Who episode) and the Haunting of Villa Diodati and Fugitive of the Judoon. Maybe Thirteen WAS camp, because the universe who decided to be a frog and the mud that did witchcraft and the Pting and the plastic that ate birds were unhinged and fun. Maybe we got some GORGEOUS cinematography out of it. Maybe Thirteen's take on gender is more interesting than the 60th anniversary specials. Maybe Yaz DID get an arc in the Flux/standalone specials and people just didn't pay attention. Maybe the Power of the Doctor paid more respect to former eras of Doctor Who than any of the 60th anniversary specials did. Maybe Chibnall acted with far more grace to the RTD Era (Jack) than RTD did to Chibnall (treatment of Yaz and Thirteen). Maybe it was actually cool to see less well-known or underexplored historical figures like Mary Seacole and Ada Lovelace and Nikola Tesla and Noor Inayat Khan end up onscreen. Maybe Thasmin wasn't queerbait, it was an interesting exploration of the doctor/companion romance IN KEEPING with Thirteen's established character with one of its keystone episodes written by a queer woman.

Yes, Chibnall was flawed. I'm never gonna pretend that the Battle of Ranskoor Av Kalos wasn't a piss poor finale that felt like a first draft of themes and idea. I'm not gonna pretend like the multiple companions in the TARDIS ever felt properly balanced or explored. Yes, the moment with the Master and the Nazis was FUCKED UP. The Timeless Child might have deserved more than one episode for the ImplicationsTM to be fleshed out. But EVERY Doctor Who Era has its flaws, ESPECIALLY when it comes to racism, and I'm TIRED pretending as if Chibnall's writing is significantly worse than the other two showrunners.

[dandelionjack]

can you imagine being her right then. if you include the spyfall revelation and the discovery of a destroyed gallifrey this is like three bricks falling on your head in quick succession

[leikeliscomet]

We Failed the First Black Doctor (Part 1)

We failed the first Black doctor.

I know you’re thinking ‘What the hell, I didn't do anything to Ncuti!’. That right there is part of what I mean. When tabloids and fans say ‘the first Black doctor’, our minds go straight to Ncuti Gatwa and rightfully so. Some fans might say Lenny Henry. Some fans might even say Peter Davison. When I say ‘First Black Doctor’, I mean Jo Martin. I think about the Fugitive Doctor. I think about how in only one episode she appealed to so many fans. I think about how she carried a gun and ripped off a Judoon captain’s horn. I think about how a great character was fumbled so badly by the show. I think about how fans barely think about her now. I think about how the first Black doctor was done so dirty. Your next thought is probably ‘Well isn’t that Chibnall’s fault?’. In a way, yes. But also no. What exactly went wrong varies from writing processes to behind-the-scenes structure to fandom politics. To unpack why Fugitive was done dirty, we need to start from the beginning. 

Series 12 would be a complete 180 of series 11; returning monsters, a more energetic soundtrack and heavier reliance on Doctor Who lore (or whatever was left of it). Apart from a vague Timeless Child namedrop in The Ghost Monument, Thirteen’s run was smoother than her predecessors in terms of less overwhelming narrative arcs. No Hybrids or a Time Lord Victorious, just a girl and her fam. Until one day in Gloucester, a tour guide named Ruth would transform in a lighthouse and essentially change Thirteen’s life for the rest of her run. What seemed like an RTD-esque Judoon episode turned into the debut episode for a brand-new incarnation of the Doctor. And we never saw it coming. And neither did Chris Chibnall apparently. In an interview, he revealed that the script for Fugitive of the Judoon was already underway and the Fugitive was a last-minute addition. This was red flag no 1. A last-minute character wasn’t inherently a bad thing, as it was assumed Fugitive would return again in the second half of series 12 and likely in series 13. These appearances were lacklustre, but I’ll go into more detail later. Fugitive’s casting made a lot of noise; bad and good. Right-wing sides of the fandom were outraged at a Black woman playing a role they thought was exclusively for white men (no surprise there) and plenty of comments fuelled with misogynoir, antiblackness and colourism were thrown her way too (no surprises there either). What made this outrage worse was Fugitive’s ambiguous role in the timeline. Many were angry about Fugitive being before One and thought it disrespected William Hartnell’s legacy of being the first incarnation of the show. Contrary to popular fandom belief, Chibnall didn’t actually confirm if Fugitive is pre-Hartnell or not, he left her placement vague on purpose. We as fans have reason to believe so because she didn’t have a sonic and we saw One to Two’s regeneration on screen along with One’s companions, so we know she couldn’t be between those two. Pre-Hartnell is a ‘fanon’ theory, but this doesn’t take into account how Fugitive's TARDIS is a police box already. Another popular idea in the fandom is the season 6B theory. We know Two regenerates into Three, but the physical regeneration is never actually shown on screen, so a sneaky incarnation between them is possible. But again, the missing sonic does poke a small hole in that theory. Fugitive did however state she was smart enough not to need one rather than saying she didn’t know what it was, so maybe the 6B truthers were onto something. The Timeless Children promised to answer these burning questions and didn’t. So, we were back on square one, assuming we ever left it in the first place. With Chibnall also confirming Fugitive is not from a parallel universe, so she had to fit into the main lineup but not after Thirteen, figuring out the origin of the Fugitive became a painful and lengthy debate for answers we never got and probably never will.

Fortunately, details about the Fugitive would end up in her design process. Costume designer Ray Holman added elements of previous doctors in her design. The tweed in her jacket comes from Eleven, whilst her black trousers and boots reference Twelve. Her boots are also for combat purposes, drawing parallels to Three in terms of martial arts ability. Additionally, the colourful shirt she wears is Kente cloth, a colourful Ghanaian fabric, giving a small African cultural nod to our first Black doctor. Jo Martin has spoken about the importance of representation in interviews, stating she didn’t see a lot of Black characters growing up and how Fugitive allowed Black kids watching the show to have someone to look up to. She also noticed the Black and mixed race cosplayers and has shouted them out on her Instagram page. Many pictures and stories on her page showcased fans of colour in blue jackets and yellow glasses, giving the Fugitive her well-deserved flowers. For the first time, we had a doctor that looked like us and this was what made the Fugitive groundbreaking. A dark-skinned Black woman with locs playing the Doctor is something I didn’t see coming. A wish and a hope maybe, but seeing it come into reality definitely touched me. Not only was I seeing a Black woman of my complexion as a main character in Doctor Who, but she was the main character. Not only that, but her backstory was engaging. Why did she run away? Who is she running from? Where does she fit in the timeline? Within one episode, Jo Martin had already captured the ‘Doctor essence’ needed for the role, with some even saying it challenged Whittaker’s performance.

Enter Ruth. We see her get ready and head to work on her birthday. We don’t know a lot about her but she seems friendly. Her partner Lee on the other hand seems a bit sketchy. Fast forward, Judoon are on the hunt for the fugitive who they assume is Lee. Thirteen and the fam swoop in to help the two out. Thirteen knows something is wrong and she can’t place her finger on it. But as time goes on the situation spins out of her control. The alleged tour guide has ripped the horn off a Judoon’s head, an act of dishonour and humiliation. Thirteen’s doubts grow as the two reach the lighthouse because the holes in Ruth’s story are starting to show. Why live in a lighthouse? Why have a blank gravestone? Enter the Fugitive Doctor, previously Ruth. The lighthouse was her fob watch, hiding her memories and true identity. Lee was her companion playing a role similar to that of Martha Jones in Human Nature/Family of Blood and gave his life to save her. Taking that story, we now see how it plays out from the other side; from the POV of Martha Jones as protector to the POV of the Fugitive as the protected. In this 50-minute slot, we already have a backstory for this new doctor that still leaves room for the imagination. On board the Judoon ship, Gat is defeated by Fugitive with a gun she didn’t even have to fire. As she timed this according to the ship’s acceleration, Gat’s shooting takes place in interstellar space with no laws so Fugitive gets away with murder. Almost literally. She’s confident with a powerful presence and takes control of the room, contrasting Thirteen’s more chaotic and vulnerable approach. Thirteen and us as the audience are stunned as this complete stranger has saved the day and made it look so effortless. From there, the groundwork had been done for a new main character in the Chibnall era cast. But this wasn’t delivered.

Part 2 ->

[lesbiantrish]

“i thought [ the master ] would be the last person you would wanna see” oh thats what she tells everyone, isnt it? but he still cant help but go back to him always. its the message, but is it really? or do u just need him theta? do u ever think about him, when u really shouldn’t?

[adopteewho]

The Fugitive Doctor being Pre-Hartnell doesn’t break canon

In Fugitive of the Judoon, we were introduced to the Fugitive Doctor, a former operative of and on the run from a Time Lord black ops organisation called Division. A Time Lord with the highest authority (obvs Tecteun) hired a Judoon troop to capture and return the Fugitive Doctor to them at Division on Gallifrey, who was hiding on Earth as a human called Ruth with a male teammate from her Division squad, using the codename Lee for his false human identity.

Assuming that the Fugitive Doctor was her future, the 13th Doctor was surprised to discover that the Fugitive Doctor didn’t recognise her as one of her past faces, that the 13th Doctor was her future, but how can that be? We know every single face that the Doctor has had, or do we?

Why the 13th Doctor had no memory of being the Fugitive Doctor was answered 5 episodes later in The Timeless Children, where it was revealed that the incarnation the Doctor had always thought was their first life, wasn’t.

The incarnation that became the First Doctor was mind-wiped and reset into a child by Division, the organisation the Fugitive Doctor used to work for, meaning that the Doctor had an unknown number of incarnations before their first.

But this presents a seemingly glaring problem, as the Fugitive Doctor uses the title Doctor and her TARDIS was disguised as a Police Box, when it was the First Doctor who chose the title Doctor and whose TARDIS first became stuck as a Police Box after leaving 1963.

Due to these contradictions, some believe that the Fugitive Doctor is a forgotten incarnation between the Second and Third Doctor, part of Season 6B, where the Doctor was working for the Time Lords, but this idea contradicts the narrative.

In The Timeless Children, the Doctor (7th Child) is in a meeting with his father Tecteun and Division recruitment officer Solpado, who tells the Doctor of Division’s existence and that he’s been recruited into it, so it’s very much set up as a Pre-Hartnell thing.

Through the story of Brendan, an allegorical filter disguising the real images of the Timeless Child, we discovered that the Division were responsible for mind-wiping the prior incarnation to the First Doctor into his incarnation, answering why they can’t remember any of their prior incarnations to Hartnell. This plot point set up in The Timeless Children was referenced by Swarm in The Halloween Apocalypse.

As the Fugitive Doctor was revealed as the incarnation who defeated and imprisoned Swarm, her actually being a 6B Doctor, after the mind-wipe that was established as being how the First Doctor had forgotten everything, would be contradictory, as Swarm would be talking about a completely different mind-wipe to the one set-up.

On the Fugitive Doctor's final mission to earn her retirement from the Division, Swarm says to her "he we are still engaged in the Founding Conflict" the Founding Conflict was the battle that began between the Time Lords and the Ravagers.

For the first 9 billion years of the universe, which is the period called the Dark Times, Time was chaotic and disordered, a sentient force that ran wild across the universe. But then 4.6 billion years ago the Time Lords constructed a planet with the right mass, and gravity, on which they assigned temporal beings called the Mouri, who forced Time to flow through them, creating the linear flow of Time and imprisoning the sentient force of Time on the planet which ended the Dark Times. This went against the Ravagers belief that Time should exist in it's natural chaotic state and so they began a battle against the Time Lords to bring chaos to the universe on behalf of Time and attempt to set Time free from it's prison, the Founding Conflict. Meaning that the battle wasn't just something the Fugitive Doctor's incarnation was involved with, but however many incarnations there were before her, all the way back to the incarnation that helped to end the Dark Times by imprisoning Time.

At Gallifrey One, Chris Chibnall said at a panel that “The Timeless Child stuff, that season arc, was always in my head. The Fugitive Doctor was added later to set up where they were going” and in a podcast interview, Jo Martin said that when she was told she was going to be the Doctor, she’d be playing the earliest Doctor in the canon. Chibnall also helped with the creation of the Fugitive Doctor comics that places her before the First Doctor, so that confirms she is Pre-Hartnell.

When you look at it the “contradictions” of the Fugitive Doctor being Pre-Hartnell, they aren’t when you look at the canon of the show.

The Time Lords choose titles when graduating the Academy, and it was the title Doctor that the First Doctor chose, assigning it with a promise to never be cruel or cowardly, to never give up or in.

When the First Doctor came to Earth, he would’ve been speaking in Gallifreyan to any human he met like Ian and Barbara, translated by the TARDIS to English so they’d understand him. So whenever he called himself the Doctor, it was an English translation of a Gallifreyan word. We know that the title Doctor has various meanings, eg…healer, wiseman, and scientist, so who’s to say that the title the Fugitive Doctor used had the same meaning as the title the First Doctor chose? What makes sense is that the Fugitive Doctor and previous incarnations used a scientific title, and the First Doctor chose a healer title to fit with the promise he was making to himself.

The TARDIS is a sentient time/space machine that we know from The Doctor’s Wife can archive console rooms the Doctor hasn’t even had yet, so the same would apply to chameleon circuit appearances. If the TARDIS the First Doctor stole from the repair shop was their Pre-Hartnell TARDIS, which makes so much sense, then there’s a really simple solution.

The TARDIS brought the Fugitive Doctor to Earth so that the 13th Doctor could meet her and learn more about her forgotten past beyond what the Master had teased her and was going to reveal, as it’s too coincidental that 13 bumps into something to do with the Timeless Child not long after the Master had teased her about it in Spyfall.

Before hiding outside of the lighthouse in 1999, the TARDIS either made a pit-stop in the 50s/60s to get stuck as a Police Box, or having archived the Police Box appearance for this event, took on the appearance when buried, whatever way it happened, it did this so that when the 13th Doctor dug her up, she’d know exactly who’s TARDIS it was. If it was in another shape, it’d mean nothing to the 13th Doctor, and if it was in its cylindrical factory setting, she’d know it was a TARDIS but not her TARDIS.

Comparing the Fugitive Doctor’s behaviour to the Post-Hartnell Doctors, she wasn’t against inflicting violence upon her enemies, as shown when she took down a whole platoon of Judoon with her Division combat training, ripped the horn off of a Judoon Captain, and threatened the troop with a gun, both as Ruth and as herself on the Judoon ship. Not unlike Post-Hartnell Doctors, she manipulated Gat into killing herself by the gun she’d sabotaged before handing back to her.

The Fugitive Doctor and however many previous selves there were all the way back to the 7th Child that was recruited into Division, took part in and led missions for Division to enforce Time Lord control over the universe and execute their plans.

The Doctor led teams of soldiers who used guns and weapons, and even though we didn’t see her fire one, the Doctor would’ve likely used them as well. Swarm commented on the Fugitive Doctor’s actions as a Division operative, how it was a difficult moral high ground she occupied, that if the Ravagers didn’t stop killing things she’d kill them. This isn’t the Doctor we’re familiar with.

So the Fugitive Doctor was absolutely a different person to the freedom fighter the Doctor became and we know as who the Doctor is. The Fugitive Doctor and her previous selves didn’t help or save people out of compassion or kindness, they did it because it was a mission to complete.

With the Fugitive Doctor and her previous selves having companions like Lee and Karvanista, well, they’re not really companions in the way that we think of as companions. They were teammates and comrades, soldiers that the Doctor likely had no choice in selecting, at least most of the time.

It’s also unlikely that Division ever recruited Earth humans as operatives, as the Time Lords have always viewed the planet as a primitive backwater that’s unimportant and unremarkable.

Whereas the Post-Hartnell Doctors choose and adopt companions, mainly Earth humans. So Ian and Barbara were likely and are still the Doctor’s very first Earth human companions.

[doctorwhogirlie]

Doctor Who - Fugitive of the Judoon

[oreo102]

What's your favourite episode of 13's run and why?

Ok! I surprisingly enough do have a favorite episode… but it’s by such a small margin I’ve made an executive decision to talk about 2 other of my favorites episodes and then a few honorable mentions and why I love them

I’m half sorry for how long this is, I’m fully sorry for the fact that it took a while to actually put my thoughts to words

We’re starting with my absolute favorite because that’s what was asked lol. The Power Of The Doctor is my favorite episode, the plot is fun but it’s really the characters that make me love it so much! Every character that shows up is used really well.

Yaz is absolutely the star of the episode. I love her in every episode but especially in this one she shines a lot. She takes charge so well and really does fill the docs shoes with flying the tardis and making the plans and all that jazz. Her interactions with everyone is amazing to watch but especially the master, their dynamic is so interesting to me! Mandip also does a great job portraying emotions in this one- her anger at the master, and sadness about 13 regenerating in particular is one of my favorite parts. Also yaz with a gun is hot, and I fully believe she woulda shot the master if he gave her a reason so this episode would be in my top five just for that

Speaking of the master! This is 100% his best appearance. The dancing, the outfit, his interactions with yaz being a mix of cruel and endearing, in a way? Maybe that’s not the right word… interesting at the very least. The way he talks to her like they’re friendly, like they both know the doctor very well… kinda like they’re two sides of the same coin, in a way?

13 is lovely in this episode. A) I ADORE the navy version of her coat and am so happy they brought it back in the inbetween cliff (or whatever that was) B) her regeneration might just be one of my favorite scenes, even if it pains me to watch (ignoring 14’s existence for this) and the hologram is so smart (btw does yaz still have that? Do you think it activates still?) also love the fugitive doctor appearance even if it was hologram form. Her comforting yaz, their conversation, the icecream <333333

Love ace and Teagan and vinder, they’re all great but especially ace is SO FUN and I love her interactions with graham(did they flirt?) who btw, I love that he was right back! Too bad Ryan isn’t there tho, it’s fun to see how the dr leaving affects the companions, the bitterness Teagan holds is definitely a really fun bit that I’m glad they included. Also Kate is amazing as she always is! Dan wasn’t that bad either but I’m still glad he didn’t stick around

Also! I really like the plot! I saw someone complain about having all 3 cybermen, daleks and the master in the same episode but honestly it was just super fun- and the master was really the main villain with the cybermen and daleks as minor/background/subvillains. I much approve fun plots over anything else and having the master dance to Rasputin is very fun!

Onto The Woman Who Fell To Earth!

Yes, 13’s first and last appearance are my favorite episodes! This will be much less in depth but I did recently rewatch this one so it’s as fresh in my mind as the first.

I really like how… snappy they all are, in a weird way? The fam kinda mellow out through the series, especially Graham. Theyre all somewhat aggressive in this one and it’s very fun! It’s too bad grace died… she’d have made a great companion

Also the plot, the plot is great. 13 making her own sonic, not remembering who she is but knowing she has to help people, picking up the first humans she sees (which she has a habit of throughout the series, lol), being super smart! Just lovely! Also her in a suit is hot

“I’m calling you yaz, cuz we’re friends now.” Is 100% one of my favorite quotes too

Also Swiss army sonic should’ve been a running gag, it’s funny! I think that’s everything- my thoughts on this episode are very disconnected but oh well

My third favorite: the witch finders!

I’m not actually sure why I love this episode so much? Actually yes I do, soaked 13 is hot- that’s not the only reason tho, promise.

The fam is great, as always, but especially yaz this episode. It portrays how kind she is really well! 13 experiencing sexism and being pissed about it is also really cool, I kinda wish we got at least one other episode where it happened but I understand why we didn’t . Also the king being gay for Ryan is funny as fuck and I didn’t notice it my first watch

The background(side?) characters are also really good- the possessed lady is a fun antagonist, and the king is wonderfully incompetent at his job.

Also 13 telling them not to interfere and then immediately interfering is fantastic. I don’t think I have much to say about this one? I just really like it

Honorable mentions!

The timeless children, solely for the scene with Graham and yaz being family and for yaz being halfway to the portal by the time Graham is done asking who’s first- tbh this is my least favorite appearance for the master and I think the cybermasters are stupid so

Arachnids in the uk I love yaz’s family, i love jade, i love that the bitch ceo gets schooled by women in stem and yaz’s mom, i like that when asked if she and the doctor are together yaz’s response is “we’re [just?] friends!” But when asked the same about ryan it’s a very emphatic “no!”, I love “more of the universe… more time with you.”

Demons of the punjab “we can’t have a universe with no yaz!”, young umbreen is so much like yaz it’s amazing, i love yaz in this episode (this, ive realized, doesn’t say much, I love her in every episode), the plot is really fun and again i love yaz’s family

The legend of the seadevils my beloved gays. The characters are all really fun, the plot is great, all the thasmin moments I love and they hurt my heart, and Dan has a stupid outfit!

Eve of the daleks once again: my beloved gays! The plot is so fun, and even though the side characters aren’t my favorite I still really like them

Fugitive of the judoon FUGITIVE DOCTOR MY BELOVED <333333 also Jack is cool

Oh also My least favorite is resolution because it’s boring. Ok I think that’s everything… hope you don’t regret asking!

[6-and-7]

TARDIS Tarot Justice: The Fugitive Doctor

[evviejo]

requested by anonymous >> thirteen's earring appreciation

[thenugking]

I've got polls finally so let's settle this

[just-a-twinge-of-cosmic-angst]

Doctor Who and Judoon Rhymes....

Smith and Jones (S3 E1)

Fugitive of the Judoon (S12 E5)

[dandelionjack]

OHHHB MY GOD. HELP

[leikeliscomet]

Making another post bc I refuse to let this go. Rewatched Jodie and Jo's interview clip about the Fugitive and her relationship with Thirteen and the parallels with Martha are sending me over edge look at this:

'She has a strong sense of self'

'she will not suffer fools gladly'

Jodie on Thirteen then says 'Jo's Doctor always has a kinda higher status because I'm kind of chaos'

~~~

And then they both go onto explain Thirteen and Fugitive's relationship to one another and listen:

'...which has forced her to question a lot of things and to not know one's identity is so important'

'every bit of information she was giving, even though we had no idea how we were intertwined... was of leading us to something'

Then Jo on Fugitive's weaknesses '...and she feels like she has to be strong all the time which is a blessing and a curse'

'which is a blessing and a curse'

[clownfornerds]

I just recently rewatched Fugitive of the Judoon and I realized that it doesn't make sense for Jo Martin's Doctor to be from the past. Whatever your feelings are about the whole Timeless Child arc is, this specific episode goes against canon. In the second episode of Doctor Who, "The Cave of Skulls," we know that it is a shock to both the Doctor and Susan that the TARDIS is stuck as a Police Box, meaning that it wasn't always a Police Box up until that point (Susan also mentioned other forms the TARDIS has been in). We also saw the First Doctor steal the TARDIS in "The Name of the Doctor" and we see that it was a factory setting TARDIS. So why is Ruth's TARDIS a Police Box, especially since the story takes place after the 1960s? Either Jo's Doctor stole another TARDIS and had the same problem, she stole and returned the same TARDIS for the First Doctor to steal and it somehow returned to its factory appearance, she came after the First Doctor somehow, or Chibnall doesn't pay attention and just wanted some way to make it easily identifiable that Ruth is the Doctor.