#timeless child arc

[stompandhollar]

i’ve literally just decided that the timeless child is the master & not the doctor. 🎀💗🌷like what’s chibnall gonna do i’m just choosing to live in the better timeline in my head and the man can’t stop me

[doctormastertardis]

Considering Tacteun admitted that the Division was capable of eradicating "our universe" and "jumping" on to the "next one" (presumably a parallel universe where pre-Hartnell Doctor AND Rose/Tentoo lived), I would think it is possible that Peter Cushing's Doctor could have lived in THAT universe instead of "ours"?

I mean, if we are to integrate The Timeless Child/Flux arc within the entire history of DW, I would also assume that Shalka!Doctor and Cushing!Doctor can be a part of canon--albeit not "our canon" but the "parallel canon".

I personally decree that they are indeed part of the Timeless Child Arc, pre-Hartnell... If that is the case, Fugitive Doctor does NOT belong in "our" universe but in Shalka!Doctor and Cushing!Doctor's?

[heavenb3nt]

The cruelty that koschei suffered from the timelords, like. They drove him insane from childhood, and he still didn’t destroy the entire planet. You know when he did? When he found out what they did to theta. So. You know

[group-dynamic]

Script Doctoring(?) Doctor Who Season 1

Here’s how I would fix the thematic and mystery box issues of this season of Doctor Who while keeping almost everything else the same.

This season would refocus on the thematic tension between Ruby with her desire to find her birth mother and the Doctor’s avoidance of finding Susan. By adding a few choice moments in the Tardis at the beginning and end of certain episodes where Ruby tries to convince the Doctor that finding Susan is important, you would add some really nice character development and even tension to Ruby and the Doctor’s relationship and get to more explicitly explore and discuss some of the big thematic ideas that this season ostensibly centered around like family and fear of abandonment /rejection.

I also think that having the god of death in this season doesn’t make much sense in terms of the themes, so I would probably swap out Sutekh for the Trickster as many others suggested. With the Trickster, you could have the narrative-manipulating, story-changing surrounding Ruby make a lot more sense in universe. This could then better match with the idea that Russell already had: that we imbue things with importance and can thus rewrite our own narratives. Imagine Ruby as central to the finale because her desire to rewrite the false narrative in a positive way could directly counter the negative attempts to rewrite the narrative by the Trickster. Thus, she’s still just an ordinary person as RTD intended, but she is learning to overcome her fear of rejection and abandonment by fixing the negative story that both her own mind and the Trickster have written about her life as she knows she is worthy of love, there’s nothing inherently wrong with her, etc. (A great opportunity to make Carla‘s inclusion narratively significant, too, as she actively contributes to this!)

This would also make the moment where the Doctor cautions Ruby against reconnecting with her birth mother a more meaningful emotional payoff, because Ruby isn’t afraid to try reconnecting with her mother and it goes so well despite the Doctor’s own fears. This could serve as a turning point for the Doctor as he realizes that getting over your fear of rejection can lead you to new avenues for happiness and connection.

Then, instead of having a sorrowful “the doctor is always alone” ending to the season, have the last line of this season be the music swelling triumphantly and the doctor declaring that, yes, he’s going to go find Susan. This would show the actual impact that Ruby had on him and allow his character to go through some growth rather than end up where they’ve always been. (Plus, what a fun teaser to leave the audience on haha.)

You could then spend the second season, (which was ordered at the same time as season 1) on the Doctor trying to track down any clues of where Susan is. So, the season-long arc would become the doctor looking for Susan, but getting sidetracked in the typical adventure of the week.

NOW you can justify Sutekh as the big bad for this second season. If the doctor is actively looking for Susan, it makes a lot more sense that Sutekh would use her to lure the Doctor in and more devastating when it’s revealed Susan Triad isn’t her. Thematically, this works because the Doctor claims to have never reconnected with Susan before because they were terrified that they would either hurt Susan or she would already be dead, so the big bad being death this time around would haunt him: The Doctor is too late and it’s all his fault.

In terms of the “I am life, and you are death” theme, this also makes a lot more sense within a context of actively trying to find Susan, because the doctor is so afraid that he brings death, but the fact that Susan exists at all (and perhaps he finds her or some evidence of her life) in addition to the amazing family he’s built across time and space rallying around him (like Ruby, Mel, Kate, and Rose which justifies a unit based episode AND the memory Tardis as the Doctor’s equivalent of Carla’s wall of photos of her foster kids) is proof that he isn’t a “harbinger of death.” That all of us defeat death when we choose love and support for ourselves and offer it to others. Self indulgently, I would love a conversation between the Doctor and Cherry about family and found family, too. Imagine how wonderfully thematic it would be if this ordinary woman gave the doctor what he needed physically and spiritually to save the day: grandmother to grandfather. Heck, maybe she is the one who gives him the spoon. A teaspoon in fact :).

So anyway, those are the big changes that I think you could make and leave literally everything else the same to get a better emotional payoff and prevent the audience from feeling a little robbed by the mystery boxes.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

no one's done this one yet?

[witchofthemidlands]

witchofthemidlands thoughts on “space babies”

me & my mum stayed up together to watch this when it dropped on the iplayer, it was a great experience & i think i've finally gathered myself enough to unleash ✨thoughts✨

✨ this is my personal opinion, media is subjective you might not agree with my opinions & that's just fine✨

the unexpected return of the “this is gallifrey” score near took me out. noises were made.

i kinda like the doctor info dumping about themselves, i know it's there for the ✨dramatics✨ but i always wish that the doctor would just straight up tell their companion about the fact that they can regenerate way before the event so they're aware & can prepare. thirteen is the only one of the new who doctors who have prepared their companions in advance.

i want fifteen's coat, his necklace & ruby's rings 😩

i still think the stepping on the butterfly segment, whilst it's there for a laugh, is connected to the myths coming to life because of the salt at the edge of the universe incident.

i love how the tardis is being a public menace & causing genuine damage as it lands 😂

the babies in the tanks reminded me of this one strange game me & my friend at uni used to play & he wanted a nightlight of. fifteen has so much energy & life, he's fantastic 🥹 absolutely fantastic. god i love him i love ncuti so much, we’ve had the back half of “the giggle”, “the church on ruby road” & less than ten minutes of “space babies” & ALREADY ncuti gatwa is up there with christopher, david & sylvester for me as the best doctors of all time.

THE END OF THE WORLD CALLBACKS 😭 it's brand new but the elements of that beautiful episode is still there for me & that makes me so happy because that’s one of my favourite whoniverse episodes of all time 🥹 in my top ten 🥹

i was not expecting to be crying over cgi talking babies in the early hours of morning but there you go 😭

it is definitely just a coincidence that the baby is called eric but every time i heard that name i kept thinking of my favourite ncuti gatwa character ✨eric effiong✨

CAPTAIN POPPY 😩🥹😭🥹😩 i wanted to hug her too & all of them. i'm admittedly not the most maternal person on the planet but i wanted to gather them all up & protect them with my life 😭

i completely respect it & i love that rtd has ignored the naysayers & is honouring chibnall's creations but i have never been a fan of the timeless child plot, i've tried i really have but i just still can't get my head around it & it just doesn't work for me but using it to make the point that everyone is unique & individual & that’s a good thing is a really lovely way of making it work, i love that message.

“no one like me exists & that’s true of everyone” not only is this really positive moment but it also reminds me of the conversation between eleven & merry in the rings of akhaten.

THAT'S NOT A DOGGO 😂 this sent me 😂

eric saying “i love you ruby” twice in the episode was such a mood, i love you ruby 🥰

“if things connect then you are connecting like crazy” it's giving the lead up to the doctordonna & i'm on ✨the fence✨

ALIEN RUBY?!? maybe one of the doctor's species or something we haven't come across before?

“ERIC INVOKING THE DEITY”

IM GOING TO FIND THE NAUGHTY DOGGO & TELL HIM OFF! 🥺

i genuinely thought we were getting an eaten baby in the first episode of the season & i were like 😬

CAPTAIN POPPY & THE SQUAD TO THE RESCUE WITH THE FLAME THROWER 🔥

love the return of characters getting slimed <3 it was one of my favourite new who era doctor who & the sarah jane adventures tropes.

i really wasn’t expecting the “sleep no more” style revelation when it came to the creature.

the alien vibes are real, nan-e | jocelyn is blowing it out of the goddam airlock.

i am going to ignore the fact that i'm getting doomsday vibes from the doctor trying to save snotè

ruby comforting jocelyn 🥺 it reminded me so much of the care rose, martha & donna would show anyone who needed comfort. i have really missed rtd companions.

i am not going to think about the howl sounding like the werewolf. i am ignoring it i will not be crackers about this one. it's just a creature noise.

they're being jet propelled to the planet by the power of shizzle i love this show 😂 & to any naysayer who thinks this is too ridiculous (i am looking directly at my father as i type this because he's been the biggest naysayer of doctor who in my real life) this the same writer who had the doctor say the line “do you mind not farting whilst i'm saving the world”

the doctor probably getting war flashbacks to father's day as ruby ran into that tardis. i love the growth, they’ve definitely learnt their lesson with that one, i love his honesty & how upfront they are straight off the bat. it's good for the both of them. the doctor won't become reaper chow & ruby won't make a mistake that has emotionally devastating effects on the universe & herself.

i have said this before & i will say it again, i love that with the return of rtd that we have the return of his theme of chosen family, that adoption & fostering is a lovely option, it can give hope, love & more & be fulfilling, fantastic & beautiful. ruby's relationship with her mum is so lovely to watch & i hope even if we do find where ruby came from that carla will always, always ALWAYS be her mum & with rtd's track record with the sarah jane adventures, i think that will be the case.

CHERRY SUNDAY 😊 as someone who used to care for an elderly relative, i love every single thing about her character & the family dynamics with her, i have never seen elderly care represented on any tv show i love before & it's happening on my favourite one 🥹

why is carla acting like my mum 😭 never mind a bloomin’ big spaceship just landed - what’s it done to my kitchen

“tell your mum not to slap me” oh he is feeling the combined forces of jackie-francine-sylvia’s slaps & is NOT taking any chances.

oh god i think i've seen this before & i didn't like the ending. i am getting the ganger plotline from the doctor suddenly going solemn & scanning ruby oh no 😭

FANTASTIC START TO THE NEW SERIES 🤩

[acetheta]

if u say thirteens writing is bad u have to say tens writing is bad too. btw

[nat-20s]

my general feelings on the whole "happy ending vs sad ending" debate I occasionally see is mostly "nice dichotomy idiot, what lies outside it!" aka an ending should make sense to a show. It should fit the context that has been given before it. I think neither happy nor sad endings are inherently better than the other and I LOVE a bittersweet ending. All that being said for me, personally, I do think a massively tragic ending requires more of a buy in for me. Heavy Plot Contrivances to make a sad ending tend to annoy me at best while Heavy Plot Contrivances allowing for characters to have fun and be happy I'm like hell yeah let's go. Escape the dooming of the narrative <3.

[kate-apologist]

i'm gonna start replying to people who say 11 is their favorite doctor with "oh the writing wasn't very good but matt smith did the best he could in the role" because i am tired of pretending i liked almost any of his seasons

it's what i have to hear about 13 all the time and i'm sick to the gills of it. sick of it i say!

[sentientsky]

group therapy session in the confession dial <3

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

At long last…

I was able to do something that I’ve always wanted to do…

Talk about Ephemera for 20+ pages straight!!!

(half of it’s actually images but it feels good to say 20+ pages)

I hope you learn and feel things while reading it 🥰

no images version | most of the images in the document

[nerdie-faerie]

If the Doctor isn't a timelord then that means they potentially have different reactions to substances than they previously thought, ergo I just know that Thirteen, in all of her feral glory, runs around testing their reactions to things upon learning about their Timeless Child origins without her companions finding out

[doctormastertardis]

I would say my Top 5 New Who STORY ARCS are (NOT in order):

Series 3 - Martha Jones / Master Saxxon plot

Series 4 - Donna Noble / DoctorDonna Metacrisis plot

Series 5 - Amy Pond / Crack in Time plot

Series 8 - Clara Oswald / Missy 3W plot

Series 13 + Specials - The Flux & Division plot

I really want to include Bill Potts's series here simply because it was such a GREAT send-off for Twelve. And the Bill/Nardole/Missy TARDIS team was quite honestly SO REFRESHING I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND I WISH WE HAD MORE OF THEM. So I'm going to say Series 10 is in my Top 6. Also, Twelve's last season didn't really have an "overall story arc" to it. BUT that's why I enjoyed it so much. Each episode was like unwrapping a birthday present.

HONORABLE MENTION: 60th Anniversary 3-Part "series" with Fourteenth Doctor/Donna.

NOTE: I wanted to like The Silence plot, but the stupidity of how River was raised to kill the Doctor was a bunch of nonsense... ugh. The only thing I liked about The Silence story arc was The Ponds/River dynamic.

I'm working on making my Top 5 Classic Who STORY ARCS.

[marlinspirkhall]

The Doctor Who movie tried to no-homo thoschei by making them brothers, and in response, the public turned on them and cried out for yaoi

[cowlovely]

every day i think of and get so angry about how making literally the TINIEST tweak and putting sacha dhawan’s master before missy in their personal timeline makes his incarnation of the character make SO much more sense and adds to missy’s character arc rather than taking away from it 😐

[genderqueerspacewives]

"i was abandonded. but then i was found. good thing right :)"

uh babe. babes.

babes

you do remember how the person who took you in experimented on you and exploited you etc etc