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2 March 2020 at 11:22 #69928
Ok so overall I’ve got to say I liked it, it had a good payoff and suitable dramatic tension befitting a finale. I was also glad they followed through with the build up and didn’t do a lazy ‘reboot the universe’ type ending that the show had been guilty of in the past.
The Master was on top form this episode, and I’ve no doubt the cyberium has somehow saved him to save itself given the cyberium created the particle in the first place.
The Cybermasters are probably going to be the best thing Chibs does with the franchise, their design was incredible and regenerating Cybermen is a great left of field concept to throw in at the end. I really hope that is not the last we see of them.
I loved the design of Gallifrey and I enjoyed the origin story that they introduced, I’m not super clued up on classic Who but it didn’t fly in the face of canon in my view – this was how the Time Lords got regeneration powers, it doesn’t mean that Time Lord society wasn’t built and developed in the way previously explained in canon – this is almost a pre-history. I thought it worked pretty well and makes the Doctor special and mysterious again – where did she come from? Who sent her? If she is not Gallifreyan why does she have Gallifreyan biology – i.e. two hearts, two brains etc. Or are we saying that by ‘splicing’ the regeneration abilities of the child the natives of Gallifrey inherited the biology of the Doctor, i.e. they are no longer Gallifreyans?
This episode did a lot to clarify a lot of grey areas in canon – it confirms that the 12 regeneration rule is an artificial construct and can be changed/removed, it confirms why the Doctor never really fit in with Time Lord society and was seen as an outcast, it confirms there are other Doctors before Hartnell aka ‘The Timeless Children’, and it confirms that there’s much more left of the Doctor to explore. I think it is the shot in the arm the show needed personally. On the subject of the 12 regenerations, my memory is fuzzy on the Matt Smith storyline but did he just make himself a recluse and grew old fearing death? Was he every actually at the point of dying? Perhaps the Doctor, being the origin of the species, never had the 12 regeneration limit and the ‘gift’ from the Time Lords was just a ruse by the Time Lords in the know to protect the secret?
The whole Ireland bit which we were trolled with last week was very clever, and I’m annoyed it took me so long for the penny to drop – I should have seen the connection as soon as the child fell from the cliff. I disagree that it was stupid – the Doctor has spent many lifetimes on Earth throughout it’s history, so someone scanning through the Doctor’s memories would find it unremarkable, we said ourselves last week it was like a standalone episode and now we know why – an unremarkable standalone episode in the life of the Doctor that wouldn’t get redacted. I actually really liked this pay off.
Speaking of being trolled – I think Chibs is doing it on purpose to annoy the anti-PC sentiment online – we now know the Doctor was born as a black girl, she’s been female, male, black, white and asian, her adopted mother went from an old white lady to a black man with no apparent rhyme or reason other than to annoy a certain subsection of Who fans. I can’t help thinking a number those vocal fans online that hated it would have been hailing it as the greatest finale ever if it would have been in the RTD or Moffat era and all the pre-Hartnell Doctors were white males…
Speaking of the Doctor’s adopted mother – do you remember the scene at the end of the Tennant’s last appearance where he looked on at a female Time Lord that had a distinct ‘mother’ vibe – was that Tecteun somehow poking at the Doctor’s subconscious? Was she the one that disguised the memories as Ireland for him to find one day? On the subject of the Doctor’s memories I loved the ‘memory bomb’ with flashes of old episodes – including shots where classic-Who has referenced pre-Hartnell Doctors.
Lastly, I liked the whole ‘Division’ subplot but I’m not sure it is clear who the kids were being talked to – was one of them the Doctor or not? Who was the other one? Presumably not the Master as he never mentioned anything about his origin story being changed, other than he has part of the Doctor in him? It’s an interesting plot point which could tie in somehow to Hartnell fleeing Gallifrey in a stolen Tardis…
So onto the bits I didn’t like… I’m going to ignore the usual timey-wimey niggles and inconsistencies, as you could pick apart any Who episode if you really wanted to over-analyse it. But my main gripe was Jo-Doc’s appearance. It didn’t really make sense, other than to establish her as the ‘link’ to the pre-Hartnell storylines. What did Whittaker mean by being made into a child again? What was she trying to say? It would have made more sense for her childhood to have been an implanted memory rather than one actually lived? Why would you have an adult Doctor (working for Division?) suddenly be turned into a kid again to grow up with the Master? I thought it was very poorly explained. I like the concept but the execution was messy – especially the fact that she had a phone boxed shaped TARDIS, this was clearly done for effect over logic and that is disappointing. Save that one little scene digging up the police box I’m sure that scene would have worked just as well walking into a TARDIS disguised as something else. I’m disappointed this wasn’t explained. I’m now expected more Doctors to pop up at any moment – I was expecting the old-guy at the end to say he was a Doctor, or Yaz to admit she’s a ‘remarkable human’ because she is actually an under cover Doctor, was the Master a version of the Doctor all along etc… They need to explain better the ‘rules’ of that this new storyline means, how many there are, how they exist alongside the Doctor’s timeline etc.
I’m also disappointed they didn’t bother explaining how the Master escaped episode 2 or how he links to Missy – as things he said during this episode directly contradict Missy – perhaps the events on Gallifrey cause his regeneration into Missy? But at this point I don’t think that is possible given what he knows, unless the Cyberium wipes his memory somehow? Oh and I wonder if all these stolen TARDIS dotted around the universe now will come into play? I’m guessing the house one at least will be used to save the Doctor somehow – and was it just me that thought having a new house appear in the middle of a busy housing estate was the opposite of a chameleon disguise? There were 100s of ways that they could have done this to be more logical – like a shed in the garden of a house that was up for sale, or a cargo container in a storage lot full of them etc. A brand new house in the middle of a housing estate is not a good disguise! Even a new house in the middle of a not finished housing development would have made more sense.
On the whole I liked it, but there’s lots of messy bits that need more explanation. I did like the classic Tennant style ‘What? WHAT?’ twist at the end though – interesting that it is the Jadoon ‘Cold Case’ division that is investigating – how cold are we talking? Pre-Hartnell crimes maybe? Will it be Captain Jack that breaks her from prison, hence his warning about not giving the Lone Cyberman what it wants?
25 February 2020 at 10:41 #69832Has anyone seen the story about the ‘Trig Point’ theory? I don’t think this classes as a spoiler as it was in the ‘Next Time On’ preview at the end of the episode – basically eagle-eyed fans have realised that the Doctor and the Master are stood next to what looks like the same plinth used in the 2017 build up teaser to unveiling Jodie as the 13th Doctor – remember the one where the Tardis key dematerialises on top of it and loads of things have a 13 on them?
Maybe Chibs isn’t so bad a placing clues after all – although we could just be giving him too much credit at this point. If you watch the teaser back you’ll see an interesting angle that shows that there appears to be some kind of smoke/fire/activity on the horizon – coincidence or more foreshadowing of impending destruction?
These are the kind of little easter eggs and callbacks I really like in Doctor Who…
25 February 2020 at 09:34 #69831@missrori I’m not buying that the Irish Garda is a Doctor/Time Lord – despite some similarities with the Police Box visual. Otherwise why would he not regenerate when he was shot and fell from the cliff? As pointed out by @jomomentor the recovery was more Captain Jack in style so lends itself more to him being a fixed point in time and immortal – maybe that is why the conversion to a Cyberman didn’t go so well because they couldn’t completely shut off his humanity?
Do we think his position on the beach is significant or just REALLY bad continuity? He literally did a 180 from where he was falling (given the effort they went to to show the fall in detail cutting just before the point of impact), unless the suggestion is he got up briefly and fell back down or bounced a few times on impact?
I think people are reading too much into Graham’s comment about saying ‘I’m the Doc…’, I took this to him about to say something like ‘I’m the Doctor’s family/companion/associate’ but changed his mind to make himself just a normal guy like the other survivors. Although now that I think of it, why was he disassociating himself with her in the first place – thinking of parting ways already maybe? My guess is he would become a Wilf/Mickey type part time companion assuming his grandson remains on the Tardis for next year. He’s done what he needed in getting through the loss of his wife and now I think he’s ready to return to normal life…
As an aside did anyone pick up on the clue about the Master’s return in the BBC cast details for this episode? When they announced the guest stars they announced Barak Stemis – an anagram for ‘Master is Back’, the character he was supposed to be playing was ‘Fakout’. I’m staying out of the spoilers section so don’t know if anyone figured that one out – it was a very old school clue. But as @blenkinsopthebrave says it would have been better for Chibs to put these clues in the actual show rather than the press release for the episode! Not even a subtle hint about a disturbance in that other realm he was trapped in (I forget exactly what/where it was), or even a prophesy, or cryptic clue, or message, or residual readings from another Tardis, cloister bell – anything! We all knew the Master was coming back – not seeding the return does not make it more of a surprise, it just makes the writing lazy IMHO…
24 February 2020 at 11:20 #69811I’m really not sure what to make of this episode, I’m not sure there was any particular pay off to it, it was just all building to next weeks big Doctor Who changing secret reveal. I know this is true of many 2-part finales, maybe it’s just because I’m nervous where Chibbs is going with his storyline…
I liked the Irish bits, I’m assuming they are something to do with the creation of the Lone Cyberman (purely on the basis he is played by an Irish actor lol). The electrocution scene at the end was certainly reminiscent of a Cyberman with the apparatus they were using on his head. But I felt this could have been a standalone episode almost, and I assume they will pick it up later but I thought it was all rather rushed and confusing – maybe I wasn’t paying attention but I don’t know who those two guys were or why they electrocuted him, or why he was able to survive being shot and falling (and why he was lay the wrong way around on the beach when he was found). Is the Timeless Child and the Lone Cyberman one in the same thing maybe? Will we see The Doctor (or Captain Jack?) drop him off on that lane on next week’s episode? So many questions.
Then there was the Cyber Wars bit, presumably this was the timeline caused by giving the Lone Cyberman the Cyberium (which is starting to feel more and more like a McGuffin to me unless it has more of a pay off next week). I was caught off guard by how rude The Doctor was to the refugees, I’ve noticed this darker personality slip out a lot this series, it’s almost as if she is just pretending to care for humans but really they are just ‘toys’ to combat her own loneliness. I thought again the whole scene was decent in it’s execution but ultimately pointless – all those contraptions being explained and then destroyed with zero effort, the guy that didn’t speak getting killed and then no one really caring much in the next scene. Maybe they have a part to play in the bigger story? Or was it just a way to show the Cybermen are winning and explain why The Doctor won’t have her Tardis for the finale? Also, have Cyber Drones been a thing before? There was something familiar about the flying heads, but I wasn’t sure – can’t say I’m much of a fan either way. It was nice to hear the ‘You will be deleted. Delete. Delete’ catchphrase again though (but where were the rest of them – 2 ships and only 3 cybermen?)
I did like the bits on the Cyberships, and I do really like the new design of the Cybermen. Graham for me was by far the best of the companions this week, and as someone as already pointed out Yaz was borderline annoying this week. Again a way to split up the fam and put some of them in danger – a choice for The Doctor to make next week maybe?
Then there’s the last scene, again it may have been my lack of attention, but all the portal to the universe thing sounded like a lot of McGuffin, and I had zero surprise when it linked to Gallifrey and the Master popped out. I hope they explain how he escaped in the first place next week though…
And now we’re back to where we started – the big deep dark Time Lord secret that will blow up canon forever – I’m excited to see what it is, considering this episode was basically a 40 minute trailer for next weeks episode – but I am not hopeful Chibbs will be able to pull it off. I’m waiting to be surprised and will happily eat my words next week if he does…
To his credit I’ve still not got the foggiest clue what it could be at this point…
One thing’s for sure though, that retirement carriage clock will be key to resolving it!
17 February 2020 at 11:01 #69701@ollie14 unless the Doctor ignoring Jack and giving the Cyberman what he wanted is what creates the Timeless Child, or the Doctor discovers the only way to fix the mess she has created is to find the Timeless Child? Maybe for a change they won’t ‘reboot the universe’ in the last 5 minutes of the finale and carry forward the story into next season – have a proper cliffhanger for a change…
I’d be more disappointed if Jo-Doc/Doc-Martin doesn’t make an appearance in the finale…
Will be interesting to see if they squeeze the Master in too, or if he will roll forward into next series instead. I think the Timeless Child and The Master subplots are so intertwined I’m not sure you could have one without the other though.
There are so many open threads that to tie them up in 2 episodes could make it very messy/rushed, like you say maybe it would be better to save it – or just tag on a cliffhanger ending…
There’s also the option of saving one of the subplots for the Christmas/New Year episode – a 2 Doctor story with Jo Martin would make for a good special IMO…
17 February 2020 at 10:52 #69700Good episode overall, I like it when they link real history to a Doctor Who story like that – showing how Shelley died for example was an interesting new trick (Whittaker seems to be very ‘hands on’ this series – won’t be long until she’s doing the Vulcan nerve pinch to subdue an enemy). A quick look at Wikipedia confirms that is how he died (though the message was possibly confused by the fact he found the Cyberium in water – at first I thought it was confirming he was already dead). The poem at the end is also a genuine poem and I can’t help but think the whole episode was written based on that poem being the output (not a criticism – I like it when they do this).
The ghost theme was well explained and not too hammy, with a nice ‘did he; didn’t he’ question about Graham’s interactions with the creepy girl and maid, although to play devil’s advocate this could be seen as a subplot too many and an example of the trouble they have keeping 3 companions busy with screen time – Yaz was once again disobeying the Doctor so I can’t help thinking this number will reduce very soon…
Onto the prophesied Lone Cyberman then – has Cyberium ever appeared in the show before out of interest? I couldn’t help thinking they were going more ‘Borg’ with the Cybermen – having a nano like substance that gives you the knowledge of the collective and converts you from the inside. I liked the whole half-finished look of the Cyberman and it’s clear the intention is that the Doctor gave Mary Shelley the idea for Frankenstein based on her encounter with a Cyberman. Possible get-out clauses for the finale were set with the Cyberman saving William and also the Doctor weirdly absorbing the Cyberium without a second thought.
Which brings me on to the points I wasn’t so keen on in the episode – the Doctor behaved very rashly and didn’t seem to be at all in control of the situation (I’m no longer surprised Yaz has stopped listening to her). I know acting rashly isn’t exactly a new trait but there’s just something about how Whittaker does it that doesn’t seem quite right. It also bugged me how quickly she dismissed Jack’s warning despite the lengths he went to to get the message to her, it was like she was never going to listen to him. Which brings me to my main irritation with the episode – this isn’t the first time the time travel concepts of the Whittaker-era have bugged me but – what was with the whole Back to the Future logic of her companions ceasing to exist if she let’s Shelley die?! I half expected Grahams left hand to start disappearing! Also the whole episode makes out that their visit created the timeline they have come from – i.e. cyberman = Frankenstein, Doctor = she is the universe, The Guardian subplot etc, they are annoyingly inconsistent this season about fixed points, multi-verse theory, cause and effect, butterfly effects, whether or not they erase the memory of historical characters etc etc. I know the show has never been exactly consistent on those points but it never used to change episode to episode, and you can only blame the showrunner for that…
4 February 2020 at 15:12 #69572@nerys I’ve done some digging and it seems there was a throw away line from Capaldi in Extremis that the Time Lord killing weapon would “stop both hearts, and all three brainstems” which could indicate they have 3 brains or at least 3 connections to a single brain, but it’s not exactly conclusive as there is also a reference to Missy referring to her brainstem (singular) in The Magician’s Apprentice. So I guess it’s just a throwaway line to add to the mystery of Time Lord biology, but it doesn’t sound as overtly canon as having two hearts is…
4 February 2020 at 00:11 #69568@bluesqueakpip the reverse of the materialisation trick was also used at the end of Blink too, so I didn’t have any particular issue with the Tardis landing around some one, I’m sure it’s happened other times too.
Another thing that came back to me about this episode was the reference to the Doc having two brains, I don’t recall this ever being mentioned before, unless I’m forgetting? Was this more messing with Canon or a throw away line played for a cheap gag I wonder?
3 February 2020 at 16:11 #69554@bluesqueakpip I thought brother too from the reaction. I don’t know at it is, as I say maybe it’s just because DW has become so PC lately it all feels too forced and box ticking. I just think they haven’t found a balance between the stories and the lectures that all other recent Doctor’s have managed. To be fair the episode didn’t have my undivided attention this week so maybe I missed a few subtlies…
I know they couldn’t afford the real India but they could have referenced something like that, or reference where the rubbish came from, or just had more location relevant rubbish like the remnants of a teen party or something. It’s just another example of the recent lack of subtlety in the writing…
3 February 2020 at 11:45 #69550They were definitely going for a Hitchcock vibe in this episode, and back to the topical lecture of the week format that has dogged the 13th Doctors tenure…
To be fair though I actually liked this episode more than some of the previous lectures/sermons given in previous episodes, it was a little less on the nose and a bit more organic – like they started with the story and the lesson evolved out of it rather than the other way round which it normally feels like how they approach these episodes. I think had this been a Tennant episode they would have got away with the message, which while not subtle in of itself did sit well as a concept and plot device for this episode – an alien parasite that feeds off plastic is almost inadvertently killing people and animals because our bodies have plastic in them now – which is at the end of the day a true fact and one we should be scared of.
There’s just something about the delivery of the 13th Doctor that feels like she is talking too much – it’s like the Doctor Who equivalent of mansplaining. Think how this would have been written for Tennant – “it’s Praxeus a parasite that feeds on plastic, it’s spread by the birds eating plastic in the ocean! Of course! It’s not attacking humans, it’s attacking the micro plastic in your bloodstream, an unfortunate side effect of life on early 21st Century Earth. Don’t worry you sort it out eventually after the Plastic Wars but there’s no time for that now, we need to find the source. Allons-y!”. I’m not even sure how that differs to how JW explained it, there’s just something about picturing Tennant saying it that makes me buy it more as an entertaining sci-fi with educational undertones, rather than an Educational lecture with sci-fi undertones as is always the case with JW IMO. I’m not sure if it’s her or the writing…
This episode was always going to be a disappointment though after last week, at this point we’re all just waiting for Jo Doc to appear again, or as one article referred to her as Doc Martin! At this point people as just waiting for her next appearance…
There was some good stuff here though that wasn’t expanded on enough – the concept of another close relation to Earth using our planet as a test bed with no regard to human life was all a bit rushed – again where was the gravitas from the Doctor repulsed at such behaviour? Also as an aside did anyone else get Empty Child flashbacks with their choice of outfit for them? Was kind of hoping for some kind of tie in…
The vlogger bit was rushed too, and again where was the emotion at the death of her friend/partner? Why did they have to ruin the message of the episode by having a fake beauty spot look nonsensically covered in plastic by the BBC props department to the point where you immediately roll your eyes and think ‘ah so this is what this episode is about this week’. There were more subtle ways to introduce this concept. Why not have them travel through India and witness the rows of bin trucks pulling up on a bridge over a river and and emptying their contents with no regard to the environment? This is a real event that happens daily (google it) and would have been far more effective than bin bags on the side of a lake IMO.
Even the police officer being married to the astronaut gave me an eye roll – I have nothing against the depiction of this on TV, there’s just something about how they are doing it in DW that seems so forced and unnatural. Like they are doing it for the sake of quotas and not for the sake of the story or to represent real life. I can’t even place my finger on it, maybe it was the acting that meant I didn’t buy their relationship, or maybe the 13th Doc has been so overtly ‘Woke’ since Chibs took over that any depiction like this just seems like a stunt which defeats the purpose of increasing representation on TV – there have been brilliant and believable gay characters throughout the recent history of the show, there’s just something about the latest writing that seems insincere to me…
Overall though, I’ll give the episode a pass as a decent standalone ‘monster of the week’ filler episode, it’s just still not living up to its full potential IMO…
28 January 2020 at 23:10 #69475@blenkinsopthebrave you saw McGann regenerate directly into Hurt in Night of the Doctor so can’t be that…
28 January 2020 at 17:11 #69453@jimthefish I’ve had the same thought about JW being the alt for some reason, given the generally positive reaction to the Doc Ruth I think if she was used as a plot device for a couple of episodes that could backfire, I think she will definitely be a recurring character and maybe we’ll eventually see our first true Doctor death without regeneration as JW sacrifices herself and Doc Ruth takes over, or vice versa? There will definitely be Big Finish stories and books with Doc Ruth I think…
28 January 2020 at 10:58 #69436It wouldn’t be the first time a someone has lied about their status in the show to maintain a secret. I do believe JW will be around for at least one more series but I wouldn’t trust that just because she says – I remember relatively recently John Barrowman said he’s not been asked back and he doesn’t think he would ever reprise his role as Captain Jack, he even pretended he was renovating a house in Cardiff to explain his presence there – the actual proposal from Chibs “how do you feel about Captain Jack coming back to the TARDIS?” so I don’t think it’s the last we’ve seen of him this series…
Anyway, onto the main point of this post…
I had a theory pop into my head about the Police Box TARDIS of Ruth Doc… To expand on what @spider was saying – perhaps it was RuthDoc that got her TARDIS stuck in the Police Box, but when the Doctor was ‘reset’/’wiped’ and became Hartnell he was drawn back to steal his old TARDIS (which had since been repaired/reset) – but the TARDIS consciousness still remembers and locks itself into a Police Box on purpose as a way to try and help the Doctor remember – all this time the TARDIS has been trying to tell him/her the truth! Maybe the Chameleon Circuit on the current TARDIS has been working all along, but it was the Doctor’s perception it was trying to change and when the truth is discovered they could even say the TARDIS has the ability to use it again (although most of the time the Doctor keeps it as a Police Box out of nostalgia/habit). Would be a pretty cool explanation, and reminds people the TARDIS is a sentient being and not just a machine…
To take it a step further, although this is overthinking it, the TARDIS only pretending to stuck as a Police Box would also explain why the appearance of the Police Box has varied slightly over the years as it has not been truly stuck in that shape just pretending to be!
27 January 2020 at 12:43 #69403Another aspect of the episode I didn’t get thinking about it was the whole issue of 2 Doctors being together and even if 2 TARDISs are too close. This made no sense to me given there are lots of multi Doctor stories and the TARDIS has often parked right next to a previous version of itself? Gallifrey itself was saved by all 13 Doctors existing at the same point in time? Another goof, or does it have a deeper meaning? Maybe on early pre-Hartnell Gallifrey it was assumed to be impossible?
27 January 2020 at 12:22 #69401Hi everyone, new here, but had to join up to discuss theories on this episode, finally a decent twist, genuine surprises, and a build to a great story arc for the rest of the series. I hope the awful Orphan 55 was just a blip we can all forget about…
Anyway onto my thoughts about this episode…
Firstly I saw a chameleon arch coming a mile off, although I was way off mark with who it belonged to – I was thinking maybe it was the Master and inside the box the Doctor found was going to be his fob watch but I was way off there (was the contents of the box ever explained, or was it just a red herring? Need to watch the episode again).
Anyway, nice to see Captain Jack back, I recognised the voice instantly and was very happily surprised it managed to remain a secret, so rare these days you get a genuine surprise in a show like this. Did anyone else think the ship he stole looked like a TARDIS though, was wondering if that was deliberate to make you think The Master had taken Graham?
So onto the main twist of the episode then – I loved the real WTF is happening aspect to it, it’s been a long time since a DW episode has had me like that, certainly the first time in the JW era (although the end of Spyfall Pt 1 came close). I’m not buying that this is an alt-timeline version of The Doctor, personally I don’t think the multiverse theory sits well in the DW universe, that was one of my main gripes with Orphan 55, the timeline in DW has always been relatively linear with fixed points in time, it would be too easy to explain away canon continuity and even episode threats by just jumping into a different multiverse. It would kill the concept of the show in my opinion.
My working theory is that the new Doctor is pre-Hartnell, however in order to keep continuity of the previous Doctors she would have to be one of 13 previous Doctors that we do not know about – either that or whatever wiped her memory of herself was part of a reset by the High Council that included a new set of regenerations? It is possible to explain away without ruining the canon of classic Who, much like they did with the War Doctor and other ‘inbetween’ versions of The Doctor. It would add to the big secret the Master discovered on Gallifrey. There has been Classic Who episodes that have implied there were faces to The Doctor before Hartnell so it’s not a completely new concept.
There are many arguments for this theory – the appearance of the TARDIS is consistent with the original design which implies it’s still new, the alt-Doctor refers to it as her ‘ship’ which Hartnell also did but this was later dropped by future Doctors, she has never seen a Sonic Screwdriver because that was invented by the 2<sup>nd</sup> Doctor, and in her timeline Gallifrey is still standing. There are also references in Canon to the ‘Dark Ages’ on Gallifrey when they were more tyrannical rulers of time and wouldn’t have issue with using time-weapons or employing the likes of the Judoon to do work for them, so this behaviour would be consistent with an earlier version of Gallifrey. The only big argument against this theory is that the TARDIS is a phone box which it didn’t get stuck in until the Hartnell era – could this just be a massive goof by the writers because seeing the TARDIS buried was more of a shock reveal?
My only other theory is that the alt-Doctor is somehow the Valeyard, which as I recall was an incarnation of the ‘darker side’ of the Doctor that occurred somewhere between the 12<sup>th</sup> and last regeneration – so it would be correct in canon for the Valeyard to be created around now – perhaps the alt-Doctor will regenerate into the person that puts the 6<sup>th</sup> Doctor on trial? But this would be an obscure callback and it’s far more likely to me it’s pre-Hartnell canon related to the Timeless Child and all parts of the early history of Time Lords has been wiped from their memories until now…
Let’s hope they can pull it off, because the concept has a lot of promise…
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