10 Most Paused Doctor Who Moments

The battle of wills between the Fourth Doctor and Morbius (no, not that one) back in 1976 cast a long shadow over Doctor Who history.

For decades, fans went back and forth about whether the eight mystery faces that appear during this scene were previous incarnations of the Doctor, of fellow Time Lord Morbius, or were merely some trick deployed by the Doctor to win the battle.

If they were the Doctor, did that mean the First Doctor wasn't actually the first? This has been one of the most hotly-debated scenes in Doctor Who ever since it aired, and despite answers having now been provided, you'll still find some fans questioning the nature of what have since been dubbed 'the Morbius Doctors'.

One fan who was pausing the scene and taking notes in the subsequent years was Chris Chibnall, and 44 years after The Brain of Morbius aired, he canonised these eight incarnations in The Timeless Children by revealing that they were indeed from the Doctor's past.

As Chibnall recently told Doctor Who Magazine, the Timeless Child arc was driven by a desire to make sense of the Doctor's inconsistent past, and canonising figures like classic series producer Philip Hinchcliffe – who played one of the Morbius Doctors – was merely a "nice grace note."