Doctor Who: 10 Huge Questions After The Power Of The Doctor
8. Who Was The Child The Doctor Saw?
The cargo that the Cybermen are so eager to steal from the train first appears to the Doctor in the form of a young girl. Although played by a different actor to those seen fleetingly in The Timeless Children, it’s not a stretch to assume that we are at least meant to think that this is another face belonging to the Timeless Child - another forgotten regeneration, and a potential fresh clue to the Doctor’s lost past.
That only becomes more plausible when the Doctor realises that this child is in fact a clever disguise of a Qurunx. In self-defence, this entity projects onto itself the image of a person, creature, or thing that the viewer would most want to protect.
But the Timeless Child arc has clearly been abandoned in this episode, with Chibnall making sure that nothing is said that might open up that particular can of worms. After the Fugitive Doctor appears as a hologram, there is no attempt to mine her for information, and the Doctor remains content with not knowing the answers. In The Vanquishers, her search for the truth led her to the realisation that the present moment always matters more. Her family history is unimportant compared to the new family she has assembled. For now at least, the fob watch remains buried inside the TARDIS.
Yaz also sees the same girl, a sign that she isn’t someone either of them know. Instead, the vision taps into the parental instinct to keep any child safe from harm.