Doctor Who: 10 Worst "New-Who" Episodes Ever

Perhaps no episode in the history of the show has caused as much outrage amongst the fan base as Season 12’s Chris Chibnall-penned finale The Timeless Children. The second season finale of the already controversial 13th Doctor era, seems like it has to be a recipe for success; set in the ruins of Gallifrey, The Master has teamed up with the Cybermen and is set to reveal a huge secret that he promises will destroy the Doctor’s whole world.

The preceding part of the finale, Ascension of the Cybermen is a fairly good, tense episode but The Timeless Children fails to maintain the suspense, instead spending much of its time as an info dump before ending in a lackluster escape for the Doctor and friends.

Of course, the biggest issue with The Timeless Children is what many fans perceive as the disrespectful attitude it shows to the show’s long history. In a shock twist that seems to undo the very essence of the character, it is revealed that The Doctor is NOT a Time Lord at all but rather a mysterious, seemingly immortal being who fell through a rift and wound up on Gallifrey.

It is revealed that the ability to regenerate was stolen from The Doctor and given to the remaining Time Lords who then built in the 12-regeneration limit, a limit that has seemingly never applied to The Doctor. Even worse, it is revealed that original series star, William Hartnell, was never the original Doctor, a move many have seen as an insult to the shows origin and his hard work.

Now, it is possible this twist won’t be as damaging as it seems going forward. It’s even possible that The Master was lying, I mean…he’s The Master. However, as it stands at the moment, it is a fairly safe bet that many fans of the show would agree that no episode has damaged the show as much as The Timeless Children.