Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Huge Questions We Are Asking After The Witchfinders
4. Did The Doctor Change History?
At the beginning of the episode the Doctor once again reminds her ‘fam’ not to interfere with the ‘fundamental fabric of history’. The line felt a little awkward here given that in Demons of the Punjab team TARDIS had already heard it so many times from the Doctor that they could repeat it themselves. It’s a well-known tenet of the series but Chibnall is going out of his way to remind us of it.
In the Punjab, the Doctor carried out that Time Lord principle even to the extent of walking away as Prem was shot. This time, however, she quickly dispenses of the rules in an effort to save a stranger. Does the fate of that one individual not count as part of the ‘fundamental’ fabric?
The Doctor does, as it happens, play a role, whether in shaping the future story of the witch trials in England. History records that after James took office as king of England, the self-proclaimed expert on witchcraft began to distance himself from the witch trials. The most commonly cited explanation is that whilst happy to encourage the practice in Scotland, the king was embarrassed by it in a land he wrongly considered to be intellectually superior.
Rather than outlaw the practice, James washed his hands of the trials to save his own skin. In the more optimistic universe that is Doctor Who perhaps there is a King James, who moved by the Doctor’s impassioned speech, realised the errors of his way.