Doctor Who Series 12: 10 Huge Questions After Spyfall Part 2
3. Did the Time Lords Lie And Who Is The Timeless Child?
For a writer who has been traditional in his approach to the show, raising a question mark about the true nature of the Doctor’s origins is a surprisingly bold move. But we should not forget who is planting the seeds of doubt in the Doctor’s mind. The Master is hardly a reliable source. The Master could be lying to the Doctor, but the intensity of his anger suggests otherwise. But that doesn’t make him right. He could be genuinely mistaken. Has he misunderstood someone or something, or been lied to himself?
The Doctor doesn’t want to believe it, but she clearly harbours doubts, her mind going back to the Timeless Child taunts. She is physically disturbed by the incomplete visions, suggesting that this is an uncertainly that goes to the heart(s) of who she is. As if in defiance, she asserts to her companions that she is a Time Lord from the constellation of Kasterborous (David Tennant style). Any introspective questioning by the Doctor is unlikely to be dwelt upon for long, given that Chibnall is a very different writer from Moffat. His vision of Doctor Who is more heroic, more optimistic, and that’s as good a reason as any not to take the Master’s word for it.
We don’t know what horrified the Master so much that he would exact a terrible vengeance on his whole race, but it is clear that the process of discover hurt him badly. He wants the Doctor to experience the same path, there can be no shortcuts and she must suffer in the same way he did. The Timeless Child is likely to be a red herring, or at least not what any of us expect. A weapon? A trap? A lie in itself? Possibly all of those things.