Doctor Who Series 12: Ten Huge Questions After Ascension Of The Cybermen
1. How Will Everything Change?
Game-changing is how the BBC continuity announcer described the series 12 finale. It’s an overused expression and in over fifty years of Doctor Who history few stories can be considered as such. But the Master seems to think that what the Doctor is about to learn will change everything. Does this mean that The Timeless Children will be redefining Doctor Who, changing how we see the Doctor and her background?
It has to be said that any efforts to add substantially to the myth have met with resistance. Fans are happier to say what Doctor Who isn’t than define what it is. Take the 1996 TV Movie for example and the fallout over the revelation that the Doctor was half-human. To this day, many fans go to extraordinary lengths to distance themselves from what was a fundamental part of that story.
Imagine then, if it turns out that the original occupants of Gallifrey were the human refugees from the Cyber War, or worse still the ‘ascended’ Cybermen? Could Chris Chibnall really be giving an origins story for the Doctor’s race? It would be incredibly bold, even if it could feasibly be done in a way that didn’t contradict what we already know about Gallifrey.
In truth, apart from the graphic image of Gallifrey in ruins, there has be almost no mention of the Time Lords in the episodes leading up to the finale. The questions have been around who the Doctor is as an individual, with the Timeless Child opening up the possibility that she is not who she thinks she is. We are unlikely to be delving into ancient Gallifreyan lore, or reopening the can of worms from The Deadly Assassin.
But something has happened that connects the Doctor and the Master to Ashad and Brendan. It may be just that one part of Time Lord identity that is mired in controversy. The origins of the gift of regeneration, how it is maintained and at what cost. Or it may be one part of their own personal stories that has been wiped from their memories. We have Ruth as a forgotten Doctor, could Brendan be a forgotten Master?