The cancellation of Doctor Who in 1989 secretly made The Timeless Child possible

Doctor Who‘S The controversial plot of “Timeless Child” would never have happened if the series had not been canceled in 1989. The series began in 1963 and was canceled after season 26 in 1989 before being revived in 2005. This cancellation meant that plans for season 27 no longer came to fruition and the season never came to fruition, ultimately leading to this one of the most controversial Doctor Who storylines in recent history – The timeless child.

The Timeless Child was revealed to be the Doctor during Jodie Whittaker’s second season and was met with major backlash after it rewrote the Doctor’s origins Doctor Who. The twist revealed that the Doctor was not in fact a Time Lord, but an adopted alien with regenerative powers, which became the genetic blueprint for the creation of Time Lords across Gallifrey. The impact on established canon alongside the implementation of unlimited regenerations was a retcon which was vehemently rejected by fans and critics. Longtime fans are calling for a rewrite of the plot, but if there was a season 27, the story could never have existed.

Doctor Who’s plan, before its cancellation, would have made the Timeless Child impossible

The Doctor’s origin story would have been very different

The plan for the 27th season of Doctor WhoDubbed the “Cartmel Masterplan” by fans, it was intended to provide a more complex backstory for the Doctor. Designed by Andrew Cartmel, Mark Platt and Ben Aaronovitch, The “Master plan” would see the Doctor as a Time Lord reincarnation of “The other,” an incredibly ancient and powerful being who helped perfect Gallifrean time travel. The Cartmel master plan aimed to restore the Doctor’s reputation as an enigma when the series’ later seasons had explained too much about the Doctor’s backstory Doctor Who.

Although hints of this plot are scattered throughout the 1989 final season, the Cartmel master plan never made it to the screen, only continuing in the episode Virgin New Adventures Novels, especially lung cartin which the background story is discussed in great detail. The novel’s depiction explicitly contradicts elements of the Timeless Child’s plotsuch as the Doctor still being Gallifreyan and only having a certain number of regenerations Doctor Who. That said, if the show hadn’t been put on hiatus, the Timeless Child story would have been unnecessary and impossible to establish.

Why Doctor Who’s backstory plan was better than The Timeless Child

The Cartmel master plan was to raise questions, not answer them

The Timeless Child and the Cartmel Master Plan both drastically change the Doctor’s origins, but there are certain reasons that make the Master Plan better – like the mystery. The Doctor is a protagonist who thrives on being inexplicable, and the Ageless Child fails in this element by attempting to cover up the Doctor’s connection to Gallifrey and trivializing such an iconic part of the character. Cartmel himself said the master plan was to raise questions, not answer them lung cartAlthough it was written for season 26, it never made it to the screen (via YouTube) due to its closed origin story.

Additionally, the Doctor has sacrificed himself many times in the belief that he only has a certain number of regenerations, such as Ten’s heartbreaking sacrifice for Wilfred that brought him to his final life. “The Timeless Child” lowers the stakes and undermines crucial emotional moments that audiences and previous Doctor incarnations have shared. The retcon sometimes completely negates the existing canon, such as the Eleventh Doctor being gifted a regeneration cycle in a dramatic finale. The timeless child lacks respect Doctor Who that the Cartmel master plan worked and that, again, it seems unconventional and nonsensical.

Source: YouTube