For the most part, Doctor Who season 11 seems to be taking a very back-to-basics approach to the show. Three weeks in and we’ve had a trio of episodes that delivered character-driven, sci-fi-lite plots and focused on being accessible to every kind of viewer. Things look to continue that way, too, as showrunner Chris Chibnall has promised that no classic monsters – not even the Daleks – will appear this season. We’ve also been told that every episode will be standalone with no overreaching story arc uniting the run.
If you look at the evidence, though, it seems this last point was something of a bare-faced lie. Episode 2, “The Ghost Monument,” teased a concept that sounded exactly like a classic Chekhov’s gun to us – placed in this outing to be picked up and tackled properly later on. What I’m referring to is the mysterious mention of a “timeless child.”
When the Doctor and her friends were cornered by the Remnants – weird, float-y rag things – on the planet Desolation, the creature tried to intimidate the Time Lord by reaching deep into her mind and mentioning the timeless child, something that didn’t appear to mean anything to the Doctor. The Remnants taunted her for this and went onto describe this enigmatic infant as an “outcast… abandoned and unknown.” And that’s all we got.
So, what are we to make of it? Well, on the surface, it looks like the Remnants are referring to the Doctor’s own childhood, as this fits with what we know about the character’s time on Gallifrey. In 2006’s “The Girl in the Fireplace,” we’re told he had “such a lonely childhood.” 2014’s “Listen” then visits the Doctor as a nipper, sleeping alone in the barn of an orphanage.
It’s also possible that the timeless child is a family member of the Doctor’s, one that she’s perhaps forgotten. The season 11 premiere, “The Woman Who Fell To Earth,” saw Yaz ask the time traveller about her family to which she reminded us that she lost them long ago, though she still thinks about them. Put together with the timeless child reference and it does seem like Chibnall’s keen to set-up something to do with uncovering the Doctor’s past.
We’ll have to keep watching Doctor Who season 11 to find out if the mystery will be revealed later on, but in the meantime, feel free to drop a comment down below letting us know your thoughts.