A curved steel frame protects the golden, crystalline heart, and theres even a tiny screen to study readings on. Another attachment was handy for reversing the polarity of the neutron flow, which was this Doctors go-to plan for dealing with all sorts of problems. And besides, Chibnall himself has said that Ruth IS the Doctor and not from a parallel universe and why would he make the potentially very controversial move of inserting another new incarnation between Doctors (even the War Doctor was fairly polarising)? [13], She reappears in "The Timeless Children", when the Thirteenth Doctor is trapped in the Matrix by the Master. This version had one major drawback it didnt work on wood! Based on what weve seen so far, Id argue Patrick Troughton regenerated into Jo Martin, and when the Time Lords do eventually catch up with her, shell be subject to one of those memory wipes the Time Lords love so much (the Doctors hardly in a position to throw stones here), and then force her to regenerate into Jon Pertwee. In an interview with the U.K.'s Daily Mirror, Chibnall denied that Ruth is from a parallel universe, which may lend more credibility to the 6B theory.
Did you see? The Valeyard was described as coming "between the Doctor's twelfth and final regenerations." Martin herself compared her character's grumpier disposition to that of the Twelfth Doctor. It seems impossible. She is portrayed by the English actress Jo Martin, the first non-white person to play the role.[9]. The Doctor and Jamie were the Time Lords personal hit squad, being sent on missions the Time Lords would rather have plausible deniability for. Warning: contains spoilers for Fugitive Of The Judoon. He. [13] Comparisons have been drawn with previous incarnations. After crash-landing in Sheffield with no TARDIS, a body that was still cooking, and two alien mysteries to solve, the Doctor realised she was missing something her sonic screwdriver. The Judoon locate her and invade the city, intending to present her to Galifreyan Commander Gat. As Ruth, she lives alongside her "husband" Lee in 21st century Gloucester with no knowledge of her true nature. And then her name began with an R so I was all Wait, are they going to bring back the Rani? and then BOOM. You'd need a reason why the TARDIS is shaped like a police box, since they expressed surprise in "An Unearthly Child" that the exterior hadn't changed. The 6B theory refers to Season 6 of the original Doctor Who, when the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, was wrapping up his tenure. ", "Doctor Who: Jo Martin becomes first BAME actor to play the Doctor", "Doctor Who: Ruth Origin, Timeline & Future Explained", "Doctor Who Reveals the Truth About That OTHER Doctor", "Doctor Who The Timeless Children review: the much-vaunted finale is an overblown gush of nonsense", "Doctor Who brought back another Doctor, and it's about time", "DJo Martin brings the Fugitive Doctor to audio", "DOCTOR WHO'S NEWEST DOCTOR IS CANON, FOREVER, AND IT CAN'T BE CHANGED", "As soon as I saw Jo Martin as The Doctor, I fell in love", "A trippy Doctor Who travels up its own timestream", "Doctor Who recap: Flux chapter three Once, Upon Time", "Doctor Who: Where does the new "Fugitive Doctor" fit into the timeline? However, they have had their memories periodically erased for a truly insane span of time because the Time Lords didn't want them to figure this out. This is a commercial website from BBC Studios. The idea is that after his trial, rather than immediately forcing the Doctor to regenerate, the Time Lords hand him over to the Celestial Intervention Agency, the sinister black ops division of the Time Lords. However, it did have much more extensive scanning, diagnostic and medical capabilities and could act as a remote control for some TARDIS functions. Presumably, the regeneration energy that the Time Lords give him, was only to trigger a regeneration that was already going to happen. Logos 1996. We dont go into its flaws here, but one aspect of the story that irritated fans is that there were a number of egregious continuity errors: The Doctor mentions taking the TARDIS to retrieve another companion, Victoria, when during this error the TARDISs controls are very much set to Random. The point being that this is the only other regeneration besides 2 to 3, judging by events, where another incarnation could plausibly be slipped in. We've already seen something like this with Tom Baker's appearance as The Curator in the Fiftieth Anniversary. It may also explain why Ruth's TARDIS has the Classic Control Room, and Police Box exterior, too, since that is the TARDIS look used up until the Middle of the Third Doctor's Era. Except if the Doctor had a past regeneration cycle, then maybe "the twelfth incarnation" was part of that cycle. With only a warehouse full of junk, an abandoned alien bulb filled with tech, a load of old spoons and a blowtorch at her disposal, the Doctor got busy.
As there was no TARDIS around to fire out a replacement, she had to take matters into her own hands.
Also, the Ruth Doctor doesnt seem to recognise the sonic screwdriver- an item the Second Doctor had in Fury Of The Deep (although then it wasnt the scientific scanner and magic wand we saw in later incarnations. [18][19], Her costume was designed by Ray Holman to reflect her sterner nature. As of "The Timeless Children", most likely [, I was actually going to theorize that she came between 2 and 3 because not only is it the only regeneration where we don't actually. Whats more, the Second Doctor appears to be working for the Time Lords, when until his third incarnation the Doctor was very much on the run from them. For a start, unless the Time Lords were feeling very generous when they recaptured her, this means the Doctor would have run out of regenerations at the end of the Tenth Doctors life. 
Yes, the Doctor is in, but not the one anybody was expecting, including, well, the Doctor. The Time Lords only said they were going to change the Doctor's appearance, not that they were forcing him to Regenerate. When they were done with him, they forced a regeneration on him and stranded him on Earth as at the beginning of Jon Pertwees first episode. Adding on a "Fractured" Doctor; Possibly either a Doctor from the Season 6B Theory, or even a Valeyard type situation?
The other 'Doctors' are alternates rather than past/future Doctors. There are some inconsistencies. Due to their alien physiology, the Doctor, when critically injured, can regenerate their body, gaining a new physical appearance and personality. Or go to the dawn of the Mondasians and convert the first Mondasian. It was larger than before, packed with more functions, and had an extendable tip that glowed green. Simple; another Doctor. The words Big Twist are in the headline, so obviously if youve not seen Sunday nights Doctor Who, well, probably turn off your computer and try not to speak to anyone until youve managed to get your hands on BBC iPlayer, because we have got spoilers aplenty right here! The Doctor was devastated by the loss of his trusty tool I feel like youve just killed an old friend, he said. He secured the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, to come back, and put him and Colin Baker in an adventure opposite returning foes, the Sontarans. Lee was also tasked with reminding her toFollow the light and break the glasswhen the time was right, as this would lead Ruth to return to the lighthouse, which she was made to recall fromchildhood, and finally restore her Time Lord memories.. Thus the theory of Season 6b was formed. But the Ruth Doctor cant be a pre-William Hartnell incarnation. [15][24], Incarnation of the protagonist of Doctor Who. Though given that the Time Lords are able to hand out extra sets of regenerations willy-nilly (both "The Five Doctors" and "The Day of the Doctor"), it seems more like thirteenth regenerations require medical assistance rather than being impossible so renegades like the Doctor, the Master, and the Rani had to be careful, while Time Lords in good standing like Borusa could regenerate pretty casually until Gallifrey's destruction. The limit might be artificial rather than fake. Did the latest Doctor Who series 12 episode finally prove a 35-year-old fan theory right? This theory has ascended to a state of semi-canonicity. Firstly, Jack and Ruth appearing in the same episode in two separate subplots implies that there is some sort of connection (albeit this one is clutching at straws a bit). As for how this ties in with the Timeless Child, its either the Trickster himself (as the final episode is called the Timeless Children, which may refer to the entire Pantheon of Discord if this is the case, plus the Trickster may exist outside of normal time due to his power to edit it) or a dirty job the Time Lords had him do plus the Cyberman Empire he creates (fits in with the Timeless Children thing again as the Children could be all the new, different lives and Cybermen this act creates, as they wouldnt exist in the unedited timeline). That's where the 6B theory comes in.
[16] In that episode, the Thirteenth Doctor has been cast back into her past timestream to her previous visit to the Temple of Atropos, where she last confronted the Ravagers known as Swarm and Azure. Thirteen finds she has no memory of the events, but upon spotting her reflection in a mirrored wall panel sees she is in her Fugitive Doctor incarnation. As another theory further up the page suggests, perhaps only, A limit clearly exists. But Chris Chibnall, showrunner for Doctor Who since 2016, may have found a way to use all those thorny bits of lore to conceal the backstory of the character who's throwing the fandom for a loop. When you write a show with 57 years of canon to sort through, it can be difficult to keep inconsistencies at bay. Actually, the Doctor doesn't have a regeneration limit. So then what is Ruth? Memory wipes and amnesia? Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. [14] The projection reminds her that she has never previously been defined by her past before disappearing.[15]. Ruth is from a pre-Hartnell regeneration cycle that the Time Lords erased from the Doctor's memory. Now, the Six-Seven regeneration is noted for being a case of Dropped a Bridge on Him. The Decayed Master (played by Pratt and Beevers) was the result of the Master trying to extend his life past the natural end of the last incarnation in his original cycle, and Azmael, the Doctor's mentor, died after inducing a regeneration whilst in his thirteenth incarnation in. Ruth is an incarnation between 6 and 7 who the Doctor was made to forget because of the Timeless Child. 
The question now becomes, where does she fit in the timeline? Doctor Who airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on BBC America. ", "One year ago today since we first met the Fugitive Doctor!
I had to rewatch it with breakfast to just to reassure myself I wasnt making it up. The Thirteenth Doctor can't recognize Ruth, but she is in her past. Any misattributions of gender or sexual orientation are accidental and will be corrected ASAP. Promotional materials credited Jo Martin only as playing Ruth, while she herself was not told that she would be playing the Doctor until she was offered the part after her audition. Go to town! BBC, DOCTOR WHO, DALEK and TARDIS (word marks, logos & devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Given that there's some kind of secret tied to the Timeless Child that drove the Master (more) insane, Thirteen may have voluntarily removed part of her own memory in order to forget. I find this fairly unlikely, since the show is usually objective about showing what actually happens on screen being what truly happened. They may not even have had to give the Doctor an extra regeneration. The High Council lied about regeneration limitations. An incarnation ofthe Doctor who, against her will, worked forthe Divisionon behalf ofGallifreyuntil she tried to desert her responsibilities, becoming afugitive. So why is this theory making a resurgence? Sign up for our mailing list! Points against this idea are the fact that Ruth's TARDIS is police box-shaped and no mention of Susan (yet?). It could be that the Lone Cyberman asks for the Trickster to make the Doctor on the run from the Time Lords or be involved in events other than the Cybermen, leading to a different set of regenerations and the Cybermen empire triumphing in this scenario. Up until 2011, Season 6B was listed on the BBC's official Doctor Who episode guide. He informs her that she is the Timeless Child, and had lived many lives prior to what she believed to be her first incarnation. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Doctor Who logos BBC 1969 and 2009. [14][18], The character is also intended to hark back to earlier Doctors, to suggest that she is from the Thirteenth Doctor's past. The Thirteenth Doctor learns that the Fugitive Doctor had led a team of Division operatives, including the Lupari officer Karvanista, to capture the two Ravagers and uses her past self's methods as an inspiration to fix the situation in the present. She declines to use a sonic screwdriver and refers to the TARDIS as her "ship", much like the First Doctor. [12] At the same time, the Thirteenth Doctor finds a police box buried in the grounds Ruth's TARDIS. Best of all, though, was its ability to make free money pour out of cash machines! And she quickly put it to work, using it to defuse the DNA bombs that had been implanted into her and her new mates, scan the alien gathering coils, and trigger a teleport device rescued from the abandoned Stenza pod.
The Lone Cyberman will have a completely innocent sounding desire, making it that much harder to refuse giving it what it wants, Ruth's Doctor won't remember her encounter with the Thirteenth Doctor, Ruth's TARDIS and its police box exterior. The Fugitive Doctor reappears in "Once, Upon Time".
Read our review of Fugitive Of The Judoon here. The canon does give us a clue as to where a gap might exist. Chris Farnell is a freelance writer and the author of a novel, an anthology, a Doctor Who themed joke book and some supplementary RPG material. But there are times when even the Doctors amazing mind needs some help to get stuff done more quickly, and thats when a sonic screwdriver can come in very handy. The Fugitive Doctor is a more ruthless incarnation of the character. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). We see Hartnell go into Troughton go into Pertwee go into Baker go into Davison go into another Baker go into McCoy go into McGann go into Hurt go into Eccleston go into Tennant go into Tennant again go into Smith go into Capaldi go into Whittaker. If you imagine that the Doctor regenerated a certain amount of time after escaping from Gallifrey, that would make her the second, Hartnell the third, and so on. The Fugitive Doctor[a] is an incarnation of the Doctor,[5][6][7][8] the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Eventually, the TARDIS presented the Doctor with another revamped model a slick, metallic blue version with loads of extras attached. Now, it's basically just any time between the second Tennant incarnation and whatever ends up being the last incarnation the Doctor has. It might look weirder and be more unpredictable than the ones shes had in the past, and it tends to splutter when asked do anything tricky, but the Doctor is rightly proud of her handiwork. It likely does count as a regeneration.
Doubt it, as why would the screwdriver register them both as Doctors? She also specifically calls the TARDIS a "ship", which is something more associated with the early incarnations. The Fifth Doctor didnt have much luck with the sonic he only got to use it a handful of times before it was destroyed by a fishy reptile-type called a Terileptil. Ruth's Doctor and Gat are from an alternate universe. Ruth is the Swordswoman Doctor from the "Rose" novelization, Whatever's happening with Ruth is related to the Valeyard, The Lone Cyberman's plan is to go back to the dawn of humanity and convert the first humans, Based on above speculation that Ruth!Doctor is a canon Two-And-A-Halfth Doctor, Ruth is from the Doctor's previous regeneration cycle, which includes the past incarnations from "The Brain of Morbius". On 23 April 2022, Big Finish Productions announced that Jo Martin would reprise her role for The Fugitive Doctor Adventures, a series of Doctor Who audio dramas following her incarnation of the Doctor after the events of "Fugitive of the Judoon". When some parasitic seaweed went on the rampage, the Second Doctor used the sonic to amplify his friend Victorias screams, and the laser wave it created saw off the mutant menace. And then the bit where Captain Jack was all and Ruth was like, and you knew it had to be a Chameleon Arch didnt you? Its not one of the great episodes.
Beep the Meep & Other Deep-Cut Doctor Who Aliens Fans Never Dreamed They'd See On TV, The Best San Diego Comic-Con Collectibles: An eBay Buyer's Guide, Star Wars Finally Fixes Prequel Era Plot Hole That Hurt Original Trilogy, We Now Know Why Game of Thrones Spinoff Bloodmoon Was Canceled, Resident Evil: Every Story Ranked Worst to Best, Doctor Who: Fugitive Of The Judoon twist echoes 35-year-old fan theory. [12] The interior of her TARDIS is also modelled after the set used in the 1960s, with white walls and an identical central console. The TARDIS doesnt get stuck as a police box until it leaves the scrap yard on Totters Lane. The Doctor didnt replace the sonic for ages the next time we saw one was when the Seventh Doctor used a similar model to seal a casket containing the Masters remains. It was bigger than before, with a removable emitter head that could be swapped to provide different functions. ", "Doctor Who Reveals Where Ruth Doctor Fits Into The Timeline", "Doctor Who series 12 episode 5 review: Fugitive Of The Judoon", List of actors who have played the Doctor, List of actors considered for the part of the Doctor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fugitive_Doctor&oldid=1095260317, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 June 2022, at 10:10. Ruth is the real Thirteenth Doctor and Whittaker's Doctor is the Fourteenth Doctor. Before the Seventh Doctors run was cut short, script editor Andrew Cartmel was supposedly planning to build on this with a story to reveal the Doctor wasnt simply another Time Lord, and when the series continued in books there were allusions to a mysterious figure called The Other, although this was mostly forgotten when the New Series began. The Fugitive Doctor first appears in "Fugitive of the Judoon", disguised as human tour guide Ruth Clayton by means of a Chameleon Arch. For a while, it looked like he really meant it he even got into the wearable tech trend by creating a pair of sonic sunglasses with similar functions as a replacement. this appears quite likely, although it is not explicitly confirmed. How could you keep that under wraps? How would that be even possible when Six was actually seen transforming into Seven onscreen? Maybe shes another War Doctor we didnt hear about before?
Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! There's lots of evidence to back this theory up as well: we see the interior of Ruth's TARDIS, and it looks extremely retro, not at all like the organic rock formations in the Thirteenth Doctor's.
The Doctor later recovers a fob watch containing all of her lost memories, but she chooses to deposit it deeper into the TARDIS for safe-keeping until a time that she really needs it, rather than recovering those lost memories. The very first thing the Doctor used this incredible tool for was literally unscrewing some screws although it soon turned out to have far greater capabilities, thanks to the powerful, miniaturised technology it contained. While Colin Bakers shown himself to be fantastic in the role in his audio adventures, it has to be said that the Sixth Doctor didnt get many moments of glory on television. The Thirteenth Doctor first encounters her on Earth, where she had hidden herself from the Time Lords, for whom she had been compelled to work as part of the mysterious "Division". Of course the term hadn't been invented yet, but in-universe it gives us a nice out! It's not like the case with Eight, who was never shown physically changing into his successor (initially thought by everyone to be Nine), and thus left a narrative gap for Moffat to place the War Doctor between them. Most embarrassingly of all, when Jamie and the Second Doctor appear in The Two Doctors they both look about 16 years older than they did before, a real blunder. Though its unlikely that the Trickster will return, we have seen characters from the spinoffs return in a significant way before, such as Luke, Gwen and Ianto in "The Stolen Earth", Luke in "The End of Time" and the Star Whales in "The Beast Below", so there is the slightest chance that this could happen (though its still unlikely). She also can't recognize the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, possibly eluding towards memory meddling. It was initially unknown where this incarnation, who is encountered during the Thirteenth Doctor's (Jodie Whittaker) era, fit within the show's fictional chronology, although many commenters speculated that she was from the Doctor's past, prior to the First Doctor. That's simple; The TARDIS is sentient, and has decided on one of their previous visits to Earth(specifically London) that, Regarding why Ruth doesn't seem surprised when. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Want queer TV news delivered to your inbox? Dalekimage BBC/Terry Nation 1963. Ruth can't remember Thirteen, so obviously she can't be in Thirteen's future. Did 'Westworld' just reveal Season 4s secret true timeline? Within the programme's narrative, the Doctor is a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. In his last run of episodes, the Doctor is put on trial on his home planet of Gallifrey and sentenced to exile on Earth and a forced regeneration. Plus, the Master brought up the events of "Logopolis" in "Spyfall"; maybe Ruth is a splinter regeneration of Four. Scanner, diagnostics, tin opener! Everything an adventurer needs for the incredible journey ahead! Somehow, the Doctor did not have a regeneration limit before Trenzalore. Loki Season 2 leaks finally make good on Season 1s broken promise, Rebels Season 5? Except this Doctor very clearly goes by the name Doctor, and the Time Lord chasing after her seemed shocked at the idea of Gallifrey being wiped out, when during the Time War that was a very real possibility. Finally, Gat responds to the idea of a multi-incarnation event as an "abomination", which suggests at that point in her timeline, Gallifrey has yet to start plucking past incarnations of the Doctor out of time and forcing them to work together, as often happened in the classic series, and started with the Third Doctor.
What if that's because it was actually a forced regeneration, done so the Doctor wouldn't know he'd had another incarnation between them? Ahsoka stars shut down a concerning Star Wars theory. It's complicated, but it's less of a retcon than the idea that the Doctor has had incarnations before the First Doctor; the existence of the War Doctor was enough of a retcon for the Doctor's known timeline. The Doctor isnt like most heroes. In "The Vanquishers", Karvanista finally reveals to the Thirteenth Doctor that he was actually once the Fugitive Doctor's companion. So producer John Nathan-Turner decided to go back to one of the Doctors recent huge success story the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors. Doctor Who: Is Neil Patrick Harris 60th Anniversary Role Really the Doctors Greatest Enemy? the Lone Cyberman what it wants and letting Percy back is also a particularly tricky one to solve, and the Trickster could have made this scenario deliberately to make it difficult for the Doctor to get away without changing history, Thirteen is actually the unwitting Valeyard and Ruth is the legitimate Doctor, Doctor Who S38E9 "Ascension of the Cybermen", That would also explain why Ruth's TARDIS was a police box when. The Fourth Doctor found lots of inventive new uses for his favourite device everything from detonating land mines and creating holes in force-fields to safe-cracking and setting off fire alarms. A theory going back generations may explain the orgins of Jo Martin's character. In Season 12, Episode 5, Ruth Clayton, mild-mannered tour guide, revealed herself to be The Doctor, baffling the Thirteenth Doctor played by Jodie Whitaker. Further evidence for the Trickster being the Timeless Child is that K9 describes the location him, the Doctor, Luke, Rani and Clyde are sent to in "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" as nowhere, NOWHEN, implying that it is a timeless location! She nonetheless exhibits all of the Doctor's heroic qualities and charm, encouraging her future self when she is trapped by the Master. No specific designation was given by the programme's makers. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/DoctorWhoS38E5FugitiveOfTheJudoon. This plot device has allowed a number of actors, both male and female, to portray the Doctor through the decades. Black combat trousers and boots both hint at a Doctor accustomed to fighting and call back to the costume of the Twelfth Doctor. The TARDIS was kept busy creating replacement sonics, as the Eleventh Doctor lost or destroyed it in ever-more inventive ways it was even eaten by a shark once! More importantly, there arent any gaps. Why?
[18], Martin's performance as the Fugitive Doctor has been lauded by critics,[2][23] with some expressing their desire to see more of the character on screen. Karvanista is unable to tell the Thirteenth Doctor anything about her past as the Fugitive Doctor because the Division has implanted a device in his brain that will kill him if he tries. Therefore, between the second and third Doctors, there could be an unspecified number of doctors in between, effectively in a long stretch of unseen "Season 6B" adventures, but these memories were erased later as part of the criminal sentence.
She was then only able to tell her husband the character she was playing. And then she would know why this Doctor can't remember her. Attempts to make him darker just made him seem cruel, and attempts to give him a fan-pleasing moment opposite the Cybermen didnt quite land.
