Another Timeless Child? Who is Brendan? 5 Theories

Feature by Craig Sightings.

Following my article a few weeks back on the (still) mysterious Jo Martin Doctor, I’m back with another set of 100% cast iron theories (that’s sarcasm, folks). This time for Brendan (Evan McCabe), the mysterious policeman first introduced in “Ascension of the Cyberman” who seemingly can’t die…

Ashad

This was actually my initial thought early on during my first viewing of the episode. I assumed we were seeing why Ashad became the villain he is now over the course of the flashbacks. Brendan does get his mind wiped at the end which could explain how he later becomes known as “Ashad”. He simply doesn’t remember this old life as Brendan. Ashad mentions another past in “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”. In “The Timeless Children” perhaps we see his further transformation to eventual Cyber-leader. I have some doubts about this theory now because I can’t explain how Brendan survived being shot and falling off a cliff if he was just a normal man.

The, or A “Timeless Child”

We still know nothing more about the Timeless Child than when I wrote my last article. First mentioned in “The Ghost Monument”, then again in Spyfall, and “Can you Hear Me”, all we know thus far is that, according to the Master, the founding fathers of Gallifrey deceived them and their whole existence was “built on the lie of the Timeless Child”. So could Brendan actually be the child in question? Perhaps hidden away on Earth as a baby by his people due to his power of never being able to die. His people feared others would try to experiment on him and/or steal the power. What if the “founding fathers” of Gallifrey are in fact seeking Brendan’s power to harness it to become what we know now as regeneration? The two men at the end, originally thought to be his “father” and Sergeant, could in fact be Time Lords. The only spanner in the works is that the flashback scenes have portrayed a young girl up until now, unless that was redirection all this time. Or as the finale is called “The Timeless Children”, it’s entirely possible there is more than one child…

The Doctor

Notice how Brendan is ginger-haired. Could this be a little clue, playing on the post-regeneration joke in the new series that the Doctor “still isn’t ginger”. This could fit into the pre-Hartnell regeneration cycle theory that also explains Ruth’s existence. What if Brendan is another hidden Doctor, perhaps the real first Doctor? Seemingly he was Chameleon Arch-ed at the end of the episode like Ruth. The clock on the desk, and the doors on the room looked TARDIS-y. The big flaw here is that when he was shot, he doesn’t regenerate in the way we have seen before. Then again, the regeneration effects changed for the new era. Brendan also maintains his face (but then so did Tennant following his “Meta Crisis” regeneration). We also saw what we assumed was the child Doctor on Gallifrey in “Listen”.

Captain Jack

What about Jack? He is an immortal, and (seemingly) Brendan can’t die either, but he does age. As mentioned, Brendan’s “death” and revival didn’t feature a traditional visual regeneration and instead was more similar to what we have seen when Jack “died” – returning gasping for air. On the flip side, Jack hasn’t changed appearance when he dies. And we’ve already seen Jack as a child in Torchwood flashbacks. At some point it’s hinted he becomes the Face of Boe, who doesn’t look or sound like John Barrowman obviously! So there is some room for a different look somewhere in Jack’s timeline. The flaw is Brendan is nothing like Jack…

The Master

Given that he now obviously has a big part to play in the finale, what if we are in fact seeing the origins of the Master? Abandoned as a baby, what if the Master was originally being watched by the Time Lords due to them fearing what he could become. This could explain why the Master was mad enough to burn Gallifrey upon finding out. The only problem with this theory is that the Doctor and Master have talked of their childhood together on Gallifrey, and we have seen the young Master there before. But those memories could come after a forgotten Brendan. The Master’s regenerations are, after all, more vague than the Doctors and leave scope for additions.

Conclusion

Of course, it’s entirely possible that Brendan isn’t someone we already know and is just a new character. It’s the least exciting option though. It seems more likely it’ll be someone important and relevant to be worth dedicating time to in the finale, of all episodes. As always, time will tell…