RTD Says He Will Not “Unwrite” Controversial Timeless Child Reveal

One of the most controversial story revelations in Doctor Who history has been the ‘Timeless Child’ arc. Not since Paul McGann declared his Doctor “half-human” had the fanbase seen such ripples.

For anyone who might be unaware, the Series 12 episode, “The Timeless Children” written by Chris Chibnall, unveiled a new backstory for the Doctor, changing almost six decades of lore.

The revelation indicated that the Doctor was not actually a native Gallifreyan, but instead a being from an unknown realm that possessed an unlimited ability to regenerate. This essentially retconned William Hartnell’s position as the first Doctor, and opened up numerous other continuity issues.

Classic era script editor Andrew Cartmel criticised the reveal back in 2020, stating he believes it “depletes the mystery” of the Doctor.

Many fans have wondered if RTD would uphold this narrative, or steer back to the traditional lore, and now we have the answer.

In a conversation in the new issue of SFX, RTD asserted: “Let’s stare that question right in the eye. I’m not going to unwrite my good friend Chris Chibnall’s work on ‘The Timeless Children’.

“I’m not going to deny what he wrote. I’m going with it. It’s absolutely fine. It’s canon, it happened. It was transmitted. You cannot unwrite things, that would be absolutely rude to a great colleague and a lovely friend.”