Jodie Whittaker hints that Doctor Who’s Timeless Child mystery may not be solved this series
“You don’t necessarily always rush to get the answer” she has said
Doctor Who’s latest episode has reignited a massive mystery, with Jodie Whittaker’s Time Lord left perplexed when The Master (Sacha Dhawan) revealed that he had destroyed their home planet after finding out a terrible secret – “the lie of the Timeless Child.”
The mysterious Timeless Child was previously mentioned briefly in Whittaker’s second ever episode (The Ghost Monument) back in 2018 then never spoken of again, and with these new clues fans are hopeful that we’ll finally crack this puzzle this year – but according to Whittaker herself, we might be waiting a bit longer to see how it’s all resolved.
Speaking at a panel at New York’s Paley Center after the broadcast of Spyfall – Part 2, Whittaker hinted that we might not find out the truth about the enigmatic Timeless Child too soon, with the actor pointing out how long this mystery has endured already.
“I think the beauty of [showrunner] Chris [Chibnall’s] writing is that nothing is an accident,” Whittaker said (via CultBox) when asked how much the Timeless Child storyline would be a part of series 12.
“So these things that maybe feel as if they were in an episode of season 11 and then forgotten about, weren’t. And I think you don’t necessarily always rush to get the answer.
“So it’s not to say that you won’t discover something,” she added. “You’re not going to be denied. But the beauty of this show is that it goes on and on and on. And so maybe some things, a few, are answered and maybe some things aren’t and I think that’s why you’ve got to keep watching.”
In other words, while we may find out more about the Timeless Child this year, don’t expect it to dominate the story like former arcs like The Hybrid or Bad Wolf once did – and maybe prepare for the fact that we might have to wait until next series to find out more. Apparently, it’s all part of head writer Chris Chibnall’s game plan anyway.
“For him, all this has been plotted out,” Whittaker said later in the panel.
“He has wanted to write this since he was a kid so the choice of when and how – it isn’t a manic decision.”
Here’s hoping he (non-manically) decided not to keep us waiting too long, though…
Doctor Who continues on BBC One on Sundays
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
