Doctor Who may have been put out to tender by the BBC, but that doesn't mean it can escape its past. The recent shock announcement that Doctor Who is officially set to change with a new showrunner, new production studio, and generally a whole new creative team essentially guarantees that the show will be moving into a brand-new era.
However, despite the certainty of change, there remains a great deal about the series that whoever picks up the show can't just ignore. From the established history and lore of the show dating back to 1963, to more recent revelations, the new creatives will need to strike a balance as they forge a new path while being careful not to ignore the past.
While some lore is far more established than others, and recent surprises from showrunners like Chris Chibnall and Russell T Davies have certainly taken the fans by surprise, the show still needs to address the biggest major reveal about the Doctor themselves: the fact that they don't actually hail from Gallifrey.
Early in the show's history, it was established that the Doctor was an alien from another planet. A short time later, more information was revealed as the Time Lord race was introduced. With that came the idea of the Doctor's home world, Gallifrey, and ever since, this has been an established detail about the character's origins.
However, in 2020, showrunner Chris Chibnall decided to shake things up as the Master revealed to the Doctor that they had learned a secret about their identity. While the Doctor had always believed they were a native of Gallifrey, they learned that they were actually a being that fell from the sky and introduced the ability to regenerate to the Time Lords.
This was a huge piece of information to drop into the show, and while fans have been divided about how they feel about the Doctor's new origins, the show failed to elaborate any further on this profound news. Understandably, that left everyone a little tender, and now, six years on, no one has any clearer understanding of the Timeless Child story than when it was first revealed.
With the rebirth of the show, and the opportunity for an entirely different studio to tackle the longest-running sci-fi series on TV, there also comes a small silver lining in the fact that whoever takes on the project next will have greater freedom to reimagine the show and add clear definition to ideas like the Timeless Child reveal in a way that will finally resonate with audiences.
A new showrunner may feel it's an important detail to address, and if so, they can add details about where the Doctor came from, why they ended up on Gallifrey, and what it means that they possessed the ability to regenerate indefinitely. All of this could add up to an awesome story in the right writer's hands.
In reality, the worst thing that any incoming showrunner could do is ignore this detail entirely and just try to act like it never happened. When a reboot returns to an earlier point in the timeline to rewrite what else has occurred, it rarely ends well. Doctor Who needs to face the latest retcons head-on, provide a story that explains and clarifies them, and then move forward freshly.
The alternative is that the series will simply ignore major plot points, and if it's willing to forget a reveal as monumental as the Timeless Child, who knows what else will disappear from the show? Doctor Who needs a strong team with bold new ideas and a creative spark that can refine and redefine what came before. With the right team in place, the show's future is brighter than ever.
