#Timestamps Project

[esonetwork]

Timestamp: Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

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Timestamp: Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

Doctor Who Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

Jodie Whittaker’s final series was consistent but frustrating.

This batch of episodes encapsulated much of this era of Doctor Who, which struck me as more of a classic era tone with enhanced special effects. The budgets were lower relative to the rest of the revival era, and the stories tended to be more self-contained and pulpy. In Flux, a serialized event akin to the classic years, we even saw some classic-style monsters that looked more like latex and plaster than we’re used to.

Unfortunately, the budget constraints also led to convoluted writing. The Flux serial was announced in early 2021 with eight episodes, but we ended up with six parts instead. The other two became specials accompanying the feature-length finale. This reduction was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s also no secret that Doctor Who was in danger of being cancelled again. Viewership didn’t stick around during the writing troubles and the obvious shift in production values. In short, the Doctor was in trouble.

Flux started well enough, but with convoluted plot threads and jumpy stories in the back half, it fell flat. This should have been a home run for Jodie Whittaker’s farewell tour, but it was bogged down by its weight. The three specials picked up some of the slack with clearer plots, back-to-basics characterization, and exciting adventures, but Flux was frustrating and confusing when all was said and done.

Overall, Series Thirteen comes in with a solid 4.0 score, buoyed by the specials and Village of the Angels. That ties with the classic Twelfth Season and Series Ten, and places this set in a tie for sixteenth among the forty-one seasons (so far) in the scope of the Timestamps Project. Despite my frustrations, that’s still good company. It’s also right in the middle between the other two series in the Whittaker era, which speaks to consistency of quality.

For what it’s worth, I did enjoy the rewatch, though this is not a set that I’d sit down and mainline if I had a day off.

Flux – Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse – 4 Flux – Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans – 5 Flux – Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time – 4 Flux – Chapter Four: Village of the Angels – 4 Flux – Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux – 4 Flux – Chapter Six: The Vanquishers – 3 Eve of the Daleks – 2 Legend of the Sea Devils – 4 The Power of the Doctor – 4

Series Ten Average Rating: 4.0/5

Following tradition…

The First Doctor was a wise grandfather, the Second a sly jester, the Third a secret agent scientist, the Fourth an inquisitive idealist, the Fifth an honorable humanitarian, the Sixth a squandered cynic, the Seventh a curious schemer, the Eighth a classical romantic, the Ninth a hopeful healing veteran, the Tenth a bargaining humanitarian, the Eleventh an irascible runner, the Twelfth a principled warrior…

…and the Thirteenth Doctor is an excitable explorer.

She was the embodiment of acceptance of the post-Time War traumas in the early days, but she ended up falling into similar dour moods after the Timeless Child revelation. That comes coupled with the destruction of Gallifrey by the Master, literally dismantling everything her predecessors accomplished as the essence of her people was poured into one of their greatest enemies.

The trauma derailed her recovery.

This Doctor was intentionally distant and emotionally aloof, preferring fun and excitement over being cuddly. There were a lot of adventures taking place off-screen but alluded to by the companions. She was also considerate of the pain of leaving her companions behind, a character trait that prevented her from getting too close to Yaz. She cared in her own way.

I like the Thirteenth Doctor a lot, but I unlike previous incarnations, I feel that her score places her appropriately in the ranks. I loved her spirit and her embodiment of what it means to be the Doctor, and I will miss her. I just wish that her time had been better treated. She had so much more potential and so many more stories to tell.

Series Scores Series 8 – 3.9 Series 9 – 4.1 Series 10 – 4.0

Thirteenth Doctor’s Weighted Average Rating: 4.00

Ranking (by score) 1 – Eighth (4.50) 2 – Tenth (4.34) 3 – Ninth (4.30) 4 – Eleventh (4.17) 5 – Third (4.00) 6 – Thirteenth (4.00) 7 – Twelfth (3.87) 8 – Second (3.67) 9 – Fourth (3.67) 10 – Seventh (3.54) 11 – First (3.41) 12 – Fifth (3.20) 13 – Sixth (2.73) N/A – War (No score) N/A – Fugitive (No score)

Ranking (by character) 1 – Tenth Doctor 2 – Second Doctor 3 – Ninth Doctor 4 – Eighth Doctor 5 – Third Doctor 6 – Fourth Doctor 7 – Thirteenth Doctor 8 – Fugitive Doctor 9 – Twelfth Doctor 10 – War Doctor 11 – Eleventh Doctor 12 – Seventh Doctor 13 – First Doctor 14 – Fifth Doctor 15 – Sixth Doctor

As I’ve mentioned before (and before, and before, and…), the top ten spaces on the character ranking are really, really, really close. I’m always tempted to simply rank them all as a first-place tie, but I find the real challenge to be actually thinking it through and placing them.

So, here we are: The Timestamps Project has effectively caught up with the continuing story of Doctor Who. To keep the spirit of this project alive, I’m taking a short break. First, this will allow the Sixtieth Anniversary and Series Fourteen (Season One) stories some time to breathe. Second, it will allow me some time to focus on other things.

No doubt, the Timestamps Project will return. After all, we have the return of David Tennant and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa to talk about, and my initial impression of those stories was that they were fun.

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Star Beast

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[aysrin]

Needle Felt Siffrin Build Log: (oct 6 - nov 20, 2024)

Credits goes wholely to @insertdisc5 for creating ISAT and siffrin's design! I am just here to attempt to make cool fanart (and get more people to play isat.. my devious plans are going great so far :3) As always, this isn't a tutorial- it is just a log about how i go about approaching a sculpture and I hope this collection of resources can help others make their own sifs!!

PSA: this has some spoilers for endgame CGs/sprites on my references image board ( also might see it in the backgrounds of my process pics). And bc this is needle felting, you will see some sharp needles! beware!

my inspiration was the intro cutscene where Sif eats the star, so my main goal was to adhere to the style of ISAT as closely as possible while transfering it to 3D space. And I knew i also wanted to try making the cloak for stopmotion purposes, so my process was tailored towards having control over the fabric with wire inlaid within the cloak (more on that later).

I ended up not sticking eyebrows on top of siffrin's bangs lol but anyways, first order of business is Gather Reference! v important. pureref is free and an awesome program. I also do some sketches to visualize the pose and important details i wanted to include in the sculpt.

behold the isat wiki gallery page! tawnysoup wrote an awesome ISAT style guide that absolutely rings true in 3d space too!! adrienne made a sif hair guide here!! (sorry i couldnt find the original link, but it's on the wiki). It says ref komaeda hair so that's what i looked at, along with other adjacent hairstyles! I also like doing drawovers on in progress photos to previs shapes n stuff to get a better idea of the end result.

Also if you're like me and struggle with translating stuff into 3D space, take a look at how people make 3d models and figurines! sketchfab is also a great resource! I looked at the link botw model by Christoph Schoch here for hair ref. (I used Maya, but there's a blender version too ! you can pose characters too if your model has been rigged!)

Face:

Started off blocking out the main shapes of eyelids and iris, and then filling in the colour details in the iris and the star highlights before moving onto adding thin black outlines and eyelashes. I didn't take many in-progress photos cause i kept ripping stuff out to redo them many many times, sorry!! This eye took about 3 hrs bc i just wasn't happy with it!! Sometimes it do be the vibe to give up, go to bed and see how it looks in the morning (more often than naught, it looks fine and it was the "dont trust yourself after 9pm" speaking)

The Mouth:

Couldn't decide if i even wanted to add a mouth as per usual with all my humanoid sculptures.. but i did some drawover tests first to see what expression i liked and to try to visualize it from multiple angles. (I was also testing the placement of stars on the hat brim here)

And then I redid the mouth like 3 times cause the angle just wasn't right (this went on for about the course of a week yay!)

Hair: woe baldfrin be upon ye

I made the hair strands individually first, and then since Sif has some of the hair at the back dyed black, i covered some of the tips with black wool (manually) (I think it would go much faster if i just took a marker to it, but hahaha i love pain and detailing!! )

And then the rest of it was positioning strands with sewing pins layer by layer, always looking at it from different multiple angles- sometimes tailoring the angle or swoop of individual hair flippies. At one point I thought the back looked too cluttered, but the hat covers a lot of it anyways!! yay for hiding mistakes! (imo this is a similar process to how cosplayers style wigs, but on a smaller scale and the same level of time consuming)

As always, look to your reference for guides, and I always do a whole bunch of drawovers over in progress photos to ascertain what was working and what wasn't.

Hat:

A trick to get a super pointy tip, make another tip seperately while keeping the connection point unfelted, and then combine the two to make super pointy hat!! (this also helps if you made the hat too short and need it to be taller. ask me how i know)

The embroidery on the hat brim was done in a hoop and then invisible stitched to the felted top portion. Technically you don't need a hoop but it helps keep the fabric tension, so you avoid puckers in your embroidery. You can also use iron-on stabilizer if your fabric is loose weave or particularly thin. this is the tutorial i used for the stars embroidery! particularly the fly stitch one, french knots, and the criss-cross stitches. highly recommend needlenthread for embroidery stitches and techniques! i learned all my embroidery from this single site alone.

For fabric, I think I used a polycotton i had in my stash,, unsure of the actual fiber content bc i bought it a long time ago. I used DMC Satin floss which was nice and subtle shiny but frayed a lot so it was kind of a pain to stitch with... but keep a short thread length and perservere through it!! After the embroidery was done, I folded up the raw edges and invisible sewed it to the top portion of the hat.

General shape:

Ok general structure of the body is this: wire armature body covered with black wool -> cloak lining & wire cage -> edge of lining is invisibly sewn to the main cloak at the hem -> head

Don't be afraid to mess around with the pattern, it's essentially a pizza with a slice taken out of it to form a steep cone shape!! Use draft paper before cutting into felt to save material! (i think i made like 3 cloaks before i was happy with the shape lol).

You can also hide the seam of the cloak and collars by gently messing up the fibers of the felt with your fingers or a felting needle btw! you can also sandpaper the seams according to Sarah Spaceman in this vid (highly recommend them for their in depth cosplay/crafting builds holy smokes), though since sif cloak is at such a smol scale, I just blended the seam with my felting needle.

For the lining wire cage section, I sewed in wire around the cloak, so the main rotation point is at the top neck area under the collar. These paddles are used to keep whatever pose I need the cloak to be in for stopmotion purposes. Then after the wire is done, I invisibly sewed the lining to the cloak at the hem (same technique as the hat brim to the lining there).

In hindsight, I should've used a thinner fabric for the lining, but i only had sheer white in my stash so had to go with double felt, thus resulting in a really bulky lining but oh well!

Heels:

started with the general boot shape, then tacking on the diamond shape heel stack and also diamond shape sole bc we're committed to the bit here. I skewer the boot onto the armature which also conveniently hides the connection point into the base to keep the whole thing upright and also I can rotate the boot to tweak the angle if needed.

Pins:

I kinda just trial and error'd jewellery wire with pliers into the pin shapes. They're itty bitty!! had a whole bunch of fails before i got two nice ones. A hot tip is to use needle nose pliers and wrap the wire around the tip to get a smooth circle shape!

Base:

I smoothed out the edge of a circular wood base with a dremel, and then used wood stainer to get the black colour. It ended up kinda looking like I took a sharpie to it, but whatever.... now i have a whole ass can of black wood stainer........ I then made a rough mountain of black wool and stuck the feet armature in. And now he's standing!!

Normally at this point when I'm done felting everything, to get a smooth finish, I'd take a small pair of scissors and carefully snip away any flyaway fibers, but this time, I just left them fluffy cause i think that's what sif would do :3c

Photoshoot:

Normally I do shoots using daylight but it was winter so the sun was nonexistent. So I broke out the home lighting setup aka dollarstore posterboard for a nice smooth background, and then hit it with the overhead Fill, side Fill 2, and Rim light, and use white paper/posterboard for bounce light if one side feels too dark. But if things are overexposed, you can move the light sources away until the harshness dims down. I'm using a Olympus mirrorless camera (handed down to me by my sibling so i dont remember the model exactly), which can connect to my phone as a remote so I can avoid shaking the camera when i take photos. Pretty nifty for stopmotion purposes! (yes my camera stand is a stack of notebooks, a tissuebox and some eva foam under the lens, don't judge me)

Stopmotion animation:

I'm still figuring stopmo out on my part, but my process was straight ahead animation ... move the cloak a cm, take a pic.... move another cm, click.... and repeat until i get a version I was happy with. My ref was the cloak animation from Gris (beautiful game btw). The 2d star animation was also done straight ahead using procreate, exported in png with a transparent background, and finally stitched together with the stopmotion footage in photoshop.

My turnarounds are also stopmotion! also secret hack, the turntable is a fidget spinner sticky tacked to a cake platter.

And i think that's all! i mainly wanted to share how I go about thinking about taking a 2d concept and moving it to 3D. I also didn't go in depth into how to actually do the needle felting bc I don't think I''d be very helpful I'm a very good teacher by telling yall to just keep stabbing until it looks right (i'm self taught for this hobby),,, if anyone wants it though, i can share a bunch of tutorials and other felters' process that helped me learn more needle felting!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone! Feel free to send asks if ya got any questions or if anything needs clarification! Or show me your works! I love seeing other people's crafts :3

here have a cookie for making it this far 🥐

[womprat99]

Schedule Update: The Timestamps Project (WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strike Edition)

Schedule Update: The Timestamps Project WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strike Edition The Timestamps Project is on hiatus in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America. I recognize that Doctor Who is guided primarily by Equity UK, formerly known as the British Actors’ Equity Association, but the show also holds a production number with the Screen Actors Guild because they pay pension and healthcare…

[mothhue]

A hat under waters: The finale, time's end.

Last year in febuary, I drew and posted my first concept of this AU, and exactly one year later; here we are!

Thank you so much to everyone who supported this AU, and to everyone who left kind words in the notes. It's been a delight reading through them, and I'm very happy to see that people enjoy seeing the silly things I do! :D

I hope you had fun watching through this little AU of mine, I sure had a blast making it.

Happy birthday a hat under waters, and thank you for watching.

Link to AHUW masterpost here!

[royalarchivist]

Fit: If they're getting rid of backpacks, I'm fcking malding right now.

Tubbo: ...Did you just say "meow"? Did you meow?

Fit: No– I said I'm fcking' malding.

Tubbo: Oh- oh! Oh– I thought you just went "Meow."

Fit: [Chuckles, then says in a deep voice] Me-ow. Meow.

Tubbo: [Deep voice] "On the oldest anarchy server!" Meow. 😼

Fit: That's right, meow. Get on- get on Discord, kitten. [Laughs]

Tubbo: [Deep voice] "I have many Discord kittens!" Meow. That was interesting, that one.

Fit: [Laughs] Meow.

Tubbo: That was literally you just now.

Fit: I'm a cat for hire, call me a meow-cenary! [Laughs]

Tubbo: He's a meow– Fck, he's a meowcenary!

Fit: A meowcenary!

This is why Madagio stranded him on 2b2t. 😒

[sylveriasarcana]

hi so i'm putting together some The Passenger screenshot collections for folks to use in memes and edits and. i need everyone to look at Randy's reaction to being told he's a good employee

are you seeing it. are you seeing the little shy but satisfied smirk. look at it. looK AT THIS. i'm MELTING RIGHT NOW-

[octofee]

birthday

[majestic-salad]

Old project I'm thinking about again <3

[brot-dae]

Timestamp illustration! Call Vesper a girl again and I'll boil your teeth!

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

hmmm should i go through all of the dramas and musicals and other dn medias to compare light's wardrobes there as well as from the anime and manga or is that too much work

[y-eontan]

when the code just ~works~

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #311: The Power of the Doctor

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Timestamp #311: The Power of the Doctor

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (1 episode, BBC Centenary Special, 2022)

Regeneration, degeneration, and regeneration again.

The Cybermen attack a cosmic bullet train and Team TARDIS responds to the distress call. The train’s guards apparently kill the intruders, but these are the CyberMasters so they regenerate. The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan board the train using a metal ladder but the Cybermen send a team to the roof to counter them. The Doctor deactivates the magnetic field holding the Cybermen to the roof and they fly into the depths of space. Dan takes a blaster bolt to his spacesuit’s helmet but survives once the team enters the train.

The Cybermen are searching for cargo on the train. While Dan slows the train and Yaz tends to the wounded, the Doctor confronts the CyberMasters. They find the cargo is a young child and the CyberMasters escape with him.

Wait, are we trafficking people now?

In Siberia, 1916, a messenger arrives at Father Grigori Rasputin’s home with an urgent request. Tsarevich Alexei has taken ill and Rasputin has been summoned to the Winter Palace.

In London, 2022, Ace studies an empty wall in an art gallery. The curator insists that the missing painting has been taken for restoration, but Ace is not convinced. She calls Tegan, who is in Romania looking for missing seismologists, and notes that fifteen famous paintings have gone missing. Tegan is further confused by a Russian stacking doll containing a tiny Cyberman and a note from the Doctor.

Tegan hasn’t heard from the Doctor in four decades. Ace hasn’t heard from them in three decades.

The TARDIS arrives at the former site of Dan’s house in the modern day, and Dan announces that he’s leaving the TARDIS after his brush with death. The Doctor understands as she and Yaz say farewell. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS and receives a message from a renegade Dalek offering information about a plot to end humanity and a promise to help destroy the Dalek race. Yaz returns as the TARDIS locates the child from the train, leading them to 1916.

There is also an extra planet in the solar system.

St. Petersburg, 1916: Rasputin confers with Tsarina Alexandra about her son’s hemophilia and the appearance of a second moon. Rasputin is really the Master; he hypnotizes the tsarina and Tsar Nicholas II, convincing the family to leave so the Master can control the palace.

The TARDIS materializes on the mysterious moon, revealing it to be a Cyber-converted planet. They spot another TARDIS in the distance, but it is corrupted, tethered to the planet, and is connected to the missing child. That child is really a Qurunx, a rare sentient energy being disguised as something that someone would want to protect. When Cybermen arrive, the Doctor and Yaz barely escape into the TARDIS before being summoned by Kate Stewart.

They fly to UNIT HQ and learn about the missing scientists and paintings. The Doctor is reunited with Ace and Tegan, and while Ace approves of the new face, Tegan holds a grudge. The team finds that each of the paintings has been defaced with the Master’s Rasputin face. The team also receives a message from the Master that he’s holding a conference in Naples, so the Doctor leaves with Yaz after touching each of her former companions. The touches are literally shocking.

The Naples conference reveals that the Master has killed the seismologists. His disguises and dealings are grandstanding to attract the Doctor’s attention. Today is the day that the Doctor is erased from existence forever. Despite the threat/promise, UNIT soldiers arrest the Master and force him into the TARDIS to be held under armed guard.

Adding a complication, Vinder arrives on the Cyber-planet in search of the Qurunx. Unfortunately, the wormhole destroys his ship and strands him on the planet.

The Master is taken to a high-security bunker. En route, he taunts Kate, Tegan, and Ace. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes off to find the renegade Dalek. Yaz expresses her frustration at being kept in the dark, but the Doctor admits she doesn’t understand how everything connects. The Doctor also taps Yaz with the same static effect.

The TARDIS arrives inside a volcano in Bolivia and the Doctor meets with the Dalek. Meanwhile, Yaz discovers a much larger group of Daleks operating heavy drilling machinery.

Ace and Tegan watch a CCTV feed of the Master’s cell, but he addresses them, revealing that he sent the miniature Cyberman and the note from the Doctor. The doll returns to normal size and disgorges several Cybermen and Ashad (mysteriously returned to life). Tegan and Ace take cover with firearms, but the gold bullets prove ineffective. The Cybermen have leveled up.

UNIT is under siege from the Cybermen. The Master is set free.

The Doctor is ambushed by the Daleks. The traitor was set up and the Doctor is forced into the traitor’s casing. Yaz rushes to the TARDIS and tries to pilot it as the Doctor is teleported to 1916. There, the Master gloats about the Master’s Dalek Plan, in which he plans to force her to regenerate using Gallifreyan technology meshed with the Cyber-planet’s power. He taunts her by dancing to Boney M’s Rasputin while the plan is set in motion.

Vinder contacts the TARDIS with his special communicator just as the Master opens a channel to taunt Yaz. Yaz locks on to the signal and lands in the Winter Palace, but she’s too late. The Master has regenerated into the Doctor, clothes and all. The Master-Doctor compels Yaz to follow as his companion while he steals the TARDIS.

Kate, Tegan, and Ace gear up to defend the building. Kate initiates a lockdown while Ace and Tegan run for the roof with parachutes. Ace also digs out her classic bomber jacket and metal bat. Ace escapes but Tegan refuses to jump and remains behind in the locked building.

As the Master-Doctor fights for control of the TARDIS, he outlines his plan to erupt every volcano at once, destroying humanity while turning the planet into a foundry for Cybermen and Daleks. Meanwhile, he will travel the universe and tarnish the name of the Doctor throughout time and space. He starts by ending a civil war by destroying both combatants, all the while clad in a distorted amalgam outfit of the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Tenth, and Thirteenth Doctor’s trademark clothes. Yaz pushes him out of the TARDIS and dematerializes, so the Master-Doctor awaits her return with a tune on the Second Doctor‘s recorder.

The Thirteenth Doctor awakens on an endless rocky vista. Near a telegraph pole, she meets a figure in Gallifreyan robes who morphs between the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctor‘s forms. The figure is the Guardian of the Edge, an overseer of the Edge of Existence where the Doctor passes upon regeneration. Since she hasn’t yet passed this milestone, the forced regeneration can be reversed, so she develops a plan.

Inside the TARDIS, Yaz encounters a holographic message from the Doctor. The shocking touches implanted emotional receptors in the companions so that this AI program could interact with them. Yaz outlines her plan to the AI, including rescuing Vinder. The hologram replies that they only have one chance to reverse the forced regeneration.

Tegan returns to Kate and explains that she needs to help stop the Cybermen. Kate reveals the only plan is to destroy the building and entomb the threat. Kate offers herself to the Cybermen with the promise of information, leaving Tegan to find the manual self-destruct activator.

Outside, Ace jumps off the building and is immediately shot at. Luckily, the TARDIS scoops her out of the sky. Ace approves of the new TARDIS and Yaz’s plan to drop her into the Bolivian volcano. Yaz retrieves the Master-Doctor and seemingly apologizes. Vinder hides nearby with his armed blaster.

As Tegan navigates UNIT HQ, her hologram activates as the Fifth Doctor. It wishes her good luck and promises that the Doctor never forgot her after she left the TARDIS. He offers her a “brave heart” and lets her continue her mission.

Inside the volcano, Ace meets the hologram as the Seventh Doctor. She’s ready to attack the Daleks with her new Nitro-999. The Doctor AI apologizes to Ace for how they parted ways. Ace is happy to make up with the Professor, who tells her that they’re more than good: “We’re ace!” She meets Graham O’Brien and the two hit it off immediately.

Ashad and the Cybermen find Kate hiding behind a laser shield. After a bit of stalling, she offers herself and her knowledge in exchange for the lives of her soldiers. The Cybermen accept. Meanwhile, Tegan descends an elevator shaft and is detected by Ashad.

The Master-Doctor returns to the Winter Palace and orders the Daleks to commence their plan. Volcanoes begin to erupt around the world, but Yaz distracts the Master-Doctor long enough to activate the AI. The Fugitive Doctor enters the room and traps the Cybermen in their own crossfire. Vinder and Yaz force the Master-Doctor into the regeneration chamber and harness the regeneration energy from the CyberMasters to degenerate the Time Lord.

The Thirteenth Doctor returns, astounded at her wardrobe and circumstances. She then gets to work. After changing clothes, she makes a plan for the volcanoes and the Cyber-planet. Meanwhile, Ace and Graham attack the Daleks and destroy the device with the Nitro-999. The Doctor arrives just in time to rescue her companions.

Ashad attempts to convert Kate into a Cyberman, but Tegan reverses the energy flow and disables the Cybermen. The two women sprint out of the building as it self-destructs, then join the Doctor the TARDIS as she pilots to the Cyber-planet. She quickly repairs Vinder’s ship and sends him home with love for the family. She then uses the TARDIS to jump-start the Master’s TARDIS, linking the two time capsules together so she can jump the Cyber-planet from 1916 to 2022. From there, she uses the power to freeze the erupting volcanoes into steel. With the planet saved, she frees the Qurunx and begins destroying the Cyber-planet.

The Rasputin form of the Master crawls from his pod and finds his way back to his TARDIS. As he dies after the trauma of forced degeneration, he shoots the Doctor with the Qurunx’s power. She is mortally wounded, but Yaz rushes to save her as the planet crumbles. The extended family gathers around as the Doctor passes out.

When the Doctor wakes up, she finds that Yaz has dropped everyone off in Croydon. The Cloister Bell rings and Doctor begins her regeneration. Despite wanting more time, she offers Yaz one final trip. They later eat ice cream while watching the Earth from the roof of the TARDIS. The Doctor eulogizes about the time they spent together because it was special. Instead of saying goodbye, the Doctor takes Yaz home and they share one last longing look. The Doctor leaves as Yaz reunites with Graham and Dan.

The trio arrives in a meeting room with a support group of former companions. They admit that, since returning from their travels, they’ve never been able to talk about what they experienced. Graham, Dan, Ace, Tegan, and Kate are joined by Jo Jones, Mel Bush, and even Ian Chesterton. They swap stories and make friends. They’re going to be okay.

The Doctor lands on a seaside cliff and asks the TARDIS to look after the next Doctor while she takes in a final sunrise. She says a fond farewell to her current incarnation before welcoming the Fourteenth Doctor. In a burst of explosive energy, she regenerates.

Her body changes. Her clothes change. But instead of someone new, the Doctor’s new form is someone familiar.

The final adventure of the Thirteenth Doctor is an amazing one. It ties off the CyberMasters storyline (which still irritates me, so it’s still effective) and fulfills the prophecy from The Vanquishers. It’s chock full of connections and callbacks, which is standard for an anniversary special, and it’s (surprisingly) well-written.

The end of the CyberMasters is well-crafted, spending the regeneration energy the Master stole from Gallifrey to restore the child the Time Lords pillaged to achieve immortality. I still have hope for the restoration of Gallifrey, but this is poetic justice.

The Master’s plan is diabolical and brilliant. Attacking the people the Doctor loves and handing the planet over to their greatest enemies is one thing, but taking the Doctor’s form and discrediting them throughout time and space is next level.

I also like how the franchise keeps playing with regeneration. While forced regeneration was established in 1969, the modern era has experimented with a “vanity” half-regeneration, transfer of regeneration energy, extending lifetime limits, jump-starting regeneration, and tests of loyalty. The classic era also experimented with Romana trying out different bodies. Here we add the ability to reverse a regeneration, but only under special circumstances that require a large infusion of regeneration energy.

It is in that regeneration/degeneration cycle that we find a fascinating mindscape to represent the Doctor’s continual transitory nature. The Edge of Existence, guarded by the past incarnations, marks the Doctor’s own river Styx. In Greek mythology, the river Styx separated the living souls from the dead souls of the Underworld. The river was guarded by Charon, the boatman who ferried the dead across. Funeral rites included low-value coins with the corpse which would be paid to Charon, and those who couldn’t pay wandered the shores for a century before being allowed across. It is fitting that the essence of the Doctor serves as the Guardian of the Edge, ensuring that each incarnation is truly ready to move on after death.

I kind of want a Tales from the Edge anthology. Who greeted the First Doctor? Were the Second and Tenth Doctors ready to accept the end? How would the Watcher figure in? Why does the Eighth Doctor despise the Gallifreyan robes so much?

The final thing I really like is the companion support group. While I dislike Ryan’s absence (particularly since he was among the first companions in this era), I love the concept of former companions swapping stories and bonding over their adventures. I have often wondered what happened to companions when they returned to their normal lives, and now I wonder why this idea took so long to arrive.

That brings me to the big friction point I have with this regeneration.

On the one hand, it was a necessary evil. What should have been a triumphant era in Doctor Who‘s history was plagued by lower budgets and declining viewership driven by substandard writing and plotting. Episode orders were cut, including for the Flux event and the follow-on specials. The show was nearly cancelled (again). Bringing in the most popular Doctor and the most popular showrunner leading into the 60th anniversary was a brilliant marketing move. It was a necessary marketing move, designed to tell the skeptics that The Powers That Be were serious about the longevity of the franchise.

On the other hand, it gave the most toxic members of fandom exactly what they wanted. Since Jodie Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor, social media, YouTube, and places like 4chan were flooded with complaints and doom-mongering: Missives about how a female Doctor ruined representation for male fans and emasculated the fan base; How the show was becoming “woke” and feminist; How the next Doctor should be David Tennant and the years since his departure should be “decanonized” and cast aside as a fever dream.

Yeah, the vocal toxic minority wanted to erase the Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker eras. So when David Tennant appeared as the Fourteenth Doctor, it felt like Russell T. Davies was giving them exactly what they wanted. By burning away the Thirteenth Doctor’s face and clothing (which hadn’t been done since Hartnell’s regeneration) and replacing it with a copy of something twelve years past, it felt like RTD was erasing Whittaker’s legacy.

It took a while to come to terms with RTD’s assurance that he wasn’t doing that, but symbolically that’s how it looked, and it added a sour note to what is otherwise an amazing, fun, and fitting send-off for the Thirteenth Doctor.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[bddybby666]

gotta keep my toys on me at all times 🤞🤞🤞🤞

[rainbowpufflez]

Guess what’s finally on YouTube

[homicidalbrunette]

[royalarchivist]

Baghera: [To her chat in French] I'm talking really fast so it doesn't get translated, but his voice is incredible, I'm gonna lose it–

Nobody on the QSMP was immune to Fit's voice, but Baghera's reaction to it still makes me laugh a lot (especially because Ramon called her out on it).

HUGE thank you to @/lmorphos for translating Baghera's comments, I couldn't have made this edit without them. Translators are the backbone of our community, and I really appreciate the help.

[ Full Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]

—

Fit: This way, my boy.

Baghera: [To her chat, in French] I'm talking really fast so it doesn't get translated, but his voice is incredible, I'm gonna lose it–

Baghera: [In English] Sorry. [She checks the subtitles]

Fit: You remember which one it is, right Ramon? Yup, there you go.

Baghera: [In French] Of course it's written...

Fit: Alright, so then here we have like the television area and like, the sofa...

Baghera: [After a brief pause] Sorry! Ok! It's- it- it- it's real– [Laughs] It's minimalist, but I- I like it!

Fit: And then here's Ramon in front of his house...

Baghera: He seems very polite in this picture.

Fit: Yes [Laughs] Yes, he's very... less-violent in that picture. [...] So, I'll take you to the library– this way. Right, over here, just alley- [...] So this is like the library, it's not finished yet, but we're working on it. Um.

Baghera: Ok, it's really– [Laughs]

Fit: [Laughs] Oh yeah, watch your step, Pomme. Alright.

Baghera: [Gestures at the camera silently]

[...]

Fit: That's not a bad idea! Yeah, we could do that.

Baghera: I dunno! Maybe just cats.

Fit: Oh, maybe. [Laughs] Maybe a cat's– yeah. No dogs, just cats.

Ramon: wait, you like fit voice?

Baghera: Uh, Ramon– Yeah, yeah! He got a really nice voice. You do.

Fit: Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you. Um, Ramon– don't embarrass me. [He accidentally hits Ramon] Hey, no– Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean– I'm not– I did not mean to do that, Ramon! That was an accident, I–

Ramon: [Climbs down the ladder and runs away]

Fit: Ramon! I did not– No, Ramon!

Baghera: [Laughs] Are you ok?

Baghera: [To chat, in French] Damn– you guys are bastards! Ramon is a snitch! Pomme, Ramon is a snitch! I- I don't have problems with snitches, but he's a snitch!