Spoilers Fugitive of the Judoon grade and discussion thread

[Mr Soak]

1. Pre-Hartnell Doctor.
2. TARDIS got stuck in the shape of a Police Box, either deliberately, or malfunction.
3. Doctor returns to Gallifrey, has memory wiped, gets new regeneration cycle.
4. The TARDIS goes in for maintenance to repair chameleon circuit.
5. The Hartnell Doctor “borrows” a TARDIS, the same one the Doctor had before.
6. The TARDIS remembers the Doctor, reverts to Police Box form first chance it gets.

Only problem I can see with a pre-Hartnell Doctor is the number of incarnations. We supposedly have a full all-female cycle - 13 incarnations. Don’t additional cycles only add 12 regenerations - an additional 12 incarnations? Unless The Stolen Earth regeneration doesn’t count, Hartnell to Smith is 12 regenerations, with Hartnell effectively the 14th of 25 incarnations, which would make Smith either the last of the second cycle (25th) or the first of a third (26th).

 

[Mr Awe]

Ruth Speculation
It wouldn't make sense that she would be Pre-Hartnell (given the TARDIS is already stuck as a police box). So that leaves.

Agreed.

A) Season 6B. Between Troughton and Pertwee. The CIA grabs him, and he works for them for a while, through at least two regenerations. (With the CIA adding extra lives, and removing the memories.)

Disagree. Ruth did not remember the sonic screwdriver, which Doctor #2 originated.

B) Future Doctor. She has forgotten about the Whittaker incarnation and the sonic similarly to how the Capaldi incarnation forgot about Clara. (And Gallifrey is restored at some point.)

Possible. More convoluted than A and B because it involves multiple manipulations.

C) Alternate Doctor. Not likely.

Not sure how likely but this seems to involve the least contradictions. She can be the Doctor, whatever number Doctor, and it doesn't contradict anything for our Doctor. This is my preferred option.

D) Infostamped Time Lord who thinks she's the Doctor.

The scan indicated Ruth was the same person as our Doctor. Would have to explain that away.

All the options involve mind wipes and other changes to work. Except for an alternate Doctor.

Of course, Chibnall probably isn't going to base it on the number of contradictions!

 

[The Wormhole]

It wouldn't make sense that she would be Pre-Hartnell

If anything, pre-Hartnell makes the most sense given it ties in with the apparent arc of the season that the Time Lords have hidden something disturbing in the distant past and the Master even said "everything you knew is a lie."

 

[valkyrie013]

I think she's pre Hartnell.. With them showing the doctor as a kid, as a boy, then even Ms Ruth isn't the first incarnation of the doctor, So I think the doctor had a life as a timelord with a tardis, working for Galyfrey .. then something happened, and they mind wiped her and have her a new set of regenerations.. and having a feeling that he wanted to GTFO of Gallefery, he stole a tardis and bobs your uncle..
Side note..
I really don't like this incarnation of the Tardis control room.. I miss the Smith/Capaldi clean metalic version.. and love the old version that poped up this episode..

 

[Professor Zoom]

The fact that Doctor Ruth's Tardis looks like a Police Box doesn't disqualify her from being pre-Hartnell at all. It's the easiest to explain than 6B or a future Doctor--which would cause problems, like... wouldn't she and the other Gallifreyian know about the destruction (for the 2nd time) of Gallifrey, it would be in their past...

As others have suggested, the Tardis "remembers" the Doctor and takes them back to the same place.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I watched the episode again today and I noticed something that I don't think anyone else brought up: While fighting back the stolen ship's anti-theft security system, Captain Jack noted "Always the nanongenes!" He and The Doctor and Rose dealt with nanogenes waaaay back in his first appearance in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances." I imagine that's simply a nice wink to his first appearance and doesn't have any greater meaning. But I do wonder if there's any connection to the stolen ship and whoever he stole it from, especially since Jack notably never referred to whom they were. Probably another a coincidence but the ship's deck had a hexagonal pattern.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I prefer A, B, or C. D would be relatively disappointing.

 

[matthunter]

I watched the episode again today and I noticed something that I don't think anyone else brought up: While fighting back the stolen ship's anti-theft security system, Captain Jack noted "Always the nanongenes!" He and The Doctor and Rose dealt with nanogenes waaaay back in his first appearance in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances." I imagine that's simply a nice wink to his first appearance and doesn't have any greater meaning. But I do wonder if there's any connection to the stolen ship and whoever he stole it from, especially since Jack notably never referred to whom they were. Probably another a coincidence but the ship's deck had a hexagonal pattern.

Depends on Chibnall's preferences, but nanotech was the explanation for regeneration back in the NA novel era. And the Cybermen now rely on it to convert others.

I did suspect that Jack's hexagonal console was meant to throw us off as to another TARDIS.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

If they go pre-Hartnell, I hope they don't go all females. At least have the 8 male faces shown in Brain Of Morbius be legit. That could leave 4 other female Doctors plus Ruth.

 

[Butters]

If they go pre-Hartnell, I hope they don't go all females. At least have the 8 male faces shown in Brain Of Morbius be legit. That could leave 4 other female Doctors plus Ruth.

It there was a set of regenerations before Hartnell, there’s nothing to say that it was the first set. The morbius faces could have been randomly selected from the most recent thousand incarnations.

 

[RevdKathy]

Random thoughts to throw into the discussion:

Lee had a non-earth tech medal in a box stuffed in the back of a wardrobe. I certainly took that to imply it was a chameleon arch doohicky designed for unmasking a timelord. So was Lee a timelord himself, rather than "faithful companion"? Was he the actual fugitive? Or was it not his, as Martha looked after the fob watch?

Ruth runs to a lighthouse and smashes the glass to get her memories back, due to a trigger from Lee. He's her husband, but apparently she isn't too bothered by his death? I know this is Doctor Who, but a little more emotional response? She never mentions him again... like, how long were they married?

Also, if your secret identity were dependent on a fire alarm panel, would you really leave it in an empty building for vandals to break in and trash? Honestly? Building out in the wilds and no kids in there smoking weed in 20 years?

The judoon scan Ruth and she shows as human, and not the fugitive. She smashes the glass, thereby breaking the identity lock, after which the doctor scans her and she shows as the doctor. Can the Chameleon identity thing do layers? Is she in fact someone else hiding as the Doctor?

 

[Butters]

What bothered me more about the lighthouse was that Ruth was trying to eek out a living as a tour guide in Gloucester, when she had a million quid of real estate sat empty.

 

[RevdKathy]

What bothered me more about the lighthouse was that Ruth was trying to eek out a living as a tour guide in Gloucester, when she had a million quid of real estate sat empty.

Which also makes no sense.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Which also makes no sense.

Ruth wouldn't want people around the property where they might accidentally mess up the glass or dig up the TARDIS. She'd've programmed herself to think of it as she presented it: abandoned, disused, and otherwise unusable, paying the upkeep to keep it in the family as a "necessary" expense.

 

[RevdKathy]

But just because she thought of it that way.... it's out in the wilds. It would have been broken into within 6 months, even with a great burglar alarm. It's not boarded up, not protected. Honestly, it's a miracle it's still standing.

It should have seagull shit all over it. Broken windows. Be full of drug paraphernalia and glue sniffing kit (the early 2000s). Someone would have smashed that glass for the hell of it within a year of her walking away.

(Not to mention the sheer stupidity of "I'll get a fire going" in a building unoccupied for 20 years. Not without having the chimney checked and swept you won't, you silly woman.)

 

[Paul Weaver]

What bothered me more about the lighthouse was that Ruth was trying to eek out a living as a tour guide in Gloucester, when she had a million quid of real estate sat empty.

Unless something in her subconcious says "don't sell the lighthouse".

Is there even a lighthouse anywhere north of Bristol?

Interesting thing I just spotted -- the last time Doctor Who was filmed in Gloucester, there was a surprise "doctor" ("The Next Doctor" christmas special)

It should have seagull shit all over it. Broken windows. Be full of drug paraphernalia and glue sniffing kit (the early 2000s). Someone would have smashed that glass for the hell of it within a year of her walking away.

Maybe the tardis keeps the lighthouse in some kind of perception filter to stop people from visiting it.

We've seen the Tardis magically clean itself too, perhaps it can do that with the lighthouse

Was the lighthouse even real, or was it just part of the Tardis?

 

[Guy Gardener]

What bothered me more about the lighthouse was that Ruth was trying to eek out a living as a tour guide in Gloucester, when she had a million quid of real estate sat empty.

HMRC.

 

[RevdKathy]

There are lighthouses all round the country, including many in Scotland. That's not an issue.

I suppose the TARDIS could be hiding it, but at this point you're looking for plugs in plot holes, which never really works.

I suspect that may have been why Gloucester was chosen, it's the sort of fan nod Chibnall would enjoy. Seems an odd place otherwise. That and the December 1999 reference. Watch to see how long before people notice. Also Gat, which is sort of gun, which of course the Doctor doesn't do.

 

[Paul Weaver]

including many in Scotland.

Yes, but how many are near Gloucester? The impression I got was the lighthouse was in the Gloucester vicinity.

you're looking for plugs in plot holes

This is trekbbs

 

[RevdKathy]

HMRC.

Indeed. She must have inherited a huge pile of cash to pay the inheritance tax on that. 40% of its value when her parents died? She might have escaped some of that by making the lighthouse her main residence. Otherwise, unless she inherited a million in capital with it, she'd have had to sell to pay the taxman.

ETA there are loads of lighthouses within range. Though I suspect the BBC used a more remote one for visual effect.