Doctor Who theory: Could Brendan’s story explain something about the TARDIS?

The story of Brendan seemed like a strange addition to the first part of Doctor Who’s twelfth series finale, Ascension of the Cybermen. But could it provide a clue to a key detail about the TARDIS?

We’re just a couple of days away from Doctor Who‘s final episode for Series 12. We’ve been promised that we’re going to get a lot of answers to our questions. What did the Master find out? Who is the Timeless Child? Why did Chris Chibnall bring Captain Jack back just for a cameo? (OK, probably not that one. And I have to admit – it did get everyone talking, at least.)

One question that looks ready to be answered relates to the Doctor. Not the one that we’re familiar with, but the mysterious incarnation played by Jo Martin.

To recap: in Fugitive of the Judoon, the Doctor met Ruth, a tour guide in Gloucester who somehow found herself caught up in the Doctor’s adventure…only it turned out that wasn’t the case. Because not only were the Judoon looking for Ruth, but Ruth was in fact the Doctor. One from earlier in her timeline. One that our Doctor can’t even remember.

There have been a lot of questions raised as a result of this, something that showrunner Chris Chibnall clearly planned. The most obvious is when in her timeline is this Doctor from? We’ve seen virtually all of the Doctor’s regenerations by this point, so how can she possibly fit?

The story of Brendan begins when Patrick (Branwell Donaghey) finds a baby. But how does it connect to the story?

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

The Police Box problem

One theory is that she’s before William Hartnell’s original Doctor. But if that’s true, why did her TARDIS look like a Police Telephone Box on the outside? Keep in mind, the first ever serial An Unearthly Child established that the TARDIS blended in with its surroundings on its previous journeys, as it was meant to do. It only became stuck in that form after it had left London 1963. So if Jo Martin is before the First Doctor, why would her TARDIS look like a Police Box?

Perhaps this is something that the two-part finale has been building towards. In the last episode, Ascension of the Cybermen, along with a plot focused on stopping Ashad from resurrecting the Cybermen, we also had a different storyline entirely focused on the life of Brendan. (Don’t think we won’t be making that joke at every opportunity.)

Who’s Brendan? That’s the question we’ve all been asking, and one that we’re sure the second part will answer. But the plotline can be summed up as follows: Brendan’s discovered as a baby by

Pa Kent

Patrick, and is raised as his own son. Eventually, he joins the local police force. He gets shot, but miraculously survives. Once he’s had a long and happy life, his father and boss celebrate by shocking him with electrodes to make him forget.

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Resolving that problem?

Yeah, it’s a strange storyline. Well, it is while we’ve only seen half of it. It’s bound to tie into the finale – and indeed, perhaps the whole of Series 12. But what we don’t know so far is how.

However, perhaps it provides one clue. There’s a lot of focus on the police force. Indeed, the man who runs it is clearly involved with whatever’s going on – when Brendan retires, neither his boss nor his father have aged a day. So something odd is definitely going on there.

Could this be tied to the Doctor’s origins? Are Time Lords living in this village? Is the local police force a cover for something else?

With these questions, it’s not hard to imagine a TARDIS being there disguised as a police box. One that eventually gets stolen by the Doctor – or was it hers all along? Either way, it would provide an explanation for why a pre-Hartnell Doctor would be travelling in a Police Box shaped TARDIS.

More than that: it would have strong implications for when Hartnell’s Doctor left Gallifrey in the first place. The Doctor used to think that he had chosen a TARDIS that he had never used before at random. But what if, on some level, he was simply returning home…?

Obviously, this is just one theory of many. Jo Martin’s Doctor may not even be meant to be set before Hartnell at all. And if I’m honest, due to the First Doctor’s journey, I’m hoping she isn’t. But with the finale just a couple of days away, it’s hard to resist the urge to theorize, even if we’re hoping we’re wrong.

What are you thoughts on Brendan’s story? Do you think it could tie in to explain why the TARDIS looks like a Police Box? What theories do you have for all the questions raised in Series 12? Let us know in the comments below.