Doctor Who history: The Eighth Doctor’s “Time Lord Victorious” phase

We know about the Tenth Doctor’s brief “Time Lord Victorious” phase. But an earlier incarnation also came dangerously close to crossing the same line…

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

David Tennant’s Doctor isn’t the only incarnation who became dangerously arrogant and reckless in Doctor Who. The Eighth Doctor also went through a similar phase.

Have you been enjoying Time Lord Victorious so far? We certainly have. While not every story is exactly a winner, it has been an interesting project, particularly at bringing many different strands of the Doctor Who universe together. Not exactly to share one story, but to tell many in a clearly shared universe across different media.

However, if there’s one Doctor that feels central to the event, it’s the Tenth. After all, the entire event is directly named after a quote he used in the fantastic 2009 special, The Waters of Mars. When he said those words, it was Ten at his most dangerous – when he was arrogant enough to declare himself “the winner” of the Time War, and to decide for himself what should and shouldn’t be. To think himself above the Laws of Time.

It’s the closest we’ve ever seen the Doctor to crossing that line. Having said that, one of his earlier selves also came dangerously close. For a lot longer than just a few moments, too. For a while, the Eighth Doctor had something quite similar to his own “Time Lord Victorious” phase – and perhaps most surprisingly, this was before the Time War…

When he finds himself caught between the Time Lords, the Daleks and the Master, the Eighth Doctor is pushed to the edge in the series Dark Eyes…

Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish. Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

Pushed to the edge

Back in 2011, the fourth season of The Eighth Doctor Adventures ended in a big and dramatic way in the grand finale To The Death. The best way to describe this story is Journey’s End, where all of the Doctor’s companions and allies join together to fight the Daleks, but as envisioned by George R.R. Martin – with the exception of his granddaughter, almost all of his friends and even family involved die. It’s an utterly devastating episode – one that leaves him as an utterly broken man.

This is where Dark Eyes comes in. In the first volume of the series, (one that was supposed to be a one-off,) the Doctor is at his lowest point yet. He’s a man searching for hope but struggling to find any. He even travels dangerously close to the edge of existence just to find something to hope for. This isn’t when his “Time Lord Victorious” phase begins, not exactly. But it does lay the groundwork for it.

Over time, the Doctor recovers from the trauma of To The Death, thanks to the help of his companion Molly. Of course, then he finds out that the Time Lords had not only planned to use his friend as part of a scheme to wipe out the Daleks, but to sacrifice her in the process.

If that wasn’t enough to make him furious with his own race, he then finds out that they decided to recruit the Master in their cold war against the Daleks. Even worse, they wanted him to use a powerful alien force called “the Eminence” and bring it under their control. Considering that the Master is one of the most evil Time Lords who ever lived and the Eminence is a force that seeks to control all other life, this was definitely a recipe for disaster. Unsurprisingly, the Master went rogue and decided to use the Eminence for his own ends – kidnapping Molly in the process.

When both the Time Lords and the Master go too far, the Doctor decides to take matters – and history itself – into his own hands.

Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Breaking point

Each of these steps is crucial to pushing the Doctor towards breaking point. He finally reaches it when he witnesses the destruction of an entire world caught in a war between humanity and the Eminence. Sickened at both the Master’s and even the Time Lords’ casual attitude to changing history, as well as the number of lives lost, the Doctor makes a decision: to change history himself. Not in a small way, either. This time, the Doctor chooses to break the Laws of Time entirely and avert the creation of the Eminence.

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This is a very dangerous line that the Doctor crosses. Even the Master is shocked by it. He asks the Doctor “Why now?” When the Doctor states that he won’t “countenance” the destruction of an entire world, the Master calls out the Doctor on his self-righteous and hypocritical behavior. And honestly, he’s right to do so. By wanting to change history in a way he’s never done before, he’s crossing a major line.

After the deaths of his friends and family in To The Death, he came close to wanting to change history, mainly to save the life of even just one of his friends. He didn’t go through with it. After trying to change history once in Dark Eyes 3, though, it could have been very easy for him to want to do it again.

So why didn’t he stick with this dangerous new approach? Because it ultimately failed. Not because he backed out of the choice like in Genesis of the Daleks, but because, despite his best efforts, very little changed. The Eminence was still created, and humanity still went through a long war against it. If Eight had succeeded? Well, perhaps he would have been even closer to becoming the “Time Lord Victorious” than Ten did – and perhaps he could have been far more dangerous as a result.

Do you think this has parallels with the Tenth Doctor’s dangerous level of arrogance in The Waters of Mars? Do you think any Doctor could become the “Time Lord Victorious” if pushed far enough? Let us know in the comments below.