If the most recent episode of Doctor Who didn’t have you on the edge of your seat, then I’m not sure what will. I’m talking about Jo Martin’s epic return as the Fugitive Doctor during this season’s “Flux” storyline, which is getting crazier with every episode.
We met Martin’s Fugitive Doctor during the season 12 finale, “The Timeless Child,” which introduced an absolutely wild twist to the Doctor Who story we thought we knew. Essentially, we learned that the Fugitive Doctor predated the franchise’s first Doctor, played by William Hartnell. Up until then, Whovians assumed there was no Doctor before William Hartnell, but the introduction of the Fugitive Doctor changed everything. It meant that not only did the Doctor exist before then, but may have an incredibly long history that predates time and the universe itself.
*Mind blown*
The Fugitive Doctor returns to Doctor Who
After appearing in the latest episode, “Once, Upon Time,” Martin spoke about her return. “I’m back,” she said in a behind-the-scenes video.
"A lot of the Thirteenth Doctor, what she’s trying to achieve, is just to know who the hell she is. She has a strong sense of self, right and wrong, she will not suffer fools gladly, and she feels like she has to be strong all the time, which is a blessing and a curse."
Martin acknowledges that that the Fugitive Doctor’s appearance leads to a lot of questions. “Why can’t she remember this? Why don’t we know each other? Those are big, big questions and to not know one’s identity is so important.”
We have to remember that since Martin’s Doctor predates the current Doctor, she has no idea about who she has regenerated into. There is a scene in the recent episode where Whittaker’s Doctor looks into a mirror and we see the reflection of Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. That scene is so powerful because they’re one and the same, yet one of them has no context for what they’re seeing. That is the magic and power of Doctor Who, and potentially why this storyline is going to go down as one of the most pivotal in this franchise.
So will we see the Fugitive Doctor again? “I mean, what I will say is… I’ll be hard to get rid of,” Martin hinted. I think that’s pretty self-explanatory, don’t you?
There is still so much we don’t know about the Timeless Child, and Whittaker’s Doctor is still trying to get a grasp on it amidst the Flux madness. We do know that the Fugitive Doctor worked for “The Division” alongside other Doctors and that they erased all of their memories. That is why from William Hartnell’s Doctor on, there is no recollection of the Doctors that came before.
The series is going through a lot of changes over the next year and a half, with Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall leaving and Russell T. Davies set to take over as showrunner in 2023. I hope Davies won’t axe the storyline with Jo Martin, but in case that does happen, I’m going to enjoy every moment we get with her!
Doctor Who: Flux, the six-episode event, airs new episodes every Sunday on BBC America.
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h/t SYFY Wire