Before Doctor Who season 11 began, producers Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens promised fans that the first season starring Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor would be totally standalone and would not feature an overarching story of any kind, as has been the norm since the show came back in 2005. Eight episodes in, and it mostly looks like the pair were telling the truth. However, some have noticed a recurring motif throughout the run that might be going somewhere.
Have you realized yet how several episodes so far have featured a recurring set design: the shape of the TARDIS console? Just a couple of examples include the sleek, white spaceship featured in “The Tsuranga Conundrum” and the workstation from the janitor’s room in “Kerblam!”
Don’t believe us? See the stills of the sets in question in the gallery below, along with a shot of the actual TARDIS for comparison.
So, could there be a reason for the image of the TARDIS being seen throughout time and space? Not one that we can think of right now, but fans have been theorizing a lot about that mysterious mention of a “Timeless Child” from episode 2, “The Ghost Monument,” so maybe that’s involved somehow? The psychic rag-like creature the Remnants read the Doctor’s mind and spoke of a deeply-buried memory of a timeless child. There seemed to be too much emphasis on it for it to be a throwaway line and as such, viewers are expecting this plan to pay off by the end of the season.
Alternatively, many think there’s a bigger scheme at work concerning how most of the foes from the earlier episodes lived to tell the tale – see: T’Zim-Sha of the Stenza, Krasko the racist time-traveller, Trump-alike Jack Robertson and even that little cutie pie the Pting. Again, it’s hard to fathom how this eclectic bunch could be connected to the TARDIS, but maybe some imaginative Whovian out there can weave it all together.
Or, you know, we can just find out the old-fashioned way as Doctor Who season 11 unfolds for the next two Sundays on BBC America.
