Rewatching The Timeless Children and the Master really did just yoink the Doctor through the portal with him.

And I do wish it had been a longer shot so we could see him grab her hand. It'd be a neat parallel to the way the Twelfth Doctor had grabbed Missy's hand.

Also this episode really does show off how excellent Whittaker is as an actor. The sadness and conflict on her face the entire time she's with the Master!

Dhawan is excellent too; his Master is a little pleased with himself but similarly conflicted as well.

Really do wish the director had opted for more medium to long shots though. I want to see ALL of Whittaker and Dhawan's acting!

Toisin Cole's Ryan is such a sweetheart and I'll miss him when he goes. He's my favourite of the Thirteenth Doctor's companions and I love his relationship with the Doctor.

It's fascinating/amusing the Doctor willingly steps closer to the Master when he rings up the Cybermen. Like she's being nosy and listening in on his phone call

And oh! The way he tries to keep her at an arm's length.

Haven't had a chance yet to listen to the series 12 soundtrack but gods I love Akinola's Cybermen theme. All clashing metallic sounds that makes your heart pound in terror.

"You're not such a bad human yourself" okay but what about the unsaid love letter that statement implies about Yaz's feelings toward the Doctor? Because I feel there's an implied "but you can't hold a candle to an alien we both know"

(I am glad that Yaz got more characterisation this series, but I can't say I approve of the way Chibnall has seemingly split up the trifecta of companion types of affection between the three. They should ALL have adoration, affection and companionship, just in varying levels.

Aka: let Ryan and Graham be a little in love with the Doctor too, let Yaz joke around a little with the Doctor show friendly concern about her.

"Much bigger things to think about"
I had to rewind to scrutinise 13's reaction to that line and... I think it's confusion and, well, I'm going headcanon she thought it was going to be a double entendre until he continued.

"The history between us does mean something. It's the rage and pain in my hearts."
That's a very fancy way of saying 'you've broken my heart countless times but I still love you and I hate that I do'

Also I really like whatever makeup did to make Dhawan look so tired.

And yes, I may have been trying to replicate that look recently, all orange and bronze

The Master beginning to tell the Doctor about the Timeless Child is delightful.

Also makes me really hope Sacha Dhawan will read plenty of #DoctorWho books and stories in the future.

...so the Doctor inherits their proclivity for kidnapping companions from somewhere after all

"I used to do that [hit a robot]"
He's talking about Nardole right? That's how I'm reading that line anyway.

I love the building of Gallifrey's Citadel animation.

Tecteun limited the regenerations Time Lords had to twelve, but didn't limit themselves to that same number I'm guessing...
which either points to the headcanon that Tecteun is Rassilon... or that there is another Time Lord with infinite regenerations alongside the Foundling

Also, the Doctor and the Master holding a conversation within the Matrix/the shared mental space between their minds? Disappointingly not used to its full potential in fanfic, especially not as a way for illicit trysts to take place

The reveal of the humans (and Yaz and Graham) in the cybersuits is So Much Fun.

I really do think the Cyberium may well be the fluid in the opening titles... and thus won't be terribly surprised if it and the Master show up again in series 13. (I mean I'm hoping the Master turns up again anyway, but this would be a nice plot-related excuse as to why.

;_; the Doctor really does want to have grown up with the Master, for him to be her equal and the same as her, for her to be the same as him.

So plume lady is presumably Gat, who is part of the Division. The Division seemed to be working in some kind of arrangement with Tecteun when employing the Timeless Child/the Doctor.
So... Tecteun might be the person behind the order to arrest Martin's Doctor, right?

Really enjoying the way the Cybermaster theme seems to have strains of Gold's Gallifrey theme in it.

Stupidly amused the Cybermasters are, in the episode, referred to as the children of the Doctor and the Master.
Like... we all wanted a canon Thoschei child but we didn't expect this

I did prefer Jo Martin's Doctor when she might've been a hidden regeneration like the War Doctor, whose existence was brought into being through the manipulation of the Time Lords.

It was heaps more fun speculating where she fit in rather than... this.

"Did they force me back into becoming a child?"
I hate both Lungbarrow & 'the Timeless Child is the Doctor' but I also find it funny that if the Doctor weren't forced into being a child again, that means the whole 'Time Tots are adult sized just with huge furniture' IS canon.

"No humans on Gallifrey!"
I just find that the Doctor insisting on this one rule hilarious.

"I left you a gift though"
My heart aches at the idea that the Master keeps trying to give the Doctor gifts only to have them rejected or thrown back in their face.

Yeah, they're rubbish gifts but at the same time they're that same generous offer of a half share in the universe

Just once could the Doctor accept? (And the disastrous consequences that result of that acceptance)

Actually wait. That would make a fantastic premises for a collection of #DoctorWho stories or a Big Finish Short Trip: the time the Doctor did accept the Master's gift

The fam appropriately react to the Doctor talking to Master telepathically though.
Namely looks of WTF in the background

...and the Doctor is still very concerned that humans are on Gallifrey.
Maybe I'm jumping at shadows, but that feels important - like she can't have them witnessing her tryst with the Master or something terrible & unthinkable will happen if human biosignatures register too long.

Obviously I prefer the former option.

But I do find it peculiar that this flimsy excuse that humans aren't meant to be on Gallifrey is being upheld by 13

Yaz has a star stud in one of her piercings!

...

Ryan!

You caring about the Doctor blowing herself up is why he's my favourite.

And him very verbally holding Yaz back is again why he's my favourite.

'Live great lives'

I truly, truly think that, aside from maybe a flashback of a festive special, this is the only farewell we will get for this TARDIS team.

:( the Master was really hoping the gift he'd given her was the gift he actually wanted her to receive.

And this is the face of someone who didn't listen to the Doctor's entire speech about the gift she actually got because wow is that a terrible monologue.

(Like props to Whittaker for regularly pulling them off, but Chibnall, please. Just because Moffat pulled them off doesn't mean you have to try to do them as well. Classic Who was very light on the monologues until the late 80s. So please. Stop writing terrible monologues)

(It's literally just the Doctor repeating the same thing like seven times over! All it adds is run time! Run time that could be used to better effect like actors acting or the director showing the actors acting!)

(This also feeds into my frustration that verbal exposition works well for crime and legal dramas but does not work well for sci-f or character based drama. Which Doctor Who is.)

(I am sure another writer, possibly with another director, could've figured out a way for the Doctor to blast her way out of the Matrix without her narrating it completely. But yet the Thirteenth Doctor had to spell it out for the audience over one agonising minute.)

Anyway I really want the Doctor to accept, wholly and unconditionally, one of the Master's gifts at least once.

Also really wishing we had the angle that would allow the audience how the Master is BREATHING on the Doctor's knuckles.

(I'd also like the arc where the Doctor does become the Master and they switch narrative places. They're the same, two equals, two sides of the same coin etc)

Oh, imagine if the Master, being that close to her hand had held her hand in his and kissed her knuckles! While still talking about how she should become him and destroy them both. Because that's just how they are.

I honestly would be very happy if the last time (chronologically) we saw Graham, Ryan and Yaz was them wondering whatever had happened to the Doctor.

There was a subtle, and frustratingly unresolved, thread of what home is for the Doctor in series 12. At times it's both Gallifrey and the TARDIS, and again I feel another writer would've dealt with it more satisfyingly.

Again, Whittaker knocks it out of the park with that same bone deep tiredness that the Twelfth Doctor had just before he regenerated, and perhaps with a little tinge of regret that she made that decision to try again.

Oh wait. Were Lee and Gat also sent to Shada? I hope so, because I really want to know who else could be the Doctor's most faithful companion

Anyway, after a rewatch I still hate the plot of TTC and the canon it adds but still love all the emotions it made me feel.
Although I will freely admit that most of the emotion was because there was a lot of the Master with the Doctor.

Also Ryan was a sweetheart.

Still not a fan of Chibnall's narrative style - it very much reads as one of Those fans who insists on one true canon.

Which is amusing as Those fans are insisting this era doesn't exist.

But it's inconvenient if you want to remodel things to your liking for your headcanon.

I definitely prefer Moffat and RTD's styles - one was 'nothing is canon' which meant you could merrily build headcanons as you pleased, and the other left plenty of room to manoeuvre headcanons around and cover things with some nice wallpaper.

Also it's... enlightening to read this thread through and see which bits I like and gush and praise and which bits I ignore or create headcanons and theories for because I think they're rubbish.