Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
It’s fair to say that this is a particularly unusual incarnation of the Doctor to be portrayed in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series – both classic and new. Arguably, Jo Martin is the first black person to be cast in the role before Ncuti Gatwa came along. The second if you count Lenny Henry playing the Doctor in 1985. 😀
Technically, Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor is before William Hartnell as the First Doctor. I know this is likely to upset some fans, since William Hartnell was the original actor who portrayed the role in 1963. But in terms of story, it was interesting to see how it became unveiled in the Jodie Whittaker era.
I was surprised and stunned when Jo Martin was revealed to be the Doctor in ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’. Beforehand, she’d been the human being called Ruth Clayton. It’s also a shock to find how the Fugitive Doctor did things differently compared to other Doctors, especially when she was carrying guns around.
Since ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’, there have been more appearances of Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor, including ‘The Timeless Children’, ‘Flux’ and ‘The Power of the Doctor’. Despite that, there’s not much to go on, since the Fugitive Doctor is shrouded in mystery when she’s connected to the Timeless Child.
Hopefully, when the Big Finish audios starring Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor are released, there’ll be more to uncover concerning her role when she was with the Division on Gallifrey. At present, there aren’t many stories featuring her Doctor. There is the short story called ‘The Tourist’, which I’ve read. 🙂
There’s also the Titan comic story called ‘Origins’, which I’ll be sharing my thoughts on very soon. I’ve been able to include a cameo of the Fugitive Doctor in ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’, my epic three-part 60th anniversary story. I’ve also met Jo Martin in real life at a comic con in Birmingham in September 2022.
The Fugitive Doctor is an incarnation I don’t know a lot about and I’m sure the same can be said for many fans. But it’s been intriguing to see how she’s portrayed in the TV series and Jo Martin plays her well. I look forward to when more stories will be told about her and how her history will be unveiled.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
Hi Tim,
I liked reading your thoughts on the Fugitive Doctor. The only disagreement I have is on the Fugitive Doctor’s placement in terms of the other Doctors. From what I’ve heard, she’s in-between the Second and Third Doctors.
As for my thoughts, it’s hard for me to form an opinion on the Fugitive Doctor. The concept is definitely flawed, but it’s disheartening to still see people getting upset and overreacting to the Fugitive Doctor, claiming that ‘Doctor Who’ has been ‘ruined forever’.
Xavier
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Hi WF92,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Fugitive Doctor. I don’t know where you’ve heard that from about the Fugitive Doctor being in-between the Second Doctor and the Third Doctor. I’ve always assumed she was before William Hartnell. I suppose it’s possible, considering the vagueness of what happened in the gap between ‘The War Games’ and ‘Spearhead From Space’, although there is ‘Devious’ to consider. Maybe the Big Finish audios can provide more light on this and I hope they’ll come out soon in 2024.
I can’t be too upset about the Fugitve Doctor, especially when it ties into the Timeless Child reveal at the end of Series 12. It has opened up an avenue of food for thought in terms of what the Doctor’s history was like before ‘An Unearthly Child’. I try to be open-minded about these things and there’s not much to go on in terms of how the Fugitive Doctor is defined as a character, despite the few appearances she’s made in short stories and comics so far. But Jo Martin is very good as the Fugitive Doctor and I’m glad I got to meet her at a comic con in Birmingham in September 2022.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Hi Xavier,
I’ve just shared my review on the Titans comic story ‘Origins’ and apparently, the story seems to agree that the Fugitive Doctor takes place before the First Doctor, as there’s a scene featuring the First Doctor and Susan in the Free Comic Book Day prologue of the story, which follows the Fugitive Doctor’s inspiration to visit Earth in the future.
Tim 🙂
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Ok Tim. Thank you.
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