Doctor Who
Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club praised Sacha Dhawan’s performance as the Master, but felt “The Timeless Children” still left "the biggest questions unanswered". She criticised Whittaker's Doctor for being "a passive character", finding it hard to connect to the Doctor's reaction. Siede also comments negatively on the "exposition-heavy pep talk", as well as the Doctor's escape. She cites the episode's conclusion "doesn’t feel earned on either a character level or a plot one", criticizing the last-minute reveal that Ko Sharmus was part of the group that sent the Cyberium back in time and attacks the episode "undercuts the big heroic moment where the Doctor decides not to lower herself to the Master’s level of violence by having her happily accept that same amount of carnage so long as Ko Sharmus is the one pulling the trigger. Doctor Who has never been super consistent about the Doctor’s willingness to resort to violence, but the morality whiplash here is pretty unforgivable." She also found it hard to connect to Graham reassuring Yaz, citing that she had no character development. Like Mulkern, she also comments negatively on the cliffhanger ending, and concluded, “The Timeless Children” "raises far more questions than answers". Devan Coggan of Entertainment Weekly thought it "a bold reveal" that the Doctor lived countless lives long before William Hartnell’s Doctor, though she had misgivings about Whittaker turning out "not to be the first female Doctor at all". She praised Whittaker and Dhawan's performances and also commented on the Cybermen decked out in Timelord capes and regalia as "rather silly", as well as "few other characters and plot points get lost in all the big revelations, and the companions largely take a backseat to the Doctor’s journey." Conversely, Michael Hogan offered a positive review for The Daily Telegraph, criticising Whittaker's performance, feeling her shocked reaction to the revelation she was the timeless child "was doubtless replicated on sofas nationwide. This was the sort of “timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly” narrative tricksiness for which previous showrunner Steven Moffat was often criticised", but praising the writing for Graham, Ryan and Yaz. John Hussey of Cult Fix praised the episode, stating "admirable in ways, is, unfortunately, a disappointing capper to an improved series. It’s a shame that promising elements are buried in convoluted, overblown plotting, that doesn’t work as a layered thematic ending of itself. It threatens at times to be a poetic, bold dive or rumination on the show’s mythic nature, and while well-produced it lacks the courage or clarity to properly articulate an emotional story for the characters beyond ultimately not-that-shocking or devastating revelations. Believe me, I love messy ambition- I just wish it left me feeling what it wanted me to.." He further went on to criticise the Doctor's passiveness. The Guardian gave the drama four stars, deeming it a " finale takes audacious flights, rewriting Doctor Who lore to extravagant degrees, creating an alternative backstory for the creation of Gallifrey and a completely new backstory for the Doctor, that reveals her as the fabled Timeless Child: not the last of the Timelords, but the first."