Doctor Who Season 15, Episode 1's Timeline Explained (In Chronological Order)

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 1, "The Robot Revolution."Doctor Who season 15's opener, "The Robot Revolution," operates on a complex timeline that's filled with paradoxes and other confusing plot devices, but there is logic to how the story progresses. While there are several angles to view the events from, it makes the most sense to follow the narrative chronologically from the surface of the show's new planet: Missbelindachandra One. That way, there's less zipping around through the timeline and getting lost in the script. By the end of Doctor Who season 15, episode 1, things return to about as linear as the show is capable of being.

The second run in Doctor Who's Disney era kicks off with Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra stepping into the shoes of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) as the primary companion to the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa). Although the Mundy Flynn/Belinda Chandra connection is slightly addressed, "The Robot Revolution" instead focuses on Sethu's new character and her first begrudging adventure with Fifteen. It's a Doctor Who episode dense with twists and turns, although several moments in the opening scene foreshadow some pretty key elements of what's to come.

An Unnamed Character Delivers Belinda's Star Certificate To The Robots In The Far Future

The Doctor knows someone gave the certificate to the Robots in the future, but not who it was

Varada Sethu looking confused as Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who

Although neither the Doctor nor Belinda seem to know who initially delivered the star certificate to the planet in "The Robot Revolution," it's confirmed within the episode that this is what happened. Initially given to Belinda by then-boyfriend Alan Budd (Jonny Green), the certificate is little more than a romantic gesture that names a star after Sethu's character. So, it isn't actually legally binding at the time of purchase.

The name of Sethu's character becomes integrated into many things on the alien world, and she is hailed as their queen.

At some point after the delivery of the certificate to the Robots in the far future, it's sent back 5,000 years and becomes the foundational myth of the society on the planet that orbits the star that's "owned" by Belinda. By the time of the episode's "present day" sequences on the surface of the planet, its sun has been officially renamed to Missbelindachandra, and the world itself is called Missbelindachandra One. The name of Sethu's character becomes integrated into many things on the alien world, and she is hailed as their queen.

The Robots & Missbelindachandrakind Lived In Peace On The Planet For Millenia

The war between the two groups is only a very recent development

From the moment the certificate is sent back 5,000 years, and becomes a major part of the planet's beliefs, to ten years before Belinda's arrival, the people and machines on her planetary namesake co-existed in harmony with one another. This era of Missbelindachandra One's history is mainly referenced, although it is briefly shown toward the end of the episode when Alan arrives on the planet named after his ex-girlfriend.

A decade before Belinda and the Doctor make their respective ways to Missbelindachandra One, the Robots started to subjugate their humanoid counterparts.

A decade before Belinda and the Doctor make their respective ways to Missbelindachandra One, the Robots started to subjugate their humanoid counterparts. This sparked a rebellion, although the Doctor's encoded conversation with Belinda in the throne room reveals no one knew why the war broke out. The fighting raged for 10 years, and it took Belinda's presence to catalyze a return to peace.

Custom Doctor Who image of Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor

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Although the Doctor immediately followed Sethu's character to Missbelindachandra One after witnessing her abduction, the time fracture that lay between Earth and Missbelindachandra One affected their journeys differently. Belinda and her Robot captors arrived ten years after the beginning of the Revolution, but the Doctor landed in his TARDIS six months before Belinda. This proves the time fracture is unstable and inconsistent in how far back or forward it sends people and objects.

It Was Alan's Arrival On Missbelindachandra One That Started The Robot Revolution

Alan went on to become the AI Generator and serve as the planet's dictator

Doctor Who season 15's premiere eventually reveals it was Jonny Green's character who started the war that was in full swing by the time of the Doctor and Belinda's arrival on the planet. The Robots had traveled to Earth to retrieve Alan and bring him back, although thanks to being "schwupped" in the time fracture that sat between both worlds, the order that took the Robots on the journey in the first place had technically yet to be given.

Alan's controlling personality and affinity for video games became an especially toxic combination when it was made possible for him to take over as Missbelindachandra One's leader.

Alan's controlling personality and affinity for video games became an especially toxic combination when it was made possible for him to take over as Missbelindachandra One's leader. He installed a strict dictatorship and ordered anyone executed who disobeyed or annoyed him. He augments himself with technology from the Robot ship that had made the return journey, which was ten years more advanced than the native machinery thanks to being displaced by the time fracture.

Alan later speaks in the episode's every-ninth-word code to the Doctor and Belinda to confirm he wants help and is in pain after being upgraded.

Ten years into the Robot Revolution, Alan (now known as the AI Generator thanks to his upgrades) suddenly demands his mechanical minions to head to Earth and retrieve Belinda so they can be married - a proposal it's later revealed Belinda turned down in their youth. This time, Alan has far more tools at his disposal to try and make sure she can't refuse. The Robots obey and head off to retrieve the planet's queen.

Belinda Is Captured On Earth By The Robots But Creates A Paradox On The Voyage Back To Alan's New World

Sethu's character instructs the Robots to find Alan after he has already been relocated to Missbelindachandra One

Confused and annoyed by her abduction, Belinda yells at the Robots on the way from Earth to Missbelindachandra One and tells them that it was Alan who bought her the star certificate. While doing so, she accidentally orders them to go and find him - which they do. Where things get complicated here is that the ship that Belinda is aboard then travels through the time fracture. So, when the Robots do return to Earth to also collect Alan, they arrive back at Missbelindachandra One with their future ruler ten years before Belinda ever gives the order.

By the time Belinda lands, the Doctor has been there for half a year and has worked his way up to the role of the planet's historian.

At the same time, the Doctor is in his TARDIS, pursuing the Robots' ship with Belinda aboard. He also comes into contact with the time fracture at the same time as Belinda, but it spits him out six months earlier than Sethu's character. So, by the time Belinda lands, the Doctor has been there for half a year and has worked his way up to the role of the planet's historian so he can have a face-to-face meeting with Belinda and help her escape. From her point of view, it's been a matter of hours since she left Earth.

Belinda Lands On Missbelindachandra One

Most of "The Robot Revolution" is relatively easy to follow from here

Belinda in the throne room in Doctor Who's "The Robot Revolution"

Although "The Robot Revolution" isn't a linear story from this point on, it's a great moment to use as a focus point. Belinda's perception of events is relatively straightforward, although still plagued by time travel and temporal anomalies. She is liberated from the throne room by the Rebels, but then volunteers to obey the AI Generator's order for them to be married.

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The reveal that Alan has been the cybernetic overlord the whole time only occurs near the end of the episode, and it's during the strange union of touching the two versions of the star certificate together that sees the Doctor absorbing the paradoxical energy and slotting himself throughout Belinda's timeline that helps save her life. When the planet is liberated from Alan's oppression, the Doctor begrudgingly tries to return Sethu's character home at her own insistence. However, his struggles to do so set up the rest of Doctor Who season 15's story.

Doctor Who Season 15's Release Schedule On Disney+
Episode	Title	Release Date (2025)
1	"The Robot Revolution"	April 12
2	"Lux"	April 19
3	"The Well"	April 26
4	"Lucky Day"	May 3
5	"The Story and the Engine"	May 10
6	"The Interstellar Song Contest"	May 17
7	"Wish World"	May 24
8	"The Reality War"	May 31