POINT OF DEBATE: WAS GORONWY FROM DELTA AND THE BANNERMEN A TIME LORD?

So I was working away at a nice ANALYTICAL essay (a pretty cool topic, too - I was writing about Regeneration Recovery). While composing the post, I decided - just for fun - to watch the entire Sylvester McCoy era from beginning to end (not only a great Doctor - but his era plays out in a very different way than most other Doctors - which makes him all-the-more interesting to watch). I got to Delta and the Bannermen and remembered a pet theory that had circulated about the character of Goronwy, 

At the back of my mind, I've also been thinking about this new type of essay I created last year called POINT OF DEBATE. I was concerned about the fact that I haven't really written a whole lot of essays in this style, yet (only one, so far). Suddenly, I realized I needed to abandon my ANALYTICAL essay for now and work on something different. 




GORONWY: TIME LORD OR JUST HUMAN? 

Very near the beginning of Part Two of Delta and the Bannermen, Agents Hawk and Weismuller find themselves' at the home of an eccentric beekeeper as they are trying to track down a missing satellite that has fallen to Earth. They attempt to ask the elderly gentleman a few simple questions but he only seems interested in explaining to them the Cycle of Life. The two agents shrug him off and go on their merry way.

We think this is all we will see of the beekeeper, but Goronwy (as he is called) continues to figure into the story. In fact, at certain crucial moments, he proves to be quite useful. But he always seems to be in his own world. Responding to the chaos around him in the most curious of manners.

It could be that our eccentric beekeeper is just a very unique individual. A mere human who just happens to be good at seeing the bigger picture. Or it could be that Goronwy is something more. Some fans like to believe that Goronwy might actually be a Time Lord. Similar to K'anpo Ripoche in Planet of Spiders, he has chosen to leave Gallifrey and live out a quiet life on Earth. For the most part, he has stayed away from any kind of trouble. But, at last, his path has crossed with the Doctor's. And he helps his brother Time Lord for just a little bit before returning to his peaceful existence.


POINTS OF SUPPORT

There's never any totally positive proof that validates that Goronwy is anything more than a human. At no point does the Doctor give a statement to the nature of: "Ah, Goronwy! How have you been?! I haven't seen you since my Prydonian Graduation Ceremony!" or words to that effect. But there are many little clues that might indicate that he is a Time Lord. In fact, just about every scene he's in seems to insinuate this idea.

Let's examine some of those clues:

Right in his opening scene with Hawk and Weismuller, Goronwy gives several statements that make him sound like he's not quite sane. The two agents ask him if he's seen any strange, unusual lights in the sky. Goronwy explains that he's seen all kinds. Low, pulsing lights as he describes them. The American duo are already reacting to this poorly. Wondering if they've "found a live one" - as the old saying goes.

But could this be Goronwy revealing his longevity? Time Lords live a long time. Perhaps he's been settled in Wales for a few centuries, now. These various lights he's seen in the skies might be different space vessels he's seen crashing to Earth over the years. Ships like the one owned by Linx the Sontaran or the escaped Terreleptils from Raaga. Goronwy would always be keeping an eye out for such things. Other aliens might be the only thing that could genuinely disrupt his quiet life. Perhaps there's even a special scanner located somewhere in his basement that has enabled him to keep an eye on alien visitations that have taken place over the years. So this description of low pulsing lights might actually be the Time Lord describing any number of spaceship landings that he's seen throughout the centuries.

As if this wasn't enough to estrange himself from the agents, Goronwy then tells them he will consult his bees. "They see everything..." he assures them. Again, taken at face value, this man just sounds nuts. But Time Lords are mildly telepathic. Perhaps he's found ways to enter into mental communion with bees. It helps, of course, that we will later learn in Stolen Earth that some bees actually are aliens, themselves. Could Goronwy actually be keeping special highly-evolved and intelligent aliens that resemble bees and actually have low-level telepathy? 

If we're willing to stretch our imaginations a bit, Goronwy doesn't quite seem so mad, now.



LATER SCENES...

For a while, our eccentric beekeeper disappears from the story, again. When we re-join him, his behavior continues to be erratic.

The next time we see him, he gives away one of the strongest clues that he is more than he seems. With absolutely no hesitation, he accepts the Chimeron princess when she is handed to him. A normal human would probably have all kinds of reservations about taking a strange creature into their arms and carrying them. But Goronwy has no problem with it. Almost as if he is accustomed to seeing and handling non-terrestrials because he is one, himself. Some might argue, of course, that he is not put off by the Chimeron princess because she really just looks like a young girl in a silly green outfit with some face paints. But her unintimidating appearance is due more to budget limitations. We're meant to visualize her as looking weird and alien even though the costume and make-up doesn't re-enforce it very well!

Another clue is given about Goronwy's longevity as he and Billy are talking in his storage shed. Billy asks him how long he's been collecting honey. Goronwy can't remember cause it's been so long. He holds up one jar to Billy and describes the beauty of the summer it was made in.

Could it be that each jar we see represents a different summer? There's hundreds of jars on those shelves. Could that be hundreds of years of honey? The jars, themselves, might be some sort of special advanced technology that can preserve the honey indefinitely. Has Goronwy been keeping bees in Wales for several centuries, now?


HIS GENERAL ALOOFNESS

As the battle rages on between the Doctor and the Bannermen, Goronwy goes along for the ride. But while the stakes seem pretty high with ruthless alien conquerors roaming the Earth, the beekeeper seems pretty uninvolved with the whole thing.

He is nice enough to tend to Hawk's wound and lend earplugs to people. But, otherwise, he just sits in a corner and reads a book (eventually, he starts reading aloud to Hawk from the book). Again, his comfort around beings from another world seems to insinuate that he is one himself. But I think his aloofness might have stronger bearings than that.

An interesting look passes between the Doctor and Goronwy as they first meet that I think represents the telepathic recognition that Time Lords have when they haven't seen each other in a while. I believe the Doctor and Goronwy knew each other back on Gallifrey and may have even influenced each other a bit to make that decision to leave. Goronwy, in fact, knows the Doctor's reputation well. He may have even researched him a bit over the years. No doubt, he heard whispers of the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster or the Cybermen's attempt to invade the Earth through Tobias Vaughn (didn't want to completely paraphrase Remembrance of the Daleks!) and dug into the events more thoroughly. He discovered the Doctor was always there when such incursions happened. That he acts as Earth's champion whenever he is needed. So he's not the slightest bit bothered by this latest incident with the Bannermen. The Doctor can handle them easily. He'll offer his assistance when needed. Otherwise, he'll just sit back and enjoy himself.






POINTS AGAINST GORONWY BEING A TIME LORD 

I'll admit, ideas that disprove this theory are scant. Or, at least, I'd like to believe that they are. Truthfully, I've always liked to believe that Goronwy is a Time Lord. Right from the first time that I watched the story, I've harbored this idea. I was pleased to pick up The Discontinuity Guide a few years later and see that the authors of that Great Book felt the same as I did. This was the first time I had my pet theory affirmed by others. Thanks to the internet, of course, I've seen several more discussions of this nature on the subject.

The biggest thing that negates the idea of Goronwy being a Time Lord is that it is never explicitly stated that he is one. Hints are given all over the place that we can then blow out of proportion in the way that I just have. But if there had been just one proper piece of dialogue to officially re-enforce this - this would not be a point of debate, right now. But, rather, a piece of continuity.

What if Goronwy isn't a Time Lord, then? Is he just some crazy old man living in the Welsh countryside who hasn't been institutionalized because no one feels he is a threat to himself or others? Could he have that simple of a backstory?

Truthfully, such an idea doesn't make sense to me. Why would the scriptwriter make him such an odd character unless he wanted him to be something more than just a madman? To just drop some senile old man into the story like that doesn't really work unless we believe there is more to Goronwy than meets the eye. 





CONCLUSION:

In all honesty, this doesn't seem like much of a debate to me. I know I should have probably represented the contrary stance better but I have a hard time with it. It's far cooler to think Goronwy is a Time Lord. I actually even like the fact that it's left ambiguous rather than properly stated. It makes the character seem all the more mysterious.

There is one final piece of evidence to support this idea: Even though Goronwy doesn't get introduced til the beginning of Part Two, the director is nice enough to give him the final shot in the story. As the TARDIS dematerialises at the end of the tale, various humans that have witnessed it respond accordingly. They can't believe their eyes. But not Old Goronwy. He just turns to look at it and smiles. It seems like it's a comforting thing for him to watch.

Almost as if he's seen any number of TARDISes take off over the years...





Another POINT OF DEBATE discussed and, hopefully, settled. I do look forward to writing more essays in this style in the future. There are many other interesting "grey areas" that the show has created throughout its many seasons that merit discussing. I wish to delve into a bunch of them. 



Did you miss the first POINT OF DEBATE? Here's the link:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/08/points-of-debate-was-missy-truly.html