Spiral Muttering 13 - The Regeneration Game

Spiral Mutterings are a bit like buses at the moment. Don't see one for ages, and then 2 pop up in rapid succession. OK, so its not often that the gap between buses is 8 years, but there you go. Anyway, as we are 1 and a bit seasons into the tenure of the Eleventh Doctor, I thought it a timely moment to ruminate on the subject of regenerations.

So - RTD mischief in the Sarah Jane Adventures aside (Clyde asks the Doctor how many times he can regenerate, and the Doctor replies 507 in Death of the Doctor) - it has been firmly established in the series that Time Lords can regenerate 12 times - giving us 13 incarnations. Of course, there are certain caveats - if a Time Lord is killed again before a regeneration cycle completes, he is properly dead. Also, it appears that a Time Lord can start a partial regeneration to heal an injury.

So should we be worried that the Doctor only (apparently) has 2 bodies left to go? Possibly not. First of all, we already know that the producers of the new series are not averse to a reboot or two. Secondly, incidents in the series past have hinted that it is possible for a Time Lord to survive beyond the 13th incarnation (eg: The Master), and even be given a whole new regenerative cycle (The Five Doctors). Of course the latter may only be possible if granted by the Time Lords, who don't exist in the current Doctor Who universe. However, there may still be hope. What follows may, at times, seem whackier than a whacky thing at the World Whacky Championships, but it may be a less convoluted solution than current producers may be looking at.

When we first see the Doctor change, in The Tenth Planet, he complains that his body is old, and wearing out. Once in the TARDIS, he collapses and begins to change. This process is referred to as "rejuvenation" on-screen. Now, we do know that the TARDIS can have positive effects on the regenerative process, so is it possible that when a regeneration takes place in the TARDIS, it is more akin to the partial processs that heals the body, rather than a full regeneration? If this is the case, and you haven't dismissed me as a lunatic yet, then read on.

So, William Hartnell "rejuvenates", and becomes Patrick Troughton. So, Patrick Troughton is still the first Doctor - just a younger, healthier version. At the end of The War Games, Patrick Troughton's Doctor is put on trial by the Time Lords - and exiled to Earth. It is decided that his appearance will be changed. As there is no evidence of the Time Lords using capital punishment on the Doctor, i.e killing him to force a regeneration, it is possible to assume that they used some form of advanced Gallifreyan plastic surgery. So, Jon Pertwee is STILL the first Doctor.

So, our first full regeneration comes at the end of Planet of the Spiders. The Doctor, exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, returns to Earth, collapses, and changes. The process is nudged by a fellow Time Lord, but otherwise, this is a full-on regeneration. Therefore, Tom Baker is now the Second Doctor.

This second Doctor unfortunately becomes a relatively early regeneratee. Following his fall from the Pharos radio telescope, the Doctor lays on the floor and, again, outside the TARDIS, regenerates. A slight deviation, with the introduction of a "intermediate stage" called the Watcher, but a regeneration nonetheless. So, Peter Davison becomes the Third Doctor.

Our dashing Third Doctor succumbs to Spectrox Toxaemia poisoning, and with only enough antidote for Peri, he changes. INSIDE the TARDIS. So its feasible that this is only a partial process - enough to cleanse the toxin from his body, and indeed, change his form - but its feasible its not a full regeneration. So, the man in the garish coat is still the Third Doctor.

Suffering a severe knock to the head, inside the TARDIS (I mean, come on! The Doctor has survived much worse than that!), I think we can safely assume more of a healing, partial regeneration at the start of Time And The Rani.So our last regular TV Doctor from the classic series is still the Third Doctor.

Of course, being shot several times in a San Francisco back alley, being rushed to hospital, and dying in the operating theatre during open heart surgery, AND waking up in a mortuary, means that Paul McGann becomes the Fourth Doctor.

Of course, between McGann and Ecclestone, any attempt to formulate a history for the Doctor is purely conjecture. We know there was a huge Time War, and a massive event that led to the Time Lords and Daleks being destroyed, so I think its safe to assume that somewhere in that lot, there was a full on regeneration. So 2005 started with the first televised adventure of the Fifth Doctor.

Now, both Ecclestone and Tennant had regenerations that took place inside the TARDIS, so we can (based on my initial premise) state that Matt Smith is, in fact, still the Fifth Doctor.

So, its actually less of a problem than we thought. Of course, the producers of Doctor Who may have a master plan in place to take us beyond the 13th incarnation, but if they choose my theory, cheques can be sent to the usual address.

That's it from the Mutterings for now. See you soon-ish.