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.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Spiral Mutterings 12: Silence Has Fallen
Hello, dear Reader.
Its been a long time since the last Spiral Muttering, a good 8 or 9 years, and all I've written since is a few annotations when the Mutterings got re-homed here. Well, that's not strictly true - I've written loads of stuff recently, just not here. But I'm back, and its STILL about Time.
I thought, for my first post back in the blogsphere, I'd take advantage of the mid-season lull, to take a look at the pro's and con's of the new series to date. Its been 6 glorious years since that iconic Police Box materialised onto our screens, and lets face it - its been one hell of a ride. Three Doctors, five companions, new monsters, old monsters, and familiar faces returning to the world of Doctor Who. But has it all been good? Overall, I'd have to say "Yes", but some bits have been better than others. So, its time to make a list of the good, the bad, and the fugly of Doctor Who seasons 27 - 31.5.
PRO's
1. Three excellent new Doctors. Although, in order, I'd have to rate them as Matt Smith, David Tennant, Chris Ecclestone. Now don't get me wrong, Chris and David are both fine actors, but Matt is the one who has most finely balanced the elements of the Doctor. Ecclestone, for me, always looked a bit awkward when handling the comedic elements of the role (and Doctor Who has always had that element - its not some post-modern, RTD/Moffatt new invention). Tennant addressed that, but I felt that sometimes his performances were a little over the top. Indeed, towards the end of his tenure, I was rather put in mind of the later Tom Baker episodes, where the performances rather over-emphasised the Doctor's alien nature. Matt, so far, has been brilliant. Like many, I thought he seemed too young to handle the role. Yet something about him looks really old - in many ways he is the perfect embodiment of the Doctor as described in many a novelisation: a young-old face. Well done, Mr Smith. May you pilot the Tardis for a good long while yet.
2. Special FX. The show now has them! And some of them are REALLY special. Huge Dalek fleets, massive Cyber armies, and monsters that look like so much more than mere men in rubber suits. Now, don't get me wrong, there will always be a special place in my heart for the inflated condoms used in the long shots of The Green Death, and the bubble wrap on Noah's arm on The Ark In Space, but I don't think its a co-incidence that the new show has become established stateside a hell of a lot quicker than old Who did. The most mind-blowing effect I can remember from the classic series was the flyby of the Time Lord spacestation at the beginning of Trial of a Time Lord. Well, the Mill have done excellent work in knocking that into a cocked hat! Sure, there have been low points - the Atraxi eye in Eleventh Hour, the Slitheen, and the Reapers from Father's Day all had a cartoony feel to them, but they're still way ahead of anything we saw previously.
3. Spin-offs. Back in the day, there were often rumours about spin-offs. In the sixties, Terry Nation tried to get a Dalek series off the ground. In the seventies, spin-offs involving both UNIT and the unlikely duo of Jago and Lightfoot (now gloriously brought to life by Big Finish) were mooted. The only one ever to make it off the drawing board, however, was the ill-fated and much-maligned "K-9 and Company". Yes, it was low-budget, and yes - it did have a poor storyline, but it got made, and was - ultimately - a prototype for what was to come later. The new series has had not one, but TWO, hugely successful spin-offs in "Torchwood", and "The Sarah Jane Adventures". Although the latter is now sadly at an end, due to the untimely and saddening death of Elisabeth Sladen, this series allowed a whole new generation of children to be captivated by the plucky investigative journalist we first met in The Time Warrior. And Torchwood, despite the sporadic nature of its appearances, has grown into a huge, multinational co-production, and goes from strength-to-strength.
4. Christmas Specials. When I was growing up, the best we Whovians could look forward to at Christmas was a Boxing Day omnibus of one of the previous season's stories. I'm sure its not the case, but my memory (ailing though it is, these days) is convinced it was always Genesis Of The Daleks, or The Green Death - although I'm sure some guardian of the Radio Times archive can correct me on that. Now though, we get specially commissioned, extended length episodes of Doctor Who on Christmas Day. All shiny and new, like anything on Xmas Day should be. Indeed, when the Tenth Doctor left us, we got Xmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day specials. Oh BBC, you are spoiling us now!
5. Arc-plots. Rich, season long, theme-defining arc-plots are now the order of the day. We've had Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, the Doctor/Donna, and Silence Falling. Oh, I know it occasionally happened in the classic series - Trial of A Time Lord, and Key to Time spanned entires seasons, and we had the mini-arcs of The Black Guardian, E-Space and Master trilogies, but they were more often than not merely used as loose structures to hang individual stories on, rather than woven into the narrative. As I write, I'm still not convinced that the Silence arc is fully done yet.
There is more - so much more - that is good about the new series, but these are my top 5. But now, in the interest of balance, comes the Cons.
CONS
1. Returning Monsters. "What?" I hear you cry. Well, bear with me. RTD and Stephen Moffatt have both voiced a reluctance to rely too heavily on the series' past. Yet both have used the Autons, Daleks, Sontarans, and Cybermen. RTD also (rather tackily, I thought) brought back the Macra for one story only. Moffatt has also brought back the Silurians. The Daleks are now being rested, at least for a time, we are told. Which is a shame, as we last saw them squawking about being more powerful, more destructive, and more...well, just more, really. All have them have been re-designed for the 21st century, and yet its not been altogether successful. The Silurians, whilst well executed, were too human looking for my taste - and what happened to that distinctive 3rd eye? The Cybus Cybermen appear to wear flares. And the Daleks we saw at the end of Victory were (as described by many) like a Skaroese version of the Power Rangers - all primary colours and shoulder pads. Whilst the strength of Doctor Who has always been that there is something new out there, there is also a lot to be said for bringing back popular, but under-used, enemies of yesteryear. The scope for Ice Warriors is great, and the Zygons (one of the best-executed monsters from the 70s) could be fantastic. And surely, something as powerful as the Great Intelligence would survive a measly Time War. Yeti done by the Mill could be amazing.
2. Reboots. It all started with a reboot - the great Time War had messed up the universe. No Time Lords, no Daleks (or so we thought). A few refugees from time-sensitive species, but that was it. And a lone survivor - the Doctor. Fair enough - a show that's been off the air for 9 years needed something. But then we had the Paradox Machine, then just pulling out of bringing the Time Lords back, then rebooting the entire universe in the Pandorica episodes....seriously...what version of the Time Line are we on?
3. Three Doctors. It has been stated in classic Dr Who that a Time Lord can regenerate 12 times, giving 13 possible Doctors. We are already on to number 11. That means 2 further Doctors and thats it. Two more strikes, and the Doctor is, canonically, out. Reboots (and conspiracies to be found in my next blog) aside, this is worrying news for fans. The Doctor has two more bodies, and then he's at the end of the shelf life. Best before date expired. Doomed to the "Reduced for quick sale" basket.
4. Soap Opera Sci-fi. Honestly, I wasn't one of the ones who went all "This is just plain WRONG" when Paul Mcgann kissed Daphne Ashbrook in the TV Movie. However, the whole Doctor/Rose love thang, the Doctor/Martha unrequited love thing, and the various boyfriend, mother, family subplots were just a bit too Eastenders for me. (Except the stuff with Donna's Grandad, cos you'd have to be dead inside not to love Bernard Cribbins OBE-at-long-last). I honestly don't understand the need to bring such down-to-earth angst into escapist fantasy. It ruined the Spiderman movies, and it marred my enjoyment of new Who. Its why I don't watch soaps - why try to escape the misery and drudgery of everyday life, by watching fictitious people trudge their way through everyday life?
5. 45 minute eps. Of all the hallmarks that made Dr Who great, the one I miss the most is the cliffhanger. Oh, sure, since 2005 we've had the occasional 2 or 3 part story with a cliffhanger - but hell! Back in the day we got between 2 and six episodes, with a cliffhanger in all bar the last one. Of course, in the truly glorious days of yore, Doctor Who was on our screens for a good 6 months of the year.
On balance, I have to say that the return of Doctor Who has been nothing short of a triumph. You, dear reader, are welcome to add your comments, thoughts and musings to your hearts desire. Who knows? I may even read them....
Its been a long time since the last Spiral Muttering, a good 8 or 9 years, and all I've written since is a few annotations when the Mutterings got re-homed here. Well, that's not strictly true - I've written loads of stuff recently, just not here. But I'm back, and its STILL about Time.
I thought, for my first post back in the blogsphere, I'd take advantage of the mid-season lull, to take a look at the pro's and con's of the new series to date. Its been 6 glorious years since that iconic Police Box materialised onto our screens, and lets face it - its been one hell of a ride. Three Doctors, five companions, new monsters, old monsters, and familiar faces returning to the world of Doctor Who. But has it all been good? Overall, I'd have to say "Yes", but some bits have been better than others. So, its time to make a list of the good, the bad, and the fugly of Doctor Who seasons 27 - 31.5.
PRO's
1. Three excellent new Doctors. Although, in order, I'd have to rate them as Matt Smith, David Tennant, Chris Ecclestone. Now don't get me wrong, Chris and David are both fine actors, but Matt is the one who has most finely balanced the elements of the Doctor. Ecclestone, for me, always looked a bit awkward when handling the comedic elements of the role (and Doctor Who has always had that element - its not some post-modern, RTD/Moffatt new invention). Tennant addressed that, but I felt that sometimes his performances were a little over the top. Indeed, towards the end of his tenure, I was rather put in mind of the later Tom Baker episodes, where the performances rather over-emphasised the Doctor's alien nature. Matt, so far, has been brilliant. Like many, I thought he seemed too young to handle the role. Yet something about him looks really old - in many ways he is the perfect embodiment of the Doctor as described in many a novelisation: a young-old face. Well done, Mr Smith. May you pilot the Tardis for a good long while yet.
2. Special FX. The show now has them! And some of them are REALLY special. Huge Dalek fleets, massive Cyber armies, and monsters that look like so much more than mere men in rubber suits. Now, don't get me wrong, there will always be a special place in my heart for the inflated condoms used in the long shots of The Green Death, and the bubble wrap on Noah's arm on The Ark In Space, but I don't think its a co-incidence that the new show has become established stateside a hell of a lot quicker than old Who did. The most mind-blowing effect I can remember from the classic series was the flyby of the Time Lord spacestation at the beginning of Trial of a Time Lord. Well, the Mill have done excellent work in knocking that into a cocked hat! Sure, there have been low points - the Atraxi eye in Eleventh Hour, the Slitheen, and the Reapers from Father's Day all had a cartoony feel to them, but they're still way ahead of anything we saw previously.
3. Spin-offs. Back in the day, there were often rumours about spin-offs. In the sixties, Terry Nation tried to get a Dalek series off the ground. In the seventies, spin-offs involving both UNIT and the unlikely duo of Jago and Lightfoot (now gloriously brought to life by Big Finish) were mooted. The only one ever to make it off the drawing board, however, was the ill-fated and much-maligned "K-9 and Company". Yes, it was low-budget, and yes - it did have a poor storyline, but it got made, and was - ultimately - a prototype for what was to come later. The new series has had not one, but TWO, hugely successful spin-offs in "Torchwood", and "The Sarah Jane Adventures". Although the latter is now sadly at an end, due to the untimely and saddening death of Elisabeth Sladen, this series allowed a whole new generation of children to be captivated by the plucky investigative journalist we first met in The Time Warrior. And Torchwood, despite the sporadic nature of its appearances, has grown into a huge, multinational co-production, and goes from strength-to-strength.
4. Christmas Specials. When I was growing up, the best we Whovians could look forward to at Christmas was a Boxing Day omnibus of one of the previous season's stories. I'm sure its not the case, but my memory (ailing though it is, these days) is convinced it was always Genesis Of The Daleks, or The Green Death - although I'm sure some guardian of the Radio Times archive can correct me on that. Now though, we get specially commissioned, extended length episodes of Doctor Who on Christmas Day. All shiny and new, like anything on Xmas Day should be. Indeed, when the Tenth Doctor left us, we got Xmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day specials. Oh BBC, you are spoiling us now!
5. Arc-plots. Rich, season long, theme-defining arc-plots are now the order of the day. We've had Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, the Doctor/Donna, and Silence Falling. Oh, I know it occasionally happened in the classic series - Trial of A Time Lord, and Key to Time spanned entires seasons, and we had the mini-arcs of The Black Guardian, E-Space and Master trilogies, but they were more often than not merely used as loose structures to hang individual stories on, rather than woven into the narrative. As I write, I'm still not convinced that the Silence arc is fully done yet.
There is more - so much more - that is good about the new series, but these are my top 5. But now, in the interest of balance, comes the Cons.
CONS
1. Returning Monsters. "What?" I hear you cry. Well, bear with me. RTD and Stephen Moffatt have both voiced a reluctance to rely too heavily on the series' past. Yet both have used the Autons, Daleks, Sontarans, and Cybermen. RTD also (rather tackily, I thought) brought back the Macra for one story only. Moffatt has also brought back the Silurians. The Daleks are now being rested, at least for a time, we are told. Which is a shame, as we last saw them squawking about being more powerful, more destructive, and more...well, just more, really. All have them have been re-designed for the 21st century, and yet its not been altogether successful. The Silurians, whilst well executed, were too human looking for my taste - and what happened to that distinctive 3rd eye? The Cybus Cybermen appear to wear flares. And the Daleks we saw at the end of Victory were (as described by many) like a Skaroese version of the Power Rangers - all primary colours and shoulder pads. Whilst the strength of Doctor Who has always been that there is something new out there, there is also a lot to be said for bringing back popular, but under-used, enemies of yesteryear. The scope for Ice Warriors is great, and the Zygons (one of the best-executed monsters from the 70s) could be fantastic. And surely, something as powerful as the Great Intelligence would survive a measly Time War. Yeti done by the Mill could be amazing.
2. Reboots. It all started with a reboot - the great Time War had messed up the universe. No Time Lords, no Daleks (or so we thought). A few refugees from time-sensitive species, but that was it. And a lone survivor - the Doctor. Fair enough - a show that's been off the air for 9 years needed something. But then we had the Paradox Machine, then just pulling out of bringing the Time Lords back, then rebooting the entire universe in the Pandorica episodes....seriously...what version of the Time Line are we on?
3. Three Doctors. It has been stated in classic Dr Who that a Time Lord can regenerate 12 times, giving 13 possible Doctors. We are already on to number 11. That means 2 further Doctors and thats it. Two more strikes, and the Doctor is, canonically, out. Reboots (and conspiracies to be found in my next blog) aside, this is worrying news for fans. The Doctor has two more bodies, and then he's at the end of the shelf life. Best before date expired. Doomed to the "Reduced for quick sale" basket.
4. Soap Opera Sci-fi. Honestly, I wasn't one of the ones who went all "This is just plain WRONG" when Paul Mcgann kissed Daphne Ashbrook in the TV Movie. However, the whole Doctor/Rose love thang, the Doctor/Martha unrequited love thing, and the various boyfriend, mother, family subplots were just a bit too Eastenders for me. (Except the stuff with Donna's Grandad, cos you'd have to be dead inside not to love Bernard Cribbins OBE-at-long-last). I honestly don't understand the need to bring such down-to-earth angst into escapist fantasy. It ruined the Spiderman movies, and it marred my enjoyment of new Who. Its why I don't watch soaps - why try to escape the misery and drudgery of everyday life, by watching fictitious people trudge their way through everyday life?
5. 45 minute eps. Of all the hallmarks that made Dr Who great, the one I miss the most is the cliffhanger. Oh, sure, since 2005 we've had the occasional 2 or 3 part story with a cliffhanger - but hell! Back in the day we got between 2 and six episodes, with a cliffhanger in all bar the last one. Of course, in the truly glorious days of yore, Doctor Who was on our screens for a good 6 months of the year.
On balance, I have to say that the return of Doctor Who has been nothing short of a triumph. You, dear reader, are welcome to add your comments, thoughts and musings to your hearts desire. Who knows? I may even read them....
SPIRAL MUTTERINGS WILL RETURN IN
The Regeneration Game
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