As another aside... I'm assuming people know why the Doctor regenerates? I'm not talking about Gallifreyan physiology or anything like that, but rather, why the BBC decided to give this particular character quirk to their leading SF TV series? If everyone does, then I'll not bother repeating it: if, however, anyone is intrigued, then I do love a fun story.

jonthecelt

Quote - never saw Blake's 7, but read Transcripts of it on The Logbook, which has synopses of every. Dr. Who. Episode. Ever. Made...and they call me dedicated..;)

Blake's 7 is well worth a look and I believe it's out on dvd now. As a pubescent I was addicted to the show. I dearly wish I could say it was for the plot or the acting, but for me the lure was much simpler... I had a HUGE crush on Avon :blushing:

About regenerating -

The original series was only supposed to last a couple of months, but was extended due to massive viewing figures and public interest. William Hartnell ended up playing the role for three years, and finally had to retire due to poor health. The regeneration idea was probably thought up as a way of carrying on the show with a completely different actor. And you can't deny it worked, as the show went from '63 to '89 with seven different actors in the role.

As for how many regenerations the Doctor gets, it'll probably turn out to be extendable in some unexpected but highly-convenient form.  ;)

Dagnabbit, maxfield, you stole my thunder (now I'll have to pop round Thor's house and borrow a cup).

I think they've already established, via the Master, that the only way that a Time Lord can extend his longevity beyond his alloted 13 generations is to inhabit the body of another mortal - which only lasts for one 'lifetime', as it were. I can't think of any way they could get round it, as if there were a 'cure' discovered, then the Time Lords would have found it and transported themselves to that time period whenever they were getting low on regenerations. I kind of like the idea of the 13th Doctor having to be REALLY careful about his adventures - maybe that's the lifetime he saves to sit at home, sip his tea, and write his memoirs?

jonthecelt

someone would know this better than me, but I can recall them being up to #6 (no, not Patrick McGoohan..;) back in the early 80's.. they must be pusing close to 12 (which is the number I remember..I guess the extra life is just langiappe..;)

I do remember that there was something odd about a regeneration involving Peter Davison, I think at the end of his stint, when there had been a mysterious white-clad figure wandering around.

Well, on the subject of female Timelords and the Doctor's gender - he did once regenerate into a woman! Some years ago, the BBC made a special one off episode for the Comic Relief fundraiser that's held bi-annually in the UK. This was played for laughs and featured a number of actors taking the role - the last one being Joanna Lumley who promptly paid off with the Master.

Great start for the new Doctor, fun script and solid performances all round. Can't wait to see the next one: Kung Fu Monks, Queen Victoria, and a werewolf. You can't ask for more.

Quote - I do remember that there was something odd about a regeneration involving Peter Davison, I think at the end of his stint, when there had been a mysterious white-clad figure wandering around.

Close, actually it was at Davison's debut when Tom Baker's Doctor fell from a radio telescope suffering internal injuries severe enough to trigger a regeneration.  The larval stage looking Watcher "fused" with Tom's Doctor as he lay dying and regenerated into Peter Davison.  Baker's Doctor had approached the mysterious "Watcher" near the beginning of his farewell serial, "Logopolis", and learned he was essentially doomed to "die".

Davison regenrated into Colin Baker (no relation) after he collapsed to the effects of Spectrox toxemia in the serial "The Caves of Androzonne" [sic].  A cure was discovered in the milk of giant bats, but when he dropped one of the vials, he gave the remaining remedy to his traveling companion, Peri Brown.  His regeneration was relatively conventional.

Sincerely,

Bill

P.S.  Aren't I a "sad" lil' fan for remembering this stuff?

Not really, Bill... you just got there before I did... lol

As to pakled's comments about the generation number we're on now... if you exclude the Peter Cushing film versions (which are generally taken to be Hartnell's Doctor), then we're on Doctor number 10 now:

William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, John Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Ecclestion and now David Tennant.

As previoulsy noted, Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is the only time we haven't seen one incarnation become the next. Also Colin Baker is the only actor portraying the Doctor who didn't appear in a death scene (he refused to come back for the regen sequence, and so they simply put Sylvester McCoy in a scary wig and hid his face!)

jonthecelt

Does the McGann Doctor count? I'd really rather lose that half-human nonsense they put in for some reason.

Quote - Does the McGann Doctor count? I'd really rather lose that half-human nonsense they put in for some reason.

That is a point of debate for many fans, I must admit.  However, the producer of the current series, Russell T. Davies, [b]does[/b] count Paul McGann as being the 8th incarnation.  He has stated this in more than one interview and I believe it's printed in the series writers' "bible".  Of course, a future producer may feel differently.

Personally, there remain elements of each Doctor I like, other elements I try to ignore.  After all, it's just a TV show.

"Do not blaspheme!  Do not blaspheme!!!"

"Er, who let that zealous Dalek in here?!"

(When you see "Parting of the Ways", you get the "joke".)

Sincerely,

Bill

I think the problem is that the McGann film actually featured Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor as well, thus establishing it in the canon. It would take a lot of balls to say, 'Well, let's just pretend it never hapened - Sylvester, old boy, would you mind coming in and dying for us again some time?' This seperates it from the Peter Cushing films (generally accepted as either non-canon, or as being another actor playing the Hartnell Doctor), in that there's nothing in them which establishes a certain continuity.

jonthecelt

...And now for something completely absurd...

"Godzilla vs. the Daleks!"

Well, you gotta' give the lil' bugger an "A" for effort!

Sincerely,

Bill

The real question is: Does McCoy count as an incarnation? :unsure:

Heck, as long as the producers and writers can continue to incarnate a worthwhile series, I don't care how many times they have to reincarnate the bugger.

So... surely I can't have been the only person last night to think that famed Italian ref Pierluigi Collina was making a cameo appearance as killer monk Father Angelo?

lol.. it crossed my mind too, briefly