.gif)
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series
Doctor Who
, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lord
s, a race of fictional humanoid
s originating on the planet Gallifrey
. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new physical form and a somewhat different personality. The process has been used ten times to introduce a new actor for the role of the main character of the program, known as the Doctor
. The current Doctor is played by Matt Smith, who followed David Tennant
in the role.
at the programme's inception in 1963. However, by 1966, it was increasingly apparent that Hartnell's health was deteriorating and he was becoming more difficult to work with. By the time the second story of Season 4, The Tenth Planet
, was greenlight
ed, the decision had been made to replace Hartnell. Script editor Gerry Davis
proposed that, since the Doctor had already been established as an alien, the character could die and return in a new body. Producer Innes Lloyd
further suggested that the Doctor could do this "renewal" regularly, transforming from an older man to a younger one. This would allow for the convenient recasting of the role when necessary. The process itself was modelled on LSD
trips with the experience being like the "hell and dank horror" of taking the drug.
At the conclusion of The Tenth Planet, the First Doctor
collapses from apparent old age and exhaustion, having commented earlier that his body was "wearing a bit thin". Then, before the eyes of his companions Ben and Polly
, and the viewing audience, his features shift into that of the Second Doctor
, played by Patrick Troughton
.
On screen this process was not called "regeneration", but a "renewal". In The Power of the Daleks
, the Second Doctor's first story, the Doctor draws an analogy between the renewal and a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
In the About Time reference series Lawrence Miles
and Tat Wood
note that the officially licensed magazine, Doctor Who Monthly
, stated in a "Matrix Data-Bank" column in 1982 that its readers should not confuse the "regenerations" of later incarnations with the "rejuvenation" of Hartnell into Troughton.
It was not clear initially whether the renewal was a natural ability of the Doctor's as opposed to a process initiated by technology. In Power, the Doctor describes his renewal as a function of his TARDIS
time machine
, stating that "without it, [he] couldn't survive."
When Troughton left the series in 1969, the Doctor was renewed again, but this time it was forced on him by the Time Lords at the conclusion of The War Games
, where it is referred to as a "change of appearance". Once again, this suggested that it was a superficial physical change, not one of personality, although Jon Pertwee
's portrayal of the Third Doctor
also differed quite substantially from Troughton's. In addition, this change is treated as a punishment rather than a natural process – the Second Doctor protests, "You can't just change what I look like without consulting me!"
It was only at the end of the Third Doctor's era, in Planet of the Spiders
(1974), when Pertwee's Doctor turns into Tom Baker
's Fourth Doctor
, that the change is finally called "regeneration" and is explained as a biological process that occurred when a Time Lord's body was dying. It is also stated that following the regeneration the Doctor's brain cells would be shaken up and his behaviour would be "erratic" for a time, something that would be true for most subsequent regenerations.
As the series continued, more aspects of the regenerative process were introduced, but the basic concepts of regeneration as accepted by fans of the series today were only firmly established in the final scene of Planet of the Spiders. This notwithstanding, it is now generally accepted by fans (from an in-universe perspective) that the "renewal" of the First Doctor into the Second and the "change of appearance" of the Second Doctor into the Third were both part of the same process of regeneration. This has been further supported by on-screen dialogue that has explicitly enumerated the number of times the Doctor has regenerated and has counted the First-to-Second "rejuvenation" among them (these episodes have included Mawdryn Undead
(1983), The Five Doctors
(1983), the 1996 television movie, and more recently episodes such as The Next Doctor, The Eleventh Hour
and The Lodger
.
to the point of almost whiting out the screen, then fading back in to reveal Troughton's face. This also meant that the regeneration scene could take place with both actors at the conclusion of The Tenth Planet, and Troughton was accordingly signed up to participate.
Subsequent regenerations retained essentially the same method, with or without additional video or make-up effects. The transition from the Fourth to the Fifth Doctor
used an additional make-up effect representing a transitional form known as the Watcher, but aside from this, other regenerations in the original series run simply mixed the image of the incoming actor on top of the outgoing one. The transition from the Seventh
to the Eighth Doctor
in the 1996 television movie
took advantage of the higher budget and modern computer animation technology to "morph"
the features of Sylvester McCoy
into those of Paul McGann
.
With the exception of the transitions from the Second to Third and the Eighth to Ninth Doctor
s, each regeneration was shown on-screen, with the previous incumbent in the role symbolically "handing off" the character to the next. The Second Doctor was never seen to actually change into the Third, simply fading off into darkness at the end of The War Games and then stumbling out of the TARDIS, already regenerated, at the start of Spearhead from Space
(1970).
The regeneration of the Sixth Doctor
into the Seventh is the only time that a single actor took on the roles of two incarnations of the Doctor. Colin Baker
declined the invitation to film the regeneration sequence at the start of Time and the Rani
(1987) due to the circumstances in which the BBC dismissed him from the role. As a result, Sylvester McCoy had to don his predecessor's costume and a blond curly wig, lying face down, with the mixing effect to the Doctor's "new" features occurring as he was turned over.
The 2005 series, which revived the programme after a 16-year hiatus, began with the Ninth Doctor already regenerated, with no explanation given as to the circumstances behind the change (although dialogue within the debut episode, Rose
indicated the change had recently occurred). In the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential
, producer Russell T Davies explained his reasoning that, after such a long hiatus, a regeneration in the first episode would not just be confusing for new viewers but also lack dramatic impact, as there would be no emotional investment in the character before he was replaced. The regeneration of the Ninth Doctor
into the Tenth
at the end of "The Parting of the Ways
" (2005) was seen, and also used computer effects to morph Christopher Eccleston
into David Tennant
. In the episode of Doctor Who Confidential accompanying the episode "Utopia", it was stated that the production team had decided that this would be a common effect for all Time Lord regenerations (the Master's in this case) rather than having a regeneration sequence chosen on a whim by the director. A similar sequence was used for David Tennant's
regeneration into Matt Smith in "The End of Time
", though this time the effect on the TARDIS is much more violent, possibly due to the Doctor's attempts to fight the regeneration or the severity of the radiation poisoning that brought about the process to begin with. This regeneration effect was also used in "The Impossible Astronaut
" when the Eleventh Doctor is shot twice, albeit with a more wispy effect. However in this case the full transition is not seen as the Doctor is shot again fatally before completing the process. The effect was used again at the end of the following episode "Day of the Moon
" when a mysterious girl also regenerated (although her new incarnation is not depicted), and in "Let's Kill Hitler
" when Mels (Nina Toussaint-White
) is shot and regenerates into River Song
(Alex Kingston
). The same effect appears when Donna Noble
(Catherine Tate
) and the Tenth Doctor's spare hand together spawn a Doctor-Donna hybrid in "Journey's End
".
that the ability to regenerate may be linked to what is known as the "Rassilon
Imprimatur", the symbiotic
nuclei of a Time Lord that bonds him or her to a TARDIS, and allows his or her body to withstand the molecular stresses of time travel (The Two Doctors
, 1985). In "The Christmas Invasion
" (2005) it was stated the regenerative cycle generates a large amount of energy that suffuses the Time Lord's body. As demonstrated by the Tenth Doctor
, in the first fifteen hours of regeneration this energy is enough to even rapidly regrow a severed hand. In the moments following his regeneration into the Eighth Doctor
, he possessed enough physical strength to batter a steel door completely off its hinges. In Let's Kill Hitler
River Song is able to repel bullets after regenerating.
It is first stated in The Deadly Assassin
(1976) that a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times before dying (thirteen incarnations in all). There are exceptions to this rule, however; when a renegade Time Lord known as the Master
finds himself at the end of his regenerative cycle, he takes possession of the body of another person to continue living (The Keeper of Traken
, 1981), although he was using the Source of Traken to bind his mind to the body. It may be that the Time Lords also have the ability to circumvent the limit – in The Five Doctors
(1983) the Master is offered a new cycle of regenerations by the High Council in exchange for his help. The fact that the Master is inhabiting a non-Gallifreyan body at the time implies that it is possible to grant them to a non-Gallifreyan, albeit one inhabited by a Time Lord mind. In "The Sound of Drums
" (2007) the Master is revealed to have been granted a new body by the Time Lords during the Time War
with at least two new regenerations. Non-Gallifreyans are also seen to regenerate in Underworld
(1978) and Mawdryn Undead
(1983), but with adverse side effects. In Mawdryn Undead
these appear to be the result of mishandling stolen technology, but in Underworld
they are implied to be the inevitable result of limited technology that reinvigorates, rather than transforms, the subject's appearance (in this case, the Minyans
, with whom the Time Lords shared much of their technology), thereby regenerating 'the body, not the soul'.
The BBC's Series 4 FAQ suggests that now the Time Lord social order has been destroyed, the Doctor may be able to circumvent the limit on regenerations; it says: "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives." In Death of the Doctor
(a 2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures
serial), the Eleventh Doctor responds to a question from Clyde Langer
by saying he can regenerate "507" times. Early news reports, before the episode was broadcast, suggested he would say there is no limit to the number of regenerations. Writer Russell T Davies explained in an interview with SFX that the line was not intended to be taken seriously and is instead a commentary. He insisted that the "thirteen lives" rule was too deeply entrenched in the viewer consciousness for his throwaway line to affect it.
In the Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius
, the Doctor participates in a mental ‘duel’ with another Time Lord. The machine to which their minds are connected begins to project the faces of the "losing" contestant’s regenerations in chronologically descending order. As the Doctor is overpowered by Morbius, the images change successively to those of the third, second and first Doctors, then eight further faces appear. The narrative does not definitively assert that these are past incarnations of the Doctor rather than of Morbius; other evidence from the series suggests they cannot be. The Doctor himself has numbered his regenerations on several occasions, each time intimating that the William Hartnell
incarnation was the first. For example, it is explicitly stated by the Fifth Doctor in Mawdryn Undead
that he has eight incarnations left, and in The Five Doctors
Peter Davison's Doctor (introducing himself to the First Doctor) says that he is the fourth regeneration, meaning that there have been five of him. Again in The Five Doctors, the First Doctor refers to himself as the "original" and in Doctor Who, Paul McGann
, with Sylvester McCoy
on screen, states both "A Time Lord has thirteen lives and The Master'd used all of his." and "In all my travels through space and time, and nearing the end of my seventh life...". Most recently, in The Lodger
, after the Eleventh Doctor showed Craig who he was, he pointed to his face and said, "Eleventh".
With regeneration also comes a change of personality. This is likely a side effect of the process of complete physical transformation, which includes an alteration of the brain chemistry
and synaptic
organisation. The viewing audience sees this most often and most dramatically in the differing quirks and personality traits of the Doctor's various incarnations. However, it appears that the Doctor's core personality traits of heroism and intolerance of injustice are still retained. The Doctor also sometimes goes through a period of physical and psychological instability (which has included partial amnesia
, temporary manic depression, walking into a tree and on one occasion an act of physical violence against his companion) following a regeneration, but it is not clear if this is true of all Time Lord regenerations, particularly since the Doctor's regenerations tend to happen due to stressful and violent situations. Regenerations have been known to fail, and may require assistance, technological or otherwise, or a period of recovery to successfully complete the process. The Brain of Morbius
suggests that Time Lords other than the Doctor may experience difficult regenerations, since the Sisterhood of Karn had been supplying them with an "elixir of life
" that could assist the process.
In some cases, future potential incarnations can achieve independent, though temporary, existence. In Planet of the Spiders
, a Time Lord, K'anpo Rinpoche, creates a corporeal projection of a future incarnation which has such an existence under the name Cho Je until he regenerates into that incarnation. The Valeyard
, a "distillation of the Doctor's evil side, who could potentially exist between the Doctor's twelfth and final incarnations", appears in The Trial of a Time Lord
(1986) opposite the Sixth Doctor
; the Valeyard is offered the Doctor's future regenerations which would "make his potential existence concrete". Another example is "The Watcher", who repeatedly appears to the Fourth Doctor in Logopolis
(1981), and ultimately merges with him as part of his regeneration into his fifth incarnation
.
The Time Lords' ability to change species during regeneration is referred to in the television movie by the Eighth Doctor in relation to the Master. This is supported by the implication by the Dalek
s that the First Doctor's apparently human appearance was not his true form (The Daleks' Master Plan
, 1965) and the Fourth Doctor's Time Lady companion Romana
's regeneration scene in Destiny of the Daleks
(1979). In that scene Romana demonstrates an apparent ability to "try on" different bodies from a number of different species during her regeneration, before settling on a final, humanoid form which physically resembles Princess Astra of Atrios
(see discussion below).
While explaining the process of regeneration to Rose
at the end of "The Parting of the Ways", the Ninth Doctor suggests that his new form could have "two heads", or even "no head", although it is unclear if he is merely joking. In the 2005 Children in Need special
, which takes place immediately after, the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor, while examining his new body, makes a point of checking that he has two arms, two legs and two hands, implying that regenerations can sometimes result in physically deformed or non-humanoid forms; whether this is also a joke is not clear. In the second part of The End of Time
(2010), the Eleventh Doctor also enumerates eyes, ears, hands, fingers, and legs, and after feeling his hair, even wonders for a moment if he has changed sex. (In a later episode, "The Doctor's Wife
," the Doctor refers to another Time Lord, the Corsair, having been both male and female in various incarnations.)
Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is unclear from the television series. For example, in The Deadly Assassin
an old classmate of the Doctor's, Runcible, is slow to recognise the Doctor in his fourth incarnation, and once he has, it then takes him a while to realise that his appearance has changed. However, in The Armageddon Factor
(1978), Drax, another old classmate, recognises the Fourth Doctor immediately although they had not seen each other since the Academy (the Doctor takes a while to remember Drax, though). Shortly thereafter, in Destiny of the Daleks, the Doctor fails to recognise the yet-to-stabilize, newly-regenerated Romana. In The Twin Dilemma
, the Sixth Doctor attributes old friend and fellow Time Lord Azmael's failure to recognise him to the fact that "I have regenerated twice since our last meeting." Yet in "The Sound of Drums
" (2007) the Doctor states that Time Lords can "always" recognise each other, and recognises Harold Saxon as the Master on sight. However, in the mini-episode "Time Crash
", the Fifth Doctor fails to recognise Tenth Doctor
on first meeting, thinking he was merely "a fan" who has sneaked into the TARDIS.
It has been suggested in the series many times that regeneration is not guaranteed and can fail. After his cellular structure is decimated by the Metabelis crystals in Planet of the Spiders
, the Third Doctor's regeneration requires "a little push" from fellow Time Lord K'anpo Rimpoche before it can proceed. As he succumbs to spectrox toxaemia in The Caves of Androzani
, the Fifth Doctor says, "I might regenerate... I don't know... It feels different this time...". He then hallucinates, seeing his former companions encouraging him to survive, before the Master overwhelms them all, telling him he must die. The 1996 TV movie showed the Doctor's regeneration delayed for more than three hours, with the Eighth Doctor later remarking that the fact his Seventh incarnation was under anaesthesia at the time of his "death" could have "destroyed the regenerative process", and that he was "dead" prior to his regeneration. In many episodes, the Doctor doubts his own survival, though it is not always clear whether such statements refer to the death of only that particular incarnation. (The only time he makes a completely unambiguous distinction between these two scenarios – in The End of Time – he makes it clear that he regards regeneration as nearly as bad as death, because as he sees it, he dies and "a new man" walks away). In The Mind of Evil the Master points a conventional firearm at the Doctor and threatens to "put a bullet through both [his] hearts," while in "Forest of the Dead
", Professor Song warns that electrocution would stop both the Time Lord's hearts, killing him. In "Turn Left
"—which presents an alternative timeline—a UNIT
member speculates that the Tenth Doctor
is killed "too quickly for him to regenerate." In the first part of The End of Time
, the Doctor tells Wilfred Mott
that if he is killed before the regeneration can start, then it will fail.
In the Series 6 premiere, "The Impossible Astronaut
", a future version of the Eleventh Doctor
is shot twice by the titular astronaut and begins to regenerate. However he is then shot again and dies, showing that not only can he be killed before regeneration, but also while the change is taking place. (However, the later revelation, in "The Wedding of River Song
" that what was shot was in fact a mechanical avatar of the Doctor and not the real person calls this into question.) Later, in the fourth episode of the series, "The Doctor's Wife
", it was stated that Time Lords can potentially change gender during a regeneration, something which had never been confirmed before (although, at certain points during the show's history, female actors have been suggested as possible candidates to play the Doctor). In "A Good Man Goes To War
" Madame Vastra explained how the Time Lords became what they became through billions of years of exposure to the Time Vortex. In the series 6 episode "Let's Kill Hitler
" the Doctor was revived after death by River Song
who used her remaining regenerations to do this.
, flying into a murderous rage and nearly killing his companion (The Twin Dilemma
, 1984). The Eighth Doctor experienced amnesia as a result of post-regeneration trauma (the 1996 television film); uniquely, the Doctor was "not alive" at the time of this regeneration. The regeneration from the Ninth to the Tenth Doctor sees the Doctor unconscious for most of the next fifteen hours ("The Christmas Invasion
"). In the series four finale of the revived series, "Journey's End
", an injured Tenth Doctor
manages to avert a full regeneration by channelling "excess regenerative energy" into his severed hand, allowing him to heal without changing form. The limb ends up developing into a half-human clone when Donna Noble touches it; the event, a "two-way" "Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis", also gives Donna a Time Lord's mind. The Tenth Doctor learns of his impending demise in "Planet of the Dead"; in The End of Time
, he laments that even if he survives using regeneration, the death of his current personality and attributes makes for something much akin to an actual death. His last words were "I don't want to go." As mentioned previously, in "The Impossible Astronaut
" a future Eleventh Doctor
is shot twice and begins to regenerate, but is shot again and killed before the process completes.
The TARDIS appears to assist in the regenerative process, as suggested by the second Doctor's statement to this effect shortly after regenerating from the First. This is reiterated by Jack Harkness
' insistence that the Doctor be taken into the TARDIS having been shot by a Dalek in The Stolen Earth
. Of the five occasions on which he has regenerated outside the TARDIS, one is forced on him by the Time Lords (Second to Third Doctor, The War Games), one requires a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (Third to Fourth, Planet of the Spiders), one needs the TARDIS's "Zero Room", a chamber sealed from all outside forces, to help him recover (Fourth to Fifth, Castrovalva) one occurs a few hours after he has actually "died" (Seventh to Eighth, the 1996 television film) and the last he is killed before fully regenerating (Future Eleventh, The Impossible Astronaut). The Seventh to Eighth regeneration remains the only one that takes place significantly far away from the TARDIS, without any obvious interaction from other Time Lords and resulted in the Doctor suffering near-complete amnesia for nearly a day until an event inside the TARDIS triggers his memories to return. The future Eleventh Doctor is killed in mid-regeneration, showing he is vulnerable to death while regenerating and as such his need for the TARDIS may be for safety rather than aid. However it is later revealed that this regeneration was indeed a simulation since the Doctor who was shot was actually a Teselecta robot.
The Doctor's transitions:
's tongue-in-cheek
regeneration scene in Destiny of the Daleks
contrasts markedly with the Doctor's transformations. In the first episode of the serial, Romana undergoes regeneration, in the process trying out several different forms before choosing to adopt the appearance of Princess Astra, a character she encountered in a previous adventure (The Armageddon Factor
).
Doctor Who television writer and script editor Eric Saward
suggests in his 1985 novelisation of The Twin Dilemma
(1984) that Time Lords can control the appearance of their next body if they trigger the regeneration voluntarily, but not if the regeneration is caused by death or injury. The Doctor Who Role Playing Game
by FASA suggested that some Time Lords have a special ability to control their regenerations.
The fan reference book The Discontinuity Guide
suggests that the various "try-ons" were projections of potential future incarnations like the K'anpo Rinpoche/Cho Je situation in Planet of the Spiders. Miles and Wood's About Time also mentions this along with theorising that the Time Lords had improved the technology of regeneration since the Doctor's time; Romana, being of a later generation than the Doctor, would therefore have finer control over the regenerative process in its early stages.
Aside from the how of it, multiple attempts have been made in the spin-off media to explain the necessity for Romana's regeneration.
The Master
has regenerated once on-screen in the 2007 series episode "Utopia
". After being fatally shot by the insectoid creature Chantho, the Master regenerates from the incarnation known as Professor Yana, played by Derek Jacobi
, into the current incarnation, played by John Simm
. Before regenerating, the Master expresses desire to become "young and strong" like the Tenth Doctor
. The effect used for the Master's regeneration, though similar to the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's, is notably brighter and more colourful, using an array of psychedelic colours.
Previously, the Master has been shown to possess non-Gallifreyan bodies in order to extend his life. The first was a Trakenite named Tremas in The Keeper of Traken
and the second was a human named Bruce in the TV movie. In The Deadly Assassin
it is stated that the Master had in fact used up all his regenerations, hence his decrepit appearance in that serial. He is in fact attempting to use the artifacts of Rassilon
to obtain a new cycle, but the process would destroy Gallifrey, so the Doctor intervenes. In The Five Doctors
the High Council of Gallifrey offers the Master, who is now possessing the body of a Trakenite, a new regeneration cycle in exchange for his help. Although there's no indication he actually received this new cycle, in "Utopia" he regenerates naturally and in '"The Sound of Drums
" he indicates that he had been resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Time War
, suggesting his life had indeed been extended.
In "Last of the Time Lords
", the Master demonstrates that regeneration is not an automatic process (or, it is, but can be prevented by will), refusing to regenerate after being shot by Lucy Saxon, despite the Doctor's pleas. The Master returned in The End of Time
, resurrected with the same body he died in. He later makes remarks bemoaning this fact, suggesting this was not intended.
In "The Doctor's Daughter
" (2008), the Doctor's DNA is used to create the titular "daughter" Jenny
(Georgia Moffet), who displays many but not all Time Lord traits. In the episode's close, she is shot in the chest and appears to die. However, long after the Doctor and his companions have departed, she miraculously resurrects and expels energy from her mouth which, ambiguously enough, both resembles regenerative energy and the energy emitted by a planet-restoring plot device in the same episode. The question as to whether this is a true regeneration is left unanswered, since Jenny does not change her appearance.
In "Day of the Moon
" (2011), a child (Sydney Wade) walks through a New York City alley at the end of the episode. When a vagrant asks of her condition, she explains that all is well, that she is dying, but she can fix it. She subsequently begins to regenerate in the style of the revived series (as with Eccleston, Tennant and Jacobi). In "Let's Kill Hitler
", it is revealed that this child was Melody Pond
and that she regenerated into a toddler (Maya Glace-Green). This form later matured into Amy Pond's best friend, Mels (Nina Toussaint-White
), who again changed into the Alex Kingston form of Melody (River Song). In the aforesaid episode, post-regeneration, Melody is immune to a barrage of gunfire due to her surplus regenerative energy.
(1983), it is first referenced that a Time Lord could transfer his regenerative life essence to another being. In that story, the Fifth Doctor is coerced by Mawdryn to give up his future regenerations in order to cure Nyssa
and Tegan Jovanka
from Mawdryn 's disease. Although, the transfer did not occur (due to the timely interference of The Brigadier) the Doctor stated that the consequence of the transference would be that he would sacrifice his eight remaining lives and cease to be a Time Lord. It is not until "Let's Kill Hitler
" (2011) that such a transference is shown. In that instance, River sacrifices her own regenerative power in order to save the Eleventh Doctor
. A major plot point of the 1996 TV involves the Master scheming to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations for himself.
British television science fiction
British television science fiction began when the broadcast medium was in its infancy. Despite an occasionally chequered history, popular programmes in the genre have been produced by both the BBC and the largest commercial channel, ITV...
Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s, a race of fictional humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
s originating on the planet Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new physical form and a somewhat different personality. The process has been used ten times to introduce a new actor for the role of the main character of the program, known as the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
. The current Doctor is played by Matt Smith, who followed David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
in the role.
Conceptual history
The role of the Doctor had been played by William HartnellWilliam Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
at the programme's inception in 1963. However, by 1966, it was increasingly apparent that Hartnell's health was deteriorating and he was becoming more difficult to work with. By the time the second story of Season 4, The Tenth Planet
The Tenth Planet
The Tenth Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 October to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell's last regular appearance as the First Doctor, and the first story to feature the Cybermen...
, was greenlight
Greenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
ed, the decision had been made to replace Hartnell. Script editor Gerry Davis
Gerry Davis (screenwriter)
Gerry Davis was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!....
proposed that, since the Doctor had already been established as an alien, the character could die and return in a new body. Producer Innes Lloyd
Innes Lloyd
Innes Lloyd was a British television producer of BBC drama producers.-Doctor Who:...
further suggested that the Doctor could do this "renewal" regularly, transforming from an older man to a younger one. This would allow for the convenient recasting of the role when necessary. The process itself was modelled on LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
trips with the experience being like the "hell and dank horror" of taking the drug.
At the conclusion of The Tenth Planet, the First Doctor
First Doctor
The First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
collapses from apparent old age and exhaustion, having commented earlier that his body was "wearing a bit thin". Then, before the eyes of his companions Ben and Polly
Polly (Doctor Who)
Polly is a fictional character played by Anneke Wills in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967.-Character history:Polly first...
, and the viewing audience, his features shift into that of the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
, played by Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
.
On screen this process was not called "regeneration", but a "renewal". In The Power of the Daleks
The Power of the Daleks
The Power of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966. It is Patrick Troughton's first full story as the Doctor.-Plot:...
, the Second Doctor's first story, the Doctor draws an analogy between the renewal and a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
In the About Time reference series Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles is a science fiction author known for his work on original Doctor Who novels and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox...
and Tat Wood
Tat Wood
Tat Wood is co-writer of the About Time episode guides to the television series Doctor Who. This book series, begun in 2004, emphasises the importance of understanding the series in the context of British politics, culture and science. Volume Six is entirely Wood's work.Wood has also written for...
note that the officially licensed magazine, Doctor Who Monthly
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, stated in a "Matrix Data-Bank" column in 1982 that its readers should not confuse the "regenerations" of later incarnations with the "rejuvenation" of Hartnell into Troughton.
It was not clear initially whether the renewal was a natural ability of the Doctor's as opposed to a process initiated by technology. In Power, the Doctor describes his renewal as a function of his TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, stating that "without it, [he] couldn't survive."
When Troughton left the series in 1969, the Doctor was renewed again, but this time it was forced on him by the Time Lords at the conclusion of The War Games
The War Games
The War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe...
, where it is referred to as a "change of appearance". Once again, this suggested that it was a superficial physical change, not one of personality, although Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
's portrayal of the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
also differed quite substantially from Troughton's. In addition, this change is treated as a punishment rather than a natural process – the Second Doctor protests, "You can't just change what I look like without consulting me!"
It was only at the end of the Third Doctor's era, in Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
(1974), when Pertwee's Doctor turns into Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
's Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
, that the change is finally called "regeneration" and is explained as a biological process that occurred when a Time Lord's body was dying. It is also stated that following the regeneration the Doctor's brain cells would be shaken up and his behaviour would be "erratic" for a time, something that would be true for most subsequent regenerations.
As the series continued, more aspects of the regenerative process were introduced, but the basic concepts of regeneration as accepted by fans of the series today were only firmly established in the final scene of Planet of the Spiders. This notwithstanding, it is now generally accepted by fans (from an in-universe perspective) that the "renewal" of the First Doctor into the Second and the "change of appearance" of the Second Doctor into the Third were both part of the same process of regeneration. This has been further supported by on-screen dialogue that has explicitly enumerated the number of times the Doctor has regenerated and has counted the First-to-Second "rejuvenation" among them (these episodes have included Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
(1983), The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
(1983), the 1996 television movie, and more recently episodes such as The Next Doctor, The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (Doctor Who)
"The Eleventh Hour" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010....
and The Lodger
The Lodger (Doctor Who)
"The Lodger" is the eleventh episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 12 June 2010...
.
Transitions
The regeneration "effect" was accomplished during the series' original run from 1963–1989 primarily through the use of video mixing. Originally, the plan was to have Hartnell collapse at the end of The Tenth Planet with his cloak over his face, which would then be pulled back to reveal Troughton in the next serial. However, vision mixer Shirley Coward discovered and took advantage of a malfunction in the mixing desk which allowed Hartnell's image to be overexposedClipping (photography)
In digital photography and digital video, clipping is a result of capturing or processing an image where the intensity in a certain area falls outside the minimum and maximum intensity which can be represented. It is an instance of signal clipping in the image domain...
to the point of almost whiting out the screen, then fading back in to reveal Troughton's face. This also meant that the regeneration scene could take place with both actors at the conclusion of The Tenth Planet, and Troughton was accordingly signed up to participate.
Subsequent regenerations retained essentially the same method, with or without additional video or make-up effects. The transition from the Fourth to the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
used an additional make-up effect representing a transitional form known as the Watcher, but aside from this, other regenerations in the original series run simply mixed the image of the incoming actor on top of the outgoing one. The transition from the Seventh
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
to the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
in the 1996 television movie
Doctor Who (1996)
Doctor Who is a television movie based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Developed as a co-production amongst Universal Television, BBC Television, BBC Worldwide, and the American network FOX, the 1996 television film premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton,...
took advantage of the higher budget and modern computer animation technology to "morph"
Morphing
Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes one image into another through a seamless transition. Most often it is used to depict one person turning into another through technological means or as part of a fantasy or surreal sequence. Traditionally such a depiction...
the features of Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
into those of Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
.
With the exception of the transitions from the Second to Third and the Eighth to Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
s, each regeneration was shown on-screen, with the previous incumbent in the role symbolically "handing off" the character to the next. The Second Doctor was never seen to actually change into the Third, simply fading off into darkness at the end of The War Games and then stumbling out of the TARDIS, already regenerated, at the start of Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1970. The serial opened Series 7 of the show and was the first to be produced in colour. The serial introduced Jon Pertwee as the...
(1970).
The regeneration of the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
into the Seventh is the only time that a single actor took on the roles of two incarnations of the Doctor. Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
declined the invitation to film the regeneration sequence at the start of Time and the Rani
Time and the Rani
Time and the Rani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 September to 28 September 1987. This story was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. It also features the last appearance of the Sixth...
(1987) due to the circumstances in which the BBC dismissed him from the role. As a result, Sylvester McCoy had to don his predecessor's costume and a blond curly wig, lying face down, with the mixing effect to the Doctor's "new" features occurring as he was turned over.
The 2005 series, which revived the programme after a 16-year hiatus, began with the Ninth Doctor already regenerated, with no explanation given as to the circumstances behind the change (although dialogue within the debut episode, Rose
Rose (Doctor Who)
"Rose" is the first episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Keith Boak, the episode was first broadcast on 26 March 2005....
indicated the change had recently occurred). In the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly...
, producer Russell T Davies explained his reasoning that, after such a long hiatus, a regeneration in the first episode would not just be confusing for new viewers but also lack dramatic impact, as there would be no emotional investment in the character before he was replaced. The regeneration of the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
into the Tenth
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
at the end of "The Parting of the Ways
The Parting of the Ways
"The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
" (2005) was seen, and also used computer effects to morph Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
into David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
. In the episode of Doctor Who Confidential accompanying the episode "Utopia", it was stated that the production team had decided that this would be a common effect for all Time Lord regenerations (the Master's in this case) rather than having a regeneration sequence chosen on a whim by the director. A similar sequence was used for David Tennant's
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
regeneration into Matt Smith in "The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
", though this time the effect on the TARDIS is much more violent, possibly due to the Doctor's attempts to fight the regeneration or the severity of the radiation poisoning that brought about the process to begin with. This regeneration effect was also used in "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
" when the Eleventh Doctor is shot twice, albeit with a more wispy effect. However in this case the full transition is not seen as the Doctor is shot again fatally before completing the process. The effect was used again at the end of the following episode "Day of the Moon
Day of the Moon
"Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
" when a mysterious girl also regenerated (although her new incarnation is not depicted), and in "Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
" when Mels (Nina Toussaint-White
Nina Toussaint-White
Nina Toussaint-White is an English actress, best known for playing Syd Chambers in 2009 in the BBC One soap EastEnders.Raised in Plumstead, South East London, Toussaint-White trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Clapham on their 3 year BA Acting Course...
) is shot and regenerates into River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
(Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston
Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
). The same effect appears when Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
) and the Tenth Doctor's spare hand together spawn a Doctor-Donna hybrid in "Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...
".
In the series
The exact mechanism that makes regeneration possible is not stated in the television series, but it is generally assumed in the spin-off mediaDoctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
that the ability to regenerate may be linked to what is known as the "Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...
Imprimatur", the symbiotic
Symbiosis
Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
nuclei of a Time Lord that bonds him or her to a TARDIS, and allows his or her body to withstand the molecular stresses of time travel (The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
, 1985). In "The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
" (2005) it was stated the regenerative cycle generates a large amount of energy that suffuses the Time Lord's body. As demonstrated by the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
, in the first fifteen hours of regeneration this energy is enough to even rapidly regrow a severed hand. In the moments following his regeneration into the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
, he possessed enough physical strength to batter a steel door completely off its hinges. In Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
River Song is able to repel bullets after regenerating.
It is first stated in The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 October to 20 November 1976...
(1976) that a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times before dying (thirteen incarnations in all). There are exceptions to this rule, however; when a renegade Time Lord known as the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
finds himself at the end of his regenerative cycle, he takes possession of the body of another person to continue living (The Keeper of Traken
The Keeper of Traken
-Cast notes:Denis Carey, who plays the Keeper, also played Professor Chronotis in the uncompleted Fourth Doctor serial Shada, and the Old Man in the Sixth Doctor story Timelash....
, 1981), although he was using the Source of Traken to bind his mind to the body. It may be that the Time Lords also have the ability to circumvent the limit – in The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
(1983) the Master is offered a new cycle of regenerations by the High Council in exchange for his help. The fact that the Master is inhabiting a non-Gallifreyan body at the time implies that it is possible to grant them to a non-Gallifreyan, albeit one inhabited by a Time Lord mind. In "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" (2007) the Master is revealed to have been granted a new body by the Time Lords during the Time War
Time War (Doctor Who)
The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
with at least two new regenerations. Non-Gallifreyans are also seen to regenerate in Underworld
Underworld (Doctor Who)
Underworld is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 January - 28 January 1978.-Synopsis:...
(1978) and Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
(1983), but with adverse side effects. In Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
these appear to be the result of mishandling stolen technology, but in Underworld
Underworld (Doctor Who)
Underworld is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 January - 28 January 1978.-Synopsis:...
they are implied to be the inevitable result of limited technology that reinvigorates, rather than transforms, the subject's appearance (in this case, the Minyans
Minyans
According to Greek mythology and legendary prehistory of the Aegean region, the Minyans were an autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region...
, with whom the Time Lords shared much of their technology), thereby regenerating 'the body, not the soul'.
The BBC's Series 4 FAQ suggests that now the Time Lord social order has been destroyed, the Doctor may be able to circumvent the limit on regenerations; it says: "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives." In Death of the Doctor
Death of the Doctor
Death of the Doctor is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 25 and 26 October 2010. It is the third story of the fourth series. This episode features the return of Katy Manning to the role of Jo Grant and a guest appearance by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor...
(a 2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
serial), the Eleventh Doctor responds to a question from Clyde Langer
Clyde Langer
Clyde Langer is a fictional character played by Daniel Anthony in the British children's science fiction television programme The Sarah Jane Adventures...
by saying he can regenerate "507" times. Early news reports, before the episode was broadcast, suggested he would say there is no limit to the number of regenerations. Writer Russell T Davies explained in an interview with SFX that the line was not intended to be taken seriously and is instead a commentary. He insisted that the "thirteen lives" rule was too deeply entrenched in the viewer consciousness for his throwaway line to affect it.
In the Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1976...
, the Doctor participates in a mental ‘duel’ with another Time Lord. The machine to which their minds are connected begins to project the faces of the "losing" contestant’s regenerations in chronologically descending order. As the Doctor is overpowered by Morbius, the images change successively to those of the third, second and first Doctors, then eight further faces appear. The narrative does not definitively assert that these are past incarnations of the Doctor rather than of Morbius; other evidence from the series suggests they cannot be. The Doctor himself has numbered his regenerations on several occasions, each time intimating that the William Hartnell
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
incarnation was the first. For example, it is explicitly stated by the Fifth Doctor in Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
that he has eight incarnations left, and in The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
Peter Davison's Doctor (introducing himself to the First Doctor) says that he is the fourth regeneration, meaning that there have been five of him. Again in The Five Doctors, the First Doctor refers to himself as the "original" and in Doctor Who, Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
, with Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
on screen, states both "A Time Lord has thirteen lives and The Master'd used all of his." and "In all my travels through space and time, and nearing the end of my seventh life...". Most recently, in The Lodger
The Lodger (Doctor Who)
"The Lodger" is the eleventh episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 12 June 2010...
, after the Eleventh Doctor showed Craig who he was, he pointed to his face and said, "Eleventh".
With regeneration also comes a change of personality. This is likely a side effect of the process of complete physical transformation, which includes an alteration of the brain chemistry
Neurochemistry
Neurochemistry is the specific study of neurochemicals, which include neurotransmitters and other molecules such as neuro-active drugs that influence neuron function. This principle closely examines the manner in which these neurochemicals influence the network of neural operation...
and synaptic
Synapse
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell...
organisation. The viewing audience sees this most often and most dramatically in the differing quirks and personality traits of the Doctor's various incarnations. However, it appears that the Doctor's core personality traits of heroism and intolerance of injustice are still retained. The Doctor also sometimes goes through a period of physical and psychological instability (which has included partial amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, temporary manic depression, walking into a tree and on one occasion an act of physical violence against his companion) following a regeneration, but it is not clear if this is true of all Time Lord regenerations, particularly since the Doctor's regenerations tend to happen due to stressful and violent situations. Regenerations have been known to fail, and may require assistance, technological or otherwise, or a period of recovery to successfully complete the process. The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1976...
suggests that Time Lords other than the Doctor may experience difficult regenerations, since the Sisterhood of Karn had been supplying them with an "elixir of life
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
" that could assist the process.
In some cases, future potential incarnations can achieve independent, though temporary, existence. In Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
, a Time Lord, K'anpo Rinpoche, creates a corporeal projection of a future incarnation which has such an existence under the name Cho Je until he regenerates into that incarnation. The Valeyard
Valeyard
The Valeyard is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. He is described as an aspect of the Doctor from between his twelfth and final incarnations as depicted in the TV show or regenerations in the novelization of the story...
, a "distillation of the Doctor's evil side, who could potentially exist between the Doctor's twelfth and final incarnations", appears in The Trial of a Time Lord
The Trial of a Time Lord
The Trial of a Time Lord is a fourteen-part British science fiction serial of the long running BBC series Doctor Who. The serial, produced as the twenty-third season of the Doctor Who television series, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986...
(1986) opposite the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
; the Valeyard is offered the Doctor's future regenerations which would "make his potential existence concrete". Another example is "The Watcher", who repeatedly appears to the Fourth Doctor in Logopolis
Logopolis
Logopolis is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 February to 21 March 1981. It was Tom Baker's last story as the Doctor and marks the first appearance of Peter Davison in the role...
(1981), and ultimately merges with him as part of his regeneration into his fifth incarnation
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
.
The Time Lords' ability to change species during regeneration is referred to in the television movie by the Eighth Doctor in relation to the Master. This is supported by the implication by the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s that the First Doctor's apparently human appearance was not his true form (The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The twelve episodes were aired from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966...
, 1965) and the Fourth Doctor's Time Lady companion Romana
Romana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
's regeneration scene in Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....
(1979). In that scene Romana demonstrates an apparent ability to "try on" different bodies from a number of different species during her regeneration, before settling on a final, humanoid form which physically resembles Princess Astra of Atrios
The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 January to 24 February 1979...
(see discussion below).
While explaining the process of regeneration to Rose
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
at the end of "The Parting of the Ways", the Ninth Doctor suggests that his new form could have "two heads", or even "no head", although it is unclear if he is merely joking. In the 2005 Children in Need special
Doctor Who: Children in Need
"Doctor Who: Children in Need", also known as "Born Again", is a 7-minute mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, which takes place immediately after, the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor, while examining his new body, makes a point of checking that he has two arms, two legs and two hands, implying that regenerations can sometimes result in physically deformed or non-humanoid forms; whether this is also a joke is not clear. In the second part of The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
(2010), the Eleventh Doctor also enumerates eyes, ears, hands, fingers, and legs, and after feeling his hair, even wonders for a moment if he has changed sex. (In a later episode, "The Doctor's Wife
The Doctor's Wife
The Doctor's Wife, known in Japanese as , is a noted novel by Sawako Ariyoshi written in 1966.The partly historical novel is based on the life of noted male physician Hanaoka Seishū. Though much is based on fact, many events were added for dramatic purposes. The novel follows the protagonist, here...
," the Doctor refers to another Time Lord, the Corsair, having been both male and female in various incarnations.)
Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is unclear from the television series. For example, in The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 October to 20 November 1976...
an old classmate of the Doctor's, Runcible, is slow to recognise the Doctor in his fourth incarnation, and once he has, it then takes him a while to realise that his appearance has changed. However, in The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 January to 24 February 1979...
(1978), Drax, another old classmate, recognises the Fourth Doctor immediately although they had not seen each other since the Academy (the Doctor takes a while to remember Drax, though). Shortly thereafter, in Destiny of the Daleks, the Doctor fails to recognise the yet-to-stabilize, newly-regenerated Romana. In The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984, the first to star Colin Baker in the title role.-Synopsis:...
, the Sixth Doctor attributes old friend and fellow Time Lord Azmael's failure to recognise him to the fact that "I have regenerated twice since our last meeting." Yet in "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" (2007) the Doctor states that Time Lords can "always" recognise each other, and recognises Harold Saxon as the Master on sight. However, in the mini-episode "Time Crash
Time Crash
"Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need...
", the Fifth Doctor fails to recognise Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
on first meeting, thinking he was merely "a fan" who has sneaked into the TARDIS.
It has been suggested in the series many times that regeneration is not guaranteed and can fail. After his cellular structure is decimated by the Metabelis crystals in Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
, the Third Doctor's regeneration requires "a little push" from fellow Time Lord K'anpo Rimpoche before it can proceed. As he succumbs to spectrox toxaemia in The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8–16 March 1984. It was Peter Davison's last regular appearance as the Doctor, and marks the first appearance of Colin Baker in the role...
, the Fifth Doctor says, "I might regenerate... I don't know... It feels different this time...". He then hallucinates, seeing his former companions encouraging him to survive, before the Master overwhelms them all, telling him he must die. The 1996 TV movie showed the Doctor's regeneration delayed for more than three hours, with the Eighth Doctor later remarking that the fact his Seventh incarnation was under anaesthesia at the time of his "death" could have "destroyed the regenerative process", and that he was "dead" prior to his regeneration. In many episodes, the Doctor doubts his own survival, though it is not always clear whether such statements refer to the death of only that particular incarnation. (The only time he makes a completely unambiguous distinction between these two scenarios – in The End of Time – he makes it clear that he regards regeneration as nearly as bad as death, because as he sees it, he dies and "a new man" walks away). In The Mind of Evil the Master points a conventional firearm at the Doctor and threatens to "put a bullet through both [his] hearts," while in "Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
", Professor Song warns that electrocution would stop both the Time Lord's hearts, killing him. In "Turn Left
Turn Left (Doctor Who)
"Turn Left" is the eleventh episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One on 21 June 2008....
"—which presents an alternative timeline—a UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
member speculates that the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
is killed "too quickly for him to regenerate." In the first part of The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
, the Doctor tells Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
that if he is killed before the regeneration can start, then it will fail.
In the Series 6 premiere, "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
", a future version of the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
is shot twice by the titular astronaut and begins to regenerate. However he is then shot again and dies, showing that not only can he be killed before regeneration, but also while the change is taking place. (However, the later revelation, in "The Wedding of River Song
The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
" that what was shot was in fact a mechanical avatar of the Doctor and not the real person calls this into question.) Later, in the fourth episode of the series, "The Doctor's Wife
The Doctor's Wife (Doctor Who)
"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as in the United States...
", it was stated that Time Lords can potentially change gender during a regeneration, something which had never been confirmed before (although, at certain points during the show's history, female actors have been suggested as possible candidates to play the Doctor). In "A Good Man Goes To War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
" Madame Vastra explained how the Time Lords became what they became through billions of years of exposure to the Time Vortex. In the series 6 episode "Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
" the Doctor was revived after death by River Song
River Song
"River Song" may refer to:* "River Song" , the opening track of Dennis Wilson's 1977 album Pacific Ocean Blue* River Song , a recurring character in the Doctor Who TV series...
who used her remaining regenerations to do this.
The Doctor's regenerations
As noted, the Doctor frequently experiences a period of physical and mental instability following regeneration and some post-regeneration experiences have been more difficult than others. The Fifth Doctor (in Castrovalva) begins reverting to his previous personalities and the Sixth Doctor experiences extreme paranoiaParanoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
, flying into a murderous rage and nearly killing his companion (The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984, the first to star Colin Baker in the title role.-Synopsis:...
, 1984). The Eighth Doctor experienced amnesia as a result of post-regeneration trauma (the 1996 television film); uniquely, the Doctor was "not alive" at the time of this regeneration. The regeneration from the Ninth to the Tenth Doctor sees the Doctor unconscious for most of the next fifteen hours ("The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
"). In the series four finale of the revived series, "Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...
", an injured Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
manages to avert a full regeneration by channelling "excess regenerative energy" into his severed hand, allowing him to heal without changing form. The limb ends up developing into a half-human clone when Donna Noble touches it; the event, a "two-way" "Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis", also gives Donna a Time Lord's mind. The Tenth Doctor learns of his impending demise in "Planet of the Dead"; in The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
, he laments that even if he survives using regeneration, the death of his current personality and attributes makes for something much akin to an actual death. His last words were "I don't want to go." As mentioned previously, in "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
" a future Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
is shot twice and begins to regenerate, but is shot again and killed before the process completes.
The TARDIS appears to assist in the regenerative process, as suggested by the second Doctor's statement to this effect shortly after regenerating from the First. This is reiterated by Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
' insistence that the Doctor be taken into the TARDIS having been shot by a Dalek in The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
. Of the five occasions on which he has regenerated outside the TARDIS, one is forced on him by the Time Lords (Second to Third Doctor, The War Games), one requires a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (Third to Fourth, Planet of the Spiders), one needs the TARDIS's "Zero Room", a chamber sealed from all outside forces, to help him recover (Fourth to Fifth, Castrovalva) one occurs a few hours after he has actually "died" (Seventh to Eighth, the 1996 television film) and the last he is killed before fully regenerating (Future Eleventh, The Impossible Astronaut). The Seventh to Eighth regeneration remains the only one that takes place significantly far away from the TARDIS, without any obvious interaction from other Time Lords and resulted in the Doctor suffering near-complete amnesia for nearly a day until an event inside the TARDIS triggers his memories to return. The future Eleventh Doctor is killed in mid-regeneration, showing he is vulnerable to death while regenerating and as such his need for the TARDIS may be for safety rather than aid. However it is later revealed that this regeneration was indeed a simulation since the Doctor who was shot was actually a Teselecta robot.
The Doctor's transitions:
- First Doctor (William Hartnell): Frail and steadily growing weaker throughout The Tenth PlanetThe Tenth PlanetThe Tenth Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 October to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell's last regular appearance as the First Doctor, and the first story to feature the Cybermen...
, the Doctor collapses inside the TARDIS at the serial's end. - Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton): a forced "change in appearance" and exile to Earth by the Time Lords in the closing moments of The War GamesThe War GamesThe War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe...
. - Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee): radiation poisoning from the Great One's cave of crystals on the planet Metabilis 3 at the end of Planet of the SpidersPlanet of the SpidersPlanet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
. - Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker): fell from the Pharos Project radio telescope in LogopolisLogopolisLogopolis is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 February to 21 March 1981. It was Tom Baker's last story as the Doctor and marks the first appearance of Peter Davison in the role...
during an altercation with the Master and was assisted in the regeneration by a mysterious "in-between" incarnation identified as "The Watcher". - Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison): spectrox toxaemia poisoning, contracted near the start of The Caves of AndrozaniThe Caves of AndrozaniThe Caves of Androzani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8–16 March 1984. It was Peter Davison's last regular appearance as the Doctor, and marks the first appearance of Colin Baker in the role...
. - Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker): suffered unspecified injuries when the RaniRani (Doctor Who)The Rani is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was played by Kate O'Mara. The word "Rani" means "queen" in the Urdu and Hindi languages and "The Rani" follows the naming convention for other renegade timelords, "The Doctor," "The Monk," "The War...
attacked the TARDIS and caused it to crash land at the start of Time and the RaniTime and the RaniTime and the Rani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 September to 28 September 1987. This story was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. It also features the last appearance of the Sixth...
. - Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy): died in San Francisco during exploratory heart surgery by a doctor unfamiliar with Time Lord physiology, after being hospitalised for non-life threatening gunshot wounds in the 1996 television movie.
- Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann): unknown cause of death.
- Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston): cellular degeneration caused by absorbing the energies of the time vortexTime vortex (Doctor Who)In the science fiction television series Doctor Who, the time vortex is the medium that the TARDIS and other time machines travel through...
from Rose TylerRose TylerRose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
, which she in turn had absorbed through the heart of the TARDISTARDISThe TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
in "The Parting of the WaysThe Parting of the Ways"The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
". - Tenth Doctor (David Tennant): radiation poisoningRadiation poisoningAcute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
incurred while saving the life of Wilfred MottWilfred MottWilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
in The End of TimeThe End of TimeThe End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
. The poisoning "killed" this Doctor more slowly than other causes, allowing him to spend an unknown length of time visiting past companions.
Romana's regeneration
RomanaRomana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
's tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
regeneration scene in Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....
contrasts markedly with the Doctor's transformations. In the first episode of the serial, Romana undergoes regeneration, in the process trying out several different forms before choosing to adopt the appearance of Princess Astra, a character she encountered in a previous adventure (The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 January to 24 February 1979...
).
Doctor Who television writer and script editor Eric Saward
Eric Saward
Eric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
suggests in his 1985 novelisation of The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma
The Twin Dilemma is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984, the first to star Colin Baker in the title role.-Synopsis:...
(1984) that Time Lords can control the appearance of their next body if they trigger the regeneration voluntarily, but not if the regeneration is caused by death or injury. The Doctor Who Role Playing Game
The Doctor Who Role Playing Game
The Doctor Who Role Playing Game was a Doctor Who roleplaying game published by FASA in 1985. The game allowed players to assume similar roles to the Doctor and his companions or as agents of the Celestial Intervention Agency.- Setting :...
by FASA suggested that some Time Lords have a special ability to control their regenerations.
The fan reference book The Discontinuity Guide
The Discontinuity Guide
The Discontinuity Guide, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, is a humorous guidebook to the serials of the original run of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. It was first published in 1995 by Virgin Books, which at the time also published licensed Doctor Who...
suggests that the various "try-ons" were projections of potential future incarnations like the K'anpo Rinpoche/Cho Je situation in Planet of the Spiders. Miles and Wood's About Time also mentions this along with theorising that the Time Lords had improved the technology of regeneration since the Doctor's time; Romana, being of a later generation than the Doctor, would therefore have finer control over the regenerative process in its early stages.
Aside from the how of it, multiple attempts have been made in the spin-off media to explain the necessity for Romana's regeneration.
- In the short story "The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe" by Mark MichalowskiMark MichalowskiMark Michalowski is the editor of Shout!, "Yorkshire's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender paper", as well as being an author best known for his work writing spin-offs based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who...
, published in the Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
anthology, Short Trips: CompanionsShort Trips: CompanionsShort Trips: Companions is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Jacqueline Rayner and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The stories focus on the companions and their travels with the Doctor.-Stories:...
, unknown to the Doctor, Romana suffers damage due to exposure to the Key to Time. Just as she is about to regenerate, a humanoid manifestation of the TARDIS, jealous of Romana, traps her in a force field. It proceeds to pretend to be Romana, changing into different forms until finally becoming a double of Princess Astra. This manifestation is the one who appears in Destiny of the Daleks. Realising the error of its ways after that adventure, it releases Romana, but not before making the female Time Lord assume the image of Astra.
- The second explanation, which may or may not be consistent with the first, is given in the Gallifrey audio seriesGallifrey (audio series)Gallifrey is the umbrella title of a line of audio plays set in the Doctor Who universe, produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring Louise Jameson as Leela, Lalla Ward as President Romana, and John Leeson as two K-9 units, Mark I and Mark II...
. Gallifrey: LiesGallifrey: LiesGallifrey: Lies is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The series is set on the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey.-Plot:...
by Gary RussellGary RussellGary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
reveals that Romana forced her own regeneration to prevent an ancient Gallifreyan evil called Pandora from gaining power over her (see also History of the Time Lords – Audio plays).
- The third explanation is in the Fifth DoctorFifth DoctorThe Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
audio story The Chaos PoolThe Chaos PoolThe Chaos Pool is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:...
by Peter AnghelidesPeter AnghelidesPeter Anghelides is an English author and dramatist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC television series Doctor Who.-Work:...
, which states that the creators of the Key to Time re-disguised its final segment as Romana, which is why she changed and why she chose Astra's form. It is possible that the previous explanation was arranged by the Key's makers to facilitate this one.
- Finally, in 2011 television episode "Let's Kill HitlerLet's Kill Hitler"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
", River SongRiver Song (Doctor Who)River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
is fatally shot and says she is trying to concentrate while regenerating so she can come out a particular dress size, indicating control over her physical form is natural to some Time Lords but nevertheless very difficult.
The Master's regeneration
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
has regenerated once on-screen in the 2007 series episode "Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
". After being fatally shot by the insectoid creature Chantho, the Master regenerates from the incarnation known as Professor Yana, played by Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, into the current incarnation, played by John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
. Before regenerating, the Master expresses desire to become "young and strong" like the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
. The effect used for the Master's regeneration, though similar to the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's, is notably brighter and more colourful, using an array of psychedelic colours.
Previously, the Master has been shown to possess non-Gallifreyan bodies in order to extend his life. The first was a Trakenite named Tremas in The Keeper of Traken
The Keeper of Traken
-Cast notes:Denis Carey, who plays the Keeper, also played Professor Chronotis in the uncompleted Fourth Doctor serial Shada, and the Old Man in the Sixth Doctor story Timelash....
and the second was a human named Bruce in the TV movie. In The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin
The Deadly Assassin is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 October to 20 November 1976...
it is stated that the Master had in fact used up all his regenerations, hence his decrepit appearance in that serial. He is in fact attempting to use the artifacts of Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...
to obtain a new cycle, but the process would destroy Gallifrey, so the Doctor intervenes. In The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
the High Council of Gallifrey offers the Master, who is now possessing the body of a Trakenite, a new regeneration cycle in exchange for his help. Although there's no indication he actually received this new cycle, in "Utopia" he regenerates naturally and in '"The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" he indicates that he had been resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Time War
Time War (Doctor Who)
The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, suggesting his life had indeed been extended.
In "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
", the Master demonstrates that regeneration is not an automatic process (or, it is, but can be prevented by will), refusing to regenerate after being shot by Lucy Saxon, despite the Doctor's pleas. The Master returned in The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
, resurrected with the same body he died in. He later makes remarks bemoaning this fact, suggesting this was not intended.
Other regenerations
In the premiere of the 2009 spin-off series K-9, the original K-9 Mark I (Leeson) is reintroduced and destroyed, but subsequently revealed to have been installed with a "regeneration circuit". At this point, the traditional K-9 model "regenerates" into a more sophisticated-looking CGI model.In "The Doctor's Daughter
The Doctor's Daughter
"The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.- Synopsis :...
" (2008), the Doctor's DNA is used to create the titular "daughter" Jenny
Jenny (Doctor Who)
Jenny, portrayed by Georgia Moffett, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She first appeared in the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", originally broadcast 10 May 2008...
(Georgia Moffet), who displays many but not all Time Lord traits. In the episode's close, she is shot in the chest and appears to die. However, long after the Doctor and his companions have departed, she miraculously resurrects and expels energy from her mouth which, ambiguously enough, both resembles regenerative energy and the energy emitted by a planet-restoring plot device in the same episode. The question as to whether this is a true regeneration is left unanswered, since Jenny does not change her appearance.
In "Day of the Moon
Day of the Moon
"Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
" (2011), a child (Sydney Wade) walks through a New York City alley at the end of the episode. When a vagrant asks of her condition, she explains that all is well, that she is dying, but she can fix it. She subsequently begins to regenerate in the style of the revived series (as with Eccleston, Tennant and Jacobi). In "Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
", it is revealed that this child was Melody Pond
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
and that she regenerated into a toddler (Maya Glace-Green). This form later matured into Amy Pond's best friend, Mels (Nina Toussaint-White
Nina Toussaint-White
Nina Toussaint-White is an English actress, best known for playing Syd Chambers in 2009 in the BBC One soap EastEnders.Raised in Plumstead, South East London, Toussaint-White trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Clapham on their 3 year BA Acting Course...
), who again changed into the Alex Kingston form of Melody (River Song). In the aforesaid episode, post-regeneration, Melody is immune to a barrage of gunfire due to her surplus regenerative energy.
Transference of regenerative energy
In Mawdryn UndeadMawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
(1983), it is first referenced that a Time Lord could transfer his regenerative life essence to another being. In that story, the Fifth Doctor is coerced by Mawdryn to give up his future regenerations in order to cure Nyssa
Nyssa
Nyssa may refer to:* the genus name for the tupelo tree* Nyssa , a female name** Nyssa , a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors in the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who...
and Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
from Mawdryn 's disease. Although, the transfer did not occur (due to the timely interference of The Brigadier) the Doctor stated that the consequence of the transference would be that he would sacrifice his eight remaining lives and cease to be a Time Lord. It is not until "Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
" (2011) that such a transference is shown. In that instance, River sacrifices her own regenerative power in order to save the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
. A major plot point of the 1996 TV involves the Master scheming to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations for himself.
See also
- Time Lord#Physical characteristics
External links
- Rassilon, Omega, and that Other guy: Gallifrey Stuff – every fact about the Time Lords no matter how apocryphal