Summary
Doctor Whohas seenmany actors play The Doctorthanks to his regeneration abilities, butthose abilities almost took a different direction in a 1996 installment of the Virgin New Adventurescompanion novels. Named for their publishers - Virgin Publishing - and intended to fill the void after the originalDoctor Whoshow went off-air in 1989, the novels spanned from 1991 to 1998. They focused on Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor until the final book. At that point, the focus shifted to a character named Bernice Summerfield, rather than Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, originally introduced in the 1996Doctor WhoTV movie.
The last novel featuring the Seventh Doctor debuted after the release of the TV movie but still did not address the Doctor’s death or regeneration. Virgin writers could have referenced it, as Seven’s regeneration was part of the recently released movie. This was not an oversight, however. A 1996 interview revealed that, before the movie’s release,Peter Darvill-Evans of Virgin Publishing wanted to novelize the seventh Doctor’s regeneration. The BBC felt that Darvill-Evans' plan for the regeneration was the wrong decision, and withDoctor Whowrapping up the 14th seasonof its modern reboot, it’s clear the network was right.
Doctor Who Hints Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Regrets 1 Thing About His Past Regenerations
One line from Doctor Who season 14 suggests Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor regrets one thing most of his previous regenerations were guilty of.
Doctor Who’s Original Seventh Doctor Regeneration Was Wild
One writer planned a form of regeneration never seen before or since
Gallifreyans are an incredibly resilient species, but whenone New Adventures writer wanted to push the boundaries of that resiliency, the BBC pushed back. New Adventures wanted to blow up the Doctor, only for him to step out of the Tardis in his new form or, more shockingly, reassemble himself from the debris and emerge as a new regeneration. The idea pushed the boundaries of the Doctor’s abilities too far, and with the TV movie primed for release, the network wanted to take another approach. It’s one thatclassic and modern Doctorswould all have to abide by.
Not all Gallifreyans are Timelords. The original Doctor Who series mentions the Academy, which Gallifreyans must attend in order to become a Timelord. It seems to be an abandoned concept, however, skipped over in newer seasons.
The BBC doesn’t avoid regeneration. In fact, canon content has seenthe Doctor regenerate 32 times. Through all of these regenerations, however,he has never been blown to pieces. Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor faced an explosion, but he only sustained injuries that later contributed to a more traditional regeneration. It wasn’t close to what New Adventures had in mind, and that’s a good thing. Blowing the Doctor to pieces and then having him reassemble in a new form would have completely rewritten the character’s ultimate mortality, something later enshrined in canon.
Doctor Who’s Cut Regeneration Would’ve Contradicted A Later Rule
Although flexible, regeneration still comes with some guidelines
To put it mildly,the Doctor’s regeneration abilities are flexible. One 1970s series stated that Timelords can only regenerate twelve times for thirteen incarnations. This rule was considered so concrete that the end of Peter Capaldi’s tenure came with more than a little tension. The BBC wouldn’t give up the Doctor that easily, however. Episodes like “The Timeless Child”, “The Name of the Doctor”, and “The Giggle” create loopholes and exceptions to pre-existing regeneration rules, and other episodes, like “Turn Left” and “The Impossible Astronaut,” established the Doctor could permanently die without regenerating.
The Doctor - and regeneration as a process - has limits.
Endless regeneration energy, gifts of new regenerations, andthe twist of bi-generationhave all expanded the Doctor’s time on screen. Some found these choices controversial, while others found that they answered decades-old questions. Through all of these options, however, one fact remains the same: The Doctor - and regeneration as a process - has limits. The Doctor can survive more than most and come back from almost everything that he can’t walk away from in his current form. However,he still has to stay in one piece, something New Adventures almost wrote out of canon entirely.
Doctor Who
Cast
Doctor Who: Doctor Who is a British sci-fi television series debuting in 1963, following The Doctor, a time-traveling alien Time Lord. The Doctor explores the universe in the TARDIS, accompanied by companions, confronting various adversaries and striving to save civilizations while addressing injustices.
