Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[Reinhardt]

Well my thinking was that since the Time Lords are gone, and the Time Lords regulated a Time Lord's life cycle, then it should follow that he is now (seemingly) unlimited.. but he might not know that.. which would make for an interesting regen when he reaches the end of his 13th incarnation.

Tennant eluded to that a little bit at the end of Waters of Mars, but that is an interesting thought indeed.

 

[pixletwin]

is the Dr only supposed to be able to do it so many times? was this something that was said in the early seasons?

It has been mentioned in a few different episodes... but I can't recall which ones...

AHA! Deadly Assasin is one in which it was mentioned.

 

[bcm77]

Well my thinking was that since the Time Lords are gone, and the Time Lords regulated a Time Lord's life cycle, then it should follow that he is now (seemingly) unlimited.. but he might not know that.. which would make for an interesting regen when he reaches the end of his 13th incarnation.

"It's the end.......but the moment has been prepared for....................hang on, I'm still here!"

The number of regenerations was mentioned in "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Invasion of Time". Coincidentally both were set on Gallifrey.

I can't remember off the top of my head if it's been mentioned in any other stories though.

EDIT: Another reference is in "The Keeper of Traken" as the decayed Master steals the body of the character Tremas and starts a new cycle as the Anthony Ainley incarnation.

 

[Kabukiman]

Well my thinking was that since the Time Lords are gone, and the Time Lords regulated a Time Lord's life cycle, then it should follow that he is now (seemingly) unlimited.. but he might not know that.. which would make for an interesting regen when he reaches the end of his 13th incarnation.

That's kind of how I figured they'd handle it. Time Lords can regenerate an unlimited amount of times, the 13 thing was just a self-imposed rule. Evidence of this is in The End of Time when it's mentioned how Time Lords are being killed on a constant basis only to come back and be killed again. I forgot the exact wording, but it was something along those lines.

 

[pixletwin]

That's kind of how I figured they'd handle it. Time Lords can regenerate an unlimited amount of times, the 13 thing was just a self-imposed rule. Evidence of this is in The End of Time when it's mentioned how Time Lords are being killed on a constant basis only to come back and be killed again. I forgot the exact wording, but it was something along those lines.

Not only that but we learned that a Time Lord's remaining cycles can be awarded to other people. So by that it seems it was a Time Lord imposition rather than a natural biological law.

 

[ProgMatinee]

this problem is kind off similar to the explanation Lucas needed to come up with for why Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin had spirits when Qui-Gon did not. I'm sure they'll come up with a satisfactory explanation, it would be a shame if they had to disconnect the lineage just because a number was arbitrarily named.

 

[barbelith]

this problem is kind off similar to the explanation Lucas needed to come up with for why Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin had spirits when Qui-Gon did not. I'm sure they'll come up with a satisfactory explanation, it would be a shame if they had to disconnect the lineage just because a number was arbitrarily named.

Qui-Gon had a spirit, we just didn't see it. Yoda talks about it in the third prequel.

 

[Superman]

Qui-Gon had a spirit, we just didn't see it. Yoda talks about it in the third prequel.

Yeah, Lucas did answer the question of the fans but couldn't actually get the actor to return as he wanted because Liam was doing other projects. Everyone has a spirit and anyone can learn to commune with them as Yoda mentions in III. As for Dr. Who, obviously they can't set a limit to how many times the Dr. can regenerate as that would mean the end of the series at some point or an ultimatum they cannot follow. I liked the last two Dr's and am looking forward to this season. He seems better than the last two in my opinion.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Qui-Gon had a spirit, we just didn't see it. Yoda talks about it in the third prequel.

yeah, but I meant Lucas had to write in an explanation of how Obi-Wan and Yoda (and I guess Anakin) knew how to become a spirit because throughout the prequels it wasn't mentioned. So Lucas conviently added an EXTREMELY quick and dirty explanation in the last few scenes of ROTS. I think they'll probably just do the same here, have a quick explanation and hope the fans that take everything so literally don't have too big of an issue.

 

[William Shatners Toupee]

is the Dr only supposed to be able to do it so many times? was this something that was said in the early seasons?

Yeah. Timelords have Twelve regenerations. Thirteen lives. The Doctor, being an adventurer, has really blown through his lives severely fast. I believe it has been stated (though in novels, not necessarily the tv show) a single incarnation can normally last close to a thousand years (and certainly several hundred)? They've never given an explanation about why the TimeLords have regens on the show. One of the books said it was because there were 13 vampire lords the Time Lords were at war with, but of course that's not canon.

Another aspect of how the Timelords as a regiem can control it is when Troughton is forced to regenerate as punishment and the Timelords give him options on what his next incarnation can be (and the goofier Romana scenario who changes her appearance like changing a fashion. Bah, it's just several hundred years off her life!).

There have been several instances in the show where the Doctor was exposed to something where his regens could have been reset, like in the Doctor Dances from the nanobots, without him knowing about it. In fact, wasn't that written by Moffat?

 

[bcm77]

There have been several instances in the show where the Doctor was exposed to something where his regens could have been reset, like in the Doctor Dances from the nanobots, without him knowing about it. In fact, wasn't that written by Moffat?

Yeah, he wrote it and I think there's a better than average chance this could be the way it'll be resolved as it'd be a nice bit of continuity. Maybe when the time comes there'll be a flashback to that episode?

 

[pixletwin]

Um did you guys forget that the nanobots were set to restore human biology not Time Lord biology.

 

[bcm77]

Um did you guys forget that the nanobots were set to restore human biology not Time Lord biology.

I've only seen that episode about 3 times and the last was well over 2 years ago so yeah, I forgot

 

[pixletwin]

Looks like Brendan can skip the next Batman movie:

 

[William Shatners Toupee]

Looks like Brendan can skip the next Batman movie:

I can't see that happening.

 

[pixletwin]

I thought it was real until I realized he is wearing the Doctor Who suit.

 

[bcm77]

Looks like Brendan can skip the next Batman movie:

If that were legit I'd probably watch to see Batman beat the crap out of him

 

[Blackhole]

Anyone who is interested, the Dalek "To Victory!" poster is available on the Doctor Who website for download...

 

[William Shatners Toupee]

Um did you guys forget that the nanobots were set to restore human biology not Time Lord biology.

It's been awhile since I've seen it (and what a great excuse to re-watch the eps!) but earlier in the ep when the Doc is first inside the alien ambulance (with Rose?) he explains to her what the nano-stuff is by twirling it in his hand before healing her if I remember it right.
I remembered thinking then how it could have reset him to factory specs--- 12 regenerations.

 

[pixletwin]

Except he wasn't hurt. I think if they were "fixing him" he'd have noticed... But really the nanobots need a template to work from. If there was another time lord whom they had sampled from who was still in their first incarnation, then maaaaaaaybe. But has it is, the nanobots need a template to work from.. hence the nanobots recognizing that the girl was the empty child's mother and that they had mistaken the boys template, and realizing that fixed him and everyone else that had been "fixed" incorrectly.

Let alone that a fresh cycle of regenerations being bestowed upon a Time Lord physiology is prolly a bit more than a nanobot can handle.