Doctor Who

[BlobVanDam]

From Tennant's regeneration, it seemed like the healing part was automatic, with the cuts healing almost instantly after he was hit with the radiation, then it was quite a while before he actually regenerated. It was well over 10 minutes of wrap-up scenes, in a bunch of different locations through space and time, so it could have been hours or days for him inbetween.
So I think Tennant's Doctor consciously held back his regeneration as long as he could until he basically pissed his pants with regeneration energy and destroyed his TARDIS portapotty.

That really doesn't help explain Matt Smith's regeneration, but with completely different circumstances for each one, I guess all regenerations are not made equal.

[Nekov]

I'm gonna miss Matt Smith 

[El JoNNo]

From Tennant's regeneration, it seemed like the healing part was automatic, with the cuts healing almost instantly after he was hit with the radiation, then it was quite a while before he actually regenerated. It was well over 10 minutes of wrap-up scenes, in a bunch of different locations through space and time, so it could have been hours or days for him inbetween.
So I think Tennant's Doctor consciously held back his regeneration as long as he could until he basically pissed his pants with regeneration energy and destroyed his TARDIS portapotty.

That really doesn't help explain Matt Smith's regeneration, but with completely different circumstances for each one, I guess all regenerations are not made equal.

Not only did it seem like he held back but the blasts of energy are getting more and more violent. Hell, smith blew up a Dalek ship. At least it's not breaking too much "tradition", I guess. The fifth Doctor said his regeneration felt different than the others, so its not like variations on the regeneration are new. We just have the CGI tech to make them exponentially cooler. 

[BlobVanDam]

From Tennant's regeneration, it seemed like the healing part was automatic, with the cuts healing almost instantly after he was hit with the radiation, then it was quite a while before he actually regenerated. It was well over 10 minutes of wrap-up scenes, in a bunch of different locations through space and time, so it could have been hours or days for him inbetween.
So I think Tennant's Doctor consciously held back his regeneration as long as he could until he basically pissed his pants with regeneration energy and destroyed his TARDIS portapotty.

That really doesn't help explain Matt Smith's regeneration, but with completely different circumstances for each one, I guess all regenerations are not made equal.

Not only did it seem like he held back but the blasts of energy are getting more and more violent. Hell, smith blew up a Dalek ship. At least it's not breaking too much "tradition", I guess. The fifth Doctor said his regeneration felt different than the others, so its not like variations on the regeneration are new. We just have the CGI tech to make them exponentially cooler. 

That could certainly work. I just figured the ability to destroy an entire Dalek ship was related to him receiving one big dose of regeneration energy from the Time Lords in one go, and was able to blow off a lot of excess or something.
I'm not familiar with much pre 2005 revival, but it's possible that as a Time Lord gets older and uses up more regenerations, each regeneration needs to be more extreme to get the job done. His first regeneration was just a crossfade effect from one guy to the next, and now he's able to blow up spaceships and buildings and TARDISes (oh my).

[Dimitrius]

So now the Doctor has 12 new regenerations, right?

[El JoNNo]

Yes sir!

[bout to crash]

Wait, really?

[BlobVanDam]

So now the Doctor has 12 new regenerations, right?

That would be my assumption, although I'm not sure he would know for sure. But I think the regeneration issue is basically dealt with for now.

[ariich]

Yes sir!

How do you know?

They never specified how much regeneration energy the Time Lords gave the Doctor. Much better that way, keeps it completely open. Could be two more, could be two hundred more.

[El JoNNo]

Except he states "Its started, I can't stop it now this is just the reset. A whole new regeneration cycle. It's taking a bit longer, just working it in."

[wasteland]

How 'bout to crash some Peter Capaldi eyebrows?

[Super Dude]

[wasteland]

I agree, which is why I took the liberty to butcher it with an iPad app 

It's meant to look as if he was still enveloped by the last jets of regeneration energy.

[El JoNNo]

Truly the eyebrows of a champion.

[Heretic]

Yep, he has 12 new regenerations, he outright says "a whole new regeneration cycle *slurps custard*"

Which is awesome. Lets the show continue on and provides sort of a reboot for the show-- an older Doctor traveling with a teacher from Coal Hill School-- sound familiar?

[bout to crash]

Does "regeneration cycle" mean 12 more regenerations? That's not how I took it. ::shrug::

[hefdaddy42]

A cycle of regenerations - not sure how else it could be taken.

I loved the show - what I remember of it.  I was exhausted from 2 days of Christmas festivities, and I actually blacked out a few times.  I need to watch it again.

[bout to crash]

Well couldn't a "cycle" just refer to one body's "life"? I'm not all up on my Doctor lingo, but that's a pretty obvious interpretation to me.

[hefdaddy42]

I dunno, I think that is just one regeneration.  He didn't get an extra regeneration, he got a regeneration cycle.

Just the way I'm interpreting it.  Hopefully, Moffat will be more specific.

[El JoNNo]

Well couldn't a "cycle" just refer to one body's "life"? I'm not all up on my Doctor lingo, but that's a pretty obvious interpretation to me.

But he says regeneration cycle; Cycle meaning multiple events and Regeneration being the event.

[snowdog]

I dunno, I think that is just one regeneration.  He didn't get an extra regeneration, he got a regeneration cycle.

Just the way I'm interpreting it.  Hopefully, Moffat will be more specific.

What does it matter anyway?  It is silly they even had to deal with it in the first place.  It doesn't really add any dramatic tension to say he has a fixed number of regenerations, they'll write around it just like they did in this one, so I say just ignore the whole issue.  It isn't like they are going to ever have him die.  The show would be canceled again before that happens anyway.

[Perpetual Change]

It is kinda funny, though - a major plot point that's been one of the steady rules through the show got reversed because Clara talked to the time lords through a crack in the wall and begged them to "love him".

Hey, I like the show, but it is what it is. It's campy pulp sci-fi serials. It's never been anything else. The people who seem most often disappointed by it are the same people who seem to think it was ever something more.

[Kotowboy]

It's campy pulp sci-fi serials. It's never been anything else. The people who seem most often disappointed by it are the same people who seem to think it was ever something more.

 

[Super Dude]

It's campy pulp sci-fi serials. It's never been anything else. The people who seem most often disappointed by it are the same people who seem to think it was ever something more.

 

Seconded the

[Kotowboy]

People take Doctor Who way too seriously. They forget that it's a hugely daft young adult tv show which was made on an absolute shoe string budget back in the day and was notorious for being extremely tacky.

The few times I've seen Dr.Who in the RT Davies era - i've found it to be very juvenile indeed with really babyish writing where every problem is solved in a jiffy.

[Perpetual Change]

Agreed, but RT Davies was a bit better at not introducing confusion into the show IMO

[ariich]

People take Doctor Who way too seriously. They forget that it's a hugely daft young adult tv show which was made on an absolute shoe string budget back in the day and was notorious for being extremely tacky.

The few times I've seen Dr.Who in the RT Davies era - i've found it to be very juvenile indeed with really babyish writing where every problem is solved in a jiffy.

You're not quite right, and your choice of words is a little insulting. It's a family fairytale show with aliens and time travel that is primarily designed to entertain, so you're right that some people take it too seriously. But it is neither juvenile nor daft.

[Kotowboy]

You can have well made thoughtful sci-fi and still have it aimed at a younger audience.

I admit that i've not seen a huge amount of modern Who - but I personally felt like it's fanbase is a lot older than the writing would suggest.



The same fanbase also love Sherlock and i find the writing in that to be far superior.

[ariich]

They're completely different sorts of show. Sherlock is very much a show for adults, whereas Doctor Who is like Pixar films in that it's aimed to please all ages (not only kids). As you say, that doesn't mean it can't be good writing, but you do seen to judge it on that basis. It's probably just not for you, really.

[Kotowboy]

And I make no secret that I'm no fan of the show.


It's not that i'm too old for it either. I can watch cartoons all day

[Perpetual Change]

People take Doctor Who way too seriously. They forget that it's a hugely daft young adult tv show which was made on an absolute shoe string budget back in the day and was notorious for being extremely tacky.

The few times I've seen Dr.Who in the RT Davies era - i've found it to be very juvenile indeed with really babyish writing where every problem is solved in a jiffy.

You're not quite right, and your choice of words is a little insulting. It's a family fairytale show with aliens and time travel that is primarily designed to entertain, so you're right that some people take it too seriously. But it is neither juvenile nor daft.

I think you've inadvertently touched on one of the biggest issues with the Moffat era. It's a family fairytale which has consistently started to showcase plot points that adults have issues following.

[Heretic]

Well, I personally don't have any trouble following Moffat's plotlines. If you pay attention and actually watch the episodes (whilst rewatching them later may help as well) then it isn't that difficult to piece together his plotlines.

Moffat at least was able to shift the show's dynamic from a sci-fi adventure-filled soap opera (sorry RTD) to an actual family sci-fi drama with elements of fantasy-- something that is much more akin to how classic Doctor Who was.

[bout to crash]

Some interesting points of view here. I haven't been following the show nearly long enough to have any input but I do agree with some of the stuff said about the writing.

Well couldn't a "cycle" just refer to one body's "life"? I'm not all up on my Doctor lingo, but that's a pretty obvious interpretation to me.

But he says regeneration cycle; Cycle meaning multiple events and Regeneration being the event.

Please don't think I'm seriously worried about this, but I must point out that is not the only way to define the word "cycle."

For instance, the dictionary on my laptop has a whole list of definitions, and the first two lines are:

-A series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order
-The period of time taken to complete a single sequence of such events

So a regeneration cycle could refer to a series of regenerations, but it could also refer to the span of one regeneration. Ya dig?

Like snowdog said, it doesn't really matter because they will always find a way around the "rules" to keep The Doctor around, I'm just saying it's jumping to conclusions to assume that he definitely has 12 more.

[Perpetual Change]

Well, I personally don't have any trouble following Moffat's plotlines. If you pay attention and actually watch the episodes (whilst rewatching them later may help as well) then it isn't that difficult to piece together his plotlines.

Moffat at least was able to shift the show's dynamic from a sci-fi adventure-filled soap opera (sorry RTD) to an actual family sci-fi drama with elements of fantasy-- something that is much more akin to how classic Doctor Who was.

Yeah, but there's a huge disconnect between your first and second paragraphs. On one hand, MOffat's catering to an ever-increasing audience of diehards who are gonna pay close attention, rewatch, and go online to sort out every little detail to follow the show. On the other hand, Moffat's trying to keep the show an all-ages, family sci0-fi. Something tells me that little Timmy and Mom and Dad aren't gonna be doing due diligence to put everything together.

That's my only real criticism, overall. It's hard to cater to the diehard fans while keeping the family show vibe going, and Moffat has done an OK but not perfect job of doing that. I personally find the show difficult to follow occasionally. There are several plotpoints from the Moffat era that I'm pretty unclear on, I'm just happy enough to move on.

[El JoNNo]

It is kinda funny, though - a major plot point that's been one of the steady rules through the show got reversed because Clara talked to the time lords through a crack in the wall and begged them to "love him".

No it didn't. The Time Lords have always been able to extend the regenerations; at one point The Master was once offered the same. The Time Lords have also had the ability to travel through universes, Tennent mentions it at some point that travel between universes is near impossible now that the Time Lords are gone.

The Time Lords created the crack on Trenzalore in the truth field so when they asked the question it had to be answered truthful. Clara answered the question and the Time Lords released the regeneration energy and it went to the only Time Lord in the area. They did so because The Doctor is the only one that will bring them back.