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Shhhh! The Time Lord is now immortal

Some Doctor Who fans aren't too impressed that a change to the rules of their Universe is being slipped under the radar by the BBC.

If you are a long-term fan of Doctor Who you would know that the Time Lord can only re-generate 12 times before dying.

Back in 1976 when Tom Baker revealed the regeneration limit, that was a pretty safe number.

But now with Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor there are only two more regenerations left and it’s something fans have known will need addressing soon.

The BBC is going to explain that the Doc is now, in fact, immortal.

Not everybody is happy that this will be explained in a scene in the kid’s spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Smith guest stars in a two-part episode called The Death of the Doctor, to be screened in the UK on October 25 and 26. While the Doctor and Clyde Langer, played by Daniel Anthony, are in the process of outwitting spooky vulture undertakers the Shansheeth, Clyde asks how many times he can regenerate. The Doctor indicates that there is no limit. The action continues.

So is it a move to lure dedicated fans to these episodes or is quietly slipping the change under the radar?

One fan tells the Guardian: “Many of us old-timers have looked forward to the story that addresses the end of the Doctor’s life span. I’m gutted that it appears that something so integral to the show’s long-term storyline has been passed over in this way.”

The BBC would not say whether there would be any further explanation. “We never comment on future storylines for Doctor Who,” said a spokeswoman.

Meanwhile in other news, the BBC has announced that the first adventure in the new series will be partly filmed in America.

The two-part story is set in the US in the late Sixties, and key scenes will be filmed in Utah.

Production on the episodes begins in Cardiff this month and Smith, Karen Gillan (Amy) and Arthur Darvill (Rory) will then travel to America in November to shoot more scenes.

They will be joined by Alex Kingston, who is reprising her role as River Song.

Source: RTE, Guardian

25 Responses

  1. Just saying, I’ve now seen the episode – not as bad as the last one with the Doctor in it, though it was very odd seeing Eleven being all nostalgic – and he says “502”, but the way he says it he’s obviously just lying. It’s a ridiculous number for a regeneration limit, 502, and he’s just saying stuff to make Clyde shut up, I think.

    I love RTD, he’s lovely and nostalgic, does a great job at the terrible loneliness of the Doctor.

    That said, I do prefer Moffat – he’s darker, and ridiculously clever (read his short story, ‘Continuity Errors’, it actually made me doubt the Doctor). I doubt he’ll go for a cop-out ‘the rules have changed’ thing – though, strictly speaking, I think they have.

    I’m no Classic fan (I want to be, and I’m getting into it though, halfway through season 1 as well as some Pertwee, Baker (of the Tom variety – Colin Baker makes me uneasy), and a little tiny bit of Davidson and Troughtan) but I think that what with the Time Lords being all gone, there’s something different. Plus, as if they’d keep the limit during the war? More regenerations = more soldiers. We know they went crazy in the final days of the war. As if they wouldn’t give everyone unlimited?

    Bahaha! If you don’t like Doctor Who, ignore this new Whovian’s rambles.

  2. The rumour is untrue! YAY!
    According to SFX “The story is complete bobbins (and fundamentally incorrect) but we won’t spoil it for you by revealing the truth.”
    We can all relax now and remind ourselves that the show is in safe hands! 😀

  3. @Michael/Dave

    Russell T Davies and Steve Moffat are friends; it was Davies who recommended Moffat for the job when he resigned as the Doctor Who showrunner. Its probably not true that Davies ‘sprung a surprise’ on Moffat. It’s more likely that Moffat is using SJA as a teaser for a longer explanation next year, and asked Davies to add this in the script. Davies won’t explain what, how or why this supposed ‘immortality’ came about happens, and the explanation will still be revealed in next year’s episodes.

  4. Well turns out us hardcore nerd boys need to set you all straight! There has been several references since the Tom Baker era that clearly support this current development. Firstly we found out in the Five Doctors 25th anniversary special in 1988, the 12 regeneration limit was a self imposed limit, bought about after the times after Rassilon to stop Timelords becoming corrupt and cruel in there possible eternal existence. Secondly for those of us counting, the Master is on his 15th known regeneration within the canon of the current show. Once he stole a body and Currently he’s on a Second cycle of regenerations granted to him by the time-lord high council. SO theres lotsa ways for Doctor 13 to play out!

  5. That Russell T Davies. Half the time I think he just wants to get a reaction out of the fan community.

    I admit I do find this mildly disappointing, if only because it potentially precludes what could be a great high stakes story six to eight years down the line when we get to the death of number 13. Of course they’d sort it out somehow, but I’d like to see them try. This moment in Sarah Jane seems to do nothing else but remove drama from the show and irritate fans.

    That said, whoever’s in charge at that point could just ignore RTD.

  6. As much I love Who, trying to apply continuity to the show is a short stop to a funny farm. Canon is what works unitl they come up with someone cooler/that works better.

  7. Now, now – I am sure we can all agree that Dr Who can be bad panto (Season 17, anyone) and some Star Trek is superior to most shows (DS9, Seasons 5-6)… right?

    @GuanoLad – there is no storyline supporting that idea – but I agree – it does make a lot of sense. The Time Lords could have imposed a 12 regen limit to control population or allow some modicum of succession planning! They are gone now – so the limit could have gone with them. It is a clever way of getting around a problem.

  8. @Ben – Man, I would have actually bothered to take you seriously if you had mentioned a good science ficiton series. No offense, but the only time Star Trek has really achieved it’s potential was with the latest movie. The original series was cancelled because it was rubbish, Deep Space 9 was a rip off of the far superior Babylon 5, The Next Gen managed had the occasional moment of brilliance, and the less said about Voyager and Enterprise the better.

    Doctor Who has bucketloads more originiality, flexibility and is infiitely less po-faced. Give me an alien time traveller with a magical blue box over a USA propaganda programme anyday.

  9. @ Emily – too true!

    If you set up a rule, your character has to live (or die) by it.
    You don’t blow it off with an ‘oh, it’s all changed now’ line. It cheats the audience. It’s not logical, it’s not believable.

    I have a hazy recollection that The Master managed to cheat his 12 regeneration limit, so if I was writing future episodes (cough) I’d have the Dr needing the Master’s help to defeat the limit. Then Dr would be beholden to Master, creating fabbo conflict.

    Just saying.

    Stephen Moffat, gimme a call.

  10. I seem to recall some Whovian or other telling me the limit was imposed by the High Council of Gallifrey. No more High Council means the rules don’t apply anymore, and haven’t since the Time War against the Daleks that occurred apparently just before the series returned in 2005.

    I will ask around and see what the geeks are saying.

  11. Noooo! I am soo frustrated now! Being immortal is just an easy way out. Why couldn’t they make it more interesting, and at a time where it will actually matter. Maybe a bit closer to the 12th regeneration, not the 11th. So many stories have just been half killed and it’s sad because I’ve heard Russell T Davies and David Tennant (and others) say so many times that ‘the Doctor is not immortal, if he’s killed he won’t necessarily regenerate.’ 🙁 I’m happy they’re going for more than 13 Doctors (it was always going to happen) but I’m not happy about the way they’ve gone about it.

  12. Wow you guys are kinda freaky. I’m sure I’ll be shot down but seriously Doctor Who is a complete waste of time. British television at it’s worst, a short step away from panto. Star Trek, all versions, was the only decent sci-fi on television.

  13. Nope complete BS sounds like the poor writing Davies relied upon. Simple fix undo the damn time war thing (yeah cause the Daleks who can never get anything right beat the all powerful time lords anyway…) and just have the doc be given a new regeneration cycle from his people.

  14. Good. About time. So sick of people saying ‘oh dear what will happen, how will they get over this problem?’ It’s not a problem as other comments have pointed out, it was a plot convenience at one point and it would be ridiculous to address it seriously thirty years later.

    Particularly irritated by those who abused Christopher Eccleston for ‘wasting’ a regeneration by not staying!!! Seriously, like the whole series was going to stop a couple of years early just because he didn’t go for three years.

  15. I have watched Doctor Who since 1975 … we have all come to know that the “Only 12 Regenerations” idea was going to be changed in some uneventful way … just a comment is all it takes, and, of course, it had to be in something that Russell T Davies wrote!

    I find that most fans are not that obsessed with what some call “cannon” …
    I am thrilled that we will get more Matt Smith, Amy, Rory and River Song next year … they are the best combination ever, only one missing is Sarah Jane Smith, of course…

  16. It was mentioned in the Classic series, that the Time Lords could offer a new set of lives to another, see The Five Doctors, and the Second Doctor has said his people can live forever barring accidents, see The War Games. That so called old timer probably forgot that.

  17. At the risk of being a geek, this isn’t really a retcon 🙂 The second Doctor once said that Time Lords could live forever, barring accidents. Then along comes “The Deadly Assassin” and retcons that. This new info is just going back to the original setup. All’s well 😀

    And like that thirteen body limit would ever have been stuck to…they forgot about it pretty quickly when they wanted the Master back 🙂

  18. Makes sense to me. Provided the series continues to be a “hit”, there is no way they would shut down production of the series due to a story element that limited the Doctor’s number of regenerations.

    And I’m sure that when the time comes, they will explain it in a way that makes sense. Perhaps it was the Time Lords who imposed the limit of 12 regenerations as a means of controlling their society and with Gallifrey destroyed and the Doctor (and the Master) the sole survivors, there are no more limits rendering them effectively immortal. Or a wizard did it.

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