It is no secret among Whovians (as we like to call ourselves) that the longevity of everybody’s favorite Time Lord is largely due to his regenerative powers. For those who are fairly new to the franchise, in the event that a Time Lord, the Doctor’s alien race, is fatally wounded for any reason, he can regenerate up to twelve times (this fact may very well be disputed in the near future). The downside of this power is that the regeneration energy regenerates mind as well as body, thus each regeneration means a completely new Doctor that shares memories of past incarnations. This allows new actors to put their own spin to the Doctor’s character.
Each regeneration is particularly heart wrenching in its own rite, depending on one’s opinion of each Doctor, but these five are easily the most memorable.
5. Patrick Troughton
Okay, just because I list this regeneration as “memorable,” I don’t mean it’s actually “good.” Patrick Troughton, one of my personal favorite Doctors (and for you Potter fans out there, the grandfather of Dudley Dursley actor Harry Melling), took over the blue box in 1966 due to the failing health of the original Billy Hartnell. It was under the helm of Troughton’s childish, recorder playing Doctor where we first met the stoic Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Corporal Benton, and he would later return periodically as the result of time paradoxes throughout the show’s 26 year run until his death in 1987.
Troughton’s reign as the madman with a box came to an end in 1969, when the Time Lords put the Doctor on trial for meddling in the affairs of other species, notably mankind. These same charges were brought to retrial in the unwatchable “Trial of a Time Lord” serial in 1986.
The Time Lords determine that while the Doctor’s actions were well intentioned, he could not be allowed to interfere any further. The council decreed that the secret of the TARDIS would be forcibly taken from him and his next incarnation, played by Jon Pertwee, would be exiled to Earth for the majority of his run as the Doctor. His subsequent regeneration then reminds of you of the worst LSD trip imaginable multiplied by about ten.
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7 Comments
Good article but I completely disagree with your choices for the second and first slots. The regeneration at the end of The Stolen Earth was just a cheap cliffhanger with a terrible resolution.
And as for Tennant’s real regeneration, I personally felt that it was too overblown and mawkish. The line “I don’t want to go”, Tennant’s delivery of it, and him having tears in his eyes as he regenerates is completely at odds with the fact that he’s just spent the whole two episodes coming to terms with the fact that he will die or regenerate and eventually saves Wilfred at the cost of his own life completely willingly. “The Doctor: Wilfred, it’s my honour”
Baker’s is my personal favourite with Eccleston’s coming in at a close second. I also have to give an honourable mention to Melody’s in Day Of The Moon for it’s pure shock value alone. That’s how you make a cliffhanger out of a regeneration.
I completely agree about Melody, but since I am new I decided to just start out with 5, hence focus on the Doctor this time around. If I update this in the future, I will definitely add other regenerations. Thanks for the suggestion!
Good list, can anyone tell me whether the Melody/River thing has been resolved? Can River regenerate when wounded?, has the storyline been resolved? I did watch every episode but I fear I may have missed something, I was too busy enjoying it :)
John: River gave up her regenerations to save the Doctor’s life in “Let’s Kill Hitler”; as for regeneration after being wounded, she does this once when cornered by Nazi soldiers. The storyline itself kind of left us hanging.
Matt Smith is a terrible Doctor.
Good article though, I think you need to include William Hartnells because it was the first. Tennants was best. Colin Baker’s is probably the worst as its Mccoy in a wig.
you may be an american but that is no excuse for not watching Dr. Who on PBS. We watched all the old ones. Matt Smith was not our first, but then I lived in the boondocks of Bowling Green, Ohio, not the hip NY area. sorry about your luck, if you,d have seen them all your choices would be different, I believe.
Why is Eccelston’s not on here? His was much more tearful in my opinion to the overblown (tho very sad) Tennant’s death. Oh the drama of Bad Wolf. One of my VERY favorite episodes is the 2(?) part ending to #9.