Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions We're Asking After 'The Lie Of The Land'

7. Why Did The Doctor Fake A Regeneration?

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Prior to its transmission, the biggest talking point about this episode was the Doctor’s possible regeneration. Trailers suggested a full blown transformation, leading to rumours that the thirteenth Doctor could make a surprising debut, with the rest of the series played out as flashbacks. Others speculated that the Doctor might temporarily regenerate in an alternative timeline or an Earth simulation. Some even posited that this could be a trial run for the first female Doctor.

The excitement never reached the level of The Stolen Earth cliff-hanger, in which the Tenth Doctor started to regenerate after being exterminated by a Dalek. Nobody was going to be fooled a second time into believing that the lead could change sooner than expected, not with Capaldi already credited for the rest of the series and the Christmas special. Therefore the assumption was that this had to be something much cleverer than an aborted regeneration.

But a fake regeneration, just to make sure that Bill wasn’t under the Monks’ control? The whole scene felt unrewarding and made the Doctor out to be nasty, with the laughter afterwards compounding that cruelty. Why didn’t he simply test Bill with a few questions, just as she did with Nardole? Casting aside the uncomfortable notion that the Doctor believed he could goad her into it, is it even credible that Bill - who has such faith in him - would pull the trigger?

It’s hard to offer a reason beyond the fact that this was all part of a publicity stunt to drum up interest for the middle of the series. At best we can suggest that it was a sign of the Doctor’s alien logic, in contrast to Bill’s human approach.