10 Happiest Accidents in Doctor Who History

6. Regeneration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y39RnQjQQlg An obvious choice perhaps, but an important one. If it wasn€™t for regeneration, we would either have no Doctor Who at all or a 104 year old William Hartnell pottering about the TARDIS, or worse a shoddy reboot. Regeneration was an idea so far flung that only in a show like Doctor Who could that work. He€™s an alien who changes his face, simple as that. Even the effect used came about by accident. A faulty mixing desk allowed the recorded image of Hartnell to be overexposed almost to white so that Troughton could be put in his place before the effect faded again. So that solves the occasional casting problem but more than that, regeneration is now event television! People will tune in just to see the lead character cop it in some heroic way. Whereas most heroes escape at the last minute, there is an odd mortality to the Doctor where you can believe not everything will be ok this time. It can be spectacular, heartbreaking and reassuring at the same time. Children are able to witness change and loss in a completely new light. Testament to that has got to be the most recent transition between David Tennant and Matt Smith, no doubt people wept bucket loads when Tennant bid farewell, but now Matt Smith€™s visage is more at home on the lunch boxes and birthday cakes than Tennant ever was and the kids still love it!