Doctor Who: 8 Stories That Would Have Made Wonderful Regeneration Stories

3. "The Next Doctor"

As a show about time travel, Doctor Who lends itself to all sorts of tricks involving the introduction of events or even characters in non-chronological order. We never got to see Mel Bush and the Doctor's first encounter, for instance, and River Song was always quick to mention events in the Doctor's future. The first few minutes of "The Next Doctor" appeared to play on this underused formula, but with a twist--the character introduced in media res was none other than the Doctor himself. The set-up to this episode was perfect: the Doctor meeting his next incarnation before he regenerates? It has never been done before and probably never will be again. What turned out to be an utter tease could have been a brilliantly done regeneration episode, playing on hinting at the near future and the forgotten past. It would have worked as a regeneration story had the two hypothetical Doctors needed to team up to fight Mercy Hartigan and the cybermen. Of course, their efforts result in the death of the tenth Doctor, who regenerates and goes back in time to help himself destroy the CyberKing. Maybe it's a bit farfetched, but it would have been a fun introduction to a new Doctor and new companion, playing on time travel logic and reasoning, something that has been shamefully underused in Doctor-centric episodes.