Doctor Who Regenerations: A Tribute To 11 Epic Changes

2. October 1966: First/Second Doctor

Unless you were actually there forty-seven years ago and remember it, it's impossible to imagine exactly how great the WTF moment must've been when the last moments of The Tenth Planet aired in the UK in October 1966. It may've been common for a lead actor in a radio or stage production to change without incident, but TV was still a relatively young medium. A change of lead actor in a continuing series was uncommon enough, much less for the transition between one actor and another, playing the same character, to actually be written into the story. As far as anyone's aware, nobody anywhere in the world has actually seen episode four of The Tenth Planet since it was last broadcast outside the UK circa-1968/69. Certainly it's been missing from the BBC's own archive since some time in the 1970s, so the last time Aunty Beeb herself had any opportunity to do anything with the episode was when a portion of it - specifically, the regeneration sequence - was liberated for inclusion in the BBC children's program Blue Peter, for its tribute to Doctor Who's tenth anniversary in 1973. Based on all that's known about that first regeneration sequence, there was nothing overly dramatic about it, nothing overly hi-tech about how the visual transition was achieved and, to all intents and purposes, it - or at least something - had been lined up earlier in the story when The Doctor fell ill and spent an entire episode or more off camera, apparently sleeping off his illness. Once back on board in episode four, the story continues to its conclusion with The Doctor appearing somewhat recovered, until the final minutes of the episode when it suddenly becomes clear that something is very wrong with the old man. At first he appears to've fainted, then seems extremely weak, vague and confused. When his young companions Polly and Ben try to assure him that everything's alright and "it's all over now", the Doctor gets to his feet and waveringly asserts that "it's far from being all over", before staggering off towards the TARDIS. By the time Ben and Polly reach it he's already inside. The doors appear to be locked so they bang on them and shout out to the Doctor in a desperate bid to get his attention and not be left behind. Inside, buttons and dials and switches all over the TARDIS console appear to be operating of their own accord. The old Doctor is visibly ill and going downhill quickly. The doors finally open and, as Ben and Polly enter, the Doctor collapses to the floor. Polly rushes to his aid, but Ben holds her back, only allowing her to move his arm and remove the scarf covering his face. They then step back as the Doctor's features begin to glisten, then glow. The TARDIS begins to dematerialise as the Doctor's facial features blur and change. As the glow recedes, a brand new face is laying on the floor in front of them, leaving Polly and Ben - and the rest of the viewing audience - to work out what had happened. The importance of this first regeneration can't be overstated. It's no exaggeration to say that it's effectively the bedrock upon which Doctor Who has rested ever since. Without it, the show could very well have ended right there and then on Saturday the 29th of October 1966, less than three years after it began. Or they could've just changed the actor in the lead role without explaining the altered facial features and different personality and without incorporating the physical transformation and what would have been left? Certainly most of the magic that's sustained the show for the subsequent forty-seven years would've been lost. Would Doctor Who have survived without this one scene? Who knows. Who... nose.