Doctor Who: 10 Behind The Scenes Decisions We Can't Forgive

4. Colin Baker Refuses To Regenerate

Doctor Who Sixth Doctor regeneration
BBC Studios

When it comes to tugging at the heartstrings of fans, regenerations are some of the biggest moments in Doctor Who, and because of this, these scenes tend to be among the most memorable moments in each Doctor's era.

Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor regeneration is no exception here, but instead of being memorable for any positive reasons, it's only really remembered because of how clunky, underwhelming, and flat-out bad it is.

There's no epic speech or valiant final stand, and hell, we don't even get to see his face. Baker's Doctor steps into the TARDIS at the end of The Ultimate Foe, and then, at the start of Time And The Rani, he's lying on the floor of the console room, face-down and just... dead. Someone then turns him over, and the glowy face we see is that of Sylvester McCoy, sporting a curly blonde wig to make him look like Baker.

It's laughable, cringey and lacklustre, and it's entirely Baker's fault. The actor was angry that he'd been fired from the role, so as a middle-finger gesture to the BBC, he flat-out refused to return to film his regeneration. Baker has since apologised for this - calling the move "selfish" - but not only did he deny his Doctor a quality send-off, he also denied fans of his Doctor a chance to properly say goodbye.

Baker's firing was just one of the bumps on the road to the 1989 cancellation, which was also a really terrible behind-the-scenes decision. That said, this one has become easy to forgive over time, considering that it led to the excellent 2005 revival.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!