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

4. Colin Baker Refuses To Regenerate

Doctor Who Weeping Angel moving Flesh and Stone
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.

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.