Doctor Who: 10 Things Nu-Who Fans Just Don’t Understand

6. Regeneration Sickness

During the NuWho Series 1 finale, The Parting of the Ways, the Ninth Doctor absorbed the energies of the time vortex which ultimately resulted in his untimely regeneration, though it did save the life of his ever faithful companion Rose Tyler in the process, which is the most important thing... right? After transforming into David Tennant before our very eyes, our beloved hero preceded to enter a somewhat manic state and crashed the TARDIS near Rose's house in London before falling into a deep slumber. Not the best of timing considering planet Earth was about to be invaded by the superstitious Sycorax, but the Doctor been through a lot so he deserved a disco nap. What's more, when Matt Smith had his first full appearance in The Eleventh Hour, he too suffered from strange spasms so the question for newer viewers was, why does the Doctor act so strangely after he regenerates? In Classic Who, regeneration sickness was typically displayed as a loss of identity. Simply put, the Doctor didn't know who he was. While each time it was different, it appeared that each successive regeneration would become more stressful than the last. The Sixth Doctor, for example, attempted to strangle his companion while the Eighth showed strong signs of harbouring an emotional instability in the immediate aftermath of his latest transformation. As such, the Doctor's strange post-regernative behaviour could easily confuse new viewers as it's understood that the regeneration process is supposed to help the Doctor heal - psychically, at least, though it's been established it can take much longer for him to recover emotionally.