Here's a controversial one, I'm sure. This is obvious. If ever there's a time the show needs to deliver, it's when one Doctor's time is ending, and another is coming in. In fact, JUST that fact implies it's time to step things up, and end the game on a high note. So WHY could the classic series NEVER get it 100% right, save ONCE? Look, a quick overview for those who don't know: First Doctor: Dies of (seemingly) Old age, following his first Cyberman encounter. The Story's OK at best, the regeneration is quite well done. Sadly, William Hartnell's health meant that he made a couple good speeches, but mostly was either absent for this story or just standing around. Second Doctor: Caught by the Time Lords, the Doctor is forced to regenerate and exiled to 1970's/80's earth. The Regeneration is inconclusive (Jon Pertwee hadn't been cast as 3 yet), and the story is good - if a bit long. Overall, it's good enough, but nowhere near as dramatic as it could've been it'd have been shown. Third Doctor: Actually dies heroically facing a fear he know will kill him but realizes will save galaxies. The story is ropy and overlong, but Pertwee gives it his all and seems to actually grow ill and die. The regeneration looks terrible, though. Fourth Doctor: Explaining this story in a sentence is near impossible. He saves the Universe, but ultimately dies from a whacking great fall. The regeneration is gorgeously done and directed, but the story is overlong technobabble. Almost NO action. Also, Adric. Fifth Doctor: THIS is the one time they get it 100% right. Great story, great action with high stakes, and #1 on "Doctor Who" magazine's last fan poll of ALL stories. Sixth Doctor: He whacks his head on the console when his TARDIS is shot at. Seriously. Seventh Doctor: He's shot at by gang members in 1999 San Francisco while walking out of the TARDIS. Really. Eighth Doctor: Well, the Time War apparently did it. So it was probably pretty epic. Did we see it? No. If you're reading this article, then I probably don't have to tell you how much of a BIG DEAL each new series regeneration was. Eccleston and Tennant got exits that made them seem momentous, and even if you feel Tennant's extended coda was a bit much, it nonetheless closed the book on his time as the Doctor dramatically. You couldn't say either of them was short-changed. The first regeneration to the 2nd Doctor was something you could really see as an incidental thing; No one knew it'd be such big deal (Or allow the program to continue seamlessly for 50 years). But even then, Hartnell deserved WAY more than he got. Sadly, this seemed to be a theme for all successive stories - It was just another plot point that the Doctor would be changing his face. The 3rd Doctor tried to have an epic, but even that ended up overlong and ill-suited to the gravitas Pertwee tried to imbue it with. Tom Baker justly complained there was nothing heroic in his final story as he basically fought math. (No, really - the program was having a very difficult time telling "Fascinating real Sci-Fi concepts" from "Stuff that puts kids to sleep"). The less said about the 6th, 7th, and 8th the better. The 5th doctor's "Caves of Androzani" arguably only ended up great because they drafted in a great writer (Series stalwart Robert Holmes) and let him do something dramatic he'd never done - Kill the Doctor. He seemed to relish the opportunity to build to something he'd never had the chance to and the script shows as much. Peter Davison had felt the role had been dramatically lacking since his second year - Now that he had something meatier to tear into, he did so. But instead of taking TWENTY YEARS to get this right, the New Series had it right from the beginning. Even the one-year wonder, Eccleston, had so much power and buildup to his changeover that you didn't even NEED a Dalek fleet threatening the whole of humanity - They just made the pot all that much sweeter. It has been said that in the early planning stages, David Tennant's regeneration story would've actually been a standalone adventure, perhaps following an epic showdown in his penultimate story. He would've died saving a single family trapped aboard a single starship, giving his life for people, who, in the grand scheme of all of time and space, were nobodies. Yes, it seems very small compared to what we got. But you know what? Given the New Series track record, I bet they STILL would've nailed it out of the park. That's the kind of trust you can give them with regenerations, and it's something I'm sure all past Classic Doctors somewhat envy. Except Davison. That's 5 and 5, so......what do you think?
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
