Doctor Who: 10 Huge Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About The Doctor
2. The Numbering And Timeline Is A MESS
It's a real problem when the Doctor gives River Song – a character literally defined by her confusing timeline – a run for her money.
Once upon a time it was all so simple, with the number assigned to each Doctor perfectly tallying with the regeneration number.
Now, because of the introduction of bonus Doctors like John Hurt and Jo Martin, plus David Tennant playing two numbered incarnations and using up another regeneration in The Stolen Earth, we’re at a point where Ncuti Gatwa was the Fifteenth Doctor, but the sixteenth main actor to play the role. And his regeneration was the Doctor’s seventeenth. Keeping up?!
The Doctor no longer comes from Gallifrey (or heck, even our universe). Regeneration is no longer linear. And if RTD’s personal head canon is to be believed, the Fourteenth Doctor’s bi-generation echoed back to every past incarnation, meaning that they’re all still out there somewhere.
Oh, and according to the hologram sequence in Rogue, Richard E. Grant’s animated Shalka Doctor now counts too. Because we really needed another one thrown into the mix.
If it's overly complicated for us fans, just imagine how newcomers feel. It definitely feels like there's a lot of baggage at the moment, and that getting back to that simple, linear progression from one Doctor to the next (wth no returning faces) would be for the best.