Do Timelords Have Some Form of Control Over Their Regenerations?

When a Timelord regenerates there might be some influence on their part as to what form their next regeneration will take.  Let's look at this with the regenerations we've seen since the show's revival.

When 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, regenerated into 10th Doctor, Davis Tennant, he was in love with Rose Tyler and perhaps wanted to be younger like her.  The next regeneration we see is the Master, who states, "If the Doctor can be young and strong then so can I" before regenerating into John Simm, who was younger and stronger than his Professor Yana persona.  We then witness the 10th Doctor's regeneration into 11th Doctor Matt Smith, at this point the Doctor feels old and weary and wonders if he has lived too long.  He regenerates into a younger, more carefree version of himself.

The Doctor comments that he could look like anything, have three heads or no arms perhaps, but yet every time we see any Timelord, they always look human.  Perhaps the Doctor will finally get his chance to be ginger.

Does The Doctor Need Companions?

We all see the Doctor dashing about the universe saving worlds and defeating monsters, but we don't see who he is at his core very much at all.  When we see him it's while he is "performing" for his companions and showing off a bit. You can see the school kid who just wants attention and to be liked in him at times.

But what happens when there is no audience?  How does the Doctor behave when there is nobody to impress?  We've seen the Doctor alone quite a bit at the end of David Tennant's run as the Doctor.  He gave an incredible amount of emotional depth to the character and part of that depth was the character's darkness.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely and we saw in The Waters of Mars what happens when the Doctor gives in to his arrogance.

The Doctor needs someone to humanize him and to ground him.  In The Runaway Bride Donna stops him from going too far and losing himself.  His friends and companions are his emotional compass and keep him grounded and from giving in to the possibility of things he could do but shouldn't.

The Doctor has ended his self imposed isolation and again travels with friends, yet still somewhere underneath there is a darkness that shows through occasionally.

The End of Series 6.1

Three years of build-up on a character's origin and background is hard to deliver on, but Steven Moffat and team delivered on the reveal of River Song's true identity. Despite it seeming telegraphed the emotion was intense and the acting was fantastic.  There should not have been a doubt in anyone's mind after Rory went to River for help and she said it was her birthday.  River Song's place has been cemented and I very much look forward to seeing what else develops with her character and her interactions with Rory and Amy now that they know who she is.

Rory Williams, The The Last Centurion, is a character who far exceeded my original expectations.  In the monologue that Amy tells Melody in the beginning about the man coming to help leading to Rory's appearance on the Cybership and the determination with which he carries himself, you can see why the Doctor has come to value his friendship so much.  Rory has much in common with the Doctor and while I originally saw him as another Mickey Smith who would ultimately lose the girl to the Doctor, but instead he's proven to be worthy of standing beside the Doctor.

Although we have the reveal of who Melody and River are, we are still left with not knowing how her kidnapping resolves.  Is her being a weapon what they encountered when they first met the Silence?  And how did the Doctor knowing who she was make him know where to go find her all of a sudden, when just moments prior he did not know. Because he's heading to Florida in 1969 to put on a space suit.

Another lingering mystery is the death of the Doctor 200 years into his future.  I wonder if that was the Doctor's flesh avatar, as he did say it was possible for him to survive.  The real Doctor could have been in the space suit.

I am a big fan of the end of the series reunion of people the Doctor has helped or befriended, it shows how much of an impact he has and how many people he has profoundly affected.  With a new twist on that device we were treated to some friends and allies we have not seen before.

My theory is the Doctor, in order to save young Melody/River, recruits his ganger to help.  The ganger sacrifices himself so that events can be set in motion and the Doctor will save Melody.  Because if you recall when she talks to President Nixon in the prequel to 'The Impossible Astronaut' she says, "The Spaceman told me" when he asked how she got the number.  I think the Doctor was there with her when she called the White House and that he is the one that made the calls go through to wherever Nixon was.  You can almost feel him shrugging it off when the president asks "what spaceman?"  Guess we'll find out in a few months.

Welcome to Tardis Bay!

As a fellow fan of the Doctor I would like to thank you for checking out the Tardis Bay blog.  The blog will discus various aspects of the show and its various spin-off series.

Comment discussions are encouraged as hopefully this can be more than just a place for me to talk about Doctor Who, but for a bunch of people who have a common love of a great sci-fi show to get together and discuss it with other fans.  Please feel free to email any ideas for topics.

There will also be news feeds to keep up to date with the latest Doctor Who news as well as polls and other fun stuff.