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major_clanger There was a scene in Day of the Doctor that was not only lovely in its own right but, I suspect, may be laying the groundwork for resolving an increasingly awkward bit of Who continuity.
Eleven: I could retire and be the curator of this place.
Curator (off screen): You know, I really think you might.
(The Curator, who has Four's voice and is clearly an aged version of Four, enters. Eleven look astonished, gets up and inspects the Curator)
Eleven: I never forget a face.
Curator: I know you don't. And in years to come you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just... the old favourites, eh?
(Eleven smiles in seeming understanding and winks)
And a few lines later:
Curator. If I were you... (laughs, then repeats in an amused tone) If I were you... Perhaps I was you of course. Or perhaps you are me.
The implication is clear. The Curator is the Doctor, but not Four. Rather, he is a future incarnation of the Doctor who has regenerated back into Four's form, and subsequently aged.
Why would the Doctor do this? It's been shown that in voluntary regenerations Time Lords can choose their form (Romana I to Romana II), while Night of the Doctor showed that sufficiently advanced technology can guide a regeneration. The Curator's comment suggests that perhaps as the Doctor goes on he seeks to use such techniques to revisit his past incarnations.
However, we've not yet had a clear get-out of the '12 regenerations' rule. But that has been evaded before (e.g. by the Master) and it's entirely possible - indeed, necessary, if the show is to continue, that the Doctor will get around it; Capaldi isn't going to play Twelve for ever. I am guessing that before too long (maybe even in the Christmas Special, as this seems to deal with the Doctor's fate) we will see some plot development that has the effect of giving the Doctor a new set of regenerations. It might even be mentioned that, for some arm-waved reason, the Doctor may now be able to choose his form, or at least to choose to regenerate into the form of a previous incarnation.
Eleven: I could retire and be the curator of this place.
Curator (off screen): You know, I really think you might.
(The Curator, who has Four's voice and is clearly an aged version of Four, enters. Eleven look astonished, gets up and inspects the Curator)
Eleven: I never forget a face.
Curator: I know you don't. And in years to come you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just... the old favourites, eh?
(Eleven smiles in seeming understanding and winks)
And a few lines later:
Curator. If I were you... (laughs, then repeats in an amused tone) If I were you... Perhaps I was you of course. Or perhaps you are me.
The implication is clear. The Curator is the Doctor, but not Four. Rather, he is a future incarnation of the Doctor who has regenerated back into Four's form, and subsequently aged.
Why would the Doctor do this? It's been shown that in voluntary regenerations Time Lords can choose their form (Romana I to Romana II), while Night of the Doctor showed that sufficiently advanced technology can guide a regeneration. The Curator's comment suggests that perhaps as the Doctor goes on he seeks to use such techniques to revisit his past incarnations.
However, we've not yet had a clear get-out of the '12 regenerations' rule. But that has been evaded before (e.g. by the Master) and it's entirely possible - indeed, necessary, if the show is to continue, that the Doctor will get around it; Capaldi isn't going to play Twelve for ever. I am guessing that before too long (maybe even in the Christmas Special, as this seems to deal with the Doctor's fate) we will see some plot development that has the effect of giving the Doctor a new set of regenerations. It might even be mentioned that, for some arm-waved reason, the Doctor may now be able to choose his form, or at least to choose to regenerate into the form of a previous incarnation.
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Date: 2013-11-24 03:17 pm (UTC)Although tenant did regenerate into himself at one point, so technically smith is already the 13th regeneration. And that all assumes Hartnell was number 1.
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Date: 2013-11-25 01:01 pm (UTC)