Is Matt Smith the One and Only 11th Doctor?

In the Doctor Who episodes “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End”, David Tennant is shown regenerating into himself, something that had never happened before this moment. Over the previous 45 years, all other regenerations resulted in an entirely new appearance and personality. The unique situation this regeneration poses has created quite a divide among the viewers. Although many people believe that David Tennant should be considered the 10th and 11th Doctor, there are others who not only think that Matt Smith is the only 11th Doctor, but question if this is even an issue at all.

As stated earlier, according to the 1976 episode “The Deadly Assassin”, Time Lords are only able to regenerate twelve times. This limitation has serious implications for the future of the show, and means it is very important to know whether or not Matt Smith should be considered the 11th or 12th Doctor. Though the majority of viewers agree that this limitation is a set fact in the Doctor Who universe, there are those that think this is no longer applicable. The main thing fueling this line of thought comes from an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who spin-off, where the Doctor as played by Matt Smith is asked how many times he can regenerate to which he replies, “507” (The Death of the Doctor). Many viewers take this to mean that either the 12 regeneration rule is no longer applicable, or it had been a limitation enforced by the Time Lords, who are now all dead. These are theories made up entirely by fans- they are not stated anywhere in the show itself, nor have the writers of the show confirmed them. That does not change the fact that Matt Smith’s Doctor does in fact say that the Doctor can regenerate 507 times, which would mean it really does not matter if David Tennant is the 11th Doctor as well as the 10th, leaving this entire argument pointless. However, these viewers are disregarding one of the most well-known facts about Matt Smith’s Doctor: “Rule one - The Doctor lies” (Let’s Kill Hitler). Unlike earlier Doctors, Matt Smith’s Doctor lies quite a bit, meaning nothing he says can really be taken as fact. Not only that, during an interview, Steven Moffat, the current show runner, was asked if he recognized the 12 regeneration rule, to which he simply says, “Yes” (Doctor Who Acknowledges Regeneration Limit). Clearly, the regeneration limit is still applicable, and therefore whether or not David Tennant is the 10th and 11th Doctor is still an important factor in the future of the show.

However, there is still the issue of those viewers who do acknowledge the 12 regeneration limit, but do not believe that David Tennant is the 10th and 11th Doctor. The main argument behind this is the fact that Matt Smith almost always referred to as the 11th Doctor. In the episode “The Name of the Doctor”, Clara says to Matt Smith, “You’re the Eleventh Doctor” (The Name of the Doctor). This makes it seem pretty clear that Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor, not David Tennant. Many people back this statement by saying the regeneration in “Journey’s End” was only a half-regeneration. This has resulted in many people referring to the Meta-Crisis Doctor as 10-2 or 10.5. However, once again these are all fan made theories, with no backing from the show itself or its creators. When Clara refers to Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor, she prefaces it by saying, “I saw all of you. Eleven faces all of them you. You’re the Eleventh Doctor” (The Name of the Doctor). By putting this quote into context, it becomes unclear whether Clara is saying Matt Smith is the 11th regeneration, or just the 11th face. David Tennant’s outward appearance never changed so whether he is the 11th Doctor or not, Matt Smith is undoubtedly the 11th face of the Doctor. Aside from this episode, the Doctor is never referred to by his number; any reference to Matt Smith being the 11th Doctor is made by spectators. Russell Davies, the writer and producer of Doctor Who at the time of “Journey’s End”, states that in the script the Doctor and the Meta-Crisis Doctor are referred to as “Doctor 1 and Doctor 2” (Journey’s End DVD commentary). Nowhere does he say that this regeneration was a half-regeneration making the Meta-Crisis Doctor 10.5, instead of a full Doctor. Catherine Tate, who plays Donna, even tells David Tennant at one point, “You’re the 11th Doctor” (Journey’s End DVD commentary). While not everyone giving the commentary completely agrees with this comment, none of them are entirely sure if the opposing view is right, either.

Many viewers automatically assume that Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor, but in reality there is very little legitimate support to back this claim.


Word Count: 807

Works Cited:

“Death of the Doctor: Part 2.” The Sarah Jane Adventures. BBC. October 25 2010. Televison.
“Journey’s End: DVD Commentary.” Doctor Who. BBC. 5 July 2008. Television.
“Let’s Kill Hitler.” Doctor Who. BBC. 27 August 2011. Television.
“The Name of the Doctor.” Doctor Who. BBC 18 May 2013. Television.
Harris, Jamie. "'Doctor Who's Steven Moffat Acknowledges Regeneration Limit." Digital Spy. N.p., 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. .

The Impact of Doctor Who on British Culture

November 23rd is the 50th anniversary of the first Doctor Who episode. After that many years, Doctor Who has left a clear mark on British culture. In 2012, the word “Whovian” was added to the Oxford Dictionary. A Whovian is “a fan of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who” (Whovian). Conversely, words like Whovian are nowhere to be found in any American dictionary. Doctor Who has become so engrained in British society that it has changed the nations’ vocabulary. This being said, the future of Doctor Who has a significantly greater impact on the British than the Americans. As previously discussed, the truth behind David Tennant’s “Journey’s End” regeneration could potentially decide how much longer the show will be able to continue. As Time Lords are only able to regenerate 12 times, if David Tennant did in fact use up one of those regenerations, the show is one step closer to having to end than many realize. The British take the idea of this show ending, and therefore this issue, much more seriously than many Americans are able to realize.

As Joachim Frenk explains, Doctor Who has become “part of British everyday life and popular consciousness rather than merely fictional characters…it is considered essential family viewing and reaches viewing figures of 9.8 million, or 47 percent of the total television audience, for a single episode” (81). Lynette Porter, the author of books such as The Doctor Who Franchise as well as many others, writes about the difference in the American viewer and the British viewer in her article “’Doctor Who’ and the Cultural Divide: Fandom in America”. She explains how in America, fans tend to come together in small groups, excited they have finally found someone with whom they can share their excitement. In the UK, however, “you can just do that at work” (Porter). Even Brits who are would not consider themselves fans band together and watch the yearly Christmas episode. “It’s just part of what you do. The Christmas special is part of the culture” (Porter).

While American fans are going to be rather devastated when the inevitable end comes, it will not impact them as drastically in their everyday lives. Holidays are not affected by the shows existence, nor are most conversations. It is only the fans that will one day see a difference when the day comes.

While there is not a distinct “British view” on the matter of David Tennant’s
“Journey’s End” regeneration, one thing is for sure: the Brits take the future of Doctor Who very seriously. As David Tennant’s “Journey’s End” regeneration has a significant impact on show’s future, it is a highly controversial to the majority of British people, fans of the show or not.

Word Count: 455

Works Cited:
Frenk, Joachim, and Christian Krug. The Cultures of James Bond. Trier: WVT, 2011. Print.
Porter, Lynette. "“Doctor Who” and the Cultural Divide: Fandom in America."Popmatters.com. PopMatters, 19 Jan. 2011. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. .
"Whovian". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 03 November 2013. .

A New Personality for the Doctor

Although Matt Smith is often thought to be the eleventh Doctor, the use of regeneration energy throughout the Doctor Who episode “Journey’s End” shows that David Tennant should be considered the tenth doctor as well as the eleventh. The Doctor is an alien known as a Time Lord. Time Lords are thought to possess packets of regeneration energy that allow them to renew themselves in times of great injury, also known as regeneration. Regenerations do not just heal the body, they “create a new physical form” (Corry et al. 12) . Corry et al. go on to explain that regeneration can cause a “notable shift in personality” (12) From the events that take place during Journey’s end, it can be concluded that David Tennant used the regeneration energy to heal himself, and create a new physical form with a unique personality, thereby making him the tenth and eleventh regeneration of the Doctor.

Journey’s End begins with the Doctor using his regeneration energy to heal himself, and siphoning off the rest into his extra hand. As previously mentioned, Time Lords are thought to have packets of regeneration energy, meaning that the number of regenerations possible lies in the number of energy packets in one’s body. In Jim Leach’s book, “TV Milestones: Doctor Who”, Leach explains the importance of this number. According to his research, it is not “in The Deadly Assassin (1976) do we learn that Time Lords have the capacity to regenerate twelve times.” (56) By placing a limit on regeneration, David Tennant’s “Journey’s End” regeneration becomes incredibly important. It is no longer a technicality; it dictates how long the show will be able to continue. The law of twelve regenerations has become so engrained in the culture of Doctor Who it cannot be ignored. Many people try to explain away David Tennant’s first regeneration in an attempt to keep the show going longer, but the evidence says otherwise – all the regeneration energy is used and results in the Meta-Crisis Doctor.

The Meta-Crisis Doctor is created in scene where Donna, a friend of the Doctor, touches the spare hand the Doctor siphoned his regeneration energy into, and a new Doctor spontaneously appears. In an attempt to explain the situation to Donna, the Doctor says, “Never been another like me. 'Cause all that regeneration energy went into the hand... But then you touched it— WHAM! Instantaneous biological metacrisis. I grew out of you” (Journey’s End). If the hand did not have the regeneration energy in it, nothing would have happened when Donna touched it. The Meta-Crisis Doctor differs physically from the regular Doctor in that he half human, having only one heart and an inability to regenerate.

Not only does this Doctor have a new physical form, he has a new personality. The Meta-Crisis Doctor is a bit rougher, and angrier than the regular Doctor. The Meta-Crisis Doctor quickly realizes that he has picked up a bit of Donna’s personality when he says, “Oy! Watch it, Earthgirl!” (Journey’s End). This is type of comeback is usually closer to something Donna would say, as opposed to the Doctor. Tennat’s Doctor is usually quite witty, so as he says this new personality sounds “all rough” (Journey’s End). Later in the episode, the shift in the Meta-Crisis Doctor’s personality becomes even clearer. One of the most prominent traits in Tennant’s Doctor is his ability to show mercy to anyone. He is willing to give everyone a second chance, and never kills anyone unless it is necessary to save lives. The Meta-Crisis Doctor, however, destroys an entire fleet of daleks, the race of aliens trying to destroy the universe in this particular episode, just because they could potentially cause harm. By this point in the episode, the Doctor and his friends had already beaten the daleks and the people of earth were safe, but the Meta-Crisis Doctor wouldn’t leave until he destroyed the entire ship full of daleks. According to him, there were enough daleks to “slaughter the cosmos. They’ve got to be stopped” (Journey’s End). This is a huge personality shift from the regular Doctor, showing that the Meta-Crisis Doctor fits the “new form” and “notable personality shift” (Correy et. 12) needed to be considered regeneration.

The regeneration that takes place during this episode has all the makings of a full regeneration, which means that David Tennant should be considered the tenth and eleventh Doctor. With the twelve regeneration rule so engrained in the show, this would mean there can only be one more Doctor past Peter Capaldi, the latest actor to portray the Doctor. For a show with so few limitations – no time, or universe is out of the question – the idea that David Tennant is the eleventh Doctor severely limits the shows future.


Word Count: 791

Works Cited:

Corry, Neil, Jaqueline Rayner, Andrew Darling, Kerrie Dougherty, David John, and Simon Beecroft. Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary. New York: DK Publishing, 2010. Print.

Leach, Jim. "Talking about Regeneration: The Five Doctors." TV Milestones:Doctor Who. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2009. 55-64. Print.

"Journey's End." Doctor Who. BBC. 5 July 2008. Television

The Meta-Crisis Doctor

For those of you that have not seen Doctor Who, or didn’t read my earlier post here are some things you should know before reading any further:

1.       Time Lord: part of the alien species the Doctor belongs to. Time Lords are “the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey” (Time Lords)

2.       Regeneration: “the process by which Time Lords renewed themselves, causing a complete physical and often psychological change”. (Regeneration)

3.       TARDIS: the time machine/space ship that the Doctor travels in; “Time And Relative Dimension In Space” (Rose)

4.       The Doctor’s extra hand: During the 10^th Doctor’s initial regeneration from the 9^th Doctor, he was in fight that resulted in his hand being cut off. The residual regeneration energy allowed him to grow a new hand, but he kept the old hand in the TARDIS. This takes place during  the episode “The Christmas Invasion”

5.       Here’s a video of the scene I will be discussing (feel free to watch the whole thing, but the important part is the first 35 seconds, and then from 1:55 to the end)

In my previous post, I discussed the biology of that process. Today, I will be delving into the physical change that occurs as a result of David Tennant’s first regeneration.  This regeneration poses a rather unique situation in that the physical change doesn’t come until much later, and actually doesn’t come purely from the regeneration itself.  I’m referring, of course, to the Meta-Crisis Doctor.

                The Meta-Crisis Doctor occurred in the episode “Journey’s End” when Donna, one of the Doctor’s friends, was trapped in the TARDIS. She touched the extra hand that the Doctor siphoned off all the extra regeneration into, which caused an “instantaneous biological meta-crisis”. (Journey’s End) This means a combination of the regeneration energy and Donna caused a new Doctor to grow from this hand.

                Biologically, Time Lords are fairly similar to humans. The main differences between the two are the Time Lord’s ability to regenerate and their two hearts. The Meta-Crisis Doctor has neither of these things. In the above video, while explaining the meta-crisis to Donna he says, “This body has got one heart... That’s disgusting….I’m part Time Lord, part human.” (Journey’s End)  Later, the Meta-Crisis Doctor explains, “I’m part human. Specifically the aging part. I’ll grow old and never regenerate.” (Journey’s End) While these physical changes are in a way a result of Donna touching the hand, they would never have happened without the regeneration or the regeneration energy. Regeneration energy is made to cause a physical change and this was its opportunity. If that’s not enough, the Doctor went from having one body to having two. That’s certainly a physical change.

                Based off of the definition of regeneration, we can conclude that this has the makings of a full regeneration and therefore means that David Tennant should be considered the 11^th Doctor as well as the 10^th.

                 

"Regeneration." TARDIS Data Core. Wikia, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. .

"Time Lords." TARDIS Data Core. Wikia, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. .

"TARDIS." TARDIS Data Core. Wikia, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
"Christmas Invasion." Doctor Who. BBC. 25 December 2005. Television

"Journey's End." Doctor Who. BBC. 5 July 2008. Television

Is David Tennant Actually the 10th AND 11th Doctor?

Since I realize many of you reading this blog have never seen Doctor Who, there are a few things you need to know before I go any further.
1. Time Lords: part of the alien species the Doctor belongs to. Time Lords are “the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey” (Time Lords)
2. Regeneration :  “the process by which Time Lords renewed themselves, causing a complete physical and often psychological change”. (Regeneration)
3.  Enjoy this video of the scene this discussion is centered around: David Tennant regenerating into….David Tennant



Regenerations have always been a controversial topic within the Doctor Who world. From the very first one in the 1966 episode “The Tenth Planet”, people haven’t been able to stop talking about it. During the 2008 episodes “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End” David Tennant regenerates into himself. Before this, every time the Doctor had regenerated, his appearance and parts of his personality changed drastically. This begs the question: does this actually count as regeneration making David Tennant the 10th and 11th Doctor? I say yes it does.

Now, you may be asking, why does this matter? Isn’t it just a technicality? In some ways yes, but it’s a technicality that has serious repercussions for the future of the show. Unfortunately, many of the episodes from the original series are extremely difficult to find, so I have to rely on experts such as Jim Leach. In his book TV Milestones: Doctor Who, Leach explains, “in The Deadly Assassin (1976) do we learn that Time Lords have the capacity to regenerate twelve times.” (Leach 56) This means that if David Tenannt is in fact the 10th and 11th Doctor, Matt Smith would actually be the 12th and Peter Capaldi will be the 13th and last incarnation. This issue dictates how much longer the show can continue.

While the process of regeneration has never been completely explained, there are a number of things we can deduce from the information provided. The website, “The TARDIS Data Core” is dedicated to collecting information about every area of Doctor Who. In its article about regeneration, it says, “Time Lords were also said to have "packets" of regeneration energy in their bodies, one for each life. These packets could be physically removed from a Time Lord's body, essentially robbing them of their regenerations.” (Regeneration) In this scene, David Tennant uses the energy to repair his body, and then siphons the rest off into a spare hand. While David Tennat’s appearance and personality don’t change, he does rid his body of all the regeneration energy. Regeneration is a biological process, so if a Time Lord’s body only has enough energy to regenerate 12 times, the use of the energy is what matters, not the change in appearance. Based off the information we as viewers know, I am led to believe that is David Tennant is in fact both the 10th and 11th Doctor.

"Regeneration." TARDIS Data Core. Wikia, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. .

"Time Lords." TARDIS Data Core. Wikia, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. .

Leach, Jim. "Talking about Regeneration: The Five Doctors." TV Milestones:Doctor Who. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2009. 55-64. Print.

A Little Bit About Myself...

Hello and welcome to my blog! In a little bit, I'll be dissecting regenerations on Doctor Who. But before that, let me introduce myself a little bit. I love to travel. This is me in London, one of my favorite cities in the world.

I worked with a discipleship training school for a few years and hope to one day be a missionary in the U.K. This is a picture from one of my school's annual trips to Honduras.

I love music, particularly the Beatles. A few years ago, my best friend and I got to see Paul McCartney in concert, and it was one of my favorite nights ever.

I'm very into grandma crafts like knitting, crocheting, and cross stitching. Here's my latest project:

Last but not least, I'll watch pretty much anything by Steven Moffat, one of the head writers of BBC's Sherlock and Doctor Who.