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Doctor Who: Is there a rule...
Inky Binky
Posts: 2,261 Forum Member
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I'm not a die hard WHO fan but I have watched the occassional episodes over the years. My question concerns about "who" can become Doctor Who. This subject probably has been covered before but I was wondering if there are rules to when the Doctor regenerates into a new body.
I noticed that some fans become very irritable whenever it is suggested that he should be a black male or even a woman someday. I don't see a reason for it not to happen. I'd welcome a little variety.
Have there ever been an episode where some of the rules (for lack of a better word) of the regeneration process is explained. For instance has it ever been said (officially) onscreen that when he dies he can never return as a woman or person of color?
These may be silly questions, but like I said earlier, i'm not exactly well versed in the Doctor Who universe. SO I was just wondering.
I noticed that some fans become very irritable whenever it is suggested that he should be a black male or even a woman someday. I don't see a reason for it not to happen. I'd welcome a little variety.
Have there ever been an episode where some of the rules (for lack of a better word) of the regeneration process is explained. For instance has it ever been said (officially) onscreen that when he dies he can never return as a woman or person of color?
These may be silly questions, but like I said earlier, i'm not exactly well versed in the Doctor Who universe. SO I was just wondering.
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We've never seen a black Time Lord though, and I'd imagine we probably won't see one because it would suggest the Time Lords are a lot more similar to humans than they already appear.
Eleven did a spot-check, post regeneration to establish what bits he did and didn't have (and for moment, thought he might have been a girl). And at least one Time Lord has had both male and female incarnations.
Going back into the classic series, Romana's regeneration in Destiny of the Daleks suggested that Time Lords can pick and choose a new body, presumably if you willingly regenerate (rather than it being caused by life threatening injuries).
Also, the Doctor mentioned a Time Lord friend of his who changed sex for a couple of regenerations. IIRC, this reference was from The Doctor's Wife.
You know, I'm sure we have seen black timelord actors in the background...wasn't one of Rassilon's panel black and also, wasn't the timelord who took the Doctor and the Master to the untempered schism??
EDIT: Yep, thought so see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWClHRiyuqU go to 1:30
Well, while Melody Pond wasn't really a Time Lady she had the ability ti regenerate and she regenerated from a small white girl into Mels who was black, who then later regenerated into River Song, so IMO it seems that it is technically possible for a Time Lord to change skin color from regeneration to regeneration.
As for changing sexes, as far as I know the only thing we have is that back in series 6 in The Doctor's Wife the Doctor mentions a Time Lord friend of his The Corsaire and says that they were a woman in at least one of their incarnatons. However the episode was penned by Neil Gaiman, who I believe has said that he thoguht that Time Lords changing their sex durign regeneration was already established by Steven Moffat when he had the 11th Doctor wonder whether he was a girl shortly after he regenerated back in The End of Time. But chances are pretty high that Moffat only ever intended the "I'm a girl" just to be a throwaway line.
I stand corrected then. Never noticed a black Time Lord before and completely forgot about Mels. Sorry!
In that case, since it's already been established and there's no turning back now, I'm completely open to the idea of having a black Doctor.
And thanks for the clip, Pull2Open.
It would be a bigger stretch for him to regenerate into a her. Given that his gender over the years has been written and portrayed as an inherent linear part of his character. I don't see the problem with the Doctor's appearance in terms of his colour so a black Doctor would make more sense than a female Doctor.
Identity maybe, but I don't see how gender is a part of anyone's character.
That's a bizarre statement. Identity is a fundamental aspect of a character in any narrative.
So if it was established in the classic series that a Time Lord can change into a "Alien" look than changing race or gender isn't really a big leap in fact it's step back
The poster referred to the Doctor's character, i.e. the character he possesses, not his actual self.
OK if that's the case. I was referencing the established traits of his character. Such as the way he responds to members of the opposite sex and a myriad of other gender issues.
But that was Romana. Not the Doctor.
The issue is not that he can't. It's that he doesn't. It does not need to be spelt out does it? He sees himself as male. What about his relationships with River, various female companions, not to mention the Tardis?
I'm all for female Timelords. Just not a female Doctor. It would not be the Doctor. It would be a different character. An overwrite. It wouldn't be so simple as to just re-label "her" a lesbian either. Not with all that history. It would be like a transgendered version of Freaky Friday.
But also has no control over his regenerations so maybe it's not nothing to do with how he sees himself or herself as the case may be.
Plus maybe Time Lords don't see sexuality quite like we do he didn't seem to mind when Jack kissed or came onto him.
No but doesn't the Tardis? If it were random then surely he would have by now? It can't be an accident that all 11 (+1) Doctors have been male.
They have all been white to but doesn't mean they couldn't have none white Doctor
Except that as much as The Doctor as a Time Lord is one person, the show has always made it clear his incarnations are completely different people. Ten even made a big ol' speech about it. They're aspects of the same being who all share the same core values, yes, but entirely independent individuals. The Doc's relationships with Rose, River and Madame De Pompadour were all perfectly natural for 9, 10 and 11... But could you see the Fourth Doctor ever having such a relationship?
At the end of the day, a female Doctor would still be the Doctor. The only real challenge would be deciding which pronoun to use to describe.... ummm...
That's true and I alluded to that earlier. But that hasn't been shown to be fundamental to his character's identity.
But there's even more to it. The gender aspect has been a core part of the narrative and speaks to male-female relationships in general. How women often trust men and idealise men. The fairy tale syndrome. We see this in the Wizard of Oz and other stories. The Doctor does have real powers but of course he has a hero complex and a dark side too which is fundamentally tied into him being male.
They're not completely different though. Otherwise they couldn't be "one person" or "aspects of the same being." They all share memories. They all carry the same baggage.
Exactly and memory's and baggage don't count when it comes to gender a female Doctor will have the same memories and baggage.
And why don't they count exactly? They're fairly important after all.
At the end of the day, I don't honestly believe we'll see a female Doc this time around. But when all's said and done, there is absolutely no 'in-story' reason why we couldn't.