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Is the Doctor REALLY old?
Thamwet
Posts: 2,036 Forum Member
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Well, he's lived for over 2000 years. To humans, yes. Of course. But let's stop for a moment and consider something.
Let's imagine the lifespan of the Doctor if he had never left Gallifrey.
1st Doctor: For the purpose of the discussion, let's say he regenerated when aged 400. I know that is debated, but go with it for now. So, based on this, we know that it takes a Time Lord roughly 400 years from birth to reach old age.
2nd Doctor: He was of course born a middle aged man. Now, remember, let's imagine that the Doctor never left Gallifrey. Therefore, the Time Lords never forced him to regenerate as punishment. So if we go with the idea that a Time Lord takes 400 years to get to old age from childhood, it would perhaps take about 200 years to get from middle age to old age. This would put the Doctor at approximatley 600 by the time he regenerated for the second time.
3rd Doctor: Again, a middle aged man. If the Doctor never left Gallifrey, his third incarnation would never have been killed in the way he was. So let's assume that this incarnation also lived for around about 200 years. That makes the Doctor 800 by the end of his third life.
4th Doctor: A younger man than the previous regeneration's. Let's compensate by saying that he lived longer, shall we say approximately 250 years? That puts the Doctor at approximately 1050.
5th Doctor: Regenerates into a young man. Let's say this incarnation lasts roughly 300 years perhaps? 1350.
6th Doctor: Let's be realistic and say that this incarnation gets ill or injured in some way before he can reach old age, and is forced to regenerate. Let's make it approximately 100 years. 1450.
7th Doctor: Lasts approximately 200 years. 1650.
8th Doctor: As above. 1850.
*War* Doctor: Of course, if the Doctor never left Gallifrey, this would be a regular incarnation. We saw a youngish War Doctor in the Night of the Doctor. So let's place this one at 200 years approximately as well. 2050 years of age.
9th: Middle aged. 200 years circa. 2250.
10: Fairly young. 250 years circa? 2500. And of course, he'd not have been able to regenerate twice had he never left Gallifrey.
11: A young man. 300 years. 2800. I know Matt Smith's Doctor seemed to live longer, but my theory is that the final body is able to use the remaining dregs of regeneration energy to slow down the body's ageing process. There isn't enough energy left to regenerate, but there is enough to keep the body young for longer.
12: Well, let's assume that Peter Capaldi was the final body for the Doctor, and not the first of a new cycle. An older man, let's say his body lasted for 150 years. 2950. Unless of course you go with my idea that the last body lasts longer, in which case it may be longer.
So I guess my overall point is that the average lifespan of a Time Lord is perhaps approximately 3000 years. This of course varies. Some Time Lords get more younger bodies when they change, and might therefore live a lot longer.
Let's go back to School Reunion. Remember the Doctor saying to the Krillitane how he was "so old now." At that time in his life, he was approximately 900 years old. But to be on the 11th body at the age of 900 years is surely NOT old for a Time Lord, when the average Timelord is perhaps on his third of fourth by that time.
My conclusion is that by Timelord standards, the Doctor is actually quite a young Timelord.
Let's imagine the lifespan of the Doctor if he had never left Gallifrey.
1st Doctor: For the purpose of the discussion, let's say he regenerated when aged 400. I know that is debated, but go with it for now. So, based on this, we know that it takes a Time Lord roughly 400 years from birth to reach old age.
2nd Doctor: He was of course born a middle aged man. Now, remember, let's imagine that the Doctor never left Gallifrey. Therefore, the Time Lords never forced him to regenerate as punishment. So if we go with the idea that a Time Lord takes 400 years to get to old age from childhood, it would perhaps take about 200 years to get from middle age to old age. This would put the Doctor at approximatley 600 by the time he regenerated for the second time.
3rd Doctor: Again, a middle aged man. If the Doctor never left Gallifrey, his third incarnation would never have been killed in the way he was. So let's assume that this incarnation also lived for around about 200 years. That makes the Doctor 800 by the end of his third life.
4th Doctor: A younger man than the previous regeneration's. Let's compensate by saying that he lived longer, shall we say approximately 250 years? That puts the Doctor at approximately 1050.
5th Doctor: Regenerates into a young man. Let's say this incarnation lasts roughly 300 years perhaps? 1350.
6th Doctor: Let's be realistic and say that this incarnation gets ill or injured in some way before he can reach old age, and is forced to regenerate. Let's make it approximately 100 years. 1450.
7th Doctor: Lasts approximately 200 years. 1650.
8th Doctor: As above. 1850.
*War* Doctor: Of course, if the Doctor never left Gallifrey, this would be a regular incarnation. We saw a youngish War Doctor in the Night of the Doctor. So let's place this one at 200 years approximately as well. 2050 years of age.
9th: Middle aged. 200 years circa. 2250.
10: Fairly young. 250 years circa? 2500. And of course, he'd not have been able to regenerate twice had he never left Gallifrey.
11: A young man. 300 years. 2800. I know Matt Smith's Doctor seemed to live longer, but my theory is that the final body is able to use the remaining dregs of regeneration energy to slow down the body's ageing process. There isn't enough energy left to regenerate, but there is enough to keep the body young for longer.
12: Well, let's assume that Peter Capaldi was the final body for the Doctor, and not the first of a new cycle. An older man, let's say his body lasted for 150 years. 2950. Unless of course you go with my idea that the last body lasts longer, in which case it may be longer.
So I guess my overall point is that the average lifespan of a Time Lord is perhaps approximately 3000 years. This of course varies. Some Time Lords get more younger bodies when they change, and might therefore live a lot longer.
Let's go back to School Reunion. Remember the Doctor saying to the Krillitane how he was "so old now." At that time in his life, he was approximately 900 years old. But to be on the 11th body at the age of 900 years is surely NOT old for a Time Lord, when the average Timelord is perhaps on his third of fourth by that time.
My conclusion is that by Timelord standards, the Doctor is actually quite a young Timelord.
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So that's over three hundred years, from the start of Tennant's era, to the start of Capaldi's era.
You make this stuff up, don't you?
P.S. The OP makes a good point. He probably is quite young by Time Lord standards.
And now that Moffat has given him a NEW regeneration-cycle - that opens up a whole new can of worms.
As far as I'm concerned, The Doctor is immortal, has no age and regenerates into whatever he wants (as long as it isn't a woman!!!)
How old is too old, and why?
Except that RTD made the Doctor too young, we know the 7th was in his mid-nine hundreds, so to have the 9th Doctor say he is 900 is equally as wrong.
The Doctor probably should be getting near to 2000 now, its just a shame that SM has just decided to pile all of those years onto the Matt Smith Doctor.
Thought the line in Day of the Doctor when the 11th admitted he didn't know how old he was any more, might mean that 9 and 10 were just making up a figure when they said "900".