I think it's Canton in the spacesuit, that's how he knows it's definitely the doctor and why he doesn't need to open his invite.

I bet it'll be someone unexpected like Madame kovarian. who is actually a future Amy

So one thing I have been thinking about since "Let's Kill Hitler" is how we saw The Doctor kill "a good man, a hero to many". Albeit she then brought him back to life. This is what has lead me to think it may not be River in the spacesuit. In a sense by taking the wrap for one murder she is atoning for another, and I think that fits quite well with what we know of River's story.

It's Cpt. Jack, his annoyed that the Doctor didn't turn up for CofE and MD

This made me chuckle

Doctor: Its alright, I know its you!

Jack: "This is is for not being there last year (first shot)

Doctor: I'm sorry!**starts to regenerate**

Jack: And this is for not being there this year (second shot) ...YOU BITCH!"
**Calmly walks away**

Have you ever wondered if the Doctor could regen into a form he's used before?

I'm wondering if the first shot started a regen and when the blonde, curly hair started to appear, the Doctor said - "For God's sake - KILL ME!!!!"

Slight re-edit Mink!

Hi Minky

Good question actually, in all seriousness.

Can he?

There hasn't been anything to say not, has there?

Hmmm...

Not that I'm aware of but I took Melody/River's comment about getting a bit younger every so often to freak people out as meaning that she would regen with a younger looking version of the same form as that body aged.

I'd thought for a while that when they reset the regen limit count (which will have to addressed fairly soon) they might have his last regen work backwards - go back through all his old faces - as an alternative to having all of the old Doctor's on screen at the same time.

I would say its a given that he can't on the basis that that particular body has been damaged beyond repair hence regeneration.

The reason regeneration was invented was to allow a change in actor as well as being a very clever way to cheat death.

I think that little bit of 'canon' was shoehorned in to deal with nit picking geeks like us!

I'd be surprised if that is ever mentioned again...but its a great little backdoor explanation!

Hi Minky

Another thought I had about River passing her regens to the Doctor. Her regens are surely 'tainted' (for want of a better expression) by human DNA. Will this have any effects on the Doctor's regenerations (e.g. changing sex)?

I know where you're coming from Minky but do you ever get the feeling that our musings may come under the old forum heading of 'Can of Worms' alert...?

But each regeneration isn't affected by the damage received. There's no suggestion that he'd regen with an arm missing if the previous body had lost one, for example. It would be like making a plastecine model then rolling it up into a ball before starting again - nothing to stop you making exactly the same model if you want.

I know the practical reasons for having regens - changing actors - but that's not related to the fantasy character.

One thing we have had confirmed this year is that Tome Lords can control their form following a regen. It got somewhat buried because it was more "important" that it answered the question of cross-gender regens but it was there - Time Lord's regens are not just random.


Again, I get the real-world logistics but it that doesn't mean it can't be used in the fantasy.

Classic example - Star Treks transporters were introduced because it was a lot cheaper and faster than having to make and film model spaceships to get them to a planet. Even so, they have become the central element in a large number of ST stories - creating duplicate characters is a common one. The original "need" for them may have been practical but once they were created, they inspired new ideas for plots.

That was proven in Utopia, wasn't it? When The Master regenned, he said that if the Doctor could look younger, so could he. But it does seem that the Doctor prefers a more 'wait-and-see' kind of regenning...

Seemingly hair colour is not controllable, whatever else may be.

I wasn't arguing against the issue, just throwing in the realife reasons before anyone else does

I completely agree with you re there use in fantasy!

However, I don't necessarily agree re the use of an old body etc, I think that body or form effectively dies and there is no going back...imo

However, each doctor IS younger than the previous incarnation at the point of regeneration. So the Master would naturally look younger than his dying form anyway.

This is my take on it anyway

The biology of Regeneration has never really be explained by the show anyway, so I suppose it comes down to the viewers own interpretation.

Not really - on something like this it comes down entirely to what the show's makers want it to be. I tend towards the idea that the Doctor deliberately lets his regens be more or less random - he enjoys the surprise. I'd bet good money that some of the old Gallifreyans would find that distasteful - regard it as something only teenagers would do - the Time Lord equivalent of having your hair spiked and getting "FTW" tatooed on your forehead..

For me, anything and everything is possible in Doctor except for one thing - he will never die permanantly.

ok my guess is this , I'll put it in spoiler just in case

At the end of The War Games, The Doctor was given a choice of what he would look like for his exile by the Time Lords. He could decide on one and Jon Pertwee was what we ended up with.

Exactly, thats for you, for me, I think the Doctor always seems to get younger

During Tom Baker's Era, Romana had a regeneration whereby she changed 'bodies' several times before deciding upon one of them.

I vaguely remember (Possibly Tom Baker's doctor in the same episode mentioned above) implying that he couldn't choose his body as he'd not been 'trained' during his time on gallifrey

It seems we are at the whim of the writer!

Not so. The third Doctor was physically older then the second. The sixth Doctor was physically eight years older than the fifth (going by the actors ages). And the seventh was the same age as the sixth.

I think that was more a Tongue-in-cheek answer, Douglas Adams was script editor then, and increased the humour level.