What If

He did.

Why wasn't he Eleven, then?

He regenerated the damaged cells - then cut the process short. As proved in the last episode, it was still a regeneration.

But clearly that's not the intention of the OP. I think the short answer is - we would have had the Eleventh Doctor earlier. Post-regenerative issues could have set in. Doctor-Donna would never have been. Davros could have succeeded.

Then RTD might have written a fourth series unless he was intent on leaving with Tennant in 2008.

We wouldn't have had those 2009 Specials........

We'd have had a slightly befuddled 11th Doctor defeat the Daleks and say "Who's da man!?!" (and apologise for it) two years early.

If you're talking about in-universe cause and effect, the Doctor would have turned into (potentially) Matt Smith, get captured by Davros in the same way that he did in the story as shown, and then the whole of reality would be destroyed. The End.

In terms of how the story would have been rewritten, they would have just come up with some other handwavey way to depower the Daleks and let the Doctor win.

Of course, there was already far too many characters going on in that story for them to introduce a new Doctor as well.

Must admit I'm a bit rusty on the details of the story, but is it correct that Donna wouldn't have been tragically memory-wiped if Ten didn't have vanity issues? What a git!

Obviously not serious. Things were going a bit pear-shaped at the time so a newly regenerated Doctor might not have been a good idea.

Hang on, though. We *might* not have had Planet of the Dead then!

(I could live with that. )

Maybe they would've written the story in such a way that he gets taken to Davros in the TARDIS straight away, then he comes out and presses loads of buttons by mistake sending the first 26 planets back!

Then the Daleks try to stop him, but they have been disabled in the accidental button pressing, so they initiate self destruct because its the only weapon they have left.
The Doctor then jumps in the TARDIS with all his assistants and flies back towards the earth and the Daleks explode behind them!

Then as he would've started to settle into his regeneration he would've started to realise what's going on and the flying the earth thing happens anyway!

Also the episode would have to be a long one parter of say 70 min instead, as the bit where the Doctor is with the Daleks wouldn't have taken nearly so long!

Seemed obvious he wasn't going to regenerate for real there and then because leak's about a new doctor would have occured month's before as they always do, but I for one would have absolutely loved it. Don't see why everything has to be so neat, and it seem's so unrealistic that the doctor would alway's regenerate after the danger has passed. Would love to see him, once regenerate in the middle of an epic two part story. imagine it, everything going wrong, the doctor seems defeated, then suddenly, he regenerates, and the new doctor, with fresh perspective say's 'right, enough of this' then solve's the problem in epic fashion. Think this would really help to get people on side with the new doctor quickly also.

I wouldn't want to see that happen. If a Doctor suddenly regenerates in the middle of an unresolved storyline, it sort of doesn't give that Doctor a good send off and he leaves in an unsatisfactory manner.

The last episode of any Doctor should be about that Doctor, pure and simple. He should be the focus of attention because he is the departing Doctor and he should have a proper goodbye. To suddenly go mid-story, nah, doesn't work for me.

but it's all one man, it's just his face that changes, in the show, from his point of view his body just changes and he carries on. People keep thinking in term's of what this doctor did, and what that doctor 'deserves' but that makes no sense because it's all one doctor. The outgoing actor would surely not be vain enough to care if it served the story well and for me, as said, it just seem's totally unrealistic that he would alway's be able to not regenerate until after the danger has passed

We probably still would have since they were to accommodate RTD and were decided on in 2006.

They would have just featured the new Doctor.

Davisons Doctor managed to hold off his regeneration in Caves of Androzani (as he is dying of Spectox Whatsitsemia) while the ship he is piloting crashes towards the planet. He holds it off because he knows that a regeneration at that point would be catastrophic. He is determined to save Peri as it is his fault that she is dying. If he regenerates he does not know if he would still be able to (or won't to) save her. That was the reason given for why the 6th Doctor was such a git at the start. The held back and traumatic regeneration.

In the end it was catastrophic.... We got an awful Doctor (with apologies to CB. May the Ketchup be upon him) and an awful costume.

So there is precedent for why Tennants Doctor would not want to regenerate in the middle of a crisis.

intersting idea's here. have to say though, there are some times like the stolen earth, where he just wouldn't have that choice to hold it off, because he didn't then, he actually had to let it happen, but was just lucky enough to have the hand there so he didn't have to change. So if he was in a similar situation in the future, like getting shot or stabbed where he has to change straight away and can't hold it off then he would have to change mid story and this is something I think would add flare to the introduction of a new doctor, and could have the old doctor say something like 'Im gonna save everyone, just need to refresh' or something along those lines to show that the change and subsequent victory is as much the outgoing doctor's victory as the new one as the old doctor willed himself to change into the new doctor to make it happen.

Well, there is a sort of precedent when poor old Seven gets shot and then, to rub it in, is 'killed' on the operating table! To quote Eleven; "I've had better(days)..." ; could've been McCoy's last words.

You're missing my point, I feel.

It's not all about The Doctor as a character. It's about the actor as well. Let's take Tom Baker, the longest serving actor in the role. After seven years in the role, would you think it unreasonable that he has a final episode to say goodbye? Would it not have been a bit weird if Peter Davison had appeared in the middle of Logopolis at the end of the series with two episodes left to go?

Not only is that disrespectful to Tom Baker after 7 years in the role but I daresay Davison would have felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea as well.

Before people jump down my throat and mention Colin Baker cropping up at the end of Season 21, that was a crap idea as well, especially considering how badly Baker started off, leaving a big gap for people to wonder if they would want to tune in anymore rather than wait a week to see if he would improve. At least in this instance Davison still had a goodbye story.

Part of the success of the show is that every now and again we get to say goodbye to one Doctor and hello to the next. It's event television, when a Doctor leaves he should rightly have an episode where he can go out in style. It's what we tune in for, to see that Doctor depart and a new one arrive, just not in the middle of a story!

Look at Jon Pertwee, Planet Of The Spiders was a celebration of his time in the show with the chase's and all the that. Tom Baker popping up mid story would have ruined it.

Plus we wouldn't have had all those fabulous moments like The Doctor confronting the Giant spider or falling of a telescope after fighting with The Master. The Caves Of Androzani certainly wouldn't have worked had Davison left mid-story. That for me is what makes a final episode so good, high drama followed by a regeneration. I don't even think Capaldi popping up half way through Time And The Doctor would have been right.


I actually meant, we wouldn't have had the specials as they were. Maybe without all the doom and gloom over Tennant's departure they may have been better...but only maybe.

It would be a really weird but sorta cool concept having the doctor regenerate and then have Matt defeat davros and the daleks, a real shock to everyone to not have a proper send off...

I can imagine little Rose having a tantrum and not liking it at all if Matt had popped out.

yes it would have big consequences on all the characters in Stolen Earth/Journey's End!
Like I was saying above on another post, the whole ending would need a rewrite! As the way it is relies on the Metacrisis happening!

It would also mean that Amy wouldnt be the first face that Matt's Doctor saw!
It would basically mean a rewrite of, End of Time, The Eleventh Hour and other stories in Matt's Doctor's era like Time of the Doctor with the Amy hallucination!
It would also mean that Day or the Doctor would need a rewrite too!
As Tennant's Doctor was from the point in his timeline between Waters of Mars and End of Time and those episodes would be part of Matt's Doctor's stories then!

Not having the Mettacrisis changes too much about the Doctor!

Ive always hated RTD for doing that its not a regeneration as it was stopped half way.

Id rather Matt debuted then as it would have been shocking.

exactly! had that happened, and they'd managed to keep it quiet*, imagine the shock, the acclaim it would have got, the originality of such a timed regeneration. Would have been a talking point and boosted the show's profile even further.

*since the regeneration took place in the tardis, and much of the second part of the story, for the doctor, took part on the dalek crucible, then they may have had a good chance of actually keeping it under wraps

Im not missing your point, I just feel differently. Most actor's are proffesional's and would want to do what is best for the show, and if that meant a big, cool, shock regeneration, mid way through a story, I would think most actor's would be happy for this to happen to benefit the show they have worked to make succesful, especially david tennant who loved it since he was a child and presumably still watches it now. He would have been able to see it from a fan point of view as well as an actors. As I have previously said, if this were to happen you could easily honour the outgoing doctor by making his last words be one's to the effect of 'I'm gonna change, so I can save everyone' or something similar so that he was happily going into the change of his own will, accepting rather than fighting, and then when the new doctor saves the day at the end, it would then be down to both of them as the previous doctor went into the change as quick as possible and purposefully so that he could be healthy and refreshed in order to save the day

Now you mention it, she'd have a good chance of successfully suing him for negligence. Though as not exactly a fan of Donna, I think things worked out the right way.

Whatever might have happened would have been better than Donna doing a bit of fast typing and pushing Daleks around like a Benny Hill sketch at half speed. No wonder the Daleks aren't scary anymore.