In the eyes of the world she left behind she did die, though. That was a clever twist on the whole dying thing. She didn't die but the world she left thought she had.


Yes it was over very quickly but it was still a Regeneration you could see. It wasn't all over in 1 second flat.

I'd say martha's original exit. She made this awkard speech about unrequited love, then said she was leaving, and the doctor was just like 'okay bye', like he wasn't particularly bothered.

As regards Matt, I just thought the dramatic regeneration 'throw your head back and arms outstretched' bit had been done on the clock tower...no need to repeat it after his lovely farewell as we remembered him. Young looking yet soooo old. It really did work for me personally. Still tying with 5 into 6 mind!

I think I may have identified a reason you weren't fully able to appreciate the storyline...

The Tenth Doctor's regeneration was absolutely awful.

I thought the regeneration should have been allowed to go through fully on the clock tower, as to me what came after felt like an awkward redo regeneration just to allow him to regenerate looking like he normally does, when I don't even see why he needed to.

As I told someone else the main reason I didn't enjoy it was because it felt rushed. Even if I had completely watched and new every little detail the ending would have still been a let down because it was so quick that no emotions could be felt IMO.

One of the worst exits has to be Bonnie Langford's Mel from late 1987.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYeAwGXs9jI

Just a few words to the Doctor, and then off she went. Could have been better.

I bet there will be a lot of people saying later on here, that Mel going was the best thought JNT came up with during his time as head showrunner on "Who".

The way they treated Colin Baker during the Trial of a Timelord Season was apalling!

His last scene at the end of the 'Trial' season, saying "Carrot Juice", was not what Colin should have had. There should have been a 'New' episode after 'Trial', giving the Sixth Doctor a chance to bow out properly. Instead, we get two minutes at the beginning of 'Time and the Rani', for the change in Doctor to happen.

Colin should have been allowed to do the regeneration. Instead, they sacked him before TTOAT season had been fully broadcast on TV. Sylvester McCoy even had to wear a blonde wig, and 'be' the Sixth Doctor during the regeneration.

Shocking!

Okay, it's your opinion, but I just don't understand what you mean. I'm not sure how much time emotions need. The point is kind of that the emotion builds through the episode... if you were paying attention to it - not that it suddenly arrives in that one scene and we all suddenly burst into tears.

Someone above said that 2 milion of the 10 million audience of the show switched on right at the end for the regeneration: okay, well, I think the show would be poorer if it had been written with those people in mind, and not the 8 million who watched, and wanted to be involved with the entire episode, and to see an engaging story build to an enjoyable climax over the course of one hour. It's not just about the final scene in the TARDIS where the regeneration visually takes place. It's probably true that the majority of past regenerations have been solely about that final scene and they were poorer for it.

I agree with the poster above who said they'd rather he changed in the bell tower. The TARDIS regeneration did seem a little appended, and actually, to me, was overplaying it. If anything, that was a sop to those most casual viewers who only wanted to see that scene. Casual viewers are fine and are the lifeblood of the show; it should always be written with the mass audience in mind but viewers who are that casual - you can't write it for them. Then you no longer have a quality show that is engaging enough for the consistent audience.

I found the episode to be emotional. Perhaps my emotions are wrong and your emotions (or lack of) are right? The thing is, my emotional involvement began with the episode 'The Eleventh Hour' and continued through each subsequent episode to 'Time of the Doctor' and its conclusion. The type of instant emotional gratification you seem to be talking about (what is dramatically titled 'melodrama') would leave me equally as cold as this episode did for you, as I don't really value drama where I am told to cry on demand. I prefer a little more subtlety and a little more sincerity in the characters.



At least she got the Watchmen-esque speech from the Doctor, which is one of the more memorable from Doctor Who's history. As pointed out, some companions didn't even get that much reaction to their departure.

The episode was rushed all together when we supposed to feel drama from the daleks coming they were there for five minutes so there was no drama. The conclusions were rushed like the silence that lasted for two minutes and we found the crack was glaifrey in a minute that bit was actually okay but as ending conclusion there was no time to feel the right emotions. Then the doctor regenerated very quickly twice and it just got boring the episode.

I agree- if Matt had regenerated as an old man, it would have eased the transition into 55 year old Capaldi. I don't think age matters in the slightest, but going from the very youngest Doctor to one of the oldest, if not the oldest Doctor in a split second was quite extreme.

To be fair, if you watch the recent panel that Matt did (New Orleans) he says he was surprised that they used that version of the regen.

He says he gave them multiple takes/options/lines, and that's his job as an actor, to give the execs a choice.

To be equally fair, I would never blame that Regeneration Sequence(what there was of it) on him.

This ^^

So true. Matt has been a great Doctor. One of my favourites. It's such a shame a lot of production decisions made really disappointed me during this era.

I'm not going to Dodo or Six because those are the obvious winners here. (I'm hoping that BFA adapts "Spiral Scratch".)

Leela's departure, I wouldn't call bad, just lazily written.

Rose's exit in "Doomsday" was a good end to her story, even if it was a story I really didn't like. Then it's ruined when the Doctor ends up giving her a sex clone.

Doctor - 7th
Companion - Peri

He had a longer exit that both the 6th and 7th Doctors. And no, it really shouldn't have been like Ten's. Ten went out in a completely undignified manner that did absolutely no justice to the character that David Tennant had worked so hard to create for four years. All it did was alienate a proportion of the fan base against Matt.

I am glad that Matt Smith was given a truly dignified and brave regeneration, and that in turn has resulted in less resentment towards Peter Capaldi, which is also something much better than when compared to last time.

Yeah, I think he should have regenerated fully on the clock tower and then he could have said his goodbye to Clara via a recorded hologram (similar to 9's message TPotW). They could have kept us believing that it really was 11, before it slowly dawns on us that it is actually a hologram. Then Peter Capaldi could step through the hologram and say "hello, I'm the Doctor," mirroring the way Matt stepped through the hologram of Tennant and introduced himself to the Atraxi in Eleventh Hour.

But as for who had the worst exist, for me it was Tennant's departure. I hate the whole episode anyway, but from the moment he starts guilt-tripping Wilf by shouting abuse at him, all the way through to "I don't want to go," I was just angered at what a horrible exist 10 got.

He was one of the most successful Doctor's and is still considered the fan favourite in polls, but he got such an undignified, almost cowardly exit. Add to that, his over-long farewell tour - in which he does little more than go around and stare intensely at people he used to know - actually started to make me wish he'd just die already. When he says "I don't want to go," that is what the fans should be thinking about him, not what he's thinking himself. Instead, they made me wanting him to go. I loved Tennant and they made me wish he'd just hurry up and regenerate.

I'd place it higher than Colin Baker's poor exist because whilst Colin's was insulting to him as an actor, Tennant's exit basically raped his character for me. In his final moments, 10 was a whiny, self-obsessed, arrogant and unlikable man. That's not how I wanted to see him go out.

I actually remember Tennant saying the same thing about the "I don't want to go," line. He'd done several takes of it with differing levels of intensity in his emotions. He was surprised they went with the one they did, too.

They showed two or three different takes on (I think) Doctor Who Confidential. There was one version that was far more emotional and I think one that was a little cooler so they went for the middle one.

I don't know if its been mentioned but Leela was meant to die in Sunmakers but they changed their mind (maybe because louise and Tom got on better by that point). Leela was the sort of character that should have died saving the Doctor. Unfortunately, if there was a weak point in past Who it was they were bad at writing characters out because it meant giving characters some background and development which was unusual back then.




I never know why they decided to change Peri's fate because killing her worked. It seemed they wanted a lar de dar ending that didn't upset anybody. I'm sure marrying "GORDON'S ALIVE" is a fate worse than death anyway!

Re; DODO



In 1965/66, DW was undergoing a major, major revamp. New production team swept clean, and the show was totally changing. Dodo is the last of the schoolgirl companions (a young, innoncent child), and is binned off without even saying goodbye.

To all of those complaining about Mel / 6th Dr / 7th Dr / 10th Dr / 11th Dr / Rose / Martha / etc, every single one of those characters had a goodbye scene. Dodo did not. She has been brainwashed; the Doctor solves the brainwashing; Dodo is seen looking a bit exhausted and bewildered; next episode, they say she's gone to the countryside to recover; next episode, the Doctor is told she's decided to stay behind and not travel on with him. The only other character whose departure is offscreen is Liz Shaw. (Romana's regeneration means that there's another Romana immediately replacing her, so I exclude her from this).

Dodo's replacements are the sexiest, most "current" companions that the show has ever seen. Ben and Polly are totally "now". Polly is a Swinging Sixties dolylbird with miniskirts and false eyelashes. 100% different from Dodo.

At the same time as sexing up the show, the producers are planning to write out Bill Hartnell. They are phasing out historical stories. They are creating the Cybermen. They are bringing in stories set in a recognisable "now" (ie: the 1960s). The Avengers was a huge hit at the time, and DW's producers are trying to realign our show with the new direction that TV was taking in the 60s. Dodo is part of the "old guard" so, as soon as Jackie Lane's contract ran out, the character was quietly dropped.

1965/66 is the time of biggest change in C20th DW, and it's a shame that so little of it remains so we can't see how the changes played out on screen. *




* yes, I know there are soundtracks, recons and telesnaps, but Enemy of the World just goes to show how different the finished product really is when compared with those other scraps.

Can I just say that I not only disagree with this (it had been built up for a while that Ten was arrogant, self-obsessed and a little power-mad) but I strongly object to the use of the word rape in this context.

Apologies if you found it offensive, that was not the intent. It is however, an acceptable use of the word. Rape doesn't have to mean a sexual assault and was not meant to imply such. It was simply the word I felt best described what I considered a sudden and unexpected (and unnecessary) defilement of his character. Sudden, forced and against the character.

But again, no offense intended.