There's also the possibility of Tennant's Doctor going on to become the Curator, who actively spoke of revisiting old faces, but only some of the favourites. So having regenerated back into Tennant's Doctor could feasibly be the beginning of that road of revisiting old faces, and the fact he chose to settle down also leans into it even more.
I think this too, but also i think they eventually become The Watcher, linking back up with themself until the "bigeneration" managed to dig them back out to continue
Yes and no. Out of universe this was their way of cutting ties with Classic/New Who that had come before the 60th. While keeping the character around in the BBC/Disney Doctor era. In universe it also allows them to expand into future characters like the Curator and the Valeyard. Both indicated as future incarnations of the Doctor.
That's something I'd like to see addressed sometime. Romana chooses her regen, but people think it's a Romana specific thing. It was never implied that Romana was special, but in fact, that The Doctor was the special case, being unable to directly control their next form, other timelords seem to be capable of directly choosing their next form.
I think the retcon they came up with for that works OK which is that the regeneration is still malleable and so multiple appearances are "possible" until they lock in and count as "one" it is also possible other time lords don't have their regenerations limited either and The Doc does as he's a persistent criminal, Having a less limited number conveniently allows some regenerations to be seen as "Mistakes" though.
River implies that she has to concentrate so she doesn't end up a toddler again. I just assume the Doctor can choose but doesn't because he doesn't care about looks or he's like in mortal peril and can't concentrate. So like 9 became 10 and he had time to think. He became what he thought would appeal to Rose. 10 becoming 11 was more random. 10 didn't want to go. He really didn't have time to think and even laments he's still not ginger. Capaldi asks why this face and I think that was all subconscious to remind him of something. Like it goes on and on. His subconscious and his companions I feel like influence his regeneration but he never concentrates during it. Maybe that's the missing key here. He can be whatever he wants but he never tried bc how he looks doesn't really matter in the end bc he's still the Doctor.
Does this mean that Rowan Atkinson, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley have now all retroactively been promoted to canon Doctors?
I love how delicately and elegantly they handled the timeless child and flux story lines with a simple fix. "I made a jigsaw of your timeline. Did you like it?"
@@misterflibble6601I always hopped that it turned out when 12 became 13, they somehow traveled into the wrong dimension when the tardis was on on fire and that the doctor was in the wrong place that’s why she didn’t remember this past. And therefore can go back to the reality where Galafry was ok and no timeless child back story.
Now you can start asking questions like "Are the Time Lords actually separate beings that evolved and inherited their strange abilities? Or could they be the result of repeated Bi-Generation from a single extraordinary individual?"
if The Timeless Child, The Other, and Neverland are all taken as possible truths in diffrent timelines, then we know that Timelords are not a race, they are a sect or a creed, that used genetic manipulation and devices like the looms to gain their regeneration powers. the native people of Gallifrey, The Gallifreyans are the race known as Shobogans or Shabooj'm, over the eons that name has come to mean outsiders or those who live outside of the Timelord Society, it is never shown if the Shobogans can regenerate, safe for those who joined them after fleeing timelord cities, there is some evidence that Susan or sometimes also known as Lady Larn, or Arkytior (the Gallifrey word for Rose) may not have the ability to regenerate as she may not be The Doctor's granddaughter, but rather the granddaughter of The Other, and is one of the last naturally born Shobogans who were cursed with sterility, but that curse was lifted late in the 7th Doctor's life just prior to the 1996 Movie. The War President Rassilon (the president of the war council of Gallifrey) in 'The End of Time' has a prophecy read to him that calls The Doctor and The Master the "The Enmity of Ages" which would suggest that it is well known that The Master and The Doctor have been locked in hatred for so long it couldn't be anybody else. "This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. But at its heart, millions die every second, lost in bloodlust and insanity. With time itself resurrecting them, to find new ways of dying over and over again. A travesty of life. Isn't it better to end it, at last?" - between the flux, the moment, and a notion that The Timeless Child might have no limit to their regenerations limit and that the same genetic technique used to give regeneration to the sect that would become Timelords, was used on The Timeless Child, along with memory whipping them to try and keep them under control, make the believe they are just another timelord with only 12 regenerations unless can either steal more, get them awarded to them via a court trial, or in the case or The Five Doctors and the Master awarded them for doing the bidding of the High Council of Timelords bidding, or brought back outright for the Time War.
Id say due to the 'rules of play' with the universe in flux due to his influence is what i belived caused the bigeneration. A myth that became reality. Due to potential timey winey stuff this means every doctor could bigenerate and has bigenerated even if this only caused a splinter. I honestly love how the show is going
With the added factor that in Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor used superstition as a tool on the edge of the Universe against the Not-Things, which rippled back into the universe, making myth into reality. Kate orders the Toymaker's box to be locked under salt, and then we have the introduction of pure fantasy elements like Goblins, who aren't explained as being from another planet, as prior stories tended to do.
@@Janoha17honestly I think that’s literally it! That’s why it never happened before and why it’s happened now! It’s a myth of the Time Lords AND now it’s real! 2 things at once! And now 15 has to deal with the consequences of this! He REALLY should not have done that thing with the salt!
"I'm not sure how that works" in regards to 15 receiving the benefits of 14's R&R. Well, that's simple - It's just wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff going on. (Or, as 15 put it. "We're doing rehab out of order" - I'm not sure 14 can still regenerate based on that dialogue) The real question, of course, is how many times have you listened to The Goblin Song so far?
It could just be a simple matter of him splitting like an amoeba this time, BUT the fact 15 made a duplicate TARDIS by hitting it with a cartoon mallet suggests the timeline & reality were being heavily messed with by Toymaker's interference. 12 also subconsciously go this face from a man in Pompeii that 10 saved.
Regenerating 3 times in rapid succession could have been a contributing factor. (13 to Master doctor then back to 13 then to 14). 10 grew a hand back after losing it just 15 hours after 1 regeneration. How long do you think 14 had been around since being 13? I would say the 3 specials are less than 15 hours in real time. Maybe 15 is a bit like his handy spare hand but supercharged from 4 regenerations
I think its a mix of that (3 regenerations within 15 hours of each other) and also the Toymaker's presence weakening the separation between myth and reality. The Toymaker's rules for the challenge with the Doctor, and the rules regarding regeneration came into conflict where both had to be true - the regeneration had to happen to satisfy the Toymaker's game, and 14 had to survive because fixed points in time can't be sped up.
The Toymaker had no motivation to cause the Bigeneration, and indeed seems surprised by it. I think it may have happened more as a side effect of the Toymaker's realm being present, rather than the Toymaker's will. Bac ground weirdness interfering with the regeneration process?
In Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor invoked a superstition at the edge of the Universe against the Not-Things, which allowed myths to become real - the bigeneration is supposedly a myth in timelord culture and it was made to come true through this. This would suggest (and I hope) that this means its a one off and unique experience to 14-15.
I think 14 and 15 are the same being, not a split timeline. When 14 does expire, he will finish his regeneration by 'timeslipping' (to steal a term from elsewhere,) back to the moment of the bi-generation.
Great video but I'm not too convinced it was the Toymaker that caused the bigeneration, not intentionally. What I took from the special was that it was the Doctor's psychological state. He knew he needed to take some time to rest and heal, which was what caused it. The 14th Doctor gets to spend some time with his family and friends, decompress, stop saving planets and killing the last survivors of species etc etc. And when he's good and ready the 15th Doctor will appear. Still not too sure on how this works lol. Toymaker: "I played the first game with one Doctor. I played the second game with this Doctor! Therefore, your own rules decree I play the third game with the next Doctor!" -- As 15 appears from 14: 14: "What?" Donna "What?" Toymaker "Vhat!?" -- Toymaker: "There's two of you. That's cheating!" 14 does say soon after "You did this! You doubled us!" but I think he's referring to the fact that he caused the regeneration, not necessarily knowing it would cause a bigeneration. I also think the alternate timeline stuff is a bit tricky, unless you're talking hypothetically, i.e, what would happen otherwise rather than there being timelines in parallel. I've watched/listened/read a decent chunk of who media and alternate timelines don't come up too often. And when they do they tend to be either depicted as wrong, i.e, not how things should be, or they're unexplained in that amazing way Doctor Who never feels the need to explain too much of anything. My overall point being that by and large, Doctor Who depicts the universe as having one, proper, timeline. One that the Timelords and the Doctor tend to protect. At the very least the fixed points of time, which as far as we know are always supposed to happen the same way. I suppose you could argue they're simply protecting their timeline, which is possible. Mind, I am mostly going by what I remember, and my brain does tend to be notoriously TARDIS like in its reliability. I'm rewatching the special now so I'll update this if I'm outright wrong about anything, I haven't watched it since so it's possible I just missed something.
yea I don't think it was intentional either ...at best it was an unintentional outcome spawn from Toymaker just existing in our universe and warping the laws of physics around him
@@amazedsatsuma Yes that's possible, he did have the line about "making a jigsaw out of your history" earlier in the episode. I took it as a reference to the Timeless Child stuff but it could have had an effect on the regeneration. If nothing else it was more on the doctor's plate causing the psychological stress.
But at the same time, that wrongness ends up getting corrected in that alternate timeline in a sense and doesn’t feel wrong anymore. Like the alternate timeline/universe that rose and 10 1/2 now reside as a couple. That episode where they first get there with the first encounter of the cybermen 10 does a really good job explaining how and why it happens at time. And I think big finish had a few stories as well.
I think the mention of the Valeyard is key. He was accepted as somehow an offshoot of the Doctor for ages, so the concept makes sense. Also worth noting that Donna and Rose let the energy they held from the metacrisis go earlier. This may have given the extra energy needed for a split regeneration.
Kinda funny this is the second time a version of Tennant's Doctor gets to live a normal life...the first of course being the Meta-Crisis Doctor who end up living with Rose on Pete's World
"Still not a fan of the timeless child thing" It was to being the best thing to ever happen in the show, but they squandered it. The Master should have been the Timeless Child, not The Doctor. It would have explained him PERFECTLY. An eternal, immortal being, having it's brain erased every so often to preserve a secret taken from it before it really understood. Eventually the psyche shatters, leaving a pathological and psychopathic hatred towards the ones that did this to them.... the Time Lords. And had The Doctor been written as Tek Teoon, that would also explain The Master's abject fascination with The Doctor, and frankly some of The Doctor's neuroses, too. Because what mother wouldn't demand the right to care for their child through all the traumas being inflicted upon them, even if it meant going through the same traumas themselves? It even would have tied off that loose end in A Town Called Christmas, where the Time Lords sent... something... through the crack in reality to the now aged Doctor, supposed to be the final Doctor, giving him a whole new set of regenerations. Now that we know Time Lord regeneration is not an inborn trait, but a medically acquired one, all the pieces would fit into place. Instead, it's The Doctor who regenerates forever getting their brain erased every so often. Great. Wonderful. And why would The Doctor need help from the Time Lords to regenerate in A Town Called Christmas, then? As the timeless child, there's no limit to how many regenerations they possess, right? And what about the poison from River, that she used all her regenerations to cure? Was that still necessary or not? Did she ultimately waste all of her potential, for nothing?
1. The episode you are referring to is Time of the Doctor. "A town called Christmas" is simply a line from the episode. 2. The Time Lords altered the Timeless Child using the Chameleon Arc, so that she/he became a Time Lord child, similar to how 10 used it to alter himself into a human. That meant he now had the regeneration limit imposed on Time Lords. 3. The limit being imposed and not a biological limit was established in Classic Who so they could have also imposed it upon the Doctor when forcing him to be a Time Lord child.
Is the Spy Master really the Toymaker? Missy was begging for her life, played a game with the Toymaker and lost. The Toymaker destroyed Galifrey and made a jigsaw puzzle of the Doctor's history and life. He even asked if the Doctor liked it, during the card game. Or maybe the Toymaker let her regenerate into the Spy Master, who played a game, lost, stored in tooth. The Spy Master, Missy, and other Masters were laughing in the end
Did anyone else notice the similarities to a much earlier episode where The Master had been the Prime Minister and ended up being killed by his wife? In that story his personality ended up in his ring was was retrieved by a woman and in this story the Toy Maker had conquered The Master and put him inside his gold tooth which was then later picked up by a woman........
Honestly the Master has a long history of avoiding death by any means possible. Inhabiting other living creatures, the weird box in the TV movie, the ring and now the gold tooth. Can't keep a good maniacal Timelord down.
Everytime they reference back to that gold tooth...you knew it was only a matter of time it would be dislodged out of Doogie Howser's mouth. There was no way they are ever killing the Master for good.
I think I heard that was a direct reference to that episode and a way for a future story to set up the Master again, I'm fine with that. The Doctor needs the Master as Sherlock needs a Moriarty.
@@CertifiablyIngame There was another refference to an earlier episode with Rose as the Dr's companion as well. Duering the Episode with the Meep, the part where the Dr gives Donna her memory back is very simmilar to his previous incarnation with Rose when they were holidaying on an exotic planet, Rose was sunbathing un the sheilded dome of the resort while the Dr took a trip to see some "waterfalls". an unseen entity got into the "bus" the Dr was travelling on and tried to take control of him by "talking" to him and synchronising what they were saying, or something like that.
@@CertifiablyIngameyou typoed, you accidentally wrote “as Sherlock needs a Moriarty” instead of “as Mr. Data needs a Moriarty”. Understandable mistake, personally I’m frequently calling Mr. Data “Sherlock” by accident, no idea why.
I saw another theory somewhere that the Bi-generation is the one of the many side-effects of the Doctor invoking a superstition at the edge of the universe during "Wild Blue Yonder" the same thing that caused the toymaker to be able to enter the universe may result in more fantastical and mythical beings and events occurring throughout time and space. This would be supported by what we know of the next episode from the next-time trailer (which I will not spoil. for those who care, it's on the DW UA-cam channel.)
It should also be noted that when the Doctor went to his own grave on Trenzalore, the TARDIS fought him due to the crossing of timelines. Perhaps TARDISes are designed to avoid crossing the regeneration-induced divergent timelines of their pilots. The only question I have about this interpretation of bi-generation is if/how it applies to instances of “wearing a bit thin” such as in the case of the 1st Doctor and the War Doctor. Does the timeline split so that in one timeline, the Doctor just fully dies, or is this the exception to the split timelines rule?
It would make sense that a TARDIS would want to avoid entanglements like this (except when plot demands it). Honestly, I'm totally convinced its a set in stone rule even; just something that can occasionally happen, and only when the Timelords don't catch it. But in those instances, logic would suggest he could postpone old age for a long time (as we have seen truly ancient Doctor forms before) but eventually he would be forced to change or supress it.
@@CertifiablyIngamelogic would suggest? That’s the wrong franchise, Ric(k) (I can never remember if you spell your name with a K or not 😂). Merry Christmas, love long and prosper 🖖
Considering The Doctor is where regeration comes from originally, seems there's free license for The Doctor's regerations to be anything the writers want. Bigeneration regeneration degeneration there are no rules for it anymore
Since the 15th Doctor has memories of the 14th Doctor’s future, I concluded that he was simply pulled back in time from whenever the 14th Doctor regenerates again.
I think when they refer to 15 as "fixed" its just like how he picked tennants face because of subconscious thoughts. Hes regenerated(bigenerated) into a version of himself that is no longer straddled by guilt, because its the first time hes allowed himself to. So its not like 14 will become 15 and snap back to the events of the giggle, more that hes just corrected his problems and let them go (at least in 15)
He's got a fightin' hand and is going commando, it's an Meta-Man-Action-Doctor-Crisis! I bet it's to sell more toys...oh snap, it all makes perfect sense now.
My take on it is that it's similar to the Watcher from the 4th Doctors regeneration into 5 - except in reverse. 14 is a watcher, 15 is the new doctor. When 14 eventually dies, he won't regenerate and he'll just disappear.
Honestly I think the whole "salt split beyond the universe" thing has had serious consequences, now anythings possible the line between fact and fiction have become blurred, Idea can now take form
Hi-regeneration could also appear in instances when the proper flow of time is disrupted. If a time lord we’re to regenerate in a situation similar to what happened with the paradox of River refusing to shoot the doctor on the beach could be a situation where is possible, the mess that was the time war could also occur, regenerating while within extremely close proximity to a Tardis’s engine, etc. Basically it is possible for these events to occur but only under extremely specific circumstances. I think.
See I always figured that he pulled the 15th Doctor got pulled back to this point in time and the 14th will live out his life and at some point fully regenerate and be pulled back to this point in time. But -shrugs-
Actually, no, Bigeneration was neither caused by the Toymaker (beyond shooting 14 with a glavanic lazer ofc) nor dealing with timeline crossing. Bigeneration is like regeneration if it's a cicada shedding its shell but in a Pokémon sense. (Nincada, Ninjask, Shedinja, 1 goes in, 2 walk away) What happened here is that this regeneration was so stressful, they Bigenerated, as in regenerated into 2. 15 said as much, "we're doing rehab out of order". Instead of regenerating the individual into a new individual, his body simply regenerated a new individual, one with all the same memories, but none of the current ongoing trauma that his current body already had going on, like how regeneration is the way the body escapes death, bigeneration is how regeneration sheds mental turmoil and carries on. Literally rehab out of order.
I like this idea too as its the only outstanding point that was not covered clearly for me. 15 somehow sharing in the 14th Doctor's chill time (as if he's a future incarnation), yet also being created in the same instant anyway. He gets treated like both in the episode.
The way I understand/interpret the whole thing about the "rehab out of order" is that while 14 and 15 may exist at the same time, but still have a sequential existence/personality. 14 gets to live out his life, which I think 15 is already fully aware of. Hence he's "fine". He experienced 14s rehab, lived through it. From his perspective. When 14's life comes to an end, he will not regenerate anymore as it already happened. Maybe he'd disappear, fade or whatever, but he won't regenerate into a new Doctor - he already did. But of course that all depends on who'll be writing the show at the time because at the end of the day, no lore, logic or canon can withstand what a writer wants to do with a story and/or character. I am just so very happy (having just binged 18 years of Who in 3 months) that this character I met in "Rose" with all that pain from the Time War, who then went on and on and on up to a point where he just didn't WANT to regenerate anymore "because everyone else has fallen" now gets something nice. In a way, the Doctor GOT what he needed: Someone else to shoulder the burden. A proper reward. After all that time. Anyway, that's my take. :)
I'm reminded of the premise for the (unproduced) Dark DImension, what was meant to be the 30th anniversary special, which would have brought back Tom Baker as an alternate Doctor from a timeline where he never regenerated. If bigeneration is a divergent timeline, then suddenly a situation like that is back on the table for future stories.
You know, if you think about it... We've seen something similar before, but in reverse... The Watcher, when 4 regenerated into 5, is sort of like reverse bigeneration... You don't think... They could be connected... Could they?
Didn't rtd say that the birengeneration event ripple back through the doctors timeline and made it so that every doctor had biregeneratre, even if he doesn't remember it, that could kinda explain the 50th anniversary where they all appeared to save gallifray, and it could also be a use to bring back the timelords and the master given that those that weren't on their last regeneration could have split at the moment of death becoming cybermen, and even the ones that did reach 13 would still have their past 12 versions out there now
@@CorvoFG Love it when people cry about lore. I'm not generally one to gate-keep but it just so obvious that you have no idea about the show and franchise in general. Doctor Who isn't a show that has a strict canon or lore. It's never been about that. It's not a mistake, it's a fundamental feature of the franchise. By and large there isn't all that much that can't be changed or questioned. We've had numerous explanations for the same things, the Doctor's origin: Gallifreyan, looms, half-human, Faction Paradox. Cybermen: Mondas, Telos, Lumic cybermen, The Doctor Falls. Even "Daleks" have originated in different places, Genesis, Blood of the Daleks, Chibnall's security Daleks. By and large these things are either ignored or worked into some sort of explanation. It frees writers up to be more creative. And hey, I agree, sometimes it doesn't work. But it's still one of the things I love about Doctor Who. You can't have it both ways. There's nothing wrong with being a more casual viewer, in fact I think the show should be aimed towards a more general audience. But if you're going to go out of your way to criticise then you should at least make some effort to understand the franchise as a whole. It's not the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's Doctor Who.
@mrjoe5292 no, no it is a show with strict and understandable and categorizable cannon. And chinball began to take the longest, the girthiest, and somehow the densest shit all over it. And RTD whent along with it.
@@gamerboiiiiiii No, it's not, in fact there are so many examples of why it's not that I don't know why you'd think that. Canon (one n!) doesn't seem to mean what you think it means. Doctor Who has no strict canon. The closest thing to a Who canon would be the TV show, though even the TV show plays it fast and loose sometimes. Good example of this would be the Doctor saying he's half human in the TV movie. The 8th Doctor is recognized as a legitimate doctor. And his only two appearances are the TV movie and the later "Night of the Doctor". Does that mean the Doctor is half human? Well, no, it was largely ignored by successive episodes. Another good example would be Mel in the recent special. She talks about her travels with a character called Glitz. This was referencing a few Big Finish audios. Does that mean that the Big Finish audios are canon? Well, no, writers, by and large, pick and choose what they want to incorporate into the show. Now Doctor Who does have a continuity, which may be why you're confused. But there's no authoritative list of Canon works, or Canon timeline. The TV show tends to be considered the progenitor, so to speak, but it takes stuff from other sources too.
From a practical standpoint any "regeneration" that doesn't catch on can be ignored and the adventures of the Doctor can be followed using popular "regenerations" from the past
I think this was a way of the BBC hedging their bet because of the unpopularity of the 13th doctor. If this doctor is unsuccessful then they can hit the reset button with 14. And not a fan of the retcon of the doctor's history with the timeless child. The sandbox was big enough with characters and ideas to develop without such an divisive idea🤔🤔
Personal theory but I believe back in day of the doctor, Tom baker as the curator states that he will find him self revisiting a few of the old favorites referring to faces. But what if tenants 14th retires and with the 15th doctor out in the universe takes up the mantle of the curator and is limited to regenerating into the past 13 faces?
Man its been a while since I watched Dr Who... Started on the 9th, loved David Tennants 10th, grew to love Matt Smith's 11th, and stopped watching just as it switched to 12th
I've heard a theory how this may work. 15 was pulled into this moment from some point in his future and bi-generated with 14 (this bit is shakey I know, possibly hand wave with the Toymakers meddling). That way 14 can essentially go into "therapy" while 15 continues on, and it possible explains 15's comment about therapy and how he's recovered from the baggage already. The problem I have with this however, is that it's hard to explain how the loop is closed. Either 15 undergoes another bi-regeneration with 16, and that 15 is pulled back in time. Or alternatively, 15 was pulled from a parallel reality where 14 didn't regenerate but wasn't shot (or survived the shot) from the toy maker, did his therapy, and then regenerated normally into 15 either from old age or some other incident post dealing with his baggage. Some of it is a bit of a stretch, but as said in the video, a show with time travel and a multiverse, anything is possible.
Yeah, I considered if it was a future Doctor overall too, but even 15 seemed shocked to Bigenerate and was unsure of the TARDIS situation until he had an idea, which seems to suggest no prior knowledge of all this.
Unless it's been so long he forgot what happened and due to the affects of regeneration, experienced everything new (or is pretending to make sure history went how he remembered it)@@CertifiablyIngame
@@CertifiablyIngame Yeah that does pose a bit of a problem too. Might give more weight to an alternate dimension 15, one where he didn't duplicate the TARDIS. Great video in any case mate! Certainly got me thinking.
I have been watching Dr. Who for the past 30+ years. As a child my parents allowed me stay up late on (I think) Friday nights to watch it on PBS. It was very exciting. I have not enjoyed a few choices the new show runners have made over the last few years, too many broken "rules". I want to give Ncuti Gatwa a fair shot at the character, so I will reserve judgement. That said, I do like your take on the episode and some of the comments are helping too.
As someone who consumes at of extended universe Dr who I really like this idea. I've always thought all Dr who media was cannon in a way we just follow the TV timeline as our main cannon. This also leads to cool ideas such as there are events that have to happen no matter what. Such as the time war and the destruction of the time lords. Be it the Time War or The War in Heaven an event has to happen.
‘Wrong 15! The Doctor did split in two, but it didn't split equally. All the purity and strength went into 14. All the crap that was left over went into what you see in the mirror every morning.’
I rather think it was more natural than interference. 1. Toymaker was just as confused as everyone else. 2. 14's clothes were divided up between them. 15 got the shoes, 1 shirt, the tie and the underwear, but 14 kept the trousers, another shirt, and the vest. 3. The only thing I remember the Toymaker was mentioned with was how a hammer with some of his energy remained. 4. 15, apart from initially wondering what was currently happening, seems quite aware that 14 goes off on a vacation, and 15 benefits, almost like he remembers the vacation happened. I have 2 ideas. 1. He asexually produced another doctor that still remembers everything and is fresh, free from the pain and guilt. 2. Time shenanigans displaced 14's transition into 15 to truly happen in the future, and in the meantime, healed 14 and merged 15 into him, creating a time loop. After 14 has done home-life for long enough, he regenerates into 15, he & his Tardis are merged back to the events of this episode, 15 momentarily forgets how things went so the timeline goes how it did, then 15 gets his Tardis & continues on. Let me know if this is too confusing.
The Timeless Child added nothing to the Doctor's character or the plot. Bigeneration gave the Doctor the chance to move past their trauma and gave them two happy endings. At once. At least that's how I see it
The Timeless Children wasn't really a story. It was an exposition dump. Chibnall didn't know how to wesve that ides into a compelling narrative so he just had a character tell us the lore. The reason I didn't like the Timeless Children ides is that nothing was done with it and near the end of Chibnall's time as showrunner it was literally memory holed.
Personally, I think a lot of the muck in this regeneration is done to clean up the mess the last showrunner made. Doctor Who being about time travel always was a bit fast and loose with the “rules” of time travel, paradox, etc., but it did stick to some fundamentals. The doctor avoids his death after his last regeneration because (1) he collapsed his own timeline when he saves Clara, (2) the attempts on his life was itself a paradox that couldn’t stand (the Silence wanted him dead to prevent him from reaching Trenzalore…an event in their own timeline), and (3) Clara being alive and with him pleads for the Timelords to help the Doctor…granting him a new set of regenerations. While we can talk about parallel realities, Doctor Who avoids it because it becomes a tangled mess to keep straight in the show. The apparent paradoxes in the past shows are explained as the universe being able to adapt to most paradoxes…only “fixed points” being events that must be the same in every universe. The concept of parallel worlds is mentioned but not messed with because it opens a can of worms with no easy way to resolve anything.
@@bobtahoma Only a loss if you enjoy being told that "men" would never understand something a "woman+trans" would. It's only a loss if you think that Davros was "just an evil wheelchair user" and not the purest form of evil who was in a life support machine. RTD reduced Davros to his physical appearance, something that for the last decade has been frowned up, but because it's "for the greater good", slackjawed non-fans applaud for "progressiveness". The failure in writing is the true loss. It won't be too many more seasons before it's cancelled once again, shitcanned for another 20 years until society has gotten past the incessant need for virtue signalling at all costs, no matter the casualties.
@@Reinforce_Zweiwhen talking about trans women, “women+trans” is redundant as those are not two separate categories. Then again your entire comment reeks of political extremism and impotent male rage, so maybe I should just pity you for being such a limited being that this is literally the only lens you can perceive reality through.
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated Sounds like you really didn't watch the mini-series then, as the "woman+trans" characterisation was because both DONNA(Woman) and Rose(Trans) said together that the doctor(male) would never have understood to "give up the power". But hey, you got your virtue signal points for the day by misunderstanding a basic statement, trying to twist it and still somehow failing to address even that strawman effectively.
I assume he would regenerate into a new form altogether and that bigeneration would not occur again due to the rarity and timeline crossing needed. But "who knows?"
Honestly, I'm ok with this. We get to keep Tennant on as a potential return Doctor, while we also have a new Doctor to have mainline adventures. It works. Doctor Who has always been ridiculous and has very tenuous "continuity" at best.
Maybe UNIT accidentally created a bigeneration machine when they made the galvanic cannon? Tennants next appearance could be 60 minutes of him getting shot over and over again rebuilding the timelord race? 😂
Thought:As the doctor it the original being that regenerated and has no memory prior to the Hartnell doctor, he could have done this prior to Hartnell and be the origin of the legend?
The 7th doctor is actually the current doctor, new who is one of his bad dreams, and the series is becoming less coherent as the McCoy doctor is starting to wake up. Soon he and Ace will be exploring the universe again knowing the Valeyard is in his future.
I think the idea that there are now two Doctors that can both regenerate undercuts the character in a more problematic way than The Timeless Child, so I hope that Fourteen is eventually depicted as regenerating into Fifteen in some timey-wimey way, as a lot of people have inferred from the dialogue. Failing that, I would rather that he didn't regenerate again at all, and thus becomes just another variation on Davies' Metacrisis Doctor (which he basically is anyway). As for the "Doctorverse" idea hypothesized by Davies, I'm not entirely against it, as long as it is depicted in a way that doesn't undercut the ultimate sacrifices that many of the Doctors have made.
I agree, it comes down to how it's used. Personally I hope this was his idea of "soft-canonising" all of the Doctor Who media with a multiverse idea as a nod to the franchise as a whole. It was the 60th anniversary after all.
Technically it is already being used. It is clearly how we have older versions of Classic Doctors in Tales of the TARDIS, even if RTD has not officially stated that yet.
@@golddragongaming1 Well, you could argue that it fits with what McCoy says in The Curse of Fenric TotT, that there are timelines where he regenerates and timelines where he doesn't, but it doesn't fit with what Davison said, that he was a memory of the TARDIS. Honestly, I think those shorts were written before Davies had come up with the whole "Doctorverse" idea.
I think it's absolutely incredible how Dr.Who has continued despite having no script bible & having deliberately gone out of its way to retcon or ignore all semblances of cohesion. Points to you Rick for making lore content on a show that just disregards lore
Isn’t this like the Trill in the 32nd century where the souls so to speak get a new golem body like Picard in the 25th century. I’m thinking specifically of Gray Tal getting a new body
I don't have a problem with it, but ONLY IF they recast 2-7. They've already recast 1, more than once I might add, so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone.
After getting super into Star Trek in the past year, it is some of the best news I’ve had recently that you also do Doctor Who videos In fact, I’ve been thinking recently that Star Trek and Doctor Who are very similar shows, except Doctor Who has less of an emphasis on continuity
"Bi-generation" not "Bi-regeneration". A lot of people have been using the latter term though so if it's an intentional misspelling then that's understandable.
It is an interesting theory, but I have a correction of one point. Up until now there was no splintering of the timelines as you described. RTD has stated that the bigeneration worked backwards through his timeline to result in the past Doctors all running around. it is unclear if they exist in splintered timelines, but it seems so. In other words, the splintering of the timeline only happened as a result of the bigeneration rather than with all regenerations except the bigeneration.
This is sort of what I was trying to convey about any alternate regen timelines not materialising and fading away, but now that gate has been opened for the first time narratively. I missed if the Toymaker defined the Biregeneration being splintering all throughout his time (I assume it's the line about being a jigsaw of his past)?
If you think about his timeline creation theory then there would be billions of different versions of himself due to him being the timeless child. Also a fun theory that i have no evidence of what if the big bad the toy maker was talking about is a version of the doctors daughter since she was able to regenerate and maybe she doesnt have a limit to hers?
It's a shame they did this to Ncuti. I could look past the direction the show is going in todays political climate if they did a simple regeneration. It's a way to tell us the fans that "this is the doctor, buckle up for something different". Now we will have David waiting in the wings if this "bi-generation" doesn't plan out with the new audience RTD is trying to pander towards.
The Doctor said it themselves, "Bi Generation is supposed to be a myth'. When the 14th Doctor sprinkled salt at the end of the universe and allowed all things myth, legend, superstitious and supernatural into the universe, HE himself allowed Bi-generation to be possible, otherwise it would have been a perfectly normal regeneration process. This whole season so far feels off....like a game show, or The Doctor being stuck in someone else's bizarre Dungeons&Dragons RPG. I just hope the 'salt sprinkle effect' is undone by the end of it, and we can get back to proper Doctor Who again, with Daleks, Cybermen and Aliens. More traditional Sci-Fi than Superstition and Spooky.
My question is what will happen when 15 regenerates, like will they merge back together or will 15 just regenerate into 16? if the latter what will happen when 14 eventually becomes old and regenerates would that make another doctor or what?
I really don't think a show like Doctor Who needs to explain stuff like this. Who has always had weird things either never explained or explained so many times that there's no solid or good explanation. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff and all that
I'd like to satisfy 2 sides of this. What if regenerations are fixed points. Just what we think of fixed points is wrong. Whenever he regenerates all possibilities are open considering that it is consistently said that "Regeneration is a genetic lottery." Therefor all possibilities stem from that point. Making it a fixed point that cannot change. Even if the effects of it is extremely small on all possibilities. This is a point where true infinity exists.
I think they could link this to the timeless child and just said that is a phenomenon the timeless child could do... the only problem I have is... the 14 doctor could still regenerate? now there are two regeneration cycles?
based on your idea, the show is no longer about the Doctor nor is he the one who truely travels through time, it is about the viewer (or Observer) that at any given point is traveling all of time and space and in select moments observes The Doctor from any possible itteration, so in reality WE are The Doctor
So if we look at "reality" for sure RTD wants to find "fun" ways to have past Drs pop into the show to encourage and grow the Whoniverse for Disney and this is his solution. So it's possible other past Drs are going to make appearances, Classic doctors can be recast, it all grows the fanbase. And it's the 60th anniversary so no reason why we won't see other doctors appear.
I think that whole, we could kill him, thing is on point. Plus, now they could actually make more doctor who quicker......no think about it, two teams, two leads, alternate filming schedules.....it could work.
I've met "Alt Me"s before, a few times. It can be either a lot of fun, or the worst day in either of your lives, and sometimes both. Wibbly-wobbly hijinks. In other notions, have you ever covered Babylon 5?
I enjoy it, this gives us a cathartic end to the New who era, the righters can go ahead and right what they want without worrying about undermining the sheer severity of the bad stuff the doctor has experienced and the lasting effects of those encounters. I for one love how the only thing that has changed since they got the Disney money is go even more in on the wacky, board line cheese but in a good way, Who is known for. Not a major fan of the new avengers tower but in London thing, unless it’s the old Torchwood tower, the thing just doesn’t feel right for Unit.
I hate the fact they just messed up the whole concept of Dr Who, one of the absolute key things, just so they can try and draw an audience in with David Tennant. It's such a pisstake.
I know what R.T.D. says about Bi-Generation and branched timelines... However... A thought occurs to me. "life will find a way" i was pondering about Bi-Generation and ways it could be canon and make sense, so firstly I thought maybe it's a completely natural process for the doctors race as according to the timeless child hes not a galyfreyan let alone a time lord so we really know nothing about his race other than they limitlessly regenerate. So my first thought was maybe it's as Donna put it an Amoeba like thing, maybe with each regeneration the regeneration energy increases maybe due to accumulated experiences until it reaches a critical point causing a Bi-Generation and that this process was stunted by the Timelords reseting the Doctor every dozen Regens or so. My second thought was maybe its a natural perogative of his species as a way to carry on his species. We see it in nature with some fish and frog species where if all members of a gender are wiped out some surviving members of the other gender can transition to fill the gap and maintain the population. Regeneration already gives the Gender swap and it also completely changes up the Genetic info so that allows for a broad Gene pool. So if for example the 13th doctor was the last survivor and they Bi-Generated to the 13th and 14 then that would give you an Adam and Eve to repopulate. Once you get past the obviously disturbing nature of the line of thought and the unavoidable jokes of wheither it sex or Masturbation it would be quite an effective way to repopulate. Kinda like how Jenny was born by Sampling the Doctors DNA and then recombining the Code to make a distinct Progeny
There's also the possibility of Tennant's Doctor going on to become the Curator, who actively spoke of revisiting old faces, but only some of the favourites. So having regenerated back into Tennant's Doctor could feasibly be the beginning of that road of revisiting old faces, and the fact he chose to settle down also leans into it even more.
I think this too, but also i think they eventually become The Watcher, linking back up with themself until the "bigeneration" managed to dig them back out to continue
That was my first thought too. This was the Curator's origin story
Yes and no. Out of universe this was their way of cutting ties with Classic/New Who that had come before the 60th. While keeping the character around in the BBC/Disney Doctor era.
In universe it also allows them to expand into future characters like the Curator and the Valeyard. Both indicated as future incarnations of the Doctor.
That's something I'd like to see addressed sometime. Romana chooses her regen, but people think it's a Romana specific thing. It was never implied that Romana was special, but in fact, that The Doctor was the special case, being unable to directly control their next form, other timelords seem to be capable of directly choosing their next form.
I think the retcon they came up with for that works OK which is that the regeneration is still malleable and so multiple appearances are "possible" until they lock in and count as "one" it is also possible other time lords don't have their regenerations limited either and The Doc does as he's a persistent criminal,
Having a less limited number conveniently allows some regenerations to be seen as "Mistakes" though.
River implies that she has to concentrate so she doesn't end up a toddler again. I just assume the Doctor can choose but doesn't because he doesn't care about looks or he's like in mortal peril and can't concentrate.
So like 9 became 10 and he had time to think. He became what he thought would appeal to Rose.
10 becoming 11 was more random. 10 didn't want to go. He really didn't have time to think and even laments he's still not ginger.
Capaldi asks why this face and I think that was all subconscious to remind him of something.
Like it goes on and on. His subconscious and his companions I feel like influence his regeneration but he never concentrates during it. Maybe that's the missing key here. He can be whatever he wants but he never tried bc how he looks doesn't really matter in the end bc he's still the Doctor.
Does this mean that Rowan Atkinson, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley have now all retroactively been promoted to canon Doctors?
I love how delicately and elegantly they handled the timeless child and flux story lines with a simple fix. "I made a jigsaw of your timeline. Did you like it?"
I thought they might go with the "Bobbby Ewing" approach (referencing the prime time soap "Dallas") and have the 13th doctor just be a dream
@@misterflibble6601I always hopped that it turned out when 12 became 13, they somehow traveled into the wrong dimension when the tardis was on on fire and that the doctor was in the wrong place that’s why she didn’t remember this past. And therefore can go back to the reality where Galafry was ok and no timeless child back story.
Except the Flux did indeed happen and the Toymaker knows it because otherwise he wouldn't have taunted the Doctor about it.
No, they didn't, this would be lazy. They're going to actually develop the timeless child story, making it impact The Doctor.
Now you can start asking questions like "Are the Time Lords actually separate beings that evolved and inherited their strange abilities? Or could they be the result of repeated Bi-Generation from a single extraordinary individual?"
if The Timeless Child, The Other, and Neverland are all taken as possible truths in diffrent timelines, then we know that Timelords are not a race, they are a sect or a creed, that used genetic manipulation and devices like the looms to gain their regeneration powers. the native people of Gallifrey, The Gallifreyans are the race known as Shobogans or Shabooj'm, over the eons that name has come to mean outsiders or those who live outside of the Timelord Society, it is never shown if the Shobogans can regenerate, safe for those who joined them after fleeing timelord cities, there is some evidence that Susan or sometimes also known as Lady Larn, or Arkytior (the Gallifrey word for Rose) may not have the ability to regenerate as she may not be The Doctor's granddaughter, but rather the granddaughter of The Other, and is one of the last naturally born Shobogans who were cursed with sterility, but that curse was lifted late in the 7th Doctor's life just prior to the 1996 Movie.
The War President Rassilon (the president of the war council of Gallifrey) in 'The End of Time' has a prophecy read to him that calls The Doctor and The Master the "The Enmity of Ages" which would suggest that it is well known that The Master and The Doctor have been locked in hatred for so long it couldn't be anybody else.
"This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. But at its heart, millions die every second, lost in bloodlust and insanity. With time itself resurrecting them, to find new ways of dying over and over again. A travesty of life. Isn't it better to end it, at last?" - between the flux, the moment, and a notion that The Timeless Child might have no limit to their regenerations limit and that the same genetic technique used to give regeneration to the sect that would become Timelords, was used on The Timeless Child, along with memory whipping them to try and keep them under control, make the believe they are just another timelord with only 12 regenerations unless can either steal more, get them awarded to them via a court trial, or in the case or The Five Doctors and the Master awarded them for doing the bidding of the High Council of Timelords bidding, or brought back outright for the Time War.
Id say due to the 'rules of play' with the universe in flux due to his influence is what i belived caused the bigeneration. A myth that became reality. Due to potential timey winey stuff this means every doctor could bigenerate and has bigenerated even if this only caused a splinter. I honestly love how the show is going
With the added factor that in Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor used superstition as a tool on the edge of the Universe against the Not-Things, which rippled back into the universe, making myth into reality. Kate orders the Toymaker's box to be locked under salt, and then we have the introduction of pure fantasy elements like Goblins, who aren't explained as being from another planet, as prior stories tended to do.
@@Janoha17honestly I think that’s literally it! That’s why it never happened before and why it’s happened now! It’s a myth of the Time Lords AND now it’s real! 2 things at once! And now 15 has to deal with the consequences of this! He REALLY should not have done that thing with the salt!
"I'm not sure how that works" in regards to 15 receiving the benefits of 14's R&R.
Well, that's simple - It's just wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff going on. (Or, as 15 put it. "We're doing rehab out of order" - I'm not sure 14 can still regenerate based on that dialogue)
The real question, of course, is how many times have you listened to The Goblin Song so far?
It could just be a simple matter of him splitting like an amoeba this time, BUT the fact 15 made a duplicate TARDIS by hitting it with a cartoon mallet suggests the timeline & reality were being heavily messed with by Toymaker's interference. 12 also subconsciously go this face from a man in Pompeii that 10 saved.
Regenerating 3 times in rapid succession could have been a contributing factor. (13 to Master doctor then back to 13 then to 14). 10 grew a hand back after losing it just 15 hours after 1 regeneration. How long do you think 14 had been around since being 13? I would say the 3 specials are less than 15 hours in real time. Maybe 15 is a bit like his handy spare hand but supercharged from 4 regenerations
I think its a mix of that (3 regenerations within 15 hours of each other) and also the Toymaker's presence weakening the separation between myth and reality. The Toymaker's rules for the challenge with the Doctor, and the rules regarding regeneration came into conflict where both had to be true - the regeneration had to happen to satisfy the Toymaker's game, and 14 had to survive because fixed points in time can't be sped up.
The Toymaker had no motivation to cause the Bigeneration, and indeed seems surprised by it. I think it may have happened more as a side effect of the Toymaker's realm being present, rather than the Toymaker's will. Bac
ground weirdness interfering with the regeneration process?
He took "best of three" too literally!
In Wild Blue Yonder, the Doctor invoked a superstition at the edge of the Universe against the Not-Things, which allowed myths to become real - the bigeneration is supposedly a myth in timelord culture and it was made to come true through this. This would suggest (and I hope) that this means its a one off and unique experience to 14-15.
I'd like to think Certifiably was humming the Spice girls after this last special as he made this
I think 14 and 15 are the same being, not a split timeline. When 14 does expire, he will finish his regeneration by 'timeslipping' (to steal a term from elsewhere,) back to the moment of the bi-generation.
EXACTLY
Great video but I'm not too convinced it was the Toymaker that caused the bigeneration, not intentionally. What I took from the special was that it was the Doctor's psychological state. He knew he needed to take some time to rest and heal, which was what caused it. The 14th Doctor gets to spend some time with his family and friends, decompress, stop saving planets and killing the last survivors of species etc etc. And when he's good and ready the 15th Doctor will appear. Still not too sure on how this works lol.
Toymaker: "I played the first game with one Doctor. I played the second game with this Doctor! Therefore, your own rules decree I play the third game with the next Doctor!"
--
As 15 appears from 14:
14: "What?"
Donna "What?"
Toymaker "Vhat!?"
--
Toymaker: "There's two of you. That's cheating!"
14 does say soon after "You did this! You doubled us!" but I think he's referring to the fact that he caused the regeneration, not necessarily knowing it would cause a bigeneration.
I also think the alternate timeline stuff is a bit tricky, unless you're talking hypothetically, i.e, what would happen otherwise rather than there being timelines in parallel. I've watched/listened/read a decent chunk of who media and alternate timelines don't come up too often. And when they do they tend to be either depicted as wrong, i.e, not how things should be, or they're unexplained in that amazing way Doctor Who never feels the need to explain too much of anything. My overall point being that by and large, Doctor Who depicts the universe as having one, proper, timeline. One that the Timelords and the Doctor tend to protect. At the very least the fixed points of time, which as far as we know are always supposed to happen the same way. I suppose you could argue they're simply protecting their timeline, which is possible.
Mind, I am mostly going by what I remember, and my brain does tend to be notoriously TARDIS like in its reliability. I'm rewatching the special now so I'll update this if I'm outright wrong about anything, I haven't watched it since so it's possible I just missed something.
yea I don't think it was intentional either ...at best it was an unintentional outcome spawn from Toymaker just existing in our universe and warping the laws of physics around him
@@amazedsatsuma Yes that's possible, he did have the line about "making a jigsaw out of your history" earlier in the episode. I took it as a reference to the Timeless Child stuff but it could have had an effect on the regeneration. If nothing else it was more on the doctor's plate causing the psychological stress.
But at the same time, that wrongness ends up getting corrected in that alternate timeline in a sense and doesn’t feel wrong anymore. Like the alternate timeline/universe that rose and 10 1/2 now reside as a couple. That episode where they first get there with the first encounter of the cybermen 10 does a really good job explaining how and why it happens at time. And I think big finish had a few stories as well.
I think the mention of the Valeyard is key. He was accepted as somehow an offshoot of the Doctor for ages, so the concept makes sense.
Also worth noting that Donna and Rose let the energy they held from the metacrisis go earlier. This may have given the extra energy needed for a split regeneration.
Ties in nicely to the McGann series rumour…
I want this rumour to be true so badly! Eight never got enough love.
Kinda funny this is the second time a version of Tennant's Doctor gets to live a normal life...the first of course being the Meta-Crisis Doctor who end up living with Rose on Pete's World
He has the most copies overall! The Meta Crisis, the imprint in Donna's head, 10 himself took 2 regenerations, and now 14 who persists.
@@CertifiablyIngame you can say Tennant's Doctor is a form that found ways to stay after all he really didn't want to go when his time was up😂
"Still not a fan of the timeless child thing"
It was to being the best thing to ever happen in the show, but they squandered it. The Master should have been the Timeless Child, not The Doctor. It would have explained him PERFECTLY. An eternal, immortal being, having it's brain erased every so often to preserve a secret taken from it before it really understood. Eventually the psyche shatters, leaving a pathological and psychopathic hatred towards the ones that did this to them.... the Time Lords. And had The Doctor been written as Tek Teoon, that would also explain The Master's abject fascination with The Doctor, and frankly some of The Doctor's neuroses, too. Because what mother wouldn't demand the right to care for their child through all the traumas being inflicted upon them, even if it meant going through the same traumas themselves?
It even would have tied off that loose end in A Town Called Christmas, where the Time Lords sent... something... through the crack in reality to the now aged Doctor, supposed to be the final Doctor, giving him a whole new set of regenerations. Now that we know Time Lord regeneration is not an inborn trait, but a medically acquired one, all the pieces would fit into place.
Instead, it's The Doctor who regenerates forever getting their brain erased every so often. Great. Wonderful. And why would The Doctor need help from the Time Lords to regenerate in A Town Called Christmas, then? As the timeless child, there's no limit to how many regenerations they possess, right? And what about the poison from River, that she used all her regenerations to cure? Was that still necessary or not? Did she ultimately waste all of her potential, for nothing?
I think The Master is the timeless child and They were just lying
1. The episode you are referring to is Time of the Doctor. "A town called Christmas" is simply a line from the episode.
2. The Time Lords altered the Timeless Child using the Chameleon Arc, so that she/he became a Time Lord child, similar to how 10 used it to alter himself into a human. That meant he now had the regeneration limit imposed on Time Lords.
3. The limit being imposed and not a biological limit was established in Classic Who so they could have also imposed it upon the Doctor when forcing him to be a Time Lord child.
Is the Spy Master really the Toymaker?
Missy was begging for her life, played a game with the Toymaker and lost.
The Toymaker destroyed Galifrey and made a jigsaw puzzle of the Doctor's history and life. He even asked if the Doctor liked it, during the card game.
Or maybe the Toymaker let her regenerate into the Spy Master, who played a game, lost, stored in tooth.
The Spy Master, Missy, and other Masters were laughing in the end
Did anyone else notice the similarities to a much earlier episode where The Master had been the Prime Minister and ended up being killed by his wife? In that story his personality ended up in his ring was was retrieved by a woman and in this story the Toy Maker had conquered The Master and put him inside his gold tooth which was then later picked up by a woman........
Honestly the Master has a long history of avoiding death by any means possible. Inhabiting other living creatures, the weird box in the TV movie, the ring and now the gold tooth.
Can't keep a good maniacal Timelord down.
Everytime they reference back to that gold tooth...you knew it was only a matter of time it would be dislodged out of Doogie Howser's mouth. There was no way they are ever killing the Master for good.
I think I heard that was a direct reference to that episode and a way for a future story to set up the Master again, I'm fine with that. The Doctor needs the Master as Sherlock needs a Moriarty.
@@CertifiablyIngame There was another refference to an earlier episode with Rose as the Dr's companion as well. Duering the Episode with the Meep, the part where the Dr gives Donna her memory back is very simmilar to his previous incarnation with Rose when they were holidaying on an exotic planet, Rose was sunbathing un the sheilded dome of the resort while the Dr took a trip to see some "waterfalls". an unseen entity got into the "bus" the Dr was travelling on and tried to take control of him by "talking" to him and synchronising what they were saying, or something like that.
@@CertifiablyIngameyou typoed, you accidentally wrote “as Sherlock needs a Moriarty” instead of “as Mr. Data needs a Moriarty”. Understandable mistake, personally I’m frequently calling Mr. Data “Sherlock” by accident, no idea why.
I saw another theory somewhere that the Bi-generation is the one of the many side-effects of the Doctor invoking a superstition at the edge of the universe during "Wild Blue Yonder" the same thing that caused the toymaker to be able to enter the universe may result in more fantastical and mythical beings and events occurring throughout time and space. This would be supported by what we know of the next episode from the next-time trailer (which I will not spoil. for those who care, it's on the DW UA-cam channel.)
I'd be up for that, always fun to see fantastic creatures in Who. Might even get to see some return of the Greater Vampires!
I believe you are correct
Honestly….this seems like the most reasonable and likely reason! Invoking superstition at the edge of the universe turned myth into reality!
Maybe 'He Who Remains' is the winner of the war between variants created through bigeneration ...
It should also be noted that when the Doctor went to his own grave on Trenzalore, the TARDIS fought him due to the crossing of timelines. Perhaps TARDISes are designed to avoid crossing the regeneration-induced divergent timelines of their pilots.
The only question I have about this interpretation of bi-generation is if/how it applies to instances of “wearing a bit thin” such as in the case of the 1st Doctor and the War Doctor. Does the timeline split so that in one timeline, the Doctor just fully dies, or is this the exception to the split timelines rule?
It would make sense that a TARDIS would want to avoid entanglements like this (except when plot demands it).
Honestly, I'm totally convinced its a set in stone rule even; just something that can occasionally happen, and only when the Timelords don't catch it. But in those instances, logic would suggest he could postpone old age for a long time (as we have seen truly ancient Doctor forms before) but eventually he would be forced to change or supress it.
@@CertifiablyIngamelogic would suggest? That’s the wrong franchise, Ric(k) (I can never remember if you spell your name with a K or not 😂). Merry Christmas, love long and prosper 🖖
Considering The Doctor is where regeration comes from originally, seems there's free license for The Doctor's regerations to be anything the writers want. Bigeneration regeneration degeneration there are no rules for it anymore
Forget not the timeline where 4 didn't regenerate and instead lived in the British countryside and kept bees
Since the 15th Doctor has memories of the 14th Doctor’s future, I concluded that he was simply pulled back in time from whenever the 14th Doctor regenerates again.
I think when they refer to 15 as "fixed" its just like how he picked tennants face because of subconscious thoughts. Hes regenerated(bigenerated) into a version of himself that is no longer straddled by guilt, because its the first time hes allowed himself to. So its not like 14 will become 15 and snap back to the events of the giggle, more that hes just corrected his problems and let them go (at least in 15)
David has no underpants on...
honestly that was my thought too when they split :P
I- That... had not... occurred to me. How do I unlearn a thing?
He's got a fightin' hand and is going commando, it's an Meta-Man-Action-Doctor-Crisis! I bet it's to sell more toys...oh snap, it all makes perfect sense now.
My take on it is that it's similar to the Watcher from the 4th Doctors regeneration into 5 - except in reverse.
14 is a watcher, 15 is the new doctor. When 14 eventually dies, he won't regenerate and he'll just disappear.
The Doctor has now mastered meiosis.
Honestly I think the whole "salt split beyond the universe" thing has had serious consequences, now anythings possible the line between fact and fiction have become blurred, Idea can now take form
Hi-regeneration could also appear in instances when the proper flow of time is disrupted.
If a time lord we’re to regenerate in a situation similar to what happened with the paradox of River refusing to shoot the doctor on the beach could be a situation where is possible, the mess that was the time war could also occur, regenerating while within extremely close proximity to a Tardis’s engine, etc.
Basically it is possible for these events to occur but only under extremely specific circumstances.
I think.
See I always figured that he pulled the 15th Doctor got pulled back to this point in time and the 14th will live out his life and at some point fully regenerate and be pulled back to this point in time. But -shrugs-
Just had a thought. Maybe this is where the 14th Doctor becomes The Curator
That would be nice, after all, it might take more than 1 human lifetime to work through 2000+ years of accumulated trauma.
Actually, no, Bigeneration was neither caused by the Toymaker (beyond shooting 14 with a glavanic lazer ofc) nor dealing with timeline crossing. Bigeneration is like regeneration if it's a cicada shedding its shell but in a Pokémon sense. (Nincada, Ninjask, Shedinja, 1 goes in, 2 walk away) What happened here is that this regeneration was so stressful, they Bigenerated, as in regenerated into 2. 15 said as much, "we're doing rehab out of order". Instead of regenerating the individual into a new individual, his body simply regenerated a new individual, one with all the same memories, but none of the current ongoing trauma that his current body already had going on, like how regeneration is the way the body escapes death, bigeneration is how regeneration sheds mental turmoil and carries on. Literally rehab out of order.
I like this idea too as its the only outstanding point that was not covered clearly for me. 15 somehow sharing in the 14th Doctor's chill time (as if he's a future incarnation), yet also being created in the same instant anyway. He gets treated like both in the episode.
The way I understand/interpret the whole thing about the "rehab out of order" is that while 14 and 15 may exist at the same time, but still have a sequential existence/personality. 14 gets to live out his life, which I think 15 is already fully aware of. Hence he's "fine". He experienced 14s rehab, lived through it. From his perspective. When 14's life comes to an end, he will not regenerate anymore as it already happened. Maybe he'd disappear, fade or whatever, but he won't regenerate into a new Doctor - he already did.
But of course that all depends on who'll be writing the show at the time because at the end of the day, no lore, logic or canon can withstand what a writer wants to do with a story and/or character. I am just so very happy (having just binged 18 years of Who in 3 months) that this character I met in "Rose" with all that pain from the Time War, who then went on and on and on up to a point where he just didn't WANT to regenerate anymore "because everyone else has fallen" now gets something nice. In a way, the Doctor GOT what he needed: Someone else to shoulder the burden. A proper reward. After all that time.
Anyway, that's my take. :)
I'm reminded of the premise for the (unproduced) Dark DImension, what was meant to be the 30th anniversary special, which would have brought back Tom Baker as an alternate Doctor from a timeline where he never regenerated. If bigeneration is a divergent timeline, then suddenly a situation like that is back on the table for future stories.
You know, if you think about it... We've seen something similar before, but in reverse... The Watcher, when 4 regenerated into 5, is sort of like reverse bigeneration... You don't think... They could be connected... Could they?
Didn't rtd say that the birengeneration event ripple back through the doctors timeline and made it so that every doctor had biregeneratre, even if he doesn't remember it, that could kinda explain the 50th anniversary where they all appeared to save gallifray, and it could also be a use to bring back the timelords and the master given that those that weren't on their last regeneration could have split at the moment of death becoming cybermen, and even the ones that did reach 13 would still have their past 12 versions out there now
At the end of the day this is Dr Who. The show that can be best described as " i dont gotta explain shit, just sit back and enjoy the madness!"
Or alternatively, “let’s just shit on established lore because why not?”
@@CorvoFG Love it when people cry about lore. I'm not generally one to gate-keep but it just so obvious that you have no idea about the show and franchise in general.
Doctor Who isn't a show that has a strict canon or lore. It's never been about that. It's not a mistake, it's a fundamental feature of the franchise. By and large there isn't all that much that can't be changed or questioned. We've had numerous explanations for the same things, the Doctor's origin: Gallifreyan, looms, half-human, Faction Paradox. Cybermen: Mondas, Telos, Lumic cybermen, The Doctor Falls. Even "Daleks" have originated in different places, Genesis, Blood of the Daleks, Chibnall's security Daleks.
By and large these things are either ignored or worked into some sort of explanation. It frees writers up to be more creative. And hey, I agree, sometimes it doesn't work. But it's still one of the things I love about Doctor Who.
You can't have it both ways. There's nothing wrong with being a more casual viewer, in fact I think the show should be aimed towards a more general audience. But if you're going to go out of your way to criticise then you should at least make some effort to understand the franchise as a whole. It's not the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's Doctor Who.
@mrjoe5292 no, no it is a show with strict and understandable and categorizable cannon. And chinball began to take the longest, the girthiest, and somehow the densest shit all over it. And RTD whent along with it.
@@gamerboiiiiiii No, it's not, in fact there are so many examples of why it's not that I don't know why you'd think that. Canon (one n!) doesn't seem to mean what you think it means.
Doctor Who has no strict canon. The closest thing to a Who canon would be the TV show, though even the TV show plays it fast and loose sometimes.
Good example of this would be the Doctor saying he's half human in the TV movie. The 8th Doctor is recognized as a legitimate doctor. And his only two appearances are the TV movie and the later "Night of the Doctor". Does that mean the Doctor is half human? Well, no, it was largely ignored by successive episodes.
Another good example would be Mel in the recent special. She talks about her travels with a character called Glitz. This was referencing a few Big Finish audios. Does that mean that the Big Finish audios are canon? Well, no, writers, by and large, pick and choose what they want to incorporate into the show.
Now Doctor Who does have a continuity, which may be why you're confused. But there's no authoritative list of Canon works, or Canon timeline. The TV show tends to be considered the progenitor, so to speak, but it takes stuff from other sources too.
Doctor Who's lore regenerates. Same message, different frame.
So, there are now 2 Doctors. 14 leaves and walks away into the sunset and 15 goes off and continues the adventures.
I would like to see a video on the lore of the Curator, since that's either before my time or outside the scope of my experience.
From a practical standpoint any "regeneration" that doesn't catch on can be ignored and the adventures of the Doctor can be followed using popular "regenerations" from the past
No, sir. I don't like it.
I think this was a way of the BBC hedging their bet because of the unpopularity of the 13th doctor. If this doctor is unsuccessful then they can hit the reset button with 14. And not a fan of the retcon of the doctor's history with the timeless child. The sandbox was big enough with characters and ideas to develop without such an divisive idea🤔🤔
If you hate something, that doesn't mean the world hates it too.
You just hate it. That's all.
Personal theory but I believe back in day of the doctor, Tom baker as the curator states that he will find him self revisiting a few of the old favorites referring to faces. But what if tenants 14th retires and with the 15th doctor out in the universe takes up the mantle of the curator and is limited to regenerating into the past 13 faces?
Man its been a while since I watched Dr Who... Started on the 9th, loved David Tennants 10th, grew to love Matt Smith's 11th, and stopped watching just as it switched to 12th
You didn’t lose anything. I stopped watching after 11.
Definitely check out Capaldi's run. My favourite of the new Era, especially the second companion Bill.
Capaldi was my favourite Doctor from the revival.
Capaldi did a a terrific job with duff stories and scripts.
No wonder he has left Dr Who behind him.
To me the Curator came to mind. Where it seemed the 4th Doctor lived out his life to old age becoming the Curator.
I've heard a theory how this may work. 15 was pulled into this moment from some point in his future and bi-generated with 14 (this bit is shakey I know, possibly hand wave with the Toymakers meddling). That way 14 can essentially go into "therapy" while 15 continues on, and it possible explains 15's comment about therapy and how he's recovered from the baggage already.
The problem I have with this however, is that it's hard to explain how the loop is closed. Either 15 undergoes another bi-regeneration with 16, and that 15 is pulled back in time. Or alternatively, 15 was pulled from a parallel reality where 14 didn't regenerate but wasn't shot (or survived the shot) from the toy maker, did his therapy, and then regenerated normally into 15 either from old age or some other incident post dealing with his baggage.
Some of it is a bit of a stretch, but as said in the video, a show with time travel and a multiverse, anything is possible.
Yeah, I considered if it was a future Doctor overall too, but even 15 seemed shocked to Bigenerate and was unsure of the TARDIS situation until he had an idea, which seems to suggest no prior knowledge of all this.
Unless it's been so long he forgot what happened and due to the affects of regeneration, experienced everything new (or is pretending to make sure history went how he remembered it)@@CertifiablyIngame
@@CertifiablyIngame Yeah that does pose a bit of a problem too. Might give more weight to an alternate dimension 15, one where he didn't duplicate the TARDIS. Great video in any case mate! Certainly got me thinking.
I have been watching Dr. Who for the past 30+ years. As a child my parents allowed me stay up late on (I think) Friday nights to watch it on PBS. It was very exciting. I have not enjoyed a few choices the new show runners have made over the last few years, too many broken "rules". I want to give Ncuti Gatwa a fair shot at the character, so I will reserve judgement. That said, I do like your take on the episode and some of the comments are helping too.
The shows writers are more interested in pushing politics than a cohesive story.
10 was probably his most human regeneration so it makes sense that it would be the one he became
Just wake me up when the doctor goes back in time to defeat the council of Doctors in order to prove he is the Doctorest doctor.
I'd say that it's still one doctor talking with their past self, until we get some clarification
As someone who consumes at of extended universe Dr who I really like this idea. I've always thought all Dr who media was cannon in a way we just follow the TV timeline as our main cannon.
This also leads to cool ideas such as there are events that have to happen no matter what. Such as the time war and the destruction of the time lords. Be it the Time War or The War in Heaven an event has to happen.
‘Wrong 15! The Doctor did split in two, but it didn't split equally. All the purity and strength went into 14. All the crap that was left over went into what you see in the mirror every morning.’
I rather think it was more natural than interference.
1. Toymaker was just as confused as everyone else.
2. 14's clothes were divided up between them.
15 got the shoes, 1 shirt, the tie and the underwear,
but 14 kept the trousers, another shirt, and the vest.
3. The only thing I remember the Toymaker was mentioned with was how a hammer with some of his energy remained.
4. 15, apart from initially wondering what was currently happening, seems quite aware that 14 goes off on a vacation, and 15 benefits, almost like he remembers the vacation happened.
I have 2 ideas.
1. He asexually produced another doctor that still remembers everything and is fresh, free from the pain and guilt.
2. Time shenanigans displaced 14's transition into 15 to truly happen in the future, and in the meantime, healed 14 and merged 15 into him, creating a time loop.
After 14 has done home-life for long enough, he regenerates into 15, he & his Tardis are merged back to the events of this episode, 15 momentarily forgets how things went so the timeline goes how it did, then 15 gets his Tardis & continues on.
Let me know if this is too confusing.
It boggles my mind how people raged against the Timeless Child business but seem perfectly fine with this weirdness.
The Timeless Child added nothing to the Doctor's character or the plot.
Bigeneration gave the Doctor the chance to move past their trauma and gave them two happy endings. At once. At least that's how I see it
The Timeless Children wasn't really a story. It was an exposition dump. Chibnall didn't know how to wesve that ides into a compelling narrative so he just had a character tell us the lore. The reason I didn't like the Timeless Children ides is that nothing was done with it and near the end of Chibnall's time as showrunner it was literally memory holed.
I like to think the writers reason for this new kind of regeneration is just a sticky note on RTDs desk that says "keep Tennant the doctor forever"
Can we see a video about different methods of Time travel in Doctor Who?
Personally, I think a lot of the muck in this regeneration is done to clean up the mess the last showrunner made. Doctor Who being about time travel always was a bit fast and loose with the “rules” of time travel, paradox, etc., but it did stick to some fundamentals. The doctor avoids his death after his last regeneration because (1) he collapsed his own timeline when he saves Clara, (2) the attempts on his life was itself a paradox that couldn’t stand (the Silence wanted him dead to prevent him from reaching Trenzalore…an event in their own timeline), and (3) Clara being alive and with him pleads for the Timelords to help the Doctor…granting him a new set of regenerations. While we can talk about parallel realities, Doctor Who avoids it because it becomes a tangled mess to keep straight in the show. The apparent paradoxes in the past shows are explained as the universe being able to adapt to most paradoxes…only “fixed points” being events that must be the same in every universe. The concept of parallel worlds is mentioned but not messed with because it opens a can of worms with no easy way to resolve anything.
What if later down the line at the end of Ncuti run as the doctor and 14 is there and they both fuse back into one doctor being the 16th
I was excited about the return of this Doctor and Donna, and then the specials came out. Yeah, I'm just gonna go watch older 10th Doctor episodes lol
Your loss.
@bobtahoma6584 lol it was my loss watching those specials
@@bobtahoma Only a loss if you enjoy being told that "men" would never understand something a "woman+trans" would.
It's only a loss if you think that Davros was "just an evil wheelchair user" and not the purest form of evil who was in a life support machine.
RTD reduced Davros to his physical appearance, something that for the last decade has been frowned up, but because it's "for the greater good", slackjawed non-fans applaud for "progressiveness".
The failure in writing is the true loss. It won't be too many more seasons before it's cancelled once again, shitcanned for another 20 years until society has gotten past the incessant need for virtue signalling at all costs, no matter the casualties.
@@Reinforce_Zweiwhen talking about trans women, “women+trans” is redundant as those are not two separate categories. Then again your entire comment reeks of political extremism and impotent male rage, so maybe I should just pity you for being such a limited being that this is literally the only lens you can perceive reality through.
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated Sounds like you really didn't watch the mini-series then, as the "woman+trans" characterisation was because both DONNA(Woman) and Rose(Trans) said together that the doctor(male) would never have understood to "give up the power".
But hey, you got your virtue signal points for the day by misunderstanding a basic statement, trying to twist it and still somehow failing to address even that strawman effectively.
DR Who has the benefit of having extremely fast and loose lore. They can pretty much do what they want.
This “explanation” was more confusing then the actual event
is tennants doctor stuck in that form or will he regenerate again or spit out a bi-generation if there is an accident?
I assume he would regenerate into a new form altogether and that bigeneration would not occur again due to the rarity and timeline crossing needed. But "who knows?"
Honestly, I'm ok with this. We get to keep Tennant on as a potential return Doctor, while we also have a new Doctor to have mainline adventures. It works. Doctor Who has always been ridiculous and has very tenuous "continuity" at best.
Maybe UNIT accidentally created a bigeneration machine when they made the galvanic cannon?
Tennants next appearance could be 60 minutes of him getting shot over and over again rebuilding the timelord race? 😂
Thought:As the doctor it the original being that regenerated and has no memory prior to the Hartnell doctor, he could have done this prior to Hartnell and be the origin of the legend?
Okay..... what ?
The 7th doctor is actually the current doctor, new who is one of his bad dreams, and the series is becoming less coherent as the McCoy doctor is starting to wake up. Soon he and Ace will be exploring the universe again knowing the Valeyard is in his future.
I think the idea that there are now two Doctors that can both regenerate undercuts the character in a more problematic way than The Timeless Child, so I hope that Fourteen is eventually depicted as regenerating into Fifteen in some timey-wimey way, as a lot of people have inferred from the dialogue. Failing that, I would rather that he didn't regenerate again at all, and thus becomes just another variation on Davies' Metacrisis Doctor (which he basically is anyway).
As for the "Doctorverse" idea hypothesized by Davies, I'm not entirely against it, as long as it is depicted in a way that doesn't undercut the ultimate sacrifices that many of the Doctors have made.
I agree, it comes down to how it's used. Personally I hope this was his idea of "soft-canonising" all of the Doctor Who media with a multiverse idea as a nod to the franchise as a whole. It was the 60th anniversary after all.
Technically it is already being used. It is clearly how we have older versions of Classic Doctors in Tales of the TARDIS, even if RTD has not officially stated that yet.
@@golddragongaming1 Well, you could argue that it fits with what McCoy says in The Curse of Fenric TotT, that there are timelines where he regenerates and timelines where he doesn't, but it doesn't fit with what Davison said, that he was a memory of the TARDIS. Honestly, I think those shorts were written before Davies had come up with the whole "Doctorverse" idea.
Disney owns the concept of BiGeneration and can use it to make their own dr who universe conglomerate.
We also needed an explanation for the existence of the Curator
I think it's absolutely incredible how Dr.Who has continued despite having no script bible & having deliberately gone out of its way to retcon or ignore all semblances of cohesion.
Points to you Rick for making lore content on a show that just disregards lore
Isn't this also kinda how the Warrior works? A version of 6 that is different?
Isn’t this like the Trill in the 32nd century where the souls so to speak get a new golem body like Picard in the 25th century. I’m thinking specifically of Gray Tal getting a new body
I don't have a problem with it, but ONLY IF they recast 2-7. They've already recast 1, more than once I might add, so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone.
After getting super into Star Trek in the past year, it is some of the best news I’ve had recently that you also do Doctor Who videos
In fact, I’ve been thinking recently that Star Trek and Doctor Who are very similar shows, except Doctor Who has less of an emphasis on continuity
Sit down. There is a graphic novel where the TARDIS appears on the bridge of the Enterprise called Assimilation Squared.
"Bi-generation" not "Bi-regeneration". A lot of people have been using the latter term though so if it's an intentional misspelling then that's understandable.
I'm using it for the video because UA-cam is more likely to pick up "regeneration" than bigeneration (at least I think?)
@@CertifiablyIngame Ah, that makes sense.
It is an interesting theory, but I have a correction of one point. Up until now there was no splintering of the timelines as you described. RTD has stated that the bigeneration worked backwards through his timeline to result in the past Doctors all running around. it is unclear if they exist in splintered timelines, but it seems so.
In other words, the splintering of the timeline only happened as a result of the bigeneration rather than with all regenerations except the bigeneration.
This is sort of what I was trying to convey about any alternate regen timelines not materialising and fading away, but now that gate has been opened for the first time narratively. I missed if the Toymaker defined the Biregeneration being splintering all throughout his time (I assume it's the line about being a jigsaw of his past)?
I think the Tardis read his unconscious desire there too, but the explanation in universe is close enough
Oh for sure, the TARDIS would look out for the Doctor. (Most of the time...)
If you think about his timeline creation theory then there would be billions of different versions of himself due to him being the timeless child. Also a fun theory that i have no evidence of what if the big bad the toy maker was talking about is a version of the doctors daughter since she was able to regenerate and maybe she doesnt have a limit to hers?
It's a shame they did this to Ncuti. I could look past the direction the show is going in todays political climate if they did a simple regeneration. It's a way to tell us the fans that "this is the doctor, buckle up for something different". Now we will have David waiting in the wings if this "bi-generation" doesn't plan out with the new audience RTD is trying to pander towards.
yup
The Doctor said it themselves, "Bi Generation is supposed to be a myth'.
When the 14th Doctor sprinkled salt at the end of the universe and allowed all things myth, legend, superstitious and supernatural into the universe, HE himself allowed Bi-generation to be possible, otherwise it would have been a perfectly normal regeneration process.
This whole season so far feels off....like a game show, or The Doctor being stuck in someone else's bizarre Dungeons&Dragons RPG.
I just hope the 'salt sprinkle effect' is undone by the end of it, and we can get back to proper Doctor Who again, with Daleks, Cybermen and Aliens.
More traditional Sci-Fi than Superstition and Spooky.
My question is what will happen when 15 regenerates, like will they merge back together or will 15 just regenerate into 16? if the latter what will happen when 14 eventually becomes old and regenerates would that make another doctor or what?
You can say the show should now be called Doctor Two?
I really don't think a show like Doctor Who needs to explain stuff like this. Who has always had weird things either never explained or explained so many times that there's no solid or good explanation. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff and all that
why didn’t the 11th doctor come back as the 15th doctor from bi regeneration
I'd like to satisfy 2 sides of this. What if regenerations are fixed points. Just what we think of fixed points is wrong. Whenever he regenerates all possibilities are open considering that it is consistently said that "Regeneration is a genetic lottery." Therefor all possibilities stem from that point. Making it a fixed point that cannot change. Even if the effects of it is extremely small on all possibilities. This is a point where true infinity exists.
I think they could link this to the timeless child and just said that is a phenomenon the timeless child could do... the only problem I have is... the 14 doctor could still regenerate? now there are two regeneration cycles?
Yes, lets pretend that series is still Doctor Who
based on your idea, the show is no longer about the Doctor nor is he the one who truely travels through time, it is about the viewer (or Observer) that at any given point is traveling all of time and space and in select moments observes The Doctor from any possible itteration, so in reality WE are The Doctor
So if we look at "reality" for sure RTD wants to find "fun" ways to have past Drs pop into the show to encourage and grow the Whoniverse for Disney and this is his solution. So it's possible other past Drs are going to make appearances, Classic doctors can be recast, it all grows the fanbase. And it's the 60th anniversary so no reason why we won't see other doctors appear.
This is the first explanation that makes sense. All these "15 came from the future" theories do not.
I think that whole, we could kill him, thing is on point. Plus, now they could actually make more doctor who quicker......no think about it, two teams, two leads, alternate filming schedules.....it could work.
I've met "Alt Me"s before, a few times. It can be either a lot of fun, or the worst day in either of your lives, and sometimes both. Wibbly-wobbly hijinks.
In other notions, have you ever covered Babylon 5?
I enjoy it, this gives us a cathartic end to the New who era, the righters can go ahead and right what they want without worrying about undermining the sheer severity of the bad stuff the doctor has experienced and the lasting effects of those encounters.
I for one love how the only thing that has changed since they got the Disney money is go even more in on the wacky, board line cheese but in a good way, Who is known for. Not a major fan of the new avengers tower but in London thing, unless it’s the old Torchwood tower, the thing just doesn’t feel right for Unit.
I hate the fact they just messed up the whole concept of Dr Who, one of the absolute key things, just so they can try and draw an audience in with David Tennant. It's such a pisstake.
I know what R.T.D. says about Bi-Generation and branched timelines...
However... A thought occurs to me. "life will find a way" i was pondering about Bi-Generation and ways it could be canon and make sense, so firstly I thought maybe it's a completely natural process for the doctors race as according to the timeless child hes not a galyfreyan let alone a time lord so we really know nothing about his race other than they limitlessly regenerate.
So my first thought was maybe it's as Donna put it an Amoeba like thing, maybe with each regeneration the regeneration energy increases maybe due to accumulated experiences until it reaches a critical point causing a Bi-Generation and that this process was stunted by the Timelords reseting the Doctor every dozen Regens or so.
My second thought was maybe its a natural perogative of his species as a way to carry on his species.
We see it in nature with some fish and frog species where if all members of a gender are wiped out some surviving members of the other gender can transition to fill the gap and maintain the population.
Regeneration already gives the Gender swap and it also completely changes up the Genetic info so that allows for a broad Gene pool.
So if for example the 13th doctor was the last survivor and they Bi-Generated to the 13th and 14 then that would give you an Adam and Eve to repopulate.
Once you get past the obviously disturbing nature of the line of thought and the unavoidable jokes of wheither it sex or Masturbation it would be quite an effective way to repopulate.
Kinda like how Jenny was born by Sampling the Doctors DNA and then recombining the Code to make a distinct Progeny
RTD didn't want to let die his nost famous doctor( I dunno why is the most popular) so he bring him again and then he let de Doctor live.