Doctor Who: Do previous regenerations affect the next one?
Youtube
When the Doctor regenerates on Doctor Who, we know from the Ninth Doctor that it’s a lottery. We know that everything is random, but is it really? Some people believe that the previous regeneration has an effect on the next one.
In Doctor Who, the regeneration is simultaneously the ending and the new beginning. The Doctor turns into a new person. But there does seem to be a correlation between what the Doctor dealt with in the previous regeneration and his new personality.
For instance, nine became a better, softer man because of Rose, and became a happier man, which was Ten. But as Ten went on, we saw him fighting with his past self. Right before he regenerated, he was incredibly upset at the world for how much he’d lose, so when he became Eleven, he was a younger, sillier self, with a serious side.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
So the question is, how did Eleven influence Twelve, and how will Twelve influence Thirteen. Without gender in the question, on a strict personality base, how will all of the past regenerations come to be the thirteenth Doctor? Can we even guess? These are the questions that fans have, and I think it’s a good one.
For instance, why did Twelve start off with am I a good man? When he had spent hundreds of years fixing toys and being the “mayor” of Christmas? Well, if you think about it, it makes sense. There are multiple reasons that we dealt with that major arc in season 8.
Eleven’s effect on Twelve
He cheated death.
When you think about it, he cheated death. He cheated death even more than a Time Lord should. A new regeneration cycle isn’t something that happens to a Time Lord. In the Husbands of River Song, even River was shocked to see that he had made it past Twelve faces (including the War Doctor). Perhaps he thought he didn’t deserve that and spent most of his time wondering if he deserved being there.
Missy got him out of thinking that because he was able to show that he was a good man, and could do good things as the Doctor.
Eleven’s loss
Eleven may not have lost as many companions as Ten did, but the loss he suffered when the Ponds left was massive. We know that he was in the TARDIS for a long enough time that the Paternoster gang had given up on him helping when Clara came to him. Perhaps, to make sure he wouldn’t feel a loss so hard again, he turned into a hardened man.
His face
Of course, we all know that his face was from Ten’s ability to show kindness and that he could be a kind person, despite what it may do. We learned this in The Fires of Pompeii when he saved the Caecilius.
Twelve’s effect on Thirteen
Twelve was a grandfather
In his last season, which was possibly his best season, Twelve was a professor and to Bill, often thought of as a Grandfather-type. Were they friends? Yes. Do I think that Bill necessarily wanted to picture Doctor and Master gettin’ it on? No, not really.
Twelve was that person for Bill that she probably thought he had always been old. He was one of those people to her that, ironically, she probably never imagined young. He was a cool, wise, old man.
So, knowing that, we go into Thirteen having a noticeably younger Time Lord. Whittaker is 35 to Capaldi’s 55, so there is bound to be a change there. The new Time Lord will have to get used to the age again. Will that make for some funny scenes where they forget they’re not old? But I would think that we’ll see a marked difference in personality. From grandfather to something like Ten.
Twelve’s loss
It’s impossible to say that there will never be regeneration without loss. Because it’s part of the show. Companions leave, Doctor’s change and loss is an overall theme in Doctor Who. While it’s always been prevalent, was it ever anymore in The Doctor Falls? I suppose that just depends on if you are a Doctor/Missy shipper.
Even if you’re not, you can’t admit that your heart didn’t twinge just a little when Missy fell in the forest, and we know she’d never be able to tell the Doctor that he did truly change her. What effect will this have on Thirteen?
Well, the Doctor getting that close to the Master was unprecedented in Doctor Who history. Since The Doctor believes he didn’t change Missy, we might see Thirteen with more anger than we’re used to.