Tech, Bureaucrats, emailconfirmed, Administrators (Semantic MediaWiki), Curators (Semantic MediaWiki), Suppressors, Administrators, threadmoderator
113,914
edits
The Doctor's death: Difference between revisions
From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
→Behind the scenes
Tag: 2017 source edit |
Tag: 2017 source edit |
||
| Line 66: | Line 66: | ||
== Behind the scenes == | == Behind the scenes == | ||
=== Meta-narrative === | === Meta-narrative === | ||
Many commentators have pointed out that [[regeneration]] was introduced to recast [[William Hartnell]], because if the Doctor ever died, "the show would end"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edwardianadventurer.wordpress.com/tag/eleventh-doctor/|title=50th Anniversary Blues|author=King, S.W.|date of source=4 May 2013|website name=The Edwardian Adventurer|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref><ref>A.B., Digital Spy Forum. ''Twelfth Night: Adventures in Time and Space with Peter Capaldi''. Edited by Andrew O'Day.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/DoctorWhoMeta|title=Fridge / Doctor Who – Meta|author=Several authors|website name=TV Tropes|accessdate=12 January 2022<!--If anything changes, I've made an archive here: https://web.archive.org/web/20220113044819/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/DoctorWhoMeta-->}}</ref> | Many commentators have pointed out that [[regeneration]] was introduced to recast [[William Hartnell]], because if the Doctor ever died, "the show would end."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edwardianadventurer.wordpress.com/tag/eleventh-doctor/|title=50th Anniversary Blues|author=King, S.W.|date of source=4 May 2013|website name=The Edwardian Adventurer|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref><ref>A.B., Digital Spy Forum. ''Twelfth Night: Adventures in Time and Space with Peter Capaldi''. Edited by Andrew O'Day.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/DoctorWhoMeta|title=Fridge / Doctor Who – Meta|author=Several authors|website name=TV Tropes|accessdate=12 January 2022<!--If anything changes, I've made an archive here: https://web.archive.org/web/20220113044819/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/DoctorWhoMeta-->}}</ref> This was what [[Steven Moffat]] has called "a clever way to solve a staffing problem"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/steven_moffat_interview_072008/|title=Doctor Who's New Showrunner Remains Tightlipped|author=Redfern, Mark|date of source=1 July 2008|website name=Under The Radar Magazine|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref>. This narrative technique is what has allowed the character of [[the Doctor]] to survive through {{age|1963|11|23}} years of [[television]] history, shaking up the core dynamic of the series each time [[List of actors to have played the Doctor|a new lead actor]] is cast, rather than ending when the core cast has left, as many other series do. | ||
However, this same problem has caused problems for {{w|suspension of disbelief}}. For example, [[TV]]: ''[[The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)|The Impossible Astronaut]]'' sets up the expectation that the [[Eleventh Doctor]] will die in the [[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|series finale]]. Though this left fans speculating about how the Doctor will evade death ''this'' time — with theories ranging from "[[Eleventh Doctor (Ganger)|the Doctor used his Ganger]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-series-6-the-loose-threads-still-to-resolve-2/|title=Doctor Who series 6: the loose threads still to resolve|author=Brew, Simon|date of source=6 June 2011|website name=Den of Geek|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> to "the Doctor we've been following ''is'' the [[Ganger]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/doctor-who-season-6-5-things-to-remember-about-the-story-so-far/|title=Doctor Who Season 6: 5 Things To Remember About The Story So Far|author=McMillan, Graeme|date of source=27 August 2011|website name=CBR|date of source=12 January 2022}}</ref> — the weight of the Doctor's true, final end would act on no one, because, to anyone engaging with the material, the Doctor's death could only spell one thing: the end of the programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reprog.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/a-spoileriffic-doctor-who-question/|author=Several authors|title=Responses to "A spoileriffic Doctor Who question"|date of source=29 April 2011|website name=The Reinvigorated Programmer|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> | However, this same problem has caused problems for {{w|suspension of disbelief}}. For example, [[TV]]: ''[[The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)|The Impossible Astronaut]]'' sets up the expectation that the [[Eleventh Doctor]] will die in the [[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|series finale]]. Though this left fans speculating about how the Doctor will evade death ''this'' time — with theories ranging from "[[Eleventh Doctor (Ganger)|the Doctor used his Ganger]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-series-6-the-loose-threads-still-to-resolve-2/|title=Doctor Who series 6: the loose threads still to resolve|author=Brew, Simon|date of source=6 June 2011|website name=Den of Geek|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> to "the Doctor we've been following ''is'' the [[Ganger]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/doctor-who-season-6-5-things-to-remember-about-the-story-so-far/|title=Doctor Who Season 6: 5 Things To Remember About The Story So Far|author=McMillan, Graeme|date of source=27 August 2011|website name=CBR|date of source=12 January 2022}}</ref> — the weight of the Doctor's true, final end would act on no one, because, to anyone engaging with the material, the Doctor's death could only spell one thing: the end of the programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reprog.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/a-spoileriffic-doctor-who-question/|author=Several authors|title=Responses to "A spoileriffic Doctor Who question"|date of source=29 April 2011|website name=The Reinvigorated Programmer|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> | ||
=== Regeneration limit === | |||
The 1976 serial [[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'' set a challenge in establishing that [[Time Lord]] have a [[regeneration]] limit of 13 incarnations. [[The Valeyard]] would later be introduced in [[TV]]: ''[[The Mysterious Planet (TV story)|The Mysterious Planet]]'' as a manifestation of the Doctor from "between his twelfth and final incarnations." Some readers have determined, as a result, that the [[The Doctor (Alien Bodies)|final Doctor]] seen in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'' would be the [[Thirteenth Doctor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/goth.htm|author=Wilson, Anthony|website name=The Cloister Library|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> | |||
Eventually, Steven Moffat decided to write his way out of the regeneration limit by having the Time Lords grant the Doctor a new [[life cycle|regeneration cycle]] in [[TV]]: ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'', in order to allow the franchise to continue without breaking [[continuity]] with earlier ''Doctor Who'' serials, which he respected.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/doctor-who-50th-anniversary/a533505/doctor-who-steven-moffat-on-regeneration-limit/|title='Doctor Who': Steven Moffat on regeneration limit|author=Rigby, Sam|date of source=24 November 2013|website name=Digital Spy|accessdate=12 January 2022}}</ref> | |||
=== Non-narrative sources === | === Non-narrative sources === | ||
