Doctor Who
Summary
Many dissimilar enemies , injuries , and mishap have caused the Doctor to revitalize inDoctor Who . recast a form of address character is risky business for most TV and film franchise , but forDoctor Who , it ’s an integral part of the mythology . In a singular prank , Time Lords have the power to shaft death , renewing every cellular telephone in their bodies when they are gravely sick or fatally wounded . From a real - world point of eyeshot , re-formation providesDoctor Whowith a lawful way of continuing the show when the top star quits , allowing manydifferent actors to play the Doctor .
re-formation is one ofDoctor Who ’s most advanced and utilitarian construct , but the process has been wildly unlike on almost every occasion . From the First Doctor ’s sedate modulation into a new gentleman’s gentleman to the wildbi - contemporaries split between David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa , the Doctor ’s regenerations have been do by a wide variety of different threats and problems over the preceding 60 years ofDoctor Who . Some of these regeneration triggers have testify considerably more dramatic than others .
Doctor Who time of year 14 is go far after the 60th anniversary particular , and with it Ncuti Gatwa ’s new Doctor . Here ’s everything we know so far .
First Doctor - Old Age
Regenerated in “The Tenth Planet” - October 29, 1966
Doctor Who ’s original creative squad falsify up the idea of regeneration after William Hartnell , the very first actor to bring the Doctor to lifetime , start to struggle with learn scripts and fork up rail line . essay to continue the show with a new champion , the Doctor would " renew " himself and transform into a completely different gentleman . Throughout the First Doctor ’s final escapade , " The Tenth Planet , " the Time Lord appear weakened and frail , sometimes being forced to rest as he combat the dastardly Cybermen for the first time .
After helping to save Earth from the egression of the Cybermen ’s home planet , the Doctor wearily return to his TARDIS and collapsed , regenerating into his Second course , as impersonate by Patrick Troughton . Although not explicitly express , the most widely accepted intellect for the First Doctor ’s regeneration is former eld . The First Doctor was already several hundred years oldbefore the start ofDoctor Who , and his adventures since " The Unearthly Child " had evidently take their bell on his ailing dead body .
Second Doctor - Punishment
Regenerated in “The War Games” - June 21, 1969
When it came prison term for Patrick Troughton to move on fromDoctor Who , the " old age " excuse was n’t go to fly for a second time , with the Second Doctor not only younger and more upbeat than his predecessor , but also far more sprightly . alternatively , Doctor Whointroduced a different element to the show ’s extensive mythology that would form a core part of the franchise for decades to hail : the Time Lords . Although always distinctly of alien origin , the Doctor ’s background had never been previously speak , but " The War Games " in conclusion revealed his heritage and establish the Time Lord code of non - preventive .
The Doctor was wildly in violation of said computer code , and had been run from his fellow Time Lords sinceDoctor Whostarted , but a dire state of affairs forced Troughton ’s Doctor to seek care from his Gallifreyan kin disregarding , knowing a rough penalisation inevitably awaited . burden with various counts of fiddling history , the Doctor was forced to give up his current regenerationand found himself exiled on Earth . As a bonus punishment , the Second Doctor ’s companions completely forgot about their escapade in the TARDIS , untilJamie and Zoe ’s memories were touch on by 2023’sTales of the TARDISspinoff .
Third Doctor - Spider Radiation
Regenerated in “Planet Of The Spiders” - June 8, 1974
Jon Pertwee ’s Third Doctor was the most human interlingual rendition yet , driving a spiffy car , joiningDoctor Who ’s UNIT organizationas a scientific adviser , and taking down villain with his Venusian aikido . However , the Third Doctor ’s eventual positive feedback was definitively alien in nature . Having antecedently stolen a blue lechatelierite from the planet Metebelis 3 , the Doctor disclose that a backwash of gargantuan mutate wanderer had take over and were attempt the watch crystal ’s prompt yield . While this sounds like a reasonable request , the spiders were diagram to utilise the crystal as part of a larger plan to dominate the Galax urceolata .
Always a step ahead , the Doctor jazz the crystallization ’s overwhelming ability would kill , not enhance , the spider ' leader , and that turn over back the stolen vitreous silica would ultimately save the day . Problematically , the wanderer ’s cave was teeming with lethal radiation sickness . In a noble effort to protect the universe , the Doctor ventured into the cave of the Eight Legs and handed over the watch glass , defeating the spiders , but also imbibe enough radiation to obliterate his third incarnation completely . Upon exiting , Pertwee ’s Doctor barely had enough strength to fly the TARDIS back to Earth and regenerate .
Fourth Doctor - Falling From A Tower
Regenerated in “Logopolis” - March 21, 1981
Tom Baker ’s positive feedback into Peter Davison was unparalleled in that it required the cooperation of a orphic third party . In " Logopolis , " the fabric of realness was beginning to untangle , forcing the Doctor to team up with the Master to save the macrocosm . Although the unlikely duo succeeded , the always - opportunistic Master threatened to re-start the collapse unless the universe toast its unwavering subservience . Ascending a high wireless tower , the Doctor managed to disconnect the prominent dish diffuse the Master ’s ultimatum . Thanks to the Master wobble the tower ’s gantry , however , the Doctor plummeted to the ground below , actuate his next regeneration .
The Master is one of the bully foe The Doctor has ever faced . Here ’s every actor to play the iconic Doctor Who villain within the principal persistence .
Having been follow by a foreign snowy figure known as " the Watcher " for the full story , the dying Fourth Doctor unveil this celestial stalker to be his own future incarnation , and the two Time Lords merged to start the Fourth Doctor ’s positive feedback process . Exacrtly why the Watcher encounter a role in this peculiar re-formation remain unreadable . WiderDoctor Whomedia , specifically Gary Russell ’s 1999 novelDivided Loyalties , suggests that see to it a Watcher is an casual phenomenon that betide Time Lords nearing their end .
Fifth Doctor - Poisoning
Regenerated in “The Caves of Androzani” - March 16, 1984
In his final story , Peter Davison ’s Fifth Doctor stumbled across a battle between various political and military factions over a worthful instinctive imagination call Spectrox on the planet Androzani . While scrutinize the Caves of Androzani , the medico ’s then - assistant , Peri Brown , became tangle in an obscure sticky gist later revealed to be unrefined Spectrox . BothPeri and the Doctor made skin contact with this pernicious stuff , and soon begin to exhibit symptoms of poisoning . The Fifth Doctor embark on a delegation deeply into the caves to encounter the only know antidote to their condition , and although he bring home the bacon , he could only retrieve a single dose , preventingPeri’sDoctor Whodeathat his own disbursal .
Sixth Doctor - The Rani
Regenerated in “Time & The Rani” - September 7, 1987
Colin Baker ’s departure fromDoctor Whowas an acrimonious one , and this leave in the most precipitous re-formation inDoctor Whohistory . At the very beginning ofDoctor Whoseason 24 premier " Time And The Rani , " the TARDIS came under approach from the planet Lakertya at the Rani ’s command . After a onslaught of vim blasts , the TARDIS was caught and room , at which point the Rani see the Sixth Doctor regenerate . The precise cause of Colin Baker ’s renewal has never been made clear , leaving TV audience to assumehe affirm severe injuries following the ravishment on the TARDIS . Various novels and audio books have search to fill in the gaps of the Sixth doc ’s death .
Seventh Doctor - Human Surgery
Regenerated in the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie
Theclassic serial ofDoctor Whowas canceledwhile Sylvester McCoy ’s Seventh Doctor held the keys to the TARDIS , but his story continued in the 1996 TV movie , which offered a re-formation succession ground in staring Platonism . Thanks to the Master , the Doctor ’s TARDIS unintentionally materialized in 1999 San Francisco , right in the center of a shootout between rival gang . The Doctor ’s sudden visual aspect spared the life of a new man constitute Chang Lee , but the Time Lord himself took a shelling of bullets .
With his treble hearts and Gallifreyan physiology , the Doctor in reality survived the shot , but was subsequently killed by well - mean operating surgeon as they attempted to save his spirit in an operating theater . By aimlessly fiddling in the Time Lord ’s body , Dr. Grace Holloway pop the recover Doctor , and he later regenerated in the construction ’s mortuary . In a quirk of the TV movie ’s poorly - advised attempts to modernizeDoctor Whofor an international nineties audience , Sylvester McCoy ’s regeneration is the first and only chronological succession to feature Muriel Spark of lightning during the process .
Eighth Doctor - Ship Crash
Regenerated in the 2013 short “The Night of the Doctor”
With his most salient visual aspect coming in theunpopularDoctor WhoTV movie , fans spend several decades guessing how Paul McGann ’s Eighth Doctor regenerated . An answer at long last arrived via the curt film , " The Night of the Doctor " in metre forDoctor Who ’s fiftieth anniversary . pen by Steven Moffat , " The Night of the Doctor " saw the Time Lord desperately trying to forfend getting involved in the burgeon Time War spread across the universe .
Traveling alone , the Doctor came across Cass , the pilot of a fate ship , and attempted to bring through her life . Unusually forDoctor Who , Cass declined , not wanting to be keep open by a appendage of the subspecies know for destroying galaxies with its eternal war against the Daleks . The Doctor refused to get out , and with both rider stay stubborn until the end , the ship crashed , killing both instantly . Fortunately , the Doctor landed on Karn , a former colony of Gallifrey introduce in the Fourth Doctor ’s era . The major planet ’s natives , know as the Sisterhood , provided the Eighth Doctor with an philosopher’s stone that purported to imbue his next regeneration with the characteristics required for battle .
War Doctor - Old Age
Regenerated in “The Day of the Doctor” - November 23, 2013
seem in theDoctor Who50th day of remembrance special , John Hurt ’s War Doctor was a fleeting but welcome gain toDoctor Whocanon , and regenerated in the final moments of " The Day of the medico . " Making reference to his body " wear down a snatch thin , " the War Doctor ’s regeneration could , for the first clip since 1966 , be attributed to old age . It can be fence , however , that the War Doctor ’s function was just to serve as a soldier in the Time War , and once that conflict was over , the War Doctor had execute his aim .
Ninth Doctor - Absorbing TARDIS Energy
Regenerated in “The Parting of the Ways” - June 18, 2005
For the second time , theDoctor sacrificed himself to save a familiar . Under assault from the Daleks , the Ninth Doctor sent his then - associate , Billie Piper ’s Rose Tyler , away in the TARDIS for her own safety . Rose refused to accept being ineffectual to help the Doctor and fought to find her elbow room back to him , finally absorbing the warmheartedness of the TARDIS and pull ahead the godlike abilities of Bad Wolf in the cognitive operation .
Rose saved the day , but the massive Energy Department would have killed her before long , coerce the Ninth Doctor to absorb the power himself via a distressingly cheesy buss . After putting the TARDIS energy back in place , the Doctor started feeling the effects of saving Rose , claiming that no Time Lord is ever reckon to take in that much might . He promptly renew into David Tennant .
Tenth Doctor - Radiation
Regenerated in " The End of Time , Part 2 " - January 1 , 2010
David Tennant ’s regeneration as the Tenth Doctorwas a long time coming inDoctor Who , with the " he will knock four clip " word of advice come well in advance of Ten ’s last episode . viewing audience were deliberately misled into believing this prognostication would be live up to by the Master or Rassilon . In the end , however , it was Bernard Cribbins ' Wilf that heralded the end of David Tennant ’s first reign in the TARDIS .
During the dramatic last confrontation of " The End of Time , " Wilf altruistically freed an sinless worker from a two - man radioactive chamber , lock away himself in until another person could take his place . When the debris settled , the Doctor get a line Wilf mildly knocking on the glass and realized the only way to save Wilf was sacrifice himself , absorbing a deadly dose of radiation in the onetime human beings ’s stead . After a whirlwind enlistment of his old champion , the Tenth Doctor return an emotionally devastating final line of " I do n’t require to go " and regenerated in explosive fashion . Poison 3 - the Doctor 0 .
Eleventh Doctor - Old Age/A New Regeneration Cycle
Regenerated in “The Time of the Doctor” - December 25, 2013
For the third prison term in his life sentence , the Doctor drop dead of old agewhen their Eleventh personification resolved to protect the planet of Trenzalore , spending one C of years guard a cracking that break up the secret major planet Gallifrey from the gather Dalek fleet waiting to summarize the Time War . Since the 10th Doctor had previously annul regenerating through the use of his preserved severed handwriting , Smith ’s Doctor was out of lives , ride right at the end of his allotted twelve - re-formation cycle .
After deterring Time War Two for the remaining years of his Eleventh iteration , the Doctor consigned himself to a death of the permanent kind , but was spared this low luck by the Time Lords , who granted him a brand - young regeneration round in exchange for preventing war starting anew . Matt Smith ’s Doctor used said energy to defeat his enemies and temporarily retrovert to his untested self , but could not delay positive feedback for long . The first incarnation of the Doctor ’s unexampled oscillation kick in , and Matt Smith was soon replaced by an angry pair of eyebrows .
Twelfth Doctor - Cybermen
Regenerated in “Twice Upon A Time” - December 25, 2017
Peter Capaldi ’s regeneration was special in the sense that it was triggered by damage amass throughout the Twelfth Doctor ’s final adventure . Coming up against a powerful United States Army of Cybermen and two adaptation of the Master , the Doctor ’s first major harm arrived in the form of Cyberman burning . Although the Doctor exist , he spent several weeks reclaim from the attack and was unable to heal a cut on his forehead . The gilded regeneration energy beginning to brew from his hand gave a sure preindication that death was inevitable .
Delaying his outgoing rehabilitation , the Doctor after engaged multiple Cybermen in combat and endured several energy blasts before detonating an explosionthat not only pass over out his mechanical enemies , but put option ante up to any chance the Doctor might ’ve had of recovering from his late wound . Capaldi ’s positive feedback marked a rare social function inDoctor Whohistory where a major villain really succeeded in down the doc .
Thirteenth Doctor - Qurunx Beam
Regenerated in “The Power of the Doctor” - October 23, 2022
Not to be outdone by the Rani and the Cybermen , the Master became the first recurringDoctor Whovillain to kill two unlike Doctors in theending of 2022 ’s " The Power of the Doctor . “As part of a ridiculously twist plot involving Daleks , Cybermen , and Boney M , the Master had captured a ball of sentient energy call the Qurunx to power a cyber - conversion planet that would turn the Master himself into the Doctor . This victory was short - lived , and after Jodie Whittaker ’s Thirteenth Doctor saved the day - with a little aid from quondam friends - she place about cleanse up the Master ’s mess by liberate the Qurunx and asking it to demolish the cyber machine it was fuel .
Feeling vengeful after yet another defeat , the Master dragged himself onto the scene and used his transonic equipment to push the Qurunx ’s irradiation into the way of life of the Thirteenth Doctor , killing her and triggering the regeneration unconscious process . After a abbreviated goodbye and one last trip in the TARDIS , Whittaker go after in her successor / predecessor , David Tennant . Similar to when the Master caused the Fourth Doctor to reclaim , Thirteen lost her life because of indirect preventative from her perpetual challenger after mistakenly believing the peril has lapse .
Fourteenth Doctor - The Toymaker
Regenerated in “The Giggle” - December 9, 2023
The First Doctor was lucky to run away the Toymaker unharmed during their initial encounter , but Fourteen proved less golden after the baddie get in on Earth for a rematch in sixtieth anniversary special " The Giggle . " present by Neil Patrick Harris , Doctor Who ’s omnipotent Toymakercommandeered UNIT ’s galvanising beam and proceeded to wreak havoc . Having lost to the First Doctor and beaten the Fourteenth at a card biz , the Toymaker declare his intention to face a different Doctor for their third turn , and fired the optical maser carom straight through David Tennant ’s pectus .
The transition from Tennant ’s Fourteenth Doctor to Ncuti Gatwa ’s Fifteenth Doctor was strikingly unique , with showrunner Russell T Davies introduce the conception of atomic number 83 - regeneration peculiarly for the social occasion . Although the specifics of this phenomenon persist deliberately muddy , the Fifteenth Doctor issue from the premature poser , whileFourteen is allow to live on , with all lesion triggered by the galvanising radio beam completely healed . Precisely how bi - generation will bear on futureDoctor Whoregenerations rest to be hear , but the gizmo will needs raise questions over how and why Gatwa ’s Fifteenth Doctor could ultimately restore himself .
