The Regeneration Marathon comes to an end, fittingly with a story that has heavy ties to the very first regeneration! Peter Capaldi’s great but possibly underused Twelfth Doctor regenerates in a story that feels more like an Epilogue to his run rather than a full-on adventure, but it at least gives his Doctor a good send off, and sets up the next era with a bang (though while simultaneously trashing a previous era…). Let’s take a closer look!
The Time of the Doctor is Matt Smith’s swan song, whilst at the same time being a Christmas special, but also its an attempt to tie up plotholes that Steven Moffat had left, which he sadly does quite badly. Despite all this it is a good send off for the Eleventh Doctor, though I’m not a big fan of the actual regeneration scene either… Mixed bag then! Let’s look at it!
The 10th Doctor’s swan song, The End of Time, is an odd one. It tells a good story, plays with the lore in fun ways and Bernard Cribbins can do no wrong, but the actual ending is overly drawn out (though that kind of retroactively makes sense now…) Still, lot’s of fun to be had, so let’s take a good look!
We go from a story featuring The Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack and loads of Daleks to… a story featuring The Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack and loads of Daleks! Yes, it’s another two-part series finale Dalek-fest, this time with Davros! … and a 100 other characters, because why not? (I can tell you why not, if you like…) Plus: the regeneration where the Doctor actually doesn’t change, which is… retroactively handy for making the Eleventh Doctor’s final story great, but was annoying at the time. Let’s take a look!
Due to the retroactive nature of the War Doctor we had to jump forwards for two stories in the Regeneration Marathon, but now we’re back on track for the Ninth Doctor’s regeneration, after just one solitary series. I also have to say that looking back at it, this two-parter somehow feels more dated than the ones from the 70s and 80s! On the other hand it was a good reminder of how great Christopher Eccleston was in the role. Let’s have a closer look!
It’s kind of a shame to cover this in the “Regeneration Marathon”, because really the War Doctor’s regeneration isn’t a big part of the story at all, and really this would be better suited for a hypothetical multi-Doctor story marathon, but I said I’d cover each regeneration in order, so here we go! It has the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in key roles, John Hurt’s newly added War Doctor, plus Zygons, Daleks and an on screen appearance from Tom Baker himself! Throw in cameos by all other past and future Doctors (at that point) and you have a great 50th Anniversary story. So let’s take a look!
When the big 50th Anniversary stuff was going on in fandom, I kept hearing rumours of an Eighth Doctor regeneration, and I refused to believe it. I wanted it so much, but was resigned to the thought that it would most likely one day happen on a Big Finish audio release. Then, all of a sudden, this minisode was released, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! Paul McGann was back playing The Doctor, and even though it only lasts 7 minutes, it’s a glorious 7 minutes! Let’s take a good look!
“Doctor Who”, “The TV Movie”, “The Enemy Within”, whatever you want to call it, “the Movie” featuring the Seventh Doctor regenerating into the Eighth is a… interesting and unique look at the franchise at a time it was all but dead. I actually quite like it, but then I’m a big fan of Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor audio dramas, so it’s just nice to see him visually in the role. As this features the Seventh Doctor so much I couldn’t skip it for the Regeneration Marathon, which means I’ll have to come up with something else for the Eighth Doctor next year when I do a “first stories” marathon… ANYWAY, with all that being said, let’s take a look at the TV Movie…
After a shockingly poor “regeneration” in what is really just the Seventh Doctor’s debut story, Big Finish and Colin Baker got to “do it right” and create a story set just before the Sixth Doctor collapses mysteriously at the start of “Time and the Rani”, and here it is! “The Brink of Death” is sadly not terribly interesting, and beyond the actual regeneration scene it’s very little in the way of … anything beyond talking. Oh well! And we get so few second chances in life…
The Fifth Doctor’s reign comes to an end in a story that is often, and quite rightly, described as his best. Caves of Androzani is dark, gritty, full of complex characters, and has the normally a bit naff and polite Fifth Doctor going through hell and being a true hero. If only his other stories were half this good! Let’s take a look then, shall we?
Hogan Reviews 