Tags: Doctor Who
We know that Jodie Whittaker ends her run as The Doctor at the end of 2022. We don't know who will replacement her. But we do know a teensy bit about where the regeneration occurs.
Time Lords do not have to Regenerate in a TARDIS. I believe that most Time Lords do not have TARDIS's, yet they regenerate wherever they regenerate. For example in December 2015, during the episode Hell Bent, we saw The 12th Doctor shoot a fellow Time Lord so that he would have time to rescue Clara from death. That shooting helped to establish As Canon the idea that Time Lords can switch sex at regeneration.
Today, that shooting also establishes As Canon that Time Lord Regeneration occurs wherever it occurs.
That seems like an obvious thing to say. When a Time Lords body wears out, or is killed, they regenerate. That doesn't always happen in a TARDIS. In fact, it's likely that the vast majority of Time Lords do not use TARDIS's, and very few of those would use a TARDIS as their home. Therefore, the typical Time Lord regeneration would occur somewhere normal, like their home, or a hospital room, or in a car driving down the road.
Would they use cars on Gallifrey? Or would they use some sort of advanced levitation technology? Sorry, got distracted.
The reason I brought all that up is today's
Radio Times article on the filming of Jodie Whittakers upcoming regeneration.
The Radio Times for some reason presents it as weird that the regeneration won't happen IN THE TARDIS, but will instead happen somewhere else. Namely, they said "this may be a regeneration like no other" and that "unusually, the Doctor’s big change would not take place in the TARDIS".
Unusually?
First.. We who watch Doctor Who have a small sample set, largely the set of regenerations by The Doctor, The Master, that aforementioned General, etc. How many Time Lords are there? How many have access to TARDIS's?
Second.. Of the regenerations we've seen, some occurred in the TARDIS, and others outside. In most cases the regeneration was triggered outside the TARDIS - such as David Tennants aborted regeneration (where Doctor 10 regenerated into Doctor 10). The Doctor was on the streets running towards Rose, like two star crossed lovers, only to be shot by a Dalek. That started the regeneration, which finished inside the TARDIS, rather was distracted by pushing the excess energy into his spare hand.
Third.. While in most cases The Doctor was able to make it into the TARDIS for the regeneration, that wasn't always the case. Tom Baker's (4th Doctor) regeneration into Peter Davidson's Doctor (5th Doctor) happened outside a radio telescope after The Master pushed The Doctor off a walkway. When the 10th Doctor finally regenerated, it was triggered by receiving a large radiation dose while saving Willfred Mott, but he then did a tour of a bunch of old friends, including getting a wedding present for Donna, before finally being called by an Ood into the TARDIS. There was Matt Smith's regeneration, which was triggered in the clock tower of a building while engaged in a standoff with The Daleks, to be finished in the TARDIS. And, Peter Capaldi's regeneration was triggered while he was fighting Cybermen, then he held off for an entire episode while having an adventure with The First Doctor who was also about to regenerate, until he finally let it loose while in the TARDIS.
The Radio Times article talks about a practical consideration. It's not known whether the replacement Doctor has been chosen, nor whether that person was present for the filming of the regeneration. There is a large replacement underway in terms of Chibnall and team completely exiting the scene, and Russell T Davies' team completely taking over. It means a whole new TARDIS set etc.
In other words, by having the regeneration occur outside the TARDIS, the replacement Doctor can be filmed in the location of the regeneration without having the expense of maintaining the current TARDIS set. The existing TARDIS set can be taken down and stored in a warehouse, in other words, but new scenes concerning the regeneration can occur at any time simply by returning to the location.
Who will replace Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor? Don't know, and the article doesn't say.
It simply says that they organized shooting so that the final stuff was shot on one day, in the order of the events as they will be presented to us. And, for the crew, it was apparently very emotional.
