Current Events > I don't like that they are calling the David Tennant the 14th Doctor

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It feels weird they are calling him the 14th Doctor in the new specials. I was always under the impression the numbering was an out of universe thing so the fans could tell the different actors apart, making a gimmick like this throw off the numbering is just going to be confusing.

We're going to have some people just use the numbering they want and others actually be talking about how many people played the doctor.. and this isn't even including Hurt's War Doctor that we've safely tucked away as "War Doctor, doesn't count". Basically my point is that in universe he isn't even the 14 incarnation so it's confusing and mixing up in/out of universe information.

Yea it seems like a bad idea to me. I don't really understand why they even are brining him back. Yes he was great but his time is over. Move on. What is the story explanation? He just randomly regenerated into the same form he once was for a 2nd time?

Hurt wasnt really a Doctor. He was the transformation that rejected the pledge they all made at the Schism or whatever that thing is they send all the kids through on Gallifrey.

Otherwise it makes srnse to me. A person like the Doctor will inevitably have people around that knew his previous versions. It lets everybody process that while the core being is the same in every other respect its a new person.

Yeah, he's clearly just playing the 10th Doctor again but with a different outfit. Like, maybe if his personality and everything was different, I could see the logic behind saying he's a new Doctor, but that's not the case.

Though, I'm still obv gonna wait for the specials to see how this all plays out. I'm assuming a villain hijacked 13's regeneration and made her revert back to 10 for some reason. I feel like the "twist" will be that 14 actually is just 10 again, and Ncuti will end up being officially 14. Cuz I think it's really fucking goofy for official material to post line-ups of all the Doctors and include Tennant twice.

Rharyx211 posted...

Cuz I think it's really fucking goofy for official material to post line-ups of all the Doctors and include Tennant twice.

Tom Baker did it twice too, as a Doctor who hasn't happened yet.

Need to get Sean Pertwee in on this, to "repeat" his dad's 3rd Doctor.

Rharyx211 posted...

I'm assuming a villain hijacked 13's regeneration and made her revert back to 10 for some reason.

I mean, this is exactly what happened.

The Master stole The Doctor's body and suppressed her consciousness, while simultaneously forcing it to regenerate into his appearance. At the end of the episode her companions were able to force a degeneration back into 13 while sending The Master's mind back to his own (dead) body, so it's entirely possible that her regeneration cycle was still moving backwards when she regenerated.

It was also outright stated at the end of Day of the Doctor that future regenerations will "revisit old favorites", and 12 looked like Peter Capaldi due to a deliberate (albeit subconscious) choice by The Doctor to look like somebody he remembered as a way of sending himself a message.

IIRC the only reason they were coy about numbering before the 9th Doctor was because they wanted to keep audience tension that he might be on his last regeneration. It also added to his mysteriousness that he might have had other adventures as different incarnations that occurred before the canonical 1st doctor.

Last episode I remember watching was the reveal at the end of the timeless child arc. They show that the doctor has had many more regenerations than 14 iirc. So it makes sense imo to refer to the doctors by their actor number and not their current form in the show.

Been a while since I've watched, had no idea they brought back Tennant. Need to start watching again

Questionmarktarius posted...

Need to get Sean Pertwee in on this, to "repeat" his dad's 3rd Doctor.

I've honestly been waiting for this to happen. Have him be the official recast 3rd Doctor like how David Bradley is the official recast 1st Doctor.

TMOG posted...

I mean, this is exactly what happened.

The Master stole The Doctor's body and suppressed her consciousness, while simultaneously forcing it to regenerate into his appearance. At the end of the episode her companions were able to force a degeneration back into 13 while sending The Master's mind back to his own (dead) body, so it's entirely possible that her regeneration cycle was still moving backwards when she regenerated.

Exactly. That's what I'm thinking the case is. Her cycle was still going backwards and some villain took advantage of the situation. Maybe she skipped over 12 and 11 because they had already accepted their "deaths" and moved on in their mental plane, while 10 hadn't for obvious reasons.

Solid_Seb posted...

Last episode I remember watching was the reveal at the end of the timeless child arc. They show that the doctor has had many more regenerations than 14 iirc. So it makes sense imo to refer to the doctors by their actor number and not their current form in the show.

Been a while since I've watched, had no idea they brought back Tennant. Need to start watching again

Yeah, the number's always sort of just meant "this is the Xth actor to play the Doctor as the lead in the show." It's not an in-universe numbering, and even if you ignore the Timeless Child stuff, Tennant in this would be the 16th or 17th Doctor, not the 14th.

Timeless child sort of threw the numbering out of the window.

And the fanbase sorta picks and choose whether War Doctor counts. Hell I've seen them argue if 8th counts.

Blue_Target posted...

And the fanbase sorta picks and choose whether War Doctor counts. Hell I've seen them argue if 8th counts.

Honestly I'm not sure why they didn't just make 8 the War Doctor in the first place. The initial plan was already to have 9 be the Doctor that fought in the Time War before Eccleston refused to come back, so why couldn't they just rewrite it so that 8 fought in the war instead?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they introduced the War Doctor because John Hurt was amazing, but it seems like such an easy workaround that wouldn't have confused the numbering.

Timeless child was franchise ending to me. Completely wiped away all the mystique of the universe.

Yeah, it was definitely the stupidest thing the series has ever done.

But the good thing about Doctor Who, is that future writers and seasons can just completely ignore it and it'll just be one of those weird things that once happened that the fans collectively choose to forget.

Rharyx211 posted...

Cuz I think it's really fucking goofy for official material to post line-ups of all the Doctors and include Tennant twice.

They could include him three times if they count the meta-crisis doctor!

Rharyx211 posted...

Yeah, the number's always sort of just meant "this is the Xth actor to play the Doctor as the lead in the show."

This is why calling Gatwa the 15th doctor is going to be confusing. It's mixing in universe plot twists with real world labeling.

If Final Fantasy can do a 10-2, so can Doctor Who.