Which would you choose as an ending for Doctor Who?

[Joe Washington]

1. Some time after his twelfth regeneration, the Doctor dies for good. I can see this emotionally devastating a lot of viewers who would want to see the Doctor to go on living but from the moment we heard that the Doctor can only regenerate twelve times, we knew this day was coming. So it would be gutsy and amazing for the people in charge of the show to stand by that rule in the end.

OR

2. Just when we think the Doctor is dead for good, something happens that gives the Doctor enough energy to have twelve more regenerations. We end the series with a freshly regenerated Doctor looking forward to new adventures, new friends to make, and new enemies to contend with.

 

[ITL]

Well...

13 incarnations and a final, no coming back, definitely dead scenario would give a hell of a lot of poignancy to the end of the show. But that's the problem. No more WHO after 13 lives.

So I'll take the Handwavium Moar Lives Plz! option any time. Then, the show isn't shackled by a regen limit and can continue for hopefully many years.

As we'll see soon, a regen coupled with a new show runner will give the show a slightly different yet familiar feel - and there's no limit to how many times that can happen.

Fuck the 13 life limit. Right in the ear.

 

[Shazam!]

13 incarnations and a final, no coming back, definitely dead scenario would give a hell of a lot of poignancy to the end of the show. But that's the problem. No more WHO after 13 lives.

Yeah, because the Master stayed dead didn't he.

 

[ITL]

13 incarnations and a final, no coming back, definitely dead scenario would give a hell of a lot of poignancy to the end of the show. But that's the problem. No more WHO after 13 lives.

Yeah, because the Master stayed dead didn't he.

If you catch The Point as it swings back round you'll be sure to jump on board, won't you?

 

[Awesome Possum]

I will go out on a limb and say that there will be a Doctor after the 13 limit. Hell, the Master is way past the limit and he comes back all the time. If they don't want to use the magic rock of wibbly-wobbly, say he got a bunch during the Time War.

 

[JoeZhang]

we knew this day was coming.

Did we? if the show is still successful, then we will have a bit of handwaving and things will carry on as before. However, I'm sure there will a lot of angst on the way.

 

[Shazam!]

If you catch The Point as it swings back round you'll be sure to jump on board, won't you?

Unless your point wasn't that you envisioned "a final, no coming back, definitely dead" ending for the Doctor, I think I got the point perfectly. Let me know when you get mine.

 

[SG-17]

Assuming the show makes it to the 13th regeneration.

 

[Shazam!]

Hell, the Master is way past the limit and he comes back all the time.

OMG YOUVE TOTALY MISSED THE POINT!!1!!

 

[Piper]

If the show is still on when Doctor 13 decides to leave - and hopefully it will be - of course there'll be a Doctor 14. This is good for everyone but fandom, as it will mean essentially that the Doctor becomes immortal, however it's explained, and an immortal character is infinitely less interesting than one who knows he'll die one day. Thankfully it'll only be fans like us who worry about such things.

 

[Kelso]

If you catch The Point as it swings back round you'll be sure to jump on board, won't you?

Unless your point wasn't that you envisioned "a final, no coming back, definitely dead" ending for the Doctor, I think I got the point perfectly. Let me know when you get mine.

Read past the first line of his post.

 

[FalTorPan]

I think it'd be best if, upon the thirteenth Doctor's "death," he simply regenerates to his own surprise. Each time the next Doctor dies, he doesn't know whether he will regenerate.

In other words, his thirteenth and subsequent regenerations won't be much different than many of his previous regenerations.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I hope after his 13th, he finally gets to be ginger.

 

[Timofnine]

I think when it does come to the 12th regeneration, the Doctor WILL die and the series will be rested for a few years... seems a logical time to do so. Then we can have a continuation after an extended hiatus, a reboot or resurrection.

 

[The Lensman]

but from the moment we heard that the Doctor can only regenerate twelve times, we knew this day was coming.

Just as the people who were making Trek in the 60's never thought Trek would ever become what it did, I don't think the Who folks thought they'd ever get to twelve regens.

I think they threw that number out, thinking they'd prolly never get as far as they did on just the original show, to make sure they could get a few more doc's out of it before they ended.

So I'm in the camp that sez they need to do away with the 12 limitation thing, and make it so they can keep on going indefinately. I've noticed they've never mentioned any kind of limit on the new show.

Doctor Who is Britains most iconic hero....I don't see them ever killing him off or giving him a final end.

 

[Shazam!]

Read past the first line of his post.

Yeah, I did, but thanks for being so condescending.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I'm guessing there'll be some explanation along the lines of the 12 regeneration limit was imposed by the Timelords to prevent immortality. Now that the Doc is the last of the TLs, there'll be nothing to prevent him having unlimited regenerations. That, or being the last of the Timelords affected the number he was entitled to.

At the rate they're going through regenerations - no-one since Tom Baker has done more than 4 seasons, while Eccleston did one season and McGann one movie - they'd need to come up with something, or DW will be all done by 2020!

 

[DeadmeatDiggory]

I always thought it would be cool if we knew The Doctor was dying (for a few episodes) and as slips away, he suddenly regenerates. Everybody's all shocked, knowing this is The Doctor's last life and it's all over for him. He Jesus-Christ Poses and the energy erupts, fillig his whole body. And then the energy disapates and The Doctor's gone, consumed by what we thought was another regeneration.

Again everyone is shocked, when suddenly the Tardis comes to life by itself. We cut to various other worlds where the Daleks and other enemies are running amok (or random events The Doctor would normally solve), only for some invisible force comes along and saves the day.

The Doctor is dead, but in spirit he still watches over and protects us. Sappy, sure. Fanwankish, what the hell. But whats the point in The Doctor just going on and on...

...although if they finally give the role to Bill Nighy, I welcome The Doctor's Thriteenth Regeneration.

 

[EyalM]

The Doctor should never die in the series. When the show is eventually canceled, it should end with the Doctor flying off in the Tardis into the unknown. Alternatively, have the Doctor die while saving the universe, and start regenerating, except the camera pulls away and his fate is left to our imagination.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

As anyone who knows me already knows, I'm a big fan of The Doctor actually dying after his 13th incarnation. I'm really hoping that whoever is in charge follows up on the interesting themes of The Doctor finally facing his mortality...and actually goes through killing The Doctor off. Assuming, of course, the BBC allows the show to end when reach that point. It won't be years (at least a decade assuming an average of 3-4 years per incarnation) so maybe the BBC will be willing to allow the show to end?