How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spoiler

[Mr. Sin]

In previous regenerations, we either have had a Doctor who is mostly active after his regeneration, but is slightly physically and mentally unstable (Troughton, Tom Baker, Colin Baker, McCoy, Mcgann) or a Doctor who mostly needs rest ( Jon Pertwee, Davison and Tennant, mostly, although Tennant was active in the mini episode he definetly needed rest for most of The Christmas Invasion). Of course we don't really know what happened with the Eighth-Ninth, but if the regeneration was recent if "Rose" seems to indicate, then he definetly was active as well.

From the initial preview for the series, the one that showed clips, there are several scenes from what appears to be the Eleventh Hour, mainly Smith going around in Tennant's clothes and looking very active. I think he will be fairly active, although apparentally there are some scenes where he's still feeling the pain of the regeneration, if set reports are to believed. (One leaked line is apparentally him saying "I'm not done yet!" referring to his recovery).

 

[wamdue]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

I hope he does not spend half the episode in bed like Ten did

 

[Winterwind]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

We can't be certain that Nine was active immediately after the regeneration. In fact, we saw a picture of the Ninth in some Victorian era clothing and indications are that he had at least a few adventures before meeting Rose.

I do hope that the the Eleventh is active as well, and I'm guessing he will be.

 

[23skidoo]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

I also get the impression that Eleven will, if not hit the ground running, at least be more active than Ten was. I actually hope Moffat forgoes the "tradition" of the new Doctor spending an entire episode discombobulated. It's an old cliche now and especially given the huge challenge facing the new Doctor -- namely simply following Tennant in an era where a large segment of DW's audience is not accustomed to having long-serving actors move on from the show -- I think it would be a mistake to have him out of commission for long.

One good thing that I know has happened is that for the first time since I believe Peter Davison, the new Doctor's first story is not the first one to be filmed, so Smith will have already been accustomed to playing the Doctor by this point. That should, in theory, make his performance stronger.

Alex

 

[wamdue]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

it was quite easy to have the Tenth Doctor be asleep for half the episode, we already had the companion, who could carry the episode, and as we saw the Earth got into some serious trouble whilst he was asleep, making his awaking even more welcome.

That worked for where the series was then.

However at the moment the show has no companion, and the Doctor crashing the TARDIS to earth, like the 9th Doctor, the show has to introduce both the Doctor & the companion, the question is whos POV will Moffatt take. If its Amys POV the episode will be more like Rose, with glimpses of the Doctor, until the 11th Doctor saves the day.

If its the Doctors POV and glimpses of Amy, he cant really be asleep for that period of time.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Personally, I think rather than have Eleven be asleep for a bit of his first adventure, I think he'll be rather hyper instead and will gradually settle down as his regeneration stabilizes. Perhaps by the time he gets his new threads, most of his "regeneration sickness" will have passed and it'll just be a case of him getting used to being a new man for awhile...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

In fact, we saw a picture of the Ninth in some Victorian era clothing and indications are that he had at least a few adventures before meeting Rose.

He certainly had a few adventures without Rose, but we don't know if he had them before meeting her.

 

[N-121973]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Do you think the episode will start with a recap of the regeneration, beginning with Ten's closing line "I don't want to go."?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Do you think the episode will start with a recap of the regeneration, beginning with Ten's closing line "I don't want to go."?

No, I think it will start with Amy. And in my opinion, showing the tenth Doctor would be a terrible mistake.

 

[Winterwind]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

In fact, we saw a picture of the Ninth in some Victorian era clothing and indications are that he had at least a few adventures before meeting Rose.

He certainly had a few adventures without Rose, but we don't know if he had them before meeting her.

I've always been of the mind that he did have them prior to meeting Rose. While anything could have happened between the time he walked into the Tardis, briefly left and then came back with her still standing in the alley, considering the Doctor still can't control the Tardis perfectly, I think the odds are against him leaving, having a few adventures and then coming back seconds later from her perspective.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

I think the Doctor will take the entire episode to recover from the regeneration IMO. I also think that the Tardis is going to crash on Earth in the past (the trauma from the regeneration causing temporal problems) and this is when he meets

Spoiler: Amy spoilers?

Amy as a child first

 

[Classic Fan]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Yeah, i reckon he'll take at least the first 45 minutes to recover, then when the Doc is needed the most, hell come snapping back.

But yeah, showing a 'Previously on Doctor Who...' pre credits sequence would be a mistake. It would take the impact out of Elevens first few scenes.


Moffat will just throw everything at us in one massive way, then away we go.

 

[wamdue]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

I think the Doctor will take the entire episode to recover from the regeneration IMO. I also think that the Tardis is going to crash on Earth in the past (the trauma from the regeneration causing temporal problems) and this is when he meets

Spoiler: Amy spoilers?

Amy as a child first

Spoiler: episode 1

TBH I am worried that Amy will be a WWTW idea, with her first meeting the Doctor and already knowing him, despite him not having meet her, she tells him she saw him when she was a kid, so he hops into the TARDIS and goes back to tell her, like Sally Sparrow.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Spoiler: episode 1

TBH I am worried that Amy will be a WWTW idea, with her first meeting the Doctor and already knowing him, despite him not having meet her, she tells him she saw him when she was a kid, so he hops into the TARDIS and goes back to tell her, like Sally Sparrow.

You've invented that whole little scenario by yourself, and now you're worried that it will come true?

 

[23skidoo]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

Do you think the episode will start with a recap of the regeneration, beginning with Ten's closing line "I don't want to go."?

Hell no!

First, Moffat and his team want a clean break from the previous era, so they can establish their own. Going back to the previous guy would sabotage this.

Second, everyone knows Matt Smith is facing an incredible challenge. David Tennant was the most popular Doctor in history (we can say that with some authority now, I think - sorry, Tom Baker). More than a few people have stated with all honesty that the series might as well end now that Tennant has gone. Others have stated they have no interest in watching the young guy and will likely not bother tuning in anyway. Many of those who will be tuning in will be waiting for Smith to stumble out of the gate, so they can justify abandoning the show.

Others will be tuning in with a "let's give the guy a chance" attitude. While still others won't care they just want Doctor Who. Hopefully this last category is the majority, but in this day of the Internet, people's opinions are coloured so much by forums such as these, all you need are enough people in the first categories to become vocal, and it might kill the show. If I hadn't seen it happen to Star Trek: Enterprise I'd be skeptical of what I just said too.

My point being is Smith has to come out of the starting gate running. If the episode starts with David Tennant, then everyone will be reminded of how great a Doctor he was, just before Smith has to take over. It would be incredibly unfair to Smith. Especially when you consider that season-debut episodes have historically been weak (there are few exceptions that I can think of going all the way back to 1963), AND Doctor-debut stories have likewise often been weaker than those that followed. Robot, Time and the Rani, Twin Dilemma, Rose, The Christmas Invasion ... not all of these were bad episodes, but none of them are considered classics. So if The Eleventh Hour isn't as strong as episodes that follow, it'll fall on Smith and Gillan to sell the new season in that crucial first episode. And they can't do that if images of Tennant saying "I don't want to go" are fresh in everyone's minds.

It would be the same as, say, the makers of Casino Royale prefacing the debut of Daniel Craig with an extended flashback showing Sean Connery as Bond. (Or, worse yet, it was apparently considered at one time to have Connery appear in a Bond film as either M or Bond's father. The poor bastard playing 007 at the time might as well have gone home if that had happened.)

Alex

 

[Starkers]

Re: How long will the Doctor take to recover from regen this time? spo

I reckon it will actually be several episodes before he really comes out of his post regen fugue, but having said that I don't expect it to be as full on as some other Doctor's have been.