Best Regeneration Story

[The Borgified Corpse]

The War Games, but only if done this way.

I'd been meaning to do one like that myself for a while. I guess now I don't have to. (Except in mine, for the "too old," I would have included a picture of present-day Tom Baker. Though Capaldi certainly works. And it's a very good "too thin" picture of Tennant.)

 

[publiusr]

Troughton and Pertwee almost favored one another, due to the camera angle, so the regeneration--while low tech, looked the most seamless to me.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Of all the regeneration stories, I'd have to pick "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways" as my favorite. It's been quite a few years since I've seen it but I still remember how excited I was when I first saw it. The game show stuff was funny. The Daleks were badass. The Doctor was even more badass. And they really had me going for a while when I thought they killed Rose. (And I liked Lynda. Shame she didn't survive.)

"The Caves of Androzani" was also a strong pick for me. With or without the regeneration, it's simply Robert Holmes firing on all cylinders. Sharaz Jek begins the tradition of bad guys shamelessly lusting after Peri.

"The War Games" would fill out my top 3. It's kinda long but mostly makes good use of its extended screen time. I love all the machinations between the War Chief, the War Lord, & the Security Chief. Lt. Carstairs & Lady Jennifer are great one-off companions. The initial mystery is quite good when you first think that you're just in the middle of a WWI historical story before you realize that something very different is going on. And the Doctor's farewell to Jamie & Zoe is heartbreaking. I like how Jamie thinks that they'll all just get away at the last minute like the always do, and how he seems a bit taken aback when the Doctor just shakes his head & firmly says, "Goodbye, Jamie." You really do feel that this is the end and that no one wants it to end this way. (I keep hoping that Jamie & Zoe come back on the new series at some point, if only to soften the blow.)

I've only seen "Planet of the Spiders" once but I thought it was fun. I especially like the 1 or 2 episodes where it's just the Doctor getting into a series of assorted vehicle chases. It's like Jon Pertwee has this laundry list of vehicles he wanted to have chase scenes with during his tenure and realized that it was now or never.

The regeneration itself in "Logopolis" is quite good but the rest of the story feels off. Tom Baker just seems to have already mentally checked out of the show. He never really had much chemistry with Tegan, Nyssa, or Adric for that matter. Plus, with Anthony Ainley as the Master and a general lack of humor to the whole thing, it feels more like a prelude to the Peter Davison years rather than a fitting finale for the Tom Baker years.

The 1996 movie is mostly terrible, although some of the stuff surrounding the regeneration is OK. The references to Frankenstein & The Time Machine feel a bit too on the nose. But considering it's trying to be obvious & over the top, it's quite successful in that respect.

I've never seen "The Tenth Planet." I'm waiting for the DVD.

I hated "The End of Time." I liked a lot of what they did with the Master but sometimes it seems like it's just a contest between Simm & Tennant to see who can go more over the top. And then Tennant's victory lap at the end takes too long, particularly since we'd already just revisted most of those companions 5 episodes earlier in "Journey's End." My favorite part of the entire episode is the last minute & a half when Matt Smith finally shows up.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I voted for Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways. However The Caves of Androzani is second in my heart.

There is so much atmosphere in Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways.

The last adventure of 9, Jack and Rose, Jack

The 9th Doctor being his cavalier self. Doing all he can to defeat the Daleks, not knowing this was his final battle.

Jack being heroic in fighting the Daleks. The Jack of Doctor Who i prefer. Compared to the one we later see in Torchwood.

Rose becoming the Bad Wolf and coming to the Doctor's rescue. This of course with the assistance of Mickey and Jackie.


Lynda with a Y. The companion that never was. Oh how my heart ached the first time seeing her die T_T. It still bleeds when I rewatch the episode.

Many other things I enjoy about this two parter. I really wish there was more 9th Doctor material tbh. Really sad Chris Eccleston decided not to reprise his role for the 50th anniversary episode.

 

[Green Lantern]

Oh Lynda with a Y. How she would have made a cute companion. But I suppose that's great story telling.

Yeah, I was just thinking today what if the ninth doctor stayed on till series 2 or even 3. He may have turned out being my favourite doctor.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

For some, he's their favorite even with that one series of his. At least for me, he is.

And yeah, I do wish he'd have stayed on, but at the same time, if he did, maybe Tennant would never have gotten the part. Who knows, really?

I'd certainly have liked some audio stories from him. Preferably for the 50th anniversary, of course.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Troughton and Pertwee almost favored one another, due to the camera angle, so the regeneration--while low tech, looked the most seamless to me.

Did you mean Hartnell and Troughton?

I hated "The End of Time." I liked a lot of what they did with the Master but sometimes it seems like it's just a contest between Simm & Tennant to see who can go more over the top. And then Tennant's victory lap at the end takes too long, particularly since we'd already just revisited most of those companions 5 episodes earlier in "Journey's End." My favorite part of the entire episode is the last minute & a half when Matt Smith finally shows up.

Basically, this.

 

[Timewalker]

The essence of the sacrifice of the Doctor is, he would do this for anyone of his companions, ever, under any circumnstances, and regardless of how well he knew them or not. He'd it for Peri whether he knew her just barely or for a while. This is never more confirmed than in the Tenth Doctor's sacrifice to save Wilfred, who's an old man anyway, but the Doctor won't have him die when he can save him - and in Caves, he won't have someone die because of him, because he brought her to that planet. It just doesn't get much better than this, really.

This regeneration is particularly poignant because of Adric. The Doctor never stopped feeling guilty that he couldn't save Adric, so for damn sure he wanted to save Peri (not that he wouldn't have saved her anyway). He didn't want to be responsible for the death of another Companion.

Yeah, I think ultimately it was the writing that bothered me. Tegan's introduction sorta distracts from the importance of this being the Fourth Doctor's farewell, and poor Nyssa gets to have no real role other than to react to the destruction of Traken.

That said, one of the things I liked was that the E-Space trilogy occured because it was the Logopolitans that created the CVE's that led them in.

But Nyssa's reaction to the destruction of her people was intended to convey just how serious and deadly the Master's intentions were, and how imperative it was that he be stopped. He committed genocide on a mega-planetary scale, and how could the Doctor let him get away with it?

(I've never actually seen Planet of the Spiders. )

Don't watch it if you have a spider phobia...

I would have included a picture of present-day Tom Baker.

People seem to forget that Tom Baker's Doctor was aged in part of The Leisure Hive. He looked a lot older and more decrepit than RL Tom Baker looks today.

I've only seen "Planet of the Spiders" once but I thought it was fun. I especially like the 1 or 2 episodes where it's just the Doctor getting into a series of assorted vehicle chases. It's like Jon Pertwee has this laundry list of vehicles he wanted to have chase scenes with during his tenure and realized that it was now or never.

Jon Pertwee actually owned the "Whomobile" (at least that's my understanding). He really wanted to use it on-screen, and the production people obliged. After all, this was a time when lots of people were into James Bond, so the wild and wacky vehicle chases fit right in.

The regeneration itself in "Logopolis" is quite good but the rest of the story feels off. Tom Baker just seems to have already mentally checked out of the show. He never really had much chemistry with Tegan, Nyssa, or Adric for that matter. Plus, with Anthony Ainley as the Master and a general lack of humor to the whole thing, it feels more like a prelude to the Peter Davison years rather than a fitting finale for the Tom Baker years.

As the Doctor says himself, he didn't choose for any of those Companions to be with him. Adric was a stowaway from another universe, Nyssa begged for his help, and Tegan was another stowaway (although not an intentional one). Considering the aggravation Adric had caused him and the fact that he'd basically just met Nyssa and Tegan, it's unreasonable to expect him to have a warm, fuzzy relationship with any of the three.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

The regeneration itself in "Logopolis" is quite good but the rest of the story feels off. Tom Baker just seems to have already mentally checked out of the show. He never really had much chemistry with Tegan, Nyssa, or Adric for that matter. Plus, with Anthony Ainley as the Master and a general lack of humor to the whole thing, it feels more like a prelude to the Peter Davison years rather than a fitting finale for the Tom Baker years.

As the Doctor says himself, he didn't choose for any of those Companions to be with him. Adric was a stowaway from another universe, Nyssa begged for his help, and Tegan was another stowaway (although not an intentional one). Considering the aggravation Adric had caused him and the fact that he'd basically just met Nyssa and Tegan, it's unreasonable to expect him to have a warm, fuzzy relationship with any of the three.

Yes, his reaction to them is believable given the circumstances. It just doesn't feel like the right ending for him.