So the Regeneration limit jumps from 12 to 507...? SJA SPOILERS
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
I don't think many have a problem with the idea of unlimited regens. The main issue is how it was handled. I know that RTD and all of his loyal followers believe they can remain "cool" in the eyes of the world by blowing off a forty-year-old fact of the show with a whimsical line in a spin-off. And he and all his followers have a "hoot" (as he says) while claiming with indignance that it isn't that important. However, and rightly so, many fans take this as an insult. If RTD cannot be bothered to come down off his throne and deal with this notion in a real story (hopefully penned by someone else), then why bother shitting on the program he swears he loves? Answer: He doesn't Doctor Who is only as important to him as long as it makes him famous and rich. Other than that, he's just a television hack with a minor cult following...
This week on 24 : Jack Bauer is shot three times in the head. But, quickly gets up and wipes it off. But don't worry! The writers are just having a "hoot". That means they are brilliant and you're just not smart enough to understand that.
This week on Law & Order: UK : Someone gets convicted of multiple murders and baby-raping. But, at the end, the judge feels sorry for him and gives him a job at a daycare. But don't worry! The writers are just having a "hoot". That means they are brilliant and you're just not smart enough to understand that.
This week on Law & Order: UK : Someone gets convicted of multiple murders and baby-raping. But, at the end, the judge feels sorry for him and gives him a job at a daycare. But don't worry! The writers are just having a "hoot". That means they are brilliant and you're just not smart enough to understand that.
That's not too far off of the kind of thing that was actually shown on 24, Doctor Who's only competitor for most unrealistic drama show ever
. It's kind of appropriate for the topic, though, as with 24 you could be reasonably sure that Jack would survive no matter what. The same has always applied to the Doctor and his companions; their adventures are drenched in death, but by hook or by crook they survive (, with one or two exceptions).
Removed the limit? The logical way it would work is that they give out extra cycles somehow, not that they manage to magically impose a limit so any Time Lord dying anywhere for the twelfth time is done for because they use their magic to stop him having another go on the regeneration-go-round. There's a good story to be told in the Doctor getting more lives, and I just can't believe the number of people who think that sort of unimaginative illogical nonsense is any kind of satisfactory explanation. Is this what 5 years of Russell T Dismal has done to people?
I guess we just think it's just a Kids' TV show and not a cure for cancer or something. Something to discuss to kill some time but nothing to get particular worked up about. A bit of perspective and all that.
If nothing else, it's caused a huge notion in nuFandom that if RTD says it's not important, then it's not. Doesn't matter if there's no plot logic ("IT'S SCIENCE FICTION NERDS!!"), heavy-handed socio-political lectures ("RUSSEL JUST WANTS TO SPREAD LOVE YOU RACIST-HOMOPHOBIC BULLIES!!"), or extreme fetishism ("HE'S THE DOCTOR AND HE'S GOD!! WORSHIP HIM!!"). There is no questioning the RTD.
As for the Regeneration concept, I've always thought it was a genetic "gift" implanted into the species by Rassilon. This is the same uber-genius that created Time Travel and TARDii, so it makes sense he would be the one to come up with regeneration. If I remember my Gallifreyan history, wasn't the war with the giant vampire race (where the Time Lords were using "Spear-Ships") during Rassilon's era? Maybe it was that war that required coming up with a way to save the population that was dwindling from the massive conflict? Thus, he engineers a genetic code that will rewrite your genetic structure when terminally damaged. Of course, as anyone in power is to do, you don't want any potential enemy living forever. So, like any good dictator/king, he implanted a limit of thirteen changes. It probably took training from the Time Lord Academy to control regeneration, allowing you to manipulate the outcome to your choosing (ala' Romana, The Master, etc.). The Doctor though, as we know, barely passed any of his classes, and was probably expelled from the Academy before mastering the process. That's why it's such a crap-shoot for him to regenerate.
Just my personal theory, really. It just falls in line with the idea that the Time Lords brought back Rassilon to fight Davros, and Rassilon in turn probably had the knowledge to open up the limit, for the very same reasons he would have done so when they fought the Vampire Race...
But....that's what we're doing here. Discussing it. As you said. In what form or presentation would a "mature discussion", as you suggest, take place? In what form or fashion must it occur for everyone to go "Oh, this is a legitimate conversation"?
I mean, I'd rather know than just the normal repetition of "Oh it's just a (kids) tv show, if you want to debate or discuss it with any passion, and actually feel something for the show you enjoy, then you're wrong"....
I just think there is a tonal difference between discussing shows on the basis of them being a bit of fluff to kill a few hours and discussing them like the actions of RTD and other are some form of war crimes. The first to me is perfectly normal, the other is evidence of some sort of mental issue and the need to get out more.
Your mileage may vary and all that.
Oh! You're just talking about the intensity of the discussion. Gotcha. I apologize, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yeah, Bones can be harsh. I, too, can be wordy. But, I doubt anyone in this thread is that "serious" about all of this. I know I'm not. I've got plenty of "serious" things in life to deal with. Why would I want to bring the "serious" here, when this where we all go to escape and relax? 
Oh! You're just talking about the intensity of the discussion. Gotcha. I apologize, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yeah, Bones can be harsh. I, too, can be wordy. But, I doubt anyone in this thread is that "serious" about all of this. I know I'm not. I've got plenty of "serious" things in life to deal with. Why would I want to bring the "serious" here, when this where we all go to escape and relax?
I wasn't mentioning any particular poster - I just don't get the anger that seems to come through on many posts - but that's not just Doctor Who, you see in all forums. I just find it baffling.
He wasn't blowing off a fact. He (RTD) was making a joke.
The Doctor and company were in danger, and the kid is asking stupid questions. Perhaps he only deserves stupid answers.
And he and all his followers have a "hoot" (as he says) while claiming with indignance that it isn't that important. However, and rightly so, many fans take this as an insult. If RTD cannot be bothered to come down off his throne and deal with this notion in a real story (hopefully penned by someone else), then why bother shitting on the program he swears he loves? Answer: He doesn't Doctor Who is only as important to him as long as it makes him famous and rich. Other than that, he's just a television hack with a minor cult following...
How is he shitting on the program? Seriously. How is RTD shitting on the program by having the Doctor say a LINE?
The Slitheen, fine.
But, the Doctor making up an answer to an unimportant question when there are much larger issues at hand, you know, the bad guys, THAT is shitting on the program?
And as it is, RTD won't be handled #13 in any sort of meaningful way. Probably Moffat won't be either.
Oh! You're just talking about the intensity of the discussion. Gotcha. I apologize, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yeah, Bones can be harsh. I, too, can be wordy. But, I doubt anyone in this thread is that "serious" about all of this. I know I'm not. I've got plenty of "serious" things in life to deal with. Why would I want to bring the "serious" here, when this where we all go to escape and relax?
I wasn't mentioning any particular poster - I just don't get the anger that seems to come through on many posts - but that's not just Doctor Who, you see in all forums. I just find it baffling.
It's weird, you'd think RTD had actually murdered someone! I mean I'm not the guys greatest fan but if any of the actual hate spouted his way is genuine the people concerned really do need help.
At the end of the day the internet is a very anonymous thing, and people feel empowered to say the sorts of things (one hopes) they wouldn't say in real life. I guess most of us have gone to far or got too caught up in a discussion at times, I know I have, but just lately things do seem to have got worse...or maybe like Roger Murtough I'm just getting too old for this shit.
It says something when another poster on another board said the other week that the Dr Who conversation we'd ended up having (completely off topic) was the best Dr Who conversation they'd been part of for a while.
I don't expect the forum to be all sweetness and light, and we will all disagree over things, but the polarisation's just getting too much:
RTD/Moffat/Eccleston/Tennant/Smith/Chibnall (delete as applicable) are either the devil incarnate, or else a genius so perfect they should never be critisised; and there's no middle ground!
Nobody involved in Who deserves the level of hate being thrown around. I'm no fan of Colin Baker's Doctor, but Jesus I don't actually hate him, and I do like some aspects of the character (he is the Doctor after all).
Ah well, nature of the internet and all that so I should probably stop getting my knickers in a twist because people arent going to change their tune.
Move along people nothing to see here....
We know nothing about the nature of Time Lord regeneration, and we know nothing about the context of the scene that has so many people in an uproar. Even if the scene represents a genuine change in continuity, it's not the first time that a continuity change has happened -- in either the original show or the new one -- and it won't be the last.
This week on 24 : Jack Bauer is shot three times in the head. But, quickly gets up and wipes it off. But don't worry! The writers are just having a "hoot". That means they are brilliant and you're just not smart enough to understand that.
This week on Law & Order: UK : Someone gets convicted of multiple murders and baby-raping. But, at the end, the judge feels sorry for him and gives him a job at a daycare. But don't worry! The writers are just having a "hoot". That means they are brilliant and you're just not smart enough to understand that.
Honestly, those sound like actual plots of those shows. Okay, I shouldn't comment about Law and Order UK, but that does sound like something that would happen on one of the American Law and Order shows.
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