So the Regeneration limit jumps from 12 to 507...? SJA SPOILERS

[The Wormhole]

Why is no-one counting the regeneration in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End? Did I miss something? Not that it matters much, of course, but should the show's creators opt to run with the limit of 12 regens starting with Hartnell, then they should really count it in.

If you ask me, the Doctor's aborted regeneration in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End disregarded the rules of regeneration more than this whole "507 regenerations" thing has.

 

[Starkers]

Why is no-one counting the regeneration in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End? Did I miss something? Not that it matters much, of course, but should the show's creators opt to run with the limit of 12 regens starting with Hartnell, then they should really count it in.

If you ask me, the Doctor's aborted regeneration in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End disregarded the rules of regeneration more than this whole "507 regenerations" thing has.

Wouldn't that be a great line...

"I can only regenerate twelve times...of course I didn't used to be able to reverse a regeneration or grow my hand back...things have been a little weird since the Time War..."

 

[Sci]

Why is no-one counting the regeneration in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End? Did I miss something? Not that it matters much, of course, but should the show's creators opt to run with the limit of 12 regens starting with Hartnell, then they should really count it in.

If you ask me, the Doctor's aborted regeneration in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End disregarded the rules of regeneration more than this whole "507 regenerations" thing has.

Wouldn't that be a great line...

"I can only regenerate twelve times...of course I didn't used to be able to reverse a regeneration or grow my hand back...things have been a little weird since the Time War..."

You'd almost think that the rules of regeneration exist to serve the story being told rather than to dictate what story can be told!

 

[The]

You'd almost think enough posters have repeated that obvious mantra over and over in this thread for them to understand everyone gets it and it makes no difference to the point...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Nope. Not until everyone agrees with my point of view.

 

[David cgc]

Why is no-one counting the regeneration in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End? Did I miss something? Not that it matters much, of course, but should the show's creators opt to run with the limit of 12 regens starting with Hartnell, then they should really count it in.

My take is that the regeneration limit is because the whole body-changing is a stressful event, and after twelve times, they just can't take it anymore, as opposed to a Time Lord having a "regeneration battery" that runs out after twelve goes.

That also fits with my takeaway from "Journey's End" and "The End of Time" (and, I guess, the original explanation in "Planet of the Spiders") that the change in bodies is an undesired side-effect of a healing regeneration, and if they had their way, they'd just halt the process after it repaired their damage, but before it snowballed into rebuilding their entire body from the ground up.