Dr Who Questions

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networkn

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#104418 18-Jun-2012 16:04

Hi There!

I was arguing with a friends girlfriend the other night (don't do it) about Dr Who.

I maintained that every time the doctor regenerates, he becomes younger and that to support that, every actor who played the doctor was younger than the one before.

She was adamant that wasn't correct. I showed her on Wikipedia supporting evidence but she refuted it saying Wikipedia wasn't an official source.

Anyone able to corroborate it?

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#642593 18-Jun-2012 16:09

Uh oh..thats one big can of worms youre opening up.. :)

I was a huge Dr Who fan back in my youth, and pretty sure I saw the same question asked many moons ago, and the response was that it was just coincidence and not part of the story as such....
Think its one of those things that will never have the right answer.... :) Good luck

XPD / Gavin

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#642611 18-Jun-2012 16:35

Just coincidence... I'm pretty sure that Peter Davison was the youngest doctor to date when he took the role... He had a succession of older Doctors follow him

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#642616 18-Jun-2012 16:44

Davison was my fav Doctor for some reason.... think it was the fact he was younger than the ones before him.

XPD / Gavin

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networkn

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#642618 18-Jun-2012 16:48

Davison was mine as well followed closely by Pertwee.

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#642631 18-Jun-2012 17:02

It's coincidental. I'm also pretty sure that Sylvester McCoy was older than Colin Baker, but don't quote me on that. That change supposedly suffered from "De-Regeneration" though, plus the fact that he tried strangling his companion in the first episode of his appearance which didn't endear him to viewers.

It's been theorised that there's no real reason why Timelords even need to regenerate as the same sex, but I don't know that that's ever been investigated during the show.

Here you go, 6 out of 10 regenerations have been younger, so even fewer than I thought;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_%28Doctor_Who%29#Changing_faces

Or for the train watchers out there - an "official" Dr Who wiki on the topic: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Regeneration

@KnightNZ

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#642636 18-Jun-2012 17:11

If you've not already seen it, you have to watch the Comic Relief Dr Who episode!!! Just search YouTube for it and you are in for a treat... Doctors 9 thru 13! Hilarious - and one of them is a female!! Dalek bumps... too funny!!

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#642668 18-Jun-2012 17:34

Perhaps each generation of viewer is younger. The latest season was definitely more aimed at kids than the older seasons that we're far more mature.

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#642732 18-Jun-2012 18:58

networkn: Hi There!

I was arguing with a friends girlfriend the other night (don't do it) about Dr Who.

I maintained that every time the doctor regenerates, he becomes younger and that to support that, every actor who played the doctor was younger than the one before.

She was adamant that wasn't correct. I showed her on Wikipedia supporting evidence but she refuted it saying Wikipedia wasn't an official source.

Anyone able to corroborate it?

The Doctors in the current series do follow a pattern of getting younger.

This pattern isn't so in the original series though. In order... Hartnell was in his 50s, Troughton was in his 40s, Pertwee was in his 50s, Baker in his 40s, Davison in his 20s, Baker in his 40s, McCoy in his 40s, McGann in his 30s.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Davison and McGann, and will be meeting McCoy at the next Armageddon event.

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#642733 18-Jun-2012 18:59

Well I guess there are two issues:

1) Is it part of the official story that doctors regenerate to younger.
2) Are the actors younger themselves.

Seems like 2) No.

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#642734 18-Jun-2012 19:00

gehenna: The latest season was definitely more aimed at kids than the older seasons that we're far more mature.

I don't know about that. On the Planet Gallifrey forums, whenever there's a new episode, there's a thread from the parents talking about what their kids thought. The Moffat-era of writing often had kids returning to their toys and losing interest because of the crazy plots and subtleties that went over their heads.

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#642906 19-Jun-2012 07:14

lurker: Just coincidence... I'm pretty sure that Peter Davison was the youngest doctor to date when he took the role... He had a succession of older Doctors follow him

+1 QFT

The only time it was done deliberately was with the second Doctor, and that is only because the first actor had to retire due to ill health from age. Aunty wanted someone a bit younger the second time around - incidentally, that's where regeneration came from. It was a plot device specifically invented at that point so as to explain why the Doctor suddenly looked a lot different.

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#642909 19-Jun-2012 08:19

SaltyNZ: The only time it was done deliberately was with the second Doctor, and that is only because the first actor had to retire due to ill health from age. Aunty wanted someone a bit younger the second time around - incidentally, that's where regeneration came from. It was a plot device specifically invented at that point so as to explain why the Doctor suddenly looked a lot different.

Yip, no regeneration. No Gallifrey. No sonic screwdriver.

I'd love to see his granddaughter, Suzan, return in the 50th anniversary. She's still alive in the stories as far as I'm aware, unless she got called back for the Time War, (in the Big Finish audio adventures with McGann she's alive and well.) The actress is still alive.

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#642910 19-Jun-2012 08:24

I"m sure I read/saw somewhere that The Doctor can only regenerate 13 or so times, getting pretty close to that

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#642919 19-Jun-2012 08:43

DjShadow: I"m sure I read/saw somewhere that The Doctor can only regenerate 13 or so times, getting pretty close to that

You mean The Valeyard. I'm sure someone will find a way to get around that if/when required. :-)

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#642921 19-Jun-2012 08:45

BurningBeard:

I'd love to see his granddaughter, Suzan, return in the 50th anniversary. She's still alive in the stories as far as I'm aware, unless she got called back for the Time War, (in the Big Finish audio adventures with McGann she's alive and well.) The actress is still alive.

Well, they invented a way for The Master to survive it. I'm sure they could write her in somehow. That *would* be cool!

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