Doctor Who

[Lineker]

Did the Master not get a new set of regenerations at one point or another?

[MGW]

It's supposedly 13. But it's possible he got more from River Song when she gave hers up to revive him

[stokeriño]

I thought they just quietly ditched that idea altogether.

[GhostMachine]

Okay....

The Time Lords offered the Master a new set of regenerations at one point, but he didn't get them. He got a new body by taking over the body of Tremas, who was Nyssa's father (thus the switch from decayed Master to Anthony Ainley playing the role).

He apparently got a new set of regenerations when the Time Lords stupidly resurrected him, expecting him to fight in the Time War. And apparently regeneration is not automatic, as the John Simm version refused to regenerate and was later resurrected through other means.

And I have a few theories about how they could get around the regeneration limit as far as the Doctor is concerned:

Idea #1: When River Song gave up her regenerations to save his life, he gained her remaining regenerations.

Idea #2: The regeneration limit was artificially put into place by the Time Lords to keep their #s down or to keep them from becoming too full of themselves. Since the Time Lords are gone, that limit is no longer in place.

Idea #3: Whatever allowed the Doctor to survive the Time War somehow gave him more regenerations, OR (and this part would be REALLY stupid) he gained the regenerations of all the Time Lords who were time locked.

Idea #4: Something along the lines of the Cartmel Masterplan, with the Doctor being revealed as THE Time Lord, and that means he has more regeneration cycles than the others.

I had an additional idea, but its so bad that its the thing you'd expect to find in an extremely awful fanfic, and anyone who would actually approve of the idea should be shot:

The Doctor actually dies after using up all his regenerations, but manages to cure the Master's insanity first. And to make up for all the evil he did, the Master becomes the new Doctor.

Edited May 11, 2013 by GhostMachine

[Vamp]

I'm really not a fan of doing the Cartmel Masterplan of revealing The Doctor's almost like a God amongst the Time Lords. I think its even more pointless now really. He's the Last of the Time Lords, he doesn't need to be the God of the Time Lords too. They should just not explain it when he passes the regeneration limit. I think it'd be fun to have him freak ou in the run up to his last regeneration, knowing that its his last, then he seems to be dying and regenerates with no explanation. Have him try and search for a reason off-screen, he never finds one, and then have him do a line at some point about not knowing if it'll happen again or what's going on. Although even all this is probably a bit fan wanky. Maybe its best just to drop it.

[Benji]

Hopefully that smashing of the screwdriver means that it's going back to basics on the blasted thing.

EDIT: Fuck, it wasn't the screwdriver he smashed

[Ant]

Great episode this week. Next weeks looks freaky.

Also, the kids annoyed the ever-loving piss out of me.

[Your Mom]

The boy was ok. The girl was pretty awful

[Ruki]

The children and the deus ex machina ending were terrible. More so the children, because, fuck, they were just the worst. But otherwise, I enjoyed the episode! I always like dramatic chess games in television

Plus! Next week! More Strax! And it seems like more 'main storyline' stuff!~

[stokeriño]

And it seems like more 'main storyline' stuff!~

It would pretty much have to be, since it's the end of the season.

[Benji]

And thank fuck for that.

[Ant]

Whens the 50th anniversary show?

[stokeriño]

Late November.

[Ant]

Excellent birthday present.

[Benji]

Another meh episode, with the children being a pointless waste of space. Mind you, we seem to have hints of what Clara could be - the talk about The Doctor erasing himself from time... is Clara the thing that filled the gaps?

Also, I came up with a solution that can get rid of the screwdriver as a solve all AND allow them to have a big merch seller - bring back K9. That way you have a regular companion who can do all the stuff the screwdriver can, and add something else to the dynamic.

[Vamp]

I think having to get K9 in each episode these days would be more clunky than the overuse of the screwdriver. Doctor Who moves at too much of a pace for the K9 character. Not that I think the pace Who is operating at the moment is great for the stories but I can't see them taking the foot of the gas with the current format. I think maybe that's the real problem at the moment, and one that might be partly responsible for the amount of screwdriver use, the writers seem to be struggling to fit everything into 45 minutes. That Gaiman episode, to me, felt like it'd have been better over two parts. Maybe even that TARDIS episode would have had an actual plot rather than the barest traces of one if it was over two parts. It seems like they're having difficulty balancing things really. They went from 6 which was constantly obsessed with the 'overall' story and made everything else seem unimportant to having to fit every story into 45 minutes. It just amplifies those problems of things not really being explained rather well or the plots being weaker. I'm not saying go back to six episode long stories or anything silly, just give some stories the two parts they need, but also let those stories stand alone rathenr than being an excuse for an advert for the finale.

Although the 45 minute rule doesn't apply to everyone. Gatiss was very good at this series, but then perhaps that's because of the experiance he has writing 45 minute eps for Who.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Vamp

[Benji]

A warning - the season 7b DVDs have shipped early, so finale spoilers will be likely on the net.

[Ruki]

A warning - the season 7b DVDs have shipped early, so finale spoilers will be likely on the net.

I heard that on Sunday...didn't find any torrents for the episode.

[thatblindgeye]

They're saying if people keep quiet about it, we'll get a special Ten/Eleven scene or something after the episode airs this Saturday.

[Your Mom]

Is there an episode this week? My DVR doesnt have it listed.