Doctor Who Regenerates in 2010

A couple of weeks ago the BBC reported (with accompanying video) that 10th Doctor David Tennant will be stepping down from the role after a final stint of four specials next year, beginning with this year’s Christmas special. That’s right boys and girls: the man who rode the Doctor Who Explosion of 2007 to become one of the most popular incarnations of the Time Lord is hanging up his sonic screwdriver after just four years. [ See the video at the BBC website ]

You didn’t read it here first, but we here at Powet have something to say about Tennant’s planned exit from Doctor Who: DON’T DO IT, MAN!

The rumors began flying when the BBC announced that 2009 would not be host to a standard series of 13 episodes such as we had come to expect, but regular episodes would resume with the fifth series in 2010. Reasons for this decision varied, explained in part by Tennant’s busy feature film and stage schedule.

But by the time show-runner and show-resurrector Russel T. Davies announced he would be leaving at the end of 2009, the writing was on the wall. Fans naturally wondered, given Tennant’s close working relationship with Davies, if he too would be on his way out. We were even psychologically prepared for his potential exit when it looked like the good Doctor had been felled at the hand (well, plunger) of Random Dalek #42 in the final episodes of Series 4. (Turns out it was a false alarm — long story.)

Sadly, the rumors turned out to be true — but while we still don’t know who will fill the Gallifreyan’s trainers, we do that Steven Moffat is taking over the helm as Executive Producer. This couldn’t be a better choice, as Moffat has written what I think are almost inarguably the best episodes of the new series. Given Moffat’s Series 3 episode Blink and subsequent Bafta win, I’m clearly not alone.

This is why Tennant is absolutely mad to consider leaving now. In his video interview he claims this was the plan all along. But plans can and should change, especially in the light of his overwhelming popularity. This isn’t a show you can come back to. (Or is it? The aforementioned “false alarm” regeneration resulted in a mostly-human Doctor clone, who was left to adventure around a parallel Earth with Rose and family in tow.) When you say it’s your dream to become Doctor Who, and it turns out you’re bloody brilliant at it, you don’t leave until they push you out of the TARDIS in a wheelchair.

Not to mention his exit leaves too many questions unanswered. These are the biggest hanging threads that will drive me bonkers if they are not resolved in the Scotsman’s last four-to-five hours:

1) What became of Jenny?

During his adventures with Donna, the Doctor was tricked into a bit of parthenogenesis, giving up the cell sample that would lead to the creation of his new Daughter — an artifically aged soldier who the Doctor called “like me, but not enough like me”. When she apparently met her end, this statement rung all too true, and the Doctor and his companions left her behind. Before the episode was over we found out that she was indeed quite a bit like him after all (and, in a bit of trivia, the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison). Will Jenny reunite with her father before he changes beyond all recognition?

2) The Doctor’s Age

The Doctor has claimed to be 900 years old since his sixth incarnation. I think he’s just becoming too self-conscious to admit to his advanced years. The Seventh Doctor’s exit was preceded by a narration of how he was nearing “the end of [his] seventh life” with a noticeably aged Sylvestor McCoy (although admittedly he picked up a “900 Year Diary”). We don’t even know how long the pranced about in his eighth body’s “comfortable shoes”. Oh well, it’s all relative right? However, the Doctor encounters proof that he live to be much, much older, leading me to…

3) The Secret of Doctor River Song

In Series 4, Tennant’s Doctor met a woman claiming to be his wife in the future (his future, anyway). She refers to his present-day self as his “early” days, finding him quite brash and young. Now, being his wife, I would assume that she knew about his ability to regenerate and how to recognize him across his different incarnations. I thought this meant he would probably live past the typical Time Lord limit of 13 lives. Others think that this particula Doctor lives to be quite old. Will this be addressed in any of the coming specials, or — since this was a Moffat story — will it be explored in Series 5 and beyond?

2009 is going to be an interesting year for Doctor who, and it all begins with the upcoming fourth Christmas special, starring the Cybermen! (Hopefully the real ones this time.) Stay tuned to Powet.TV for more information about Doctor Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures as each series progresses.

What do YOU think of David Tennant as the Doctor? Who do you want to see replace him? Do you have any expectations of the coming year? Leave a comment and let us know!

Related Stories:

Doctor Who Explosion of 2007
Doctor Who: Series Five News