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Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has promised that the upcoming finale will address the ‘controversial’ Time Lord change.
Two years ago, fans of the sci-fi series were left perplexed after Ncuti Gatwa took over the iconic role from David Tennant in a way that broke away from a long-held Time Lord tradition.
The Sex Education star bi-generated into the Fifteenth Doctor in the 60th anniversary special, titled ‘The Giggle’, drawing heavy criticism from large portions of the Doctor Who fanbase.
Now, however, ahead of the season 15 finale ‘The Reality War’ on Saturday night, the show’s writer Russell has reassured fans that the form of regeneration will be explained.
After posting a selfie from inside the Bone Palace, @varax89 asked him: ‘There will be an explanation for bigeneration?’
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Russell then replied: ‘@varax89 actually, yes! 👍’
Responding to the exchange on Instagram, several Reddit users shared their concerns over the potential reveal.
Discussing Russell’s writing, JOhn101010101 said: ‘Oh no. His explanations don’t have a tendency to actually explain too much.’
tickofaclock added: ‘Whenever 15 leaves, I just really, really hope he regenerates in a normal way. I don’t mind bigeneration as a couple of special one-offs, but I really don’t want it to be the new normal.’
Metro's resident Doctor Who expert Asyia Iftikhar weighs in on bi-generation
Doctor Who is an ever-evolving show with constant change literally woven into its very fabric so Whovians often roll with the wild twists, turns and wacky experiments played out by the showrunners to push the 60-year-old show to its limits – and often past it.
Nowhere is that clearer than with the bold concept of bi-generation which was introduced in the 60th anniversary special. As shown during 14th Doctor David Tennant’s regeneration, instead of the usual complete transformation of one Doctor into the next, bi-generation spliced Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor out of him so both could exist at one time.
Look, there are no boundaries when it comes to sci-fi, especially when it comes to the physiology and life cycle of a fictional alien race with two hearts. But some things feel like they should remain sacred and the poetic nature of the Doctor’s regeneration – saying a final good bye to one (unless you are David Tennant) and welcoming in another is at the beating heart of the series and the emotional punch is heavily dampened by knowing they end up just pointlessly kicking about while the next Doctor goes on his adventures.
Now the concept has been doubled down on with The Rani’s bi-generation, I can only hope the whole affair is put to a rest with the end of this season as a fun but short-lived experiment.
Tevcon01 also wrote: ‘Having bigeneration for the 14th doctor is one thing but saying that everyone did is just nonsense. Why would 10 and 12 struggle so much if they just exist after the regeneration.’
Meanwhile, J-McFox proposed: ‘It’s just going to be the Rani saying she worked out the science behind the myth so it’s possible now.’
Following the release of season 15’s penultimate episode last week, Doctor Who fans are convinced they know what Rani is up to.
The seventh episode, Wish World, saw the bigenerated Rani (played by Anita Dobson and Archi Punjabi) reveal themselves to a disorientated Doctor.
The dastardly Rani plans to dig beneath the surface of this reality to find Omega, an all-powerful entity from olde worldy Time Lord history.
In trying to jog the Doctor’s memory after his humdrum suburban fugue state, Reya explained: ‘We are the last Time Lord and the last Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey.’
She also added: ‘The tragedy is we were never enemies. Every villain you ever fought wanted death. I only wanted life. Remember?’
This wrinkle has left many fans wondering if the Rani might be out to resurrect Gallifrey and the Time Lords, instead of the classic laying waste MO we get from most villains.
Ardent Whovians immediately sprung on Reddit to theorise what it might all mean. @Grafikpapst wrote: ‘She wants to bring the Time Lords back. He is the scientist that created the Time Lords. He is also the greatest mind Gallifrey ever had, so The Rani is probably a very big fan, seeing as she too is a scientist at heart.’
Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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