A Spirited Defense of Doctor Who's Bi-generation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
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Thanks for continuing to share link to this video. I'm using this and other of your videos when friends don't understand my frustration about BBC or about that horrific author wich name makes my mouth go sour.
Yeah I really loved the bigeneration for a few reasons:
1. It came out a month into my addiction recovery, and while not analogous, it gave me a much needed sense of hope.
2. Has anyone commented on how much this is about Davies himself? Anyone who’s read the Writer’s Tale knows how much he ran himself ragged running the show the first time round. So showing his doctor being forced to stop and recover before we get to Ncuti seems pretty touchingly about his own experience.
3. It was something different, and it gave us so much more Ncuti, enough to get me really excited for him going forward. His energy, his caring maturity. I can’t remember falling in love with a new series doctor so immediately, and being able to do so before his official “first” story, was lovely.
Your 2nd point is something I knew about but never realized was put back into his writing! It’s absolutely brilliant.
Great post, I heartily agree. The only thing I would have liked is for the episode to have been much longer, so the main plot of The Giggle could shine more
I think, for me, I liked it, in part, because after five Doctors worth of angst and living with the weight of the past, I was ready for, well, a Doctor who wasn't weighed down by his past failures. No matter how buoyant the Doctor might be from episode to episode, there was an underlying aura of just...I don't know, sadness, depression, regret that, I'm sorry to say got really old and tired after a while. And by having Tennant there, they could skip over the whole 'we need to spend a few seasons healing' stuff. We already did it, as 15th said.
A docter WHO wasn't weighed down.
It was a major maskjob of all that emotional weight. Thirteen didn’t save Gallifrey. (You know, unless she was offscreen yelling “No sir, all 14” but nobody picked it up). She was the only incarnation that had to deal with the redestruction and Time Lord cyberconversion. It was a lot even before the Flux
Ncuti Gatwa was treated like the star of the show and a beloved friend from everyone on screen the second he appeared. Well, everyone except the Toymaker of course. It kinda felt like RTD wanting to make up for Tennant's exit in his final episode. After seeing him visit all his friends and borderline crying while saying he doesn't want to go felt like it set fans up to not be excited about Matt Smith. This time we see David Tennant as an avid and loving supporter of his incoming incarnation. It's like he was prepping the fans to be just as excited. So, I also don't understand how bigeneration took away from Gatwa's moment. He got to shine and everyone already loved and respected him.
I absolutely adore the idea of a healed Doctor and the fact that after 60 years of the show, a Doctor got a "happy" ending.
My biggest reservation was that it wasn't a definitive ending. He kept his eternal life, his TARDIS and all of his friends. I would have much preferred if the 14th Doctor somehow had a human life span after bi generating and lived out the next 50 years or so with Donna & family to give him a definitive happy ending. Plus, the fact he got his own TARDIS and still travelled made the idea of him settling down a bit hollow.
This is a big timey wimey, but the Doctor is always out there. He has a time machine. 12 was a professor on Earth for 70 years, and I am sure that the show will have Doctors facing world-ending events during that span of time without wondering why Capaldi’s Doctor doesn’t help.
If this Doctor is “retired,” then yes, he could conceivably live for centuries. Maybe once his human family has passed on, he might go off to tend bees or something in Tibet. I’m not too worried.
Yeah, it’s the second TARDIS that bothers me. Fourteen retiring? Maybe. Retiring while in possession of a TARDIS? Now, every season finale, when the stakes are highest and 15’s situation seems dire, I'm going to expect thrumming and wheezing.
@@ThePlayTyperGuy I like your 'the Doctor is always out there' counter-argument. But other Doctors were active, and Capaldi’s Doctor had made a promise, with Nardole to remind him (at least until Bill shows up). Fourteen is busy with... retirement? And once retired, people stay retired... right, Russell?
If it only took 50 years to fix his trauma I don't think it would be as big a deal as it is. That Doctor settled down with Donna's family for a while and then put the work in elsewhere to really heal, knowing that the universe was safe in the hands of his successor and predecessors.
The whole time I was watching this video all I was thinking was "Tom Baker's Curator is running around and I don't know why. Bi-generation might be why"
i thought it was pretty clearly implied with 11's sentence beforehand "i could retire, i could be the great curator" and the curator's "perhaps i was you" to mean that this is a very very far future incarnation of the doctor who has decided to retire and take an old face
Yes that is my head cannon.
I love that. I also thought something similar when watching the end of Shada and we saw an aged Fourth Doctor, wondering how people would see him in 200 years time. I thought "Is that the Curator?"
I really enjoyed the fact we got so much time with Ncuti in _The Giggle_ - rather than the usual "Doctor gets hit, crawls off to TARDIS, blows the thing to bits with regeneration energy (y'd think they'd'a' learned to do it outside, far away from anything fragile or expensive, by now...), turns into the New Doctor who delivers a single pithy line and then the credits roll". The ability to get an idea for what Ncuti's Doctor's going to be like as he capers about with Tennant's 14th Doctor, Donna and U.N.I.T. - that was pure gold! It made me really look forward to the upcoming season with a new Doctor I already *_like_*
I'm okay with the bi gen. It was fun for me. We need to remember that half the universe had been destroyed, and then the Doctor brought in folk and superstition to the universe in the Blue Yonder. The universe is healing and filling in the blanks. The Universe, and it's timelines are inherently different. We are in a new version of the same universe.
Yeah the universe basically went through a dc Universe crisis
To me, the whole character of the Doctor is that he is incompatible with human life and that he can never settle down. I don't think Rose, Martha or Yaz would be too happy that he is chilling with his new family in modern day London.
Idk I think that's mainly a 10th doctor thing. There are loads of doctors that I could totally see settling down if they ever found the time to do it.
@@marvelsomething1952He has a lifespan of over 2000 years, it's absurd to claim he's never had the time to settle down. He's had nothing BUT time.
@@8LiterallyJustTheNumber8 Well that's the doctor all over. Plenty of time going about but he can never seem to find any.
@@marvelsomething1952 which is exactly why I don't buy that 14 would settle down just because 15 exists....he's a time traveler, there have ALWAYS been other versions of him out in the universe. He would see this bigeneration as an opportunity to do even MORE to help people. I just don't buy it that he would take it as an excuse to settle down, it's just not who the character is.
@@8LiterallyJustTheNumber8 As I said before, it depends which version. Some doctors can't bear the thought of not doing everything they possibly can to improve the universe. Others just travel around and help out where they can or when they see some specific injustice that bothers them.
What i find interesting is that Ncuti's Doctor says Bi-generation is supposed to be a myth. But myths generally have a kernel of truth to them. So what i want to know is the myth based on his prior pre-Hartnell lives that he doesn't remember, or did some poor random Time Lord way back in the early days Bi-generate and the myth lingered before Tektaeun or Rassilon quietly buried the whole incident. Could be a fun story to look into one day.
I found the “myth” comment interesting considering that 15 has also acknowledged the Timeless Child revelation. Given what he now knows, he shouldn’t consider anything a “myth” per se about regeneration. The Time Lords were either lying or didn’t fully understand how regeneration worked.
@@ThePlayTyperGuy They're lying. If it's the Time Lord then they're lying, forget control of the flow of time, their real power is telling massive lies with a straight face.
I just viewed that as another example of superstition becoming real, following the salt at the end of the universe and the toymaker. So up until then bigeneration really was just a myth, but the toymaker's domain allowed it to become a reality.
@@Creek932yeah that was also my thought
I get the idea of feeling like it steps on Ncuti's moment, because I felt like that before Church on Ruby Road aired. 15 feels like a secondary character in that story (which I mean, he is). in other regenerations the new doctor was just not a character at all, so there's no feeling of that character being demoted because they're not yet a character.
however, once Church aired, those feelings went away. 15 shines so bright in this episode that whatever subconscious part felt like the Doctor has been turned into a secondary character is just gone.
so yeah, I get this criticism before Church on Ruby Road aired. but now? nah.
I mean I guess... but you can use that logic to validate The Timeless Child simply by virtue of the writers quioetly trying to pretend they didn't say that.
I wouldn't mind a Noble Family Christmas Special if they feel compelled to do a Tenant centric special. A nice low stakes Christmas episode.
The Doctor navigating Tesco's during a holiday rush, rather than navigating an actual war. (Though the holiday rush might be more violent. :) )
@@eshbena I like your idea. this reminds me of the only Big Finish I listened to. Seventh Doctor and Ace are going to a paradise planet but they end up getting stuck in the parking lot planet. It was very much like a Doctor Who riff on the garage episode of Seinfeld.
That or a festive Big Finish Audio Drama .
Just a fun lil slice of life thing
Simple Children in Need skits would work too
I don't have Tennant fatigue, never will, but I'm looking forward to Ncuti
I don't have tenant fatigue per day but I don't want him back permanently for the same reason has mentioned, I want the show to progress.
29:01 Mom look! I'm on a Council of Geeks video!!!
That's nice, dear. Eat your broccoli.
You might say that 14, with his happy ending, is the proper Time Lord Victorious.
The thing is, don't all the doctors exist simultaneously because they time travel? Different doctors have been to the same time period before. So 14 and 15 are just being parallel perhaps a bit more than usual, depending on how many episodes take place on earth
I guess my take on the bi-regeneration was different than other people’s, because when I saw it happening, I didn’t consider it to be a canon break. I just assumed this was a similar process to the one that allowed K'anpo Rimpoche and his future regeneration Cho-Je to exist in the same timeline as separate entities (Planet of the Spiders). Obviously that isn’t what RTD intended, but I suspect when the 14th Doctor regenerates, it will happen just like K’ampo’s. Another part of my head canon for The Giggle is, the reason the face of the 10th Doctor returned was that the 14th Doctor got to reclaim what the 10th Doctor was forced to give up in Human Nature/The Family of Blood: the chance to live a normal life.
It's weird to me that people don't bring this up when talking about the 4 to 5 regeneration.
I think part of the issue is people are ascribing linear temporal logic to a time lord.
The big argument I hear is "but there's two doctors, so there's half the threat! If something happens, why can't the 14th sort it?"
For the same reason the second doctor can't, or the 7th, or the 19th. There's no reason the Fourth Doctor couldn't save 21st Century earth, just as there's no reason 15 couldn't save Calufrax.
One thing I like about the bigeneration is that it can be used to explain away versions of the Doctor like The Curator. I imagine that when the 14th Doctor has lived out his life with The Nobles he will eventually die and, just like he returned to the face of David Tennant, he will return to the faces of “the old favourites”, and continue his retirement as The Curator.
Maybe he is also the face of boe :)
@@Rik77 I mean we know that is Jack. Right?
It reminds me of birefringence, which is a thing in geology where light enters a mineral and then splits, so there's two images. On large minerals, this can be easily seen in optical calcite, which is always neat to look at, and in thin section (when you take a rock and shave it down to microns so you can shine light through it), you can see it in the interference colours. The light enters the mineral, the two beams interfere with each other, and produce sometimes very striking colours that can be used diagnostically to determine the mineral.
Im slightly glad to hear that i'm not the only one with david Tennant fatigue. I thought i was just being old and grumpy!
As someone who lives in Britain, he's everywhere. Tv shows, chat shows, radio, interviews, and you can't get away from him.
Then you have the comics, games, books, and audios. None of which i purchased as i dont need more 10th doctor stories. But then he would turn up in stories that i wasn't expecting. The peladon boxset really annoyed me when he just turned up.
Then you had the doctor who TH-cam channel that spent years showing clips of 10th doctor stories and ignoring almost all other doctors.
Ontop of that, you have the fact that throughout Jodies era, they seemed to push the 10th doctor more than the 13th doctor in terms of merchandise.
The show should be bigger than him and should have outgrown him ages ago.
What makes me feel bad about feeling this way is that he is genuinely a really nice guy, who has a huge love for the show.
I just wish the BBC would stop pushing him as the main or best doctor and out shining the others. There are 15 of them now, they are all amazing in their own way and all deserve to share the spotlight.
I had no idea I wasn’t subscribed until just now. My algorithm just knows I like your videos so much it always recommends them.
If anything Ncuti might've stolen Tennant's spotlight! Hahaha
I can't get tired of Tennant, he's simply a great actor. And in the end I think it all worked well to have him come back to live through these events and to be the one who accepts to settle down and work on himself while living with Donna. They have that kind of relationship.
Maybe he'll be back 10 years from now (at this point it's tradition) to reprise this role and merge back into Gatwa? But it's one of those things that doesn't need to happen. I wouldn't complain to see him again, but he should really rest.
The other thing I thought is this could give them the chance to move away from contemporary times on Earth? Maybe that's wgy we're seeing more of Ncuti and Ruby in the past.
The reason I don't like bi-regeneration, or any of the recent specials, as much as I could, is mostly because everything just kind of happens without much explanation or set up. It almost felt to me like an afterthought. As if forced in there because something needed to happen. It should also speak volumes that Russel had to clear up a lot of it afterwards through social media posts and commentaries. Besides that there is just a whole lot of setup, which amounts to nothing whilst we could have really used some setup for the things that do happen. What I've heard is that Russel is trying a more fairy tale approach, but that's not what I watch sci-fi for.
Also, there has been a multidoctor regeneration story. Didn’t the 12th doctor share his regeneration story with the first?
I think what’s interesting about bigeneration is that we see the result of a “healed” doctor before we see the actual arc he goes on. I think this could work, but only if we then get to see Tennant’s journey to then make this feel like a payoff. I can definitely see Tennant fatigue - bigeneration implies Tennant will have an indefinite number of adventures and future episodes, which may take the spotlight away from ncuti. My biggest complaint with Tennant coming back is that he felt way too similar to the 10th doctor if not exactly the same. Other than the toy maker himself referencing other companions, it felt like no time or events had happened in between 10 and 14 - which I feel massively undermines 11, 12 and 13’s eras.
I would’ve personally preferred Capaldi to come back, as to show a more jaded doctor go on a arc of freedom and inner peace, he is the doctor who I feel encapsulates the older parts of the character the best.
I think we saw how the Doctor heals. He stops running. And one can argue that 15 is *traveling* but no longer running from his past, which was a trait of past Doctors. He says he’s happy. He’s already doing the work! I don’t need to see more.
@@ThePlayTyperGuy I do see that yeah, but I’d rather it be a case of show don’t tell. Doctor who has handled grief, trauma and healing in multiple episodes, one of my favourites being hellbent. They can’t just say his characters been on an arc and not show us that arc - otherwise ncuti’s doctor feels unearned and out of no where imo
@@jams7811 Oh, I definitely see your point! I do think they make a better attempt than they did with 13 who is distant and removed from her companions, but we don't really see that connected to what 12 experienced.
Personally (and I'm someone who saw - even if I don't really remember - the very first change-over in 1966), I loved it. It meant we got a multi-Doctor story for the anniversary, and I felt Tennant (of all the modern Doctors) being there actually helped cement Gatwa's place amongst them. Plus, Gatwa was great, and they were great together. It was just of bit of difference the specials needed to round them off properly. IMO.
I really think that if they point out the ending of 14th, it will be like what you said, he dies and vanishes, but the regeneration energy between them already got used, so it won't have it. I think is easy to understand like that and makes more sense
If 14 will ever return it won't be in 15's era and it will be a way to get Tennant back for a big anniversary down the road like the 70th or 80th which as long as it doesn't just become the David Tennant show again and is more like the Five Doctors or the 50th, I'm okay with it.
( 11:17 ) Tennant got referenced a bunch after he left like The Doctor’s Wife having the old TARDIS, to him making a cameo in The Girl Who Died, to him appearing in Jodie Whittaker merchandise and games like The Edge of Reality. 👍🏻
7:10 David Tenant already did that storyline with Rose Tyler ending up with the human doctor, but maybe that was undone later in the show I don't really remember from the point of Clara on
Got excited to watch this until I saw "premieres at 2am" I'll have to catch this council meeting in the morning, I think.
I came to love bi-generation. however, my biggest issue with bi-generation is that of explanation. yes it's strongly implied that this is the toymaker's influence, but it's not explicitly said so, leaving space for this to happen again in the future (which it absolutely should not).
a single half-line, something like "it's supposed to be a myth, but well, the toymaker's here so, that's that" would have been absolutely enough.
Not really the Toymaker. The Doctor himself brought this on by invoking myth at the edges of the Universe. This is why other myths are starting to come true throughout the universe (ie goblins). I think it was actually implied before by the existence of the Valeyard which is the evil side of the Doctor who split off from the Doctor during a regeneration. Heck, it is possible Tenants Doctor will become the Valeyard once he sees all the people around him grow old and die.
@@SirWussiePants Tennant's Doctor will become 15 who is brought back in time to the point of the Bigeneration.
“This amount of screen time in a regeneration story…that’s never happened before!”
….‘cept Paul McGann. 😆
Let’s not kid ourselves. Thats not a regeneration story. Thats a first adventure story with regeneration tacked on. Same with Time and the Rani.
@@CouncilofGeeks Oh, I know. I was just kidding about a technicality.
@@DeadBore no he starts that already regenerated.
Regarding the comments that "it stepped on Ncuti's toes" or "took the spotlight from Ncuti". I understand the feeling of that; but I would just point to the episode itself, and all the behind-the-scenes footage, where it is clear that Ncuti is just loving the moment, and feels that the mantle is being passed on to him - by HIS doctor...
I think it works in a special way for the actor...
And I just can't wait to see what he does with the role going forward...
I am hoping for 5 years of the 15th doctor... 🤞
( 13:43 ) I think people liked The Star Beast as a stand alone thing, but they wanted other doctors like Matt Smith to have an episode to his self too.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on them not bringing Tenant back outside of one last episode... I think that worry that he might come back is more because this is the sort of 'milking content dry' pattern that we've seen far too often by other companies with other IPs, and they really don't want this to happen with Doctor Who as well...
I really want to see 14th become the Watcher and go back to become the fifth.
I'm in the camp that's hung up on the mechanics of it and I appreciate that you acknowledged this concern.
I liked the bi-generation but the mechanics were really bothering me because I wasn't sure if it worked like 15 was an offspring of 14 like the metacrisis one was of 10 and Donna, or like a worm that is birthed from a rip in the body...or will 14 live out his life, die, and then his essence (or soul or whatever is used for a Time Lord's life force) will go back through his life stream and become 15...
So this bothered me while it's still on my mind, I do really appreciate that you acknowledged it. Thank you.
I think it's true that in time 14 will become 15, because there's that continuity of "same brain" - he is fine because 14 worked to make himself fine.
I feel like I've read that RTD suggested that 15 was actually from the future and dragged back to the point of the bi-generation, hence his "already done the rehab" line. I could be misremembering that but I still like that as the way to get my head around it. It didn't strike me as 15 being newly regenerated as he didn't have any of the post regen madness for example. Ideally if this is what RTD had in mind I'd love to see an episode one day where 14 becomes 15, a nice round circle of timey wimey. 😁😁
My issues with bi-generation boiled down to the confusion of how 14 ends up becoming 15 and how they get back to that moment on UNIT Tower, how it leaves the door more open for the Tennant fans to demand his appearance (even if the show isn't planning on it) and how in an episode like The Stolen Earth, if they were to do something of that scale again and 15 or later couldn't get to earth, as there'd already be a Doctor on earth which they'd have to address otherwise it would be a plot hole. Oh and also, I do hope 14 isn't on earth for too long (in Time Lord scale), as it could really back fire on his healing if he literally watches all of the Noble clan wither and die of old age (like 10 said to Rose in School Reunion).
I don't think that doctors sharing the screen steals thunder. I think it ties them together.
I know that the "other Doctors woke up in the place of their regeneration" thing is just an interview quote, but I wouldn't mind if it became canon, because it would allow them to come back and have an explanation of them being older. Chibnall now had to retort to either making them a hologram or being inside the Doctor's mind. And while creative, I feel it could be done in less complex ways and this is one of them.
I’d prefer if we get a distinction between bigeneration and previous doctors from alternate time streams (tales of the Tardis).
I don’t think bigeneration is needed to solve the older doctors returning problem because you can say they are from an alternate time stream where they didn’t regenerate like it was explained in Tot Tardis. However Russel has seemed to combine these two ideas which I think causes a lot of the confusion
( 4:52 ) I do like that two doctors can speak to each other during a regeneration, almost like at the end of Deep Breath, but I think it’s the 14 Doctor’s retirement that people have an issue with imo.
Honestly I hope Tales From The Tardis is canon just for the reuniting of Steven & Vicky as well as them giving Jamie and Zoe their memories back
That and Jo encouraging Clyde to propose to Rani.
@@nekusakura6748 and gave an actually nice interaction between a more calm 6th doctor and Peri, which was a massive improvement over what their relationship was like in the show
Great video, as always. I was wondering what you thought of something a few fans have commented on, which is that the _OTHER_ thing you said RTD shouldn't do (explain away the Timeless Child) he sorta kinda did, at least to a degree, without people realizing it. Full disclosure, I am by no means someone obsessed with the Timeless Child or Chibnall's era, I'm just genuinely curious what you think of this, since there's implications it may also play a role in Gatwa's upcoming first season.
Specifically, the line from the Giggle in which he says "I made a jigsaw out of your past" implies he may have used his cosmic powers to literally change the history of the Doctor's backstory, thus potentially having created the Timeless Child origin as a "new timeline" (with his "original timeline" origin still being a mystery). To be clear, this isn't speculation, RTD confirmed this reading was what he meant (already aware of your views on "author intent" as far as Doctor Who, but this one feels somewhat more stated onscreen). Just curious if you have any thoughts on that, totally okay if you don't.
I'd like a source for RTD confirming it.
i think the concept is there, makes sense and if written well could be pulled off perfectly fine. but the issue is its not written well, its not explained and why they try to explain it it just becomes more convoluted and confusing.
The only episode they could do with Tenant that would be ok is one that is about what is everyday life is like now.
You bring up a HUGE point in which this is the first time when we’ll have a series of modern who staring a Doctor that’s actually Happy, no past trauma that’s affecting him. Essentially making him a more efficient and honestly just happy to be exploring the universe again. My favorite aspect of the doctor is his fascination with the universe and all that it entails.
Even with Matt Smith you could still tell he had an edge to him if pushed far enough
Didn't we kind of get it with the curator, we just didn't get to see so much as have it heavily hinted at?
I missed the call out for comments on why people dislike the bigeneration, so I'll answer a few questions raised in the video and make some comments on points I disagree with. As you say at the end of the video, none of this is objective, and ultimately the differing opinions are all perfectly valid.
First off, I disagree with the argument that the bigeneration allowed The Doctor to retire, and that this wouldn't have been possible otherwise. It's perfectly possible for this to happen without a bigeneration - The Doctor has a time machine and there's absolutely nothing stopping them from 'resting'. And to varying extents, it already HAS happened, multiple times. The Doctor spent those 24 years with River on the same planet, no implication of them leaving. The Doctor spent decades as a university professor, taking a vow to never leave earth so he could defend the vault, which never was under attack and he never had to really do anything to defend; that was effectively a retirement. The Doctor spent 900 years ingratiating himself in the 'town called Christmas'; sure he was fighting off enemy assaults but it was certainly a far more low-key affair than his usual deal. In my opinoin, there is absolutely no reason why the bigeneration needed to happen to give The Doctor a retirement, and the fact that this was used as a narrative justification within the show invalidated a huge amount of the Capaldi era in my opinion, and ignores the fact that Moffat went out of his way to try to rid 12 of baggage through a very similar mechanism.
"If you're tired of Tennant, were you put off from all the specials?"
Yep, I was. But I think the bigeneration made it much worse, because not only was Tennant the first ever Doctor to be brought back, he's the one who gets to stick around for an indefinite amount of time and cast a shadow over the Doctor who comes after. So the bigeneration was a case of rubbing salt in the wound. I think, creatively, and for the long-term health of the show, bringing Tennant back was an awful idea, and the bigeneration made it even worse. Also, the Tennant fatigue doesn't even rely on any future possibility; the fatigue is there from what's already happened, and made worse by how the bigeneration elevated him even more than his return already had.
I don't think the 'casting a shadow' relies on the assumption that Tennant *will* come back; all that's required is the *possibility* that Tennant can come back, without notice at any moment and no explanation or narrative justification will be needed. It's the possibility, not an assumed inevitability, that casts the shadow. On that note, a common comment I've seen is "RTD is setting up for Tennant to return if Ncuti turns out to be unpopular". I don't think the 10 clone in series 4 is an especially valid precedent, because that Doctor was very explicitely locked away in a parallel universe that couldn't be returned to. In my opinion, there is a pretty clearly defined finality to the metacrisis Doctor, and an explicit lack of finality to 14.
In terms of the lack of clarity in what bigeneration is and why it works, obviously your opinion that it doesn't matter to you is perfectly valid. For me, it's not that I care that much about the complete mess that is Doctor Who lore. It's just that the complete lack of clarity and the major confusion surrounding WTF just happened, how, why, what it means, etc etc, made it fall completely flat for me as a narrative device. I don't think "the toymaker messed with stuff so now weird stuff happens" is an at all satisfying narrative justification for why it happened; that logic could be used to justify literally *any* plot point imaginable, and it doesn't actually answer anything at all. The Toymaker excuse being the one and only way that RTD even attempts to justify or explain any of it just felt extremely lazy to me, like RTD wasn't even trying. Doctor Who has never been a show that needs to explain things in detail, but even by those standards, I thought everything to do with the bigeneration was *extremely* sloppily handled. The entire thing just ended up being a random, confusing, illogical mess to me. It came across like a first draft of a script desperately in need of three or four more revisions to actually work.
In terms of Ncuti's thunder being stolen, you say you don't get it, so I'll try to explain why I (and perhaps others, although I won't claim to speak for them) feels that way. It isn't because of the amount of screen time in the episode where we first see the new Doctor, but *how* the new Doctor is introduced. The one or two lines after a regeneration are like a teaser for what's to come; they make you excited for that Doctor's first episode. But in the first 20 minutes we get with Ncuti, he is overshadowed by Tennant, very much playing second fiddle. And then, Ncuti's 'thunder' was significantly weakened in The Church on Ruby Road because we had already seen so much of him; it was far less exciting than it would have been if we had just had one or two lines at the end of The Giggle, because we already have a pretty decent idea of him. In that way, Ncuti didn't really get a 'first episode' in a way a Doctor usually does, and that's the primary reason why I feel like he was undermined. He doesn't get his 'moment' in The Giggle because Tennant is there, and he doesn't get his 'moment' in TCoRR because we've already seen 20 minutes of him. So to me, both episodes feel less special for Ncuti, when combined together, than one episode introducing him would have done.
Anyway, thanks for the video! I enjoyed hearing your thoughts.
I agree 💯
Completely agree with this. I think it's also worth pointing out that Metacrisis story was the bow to tie off Rose' story. All those characters were sent away to a different universe, which adds the finality of it, that we'd neither see Rose Tyler, her family or Metacrisis again. They very clearly serve a strong narrative purpose, written in a way that telegraphs it being the final end of that bit of Who history.
The 14th Doctor, however, has retired with the Nobles. In our universe. In (I presume) London. The questions of "where is 14?" in upcoming world-ending crisis' is completely valid particularly in London centric stories (because if anything, it is a form of unintentional character assassination that the Doctor, who 14 still is, would put anyone in danger on the assumption that his future self will save the day. Especially his newfound adopted family. Because there is zero guarantee his future self WILL save the day. The fifteenth Doctor could die from the perspective of the Fourteenth Doctor. We viewers obviously know better, but this is why this argument doesn't work for me and actively damages the character of the Doctor should modern day earth fall into peril)
But additionally, we now know that we will see at least two characters who are directly in contact with the 14th Doctor in Season One: Rose Noble and Mel. Rose Noble especially has a strong link to 14's story and that makes the upcoming character dynamics a bit weird in the absence of 14. And I think the fact that RTD is bringing Rose Noble back, should probably be an omen of 14's eventual return in a story because he didn't wrap that part of his story off with a neat bow, which means I definitely don't think it's finished. To be fair, Vera acknowledges the potential of 14's return to wrap up that story in the video.
The main reason I don't love bi regeneration is that it's repetitive. It is repetitive of 13 regenerating into an old face. It is highly repetitive of the 10th Doctor budding off a metacrisis Doctor. (Especially as it gives another companion a happy ending after their stint on the show.) I don't love writers repeating such central ideas of their own work particularly in a story that should show that they have new things to say. Don't get me wrong, I adore RTD and his writing. But I want to see what brand new ideas he has.
I think I would say that David stole Ncuti’s thunder not because Ncuti didn’t get enough to do, but I felt that it invited comparisons between the old and new doctor before we had a full sense of who this new doctor was yet. In a multi-doctor story the joy is seeing two incarnations interact in a way that highlights their differences. I don’t feel that plays well if the audience is still trying to figure out how the new Doctor is different in that moment. Instead of learning about the new Doctor, we are now also inherently comparing every piece of characterization with the incarnation we have decades of familiarity with already. I know comparing the new Doctor to the one we just had will happen anyway, but this feels like more. The War Doctor at least had a full scene without any other Doctor present before he was put alongside any other Doctor.
I thought Deep Breath’s use of Matt Smith was a deliberate end to the episode’s themes of a companion struggling to accept a new doctor as an analogy for the audience’s own bias. I think it deliberately drew that comparison between the old and new as a way to sort of tell off the audience for that bias. The Giggle does nothing with its comparison between new and old Doctor and plays that comparison completely straight, and that’s why it felt off to me.
26:51 Thanks for addressing what I considered one of the more frustrating criticisms about bi-generation. Gatwa received a far greater kick off to his era than any past Doctor (classic and revival included). I thought Tennant graciously extended his own popularity to that end, so it bugged me that he was accused of “stealing” Gatwa’s thunder. That makes no sense to me. Arguably, Gatwa’s expanded role in “The Giggle” only works because Tennant came back. In an alternate reality where Whittaker doesn’t regenerate in “Power of the Doctor,” has three 60th anniversary specials with Yaz, and regenerates in “The Giggle,” it might seem odd that she doesn’t receive a proper “death scene” and that her successor “helps” her defeat the villain. This unconventional approach to a multi-doctor episode/regeneration works because we are inclined to view 14 as a continuation of 10, who already had his epic finale in “The End of Time.”
I also love that Gatwa is fully formed. Excluding Eccleston, most revival Doctors don’t even appear in their regular costumes until the final scene of their first episode. RTD is able to give Gatwa lot of the mystery (yet a fully developed sense of self) that Eccleston had in “Rose” while also showing his “birth.”
Excellent video, thanks foe going into more detail on this and looking at how others felt and looking at regeneration as well throughout the show's history.
I liked it more once it was suggested (did you do that, Vera?) that this was The Ending we could only get if the show was winding up FOREVER.
Now, let's see what Ncuti has for us, and maybe opinions will shift even more.
I'm just going to copypaste the Tumblr post I made about this right after finishing the episode:
*You know what I love about that whole "bigeneration" thing? Apart from it being blatant fix-it fanservice aimed squarely at old Ten era farts like me?*
*I love that, unlike every Doctor before them, Fifteen's first moments isn't steeped in grief for his predecessor. I don't have to mourn the Doctor I've come to love before I can process how I feel about the new arrival. I can simply start off loving Fifteen right away, because nothing was lost at meeting them. This Doctor's first action was breaking a cycle of grief and heartbreak, not just for their past self, but for us, the viewers, who associate regeneration with the loss of our Doctors, and I fucking love that for them.*
*Welcome to the world, Fifteen, you beautiful pattern-breaking madlad.*
*I'm glad we could greet you with joy.*
I wanna say that I love your videos. I often do not agree with you on a lot of what you say in your videos. A few times i've commented some of my disagreements. This is easily one of my favorite videos of yours, And not just because I agree with just about every single point you made. They happen to be a lot of the same points that I have made to people online, Some of them generally concerned about the franchise, and some of them just simply trolls.
I have a suspicion that RTD is planning another Journey's End style episode, where they bring back a lot of old characters
Logopolis did half explain who The Watcher was with the line "He was the Doctor all along" and the way the Doctor took advice from him. A ghost of the Doctor from the future helping himself. Why this happened though, isn't explained.
I've always found your complaint about the TARDIS exploding when the Doctor regenerates to be quite odd when it's literally only happened twice - when 10 regenerated into 11 and when 12 regenerated into 13.
You're being a bit too literal in your interpretation of "blowing up," because I'm ABSOLUTELY counting 11 into 12 where it starts crashing for absolutely no reason.
One of the things I'm wondering since we're going back to UNIT and 60th special characters. I wonder if 14 remembers meeting 15 for that little bit of time or not and if it'll be brought up again by the characters
I didn't knew about this Interview you mentioned about Bi-generation of all doctors. Now the Shalka doctor makes sense. I think rtd will bring this idea on the table in the coming season.
My take on how 14 becomes 15 but somehow emerges early into 14's lifespan is a little similar to how the time travel worked in X-Men: Days of Future Past, except instead of it just being 15's mind that awakens in 14's body, it's his whole self, and instead of 15 still remaining linked to his past self who's still in the present, him emerging from 14's body is permanent.
I didn't mind the bi-generation until Russell mentioned that every Doctor bi-generated meaning the Whoniverse has opened up and every Doctor now lived past their death.
Take The Eighth Doctor for example, he's gone from being beaten down by the Time War and accepting he can't run any longer and must become a Warrior, him making the choice to regenerate is him abandoning his ideology at a time when hope has gone - it's a beautiful death.
The bi-generation means Eight just got up, saw The Warrior was a separate being who could end the Time War, whilst Eight got to just keep going about his life acting like nothing happened - he basically just got a 'Get out of Jail free' card.
I'm not buying what Russel Said, I'm having only what happened on screen
@@jefersonmedeiros9545I think that’s him trying to make his head cannon into actual cannon but by not addressing that in the episode failed to make that happen
@@jefersonmedeiros9545 That's fair, though I would say that Peter Davison has recently discussed how his Doctor is still out there as a result of the Bi-generation, and I believe his sections of Tales From the TARDIS were written by Davies, so it seems like an idea that Russell is attached to enough to have let the other Doctors in on the idea.
Whether he follows it up further in the main show or any other spin-off is anyone's guess though.
Similar thoughts. I don't mind the bi-generation as a one off event that happened during the 60th and it was pleasing as a way to get a multi Doctor story in reverse. However I'm not at all keen on RTDs idea that it ripples back through every regeneration and there are versions of them that didn't "die" - it feels a bit naff and detracts from their original endings for me. Hopefully this was just him being wistful in his commentary and wont make it a part of the actual on screen lore.
My personal theory that I haven't seen made very often is that rather than creating a new loose end with 14 retiring for the 60th specials, it could actually be the explanation for the retired Curator in the 50th, this feels like the Occam's razor situation as he gives us the confirmation that old faces will return and that the Doctor may live a peaceful life one day, while still micro-managing events to assist his past (such as acquiring Gallifrey Falls No More) If this theory hasn't been burned to the ground yet, I'd say we were too blinded by the idea that the Curator's incarnation would truly be near the end of the Doctor's timeline. While I am more versed in New Who, and see other comments providing other precedents from Classic Who for their theories, which may still remain perfectly valid, it feels more sensible to have the answer to this wrapping back to a more current story with similar elements (A retired Doctor with a tendency towards old faces). Going forward I feel like this could be set up a bit more, potentially having Tennant still managing little things with UNIT, but at the same time, it could be overdone quite easily. Another option for this (Unlikely as it would be) is a spin-off of Tennant at UNIT HQ dealing with slightly more mundane threats.
What about Trenzalore?
I personally like the bigeneration, and it’s true that Trenzalore wasn’t simply a break for 11 (or my favorite episode), but we have seen the Doctor settle down for a while before. Wasn’t he there for nearly a millennium?
I have always thought that the Watcher that accompanied the fourth Doctor on his last adventure was at least inspired by K’anpo and Cho-Je the Time Lord and “projection” we meet in “Planet of the Spiders”. Sometimes the Doctor sees something that works and wants to give it a try. Yes the Doctor does not see the regeneration, but who is to say that between these episodes they don’t get together and have a chat. As you say this is not cannon but just a theory that fits my understanding.
I guess the ncuti spotlight thing especially in the wake of the Xmas special but was kinda apparent at the time is not giving him the normal rituals I.e the wardrobe selection, regeneration fuzziness etc but like we've seen that for all prior modern doctors except Eccleston and 14. Feels kinda good to skip it. 15 is also the far more proactive doctor after bigeneration happens. He's the one who beats the toymaker, he's the one who splits the tardis and he dictates what 14 decides to do. Functionally once ncuti shows up he kinda steps up as 'the' doctor as the current doctor is used in normal multi-doctors and 14 becomes more akin to a facilitating role, at least for me
I just hope bigeneration isn’t used again.
The Watchers have pretty extensive explanations in the EU but even in Logopolis it's explained very well. Definitely not specific to the Doctor either, every time lord can or may have a Watcher through the regeneration process. I'd say it's akin to the time remnants from The Flash
I'm late watching this, byt my head-cannon is 1) Whenever something happens on Earth, 14 happens to be wandering (He's already made trips to discuss over the meal.) AND 2) The reintergration will happen something like K'anpo and Cho-Je during 4's run,
I agree with everything. I had read the spoiler before the goggle and I absolutely did not believe it. I thought that sounds bloody terrible. But in the context of the show it works really well, and is the only way to give the doctor a happy ending. It's really nice. Something you didn't say is that it also neatly rounds off 60 years of doctor who. Not an actual ending but emotionally it has the feeling of ending 60 years of Who which fitted the anniversary. I believe only a good writer like RTD could get away with such an outlandish plot idea.
You're brilliant, Vera, on saying exactly what I think. A bad idea, if well executed, is far more enjoyable than a good idea poorly executed. Thanks for a fantastic video and a great channel 👌
I kind of thought the rehab out of order thing was more of an assumption to why it happened.
(I think its the Trickster and Grand serpent post flux)
I recon 14 returned to complete Donna’s Destiny as the Hybrid
Tying in to other unexplained arch’s - triggering 15 to regenerate into the timeless child , used to rewrite time on Gallifeay- ending with Fugitive.
I kind of see flux as the turning point for the arch and RTD could use it to build upon the multiverse with unfinished stories .
I’d love the doctor Donna to return and Tennant being a figment within Donna’s mind palace.
I find it funny when people complain about it. Doctor Who has always ALWAYS done stuff like this. Regeneration itself was initially a crazy invention of the writers to keep the show going after William Hartnell. Even modern Who has some weird regeneration stuff! Here's a list of examples I thought of;
- You mentioned the meta-crisis Doctor, I classify that as regeneration weirdness.
- The Time Lords just... GAVE the Eleventh Doctor another set of 13 regenerations, which is a thing they can do... I guess.
- Then, when he did regenerate, his appearance didn't change right away, which is odd, and flies in the face of the established rules.
- The Thirteenth Doctor learned that they have infinite regenerations, meaning the Time Lords didn't even need to give Eleven all those regenerations.
- When the Thirteenth Doctor Regenerated into Fourteen, the clothes changed too. Which I don't think has ever happened.
The First Doctor's clothes actually changed when he regenerated into the Second Doctor. I'm pretty sure it was just a production error, but at least it can be used to justify it more. I like to imagine there's always like a 1% chance that a Time Lord's clothes will change whenever they regenerate.
The one way I could see bringing Tennant back MAYBE: When it's time for 15 to regenerate into 16, a future - probably old - 14, with Donna gone, shows up with his Tardis as 15 starts to regenerate (maybe even a whole episode with cuts to Tennant traveling alone, going who-knows-where) and they blur back together as the regeneration happens (kinda like the Skeksis and the Mystics from Dark Crystal), revealing a single Doctor #16.
I like the idea, but I kinda want it to just be a head-cannon thing...
One where every fan can imagine their own version of the story...
But I do like your version 😊
Hated it, too much change for no reason, and didn't explain it at all so fans have to guess how it works.
Plus, everything after it with 14 staying on earth is stupid like how do you explain every earth invasion now why doesn't he help.
Also really hated Donna forcing him to retire
Ok, been waiting for this, seeya soon!
In a way, I do sort of like RTD's commentary comments because it makes it so much easier to explain away why any Doctor looks older if they return without any season 6b like theories or having to make them holograms. I feel for previous anniversaries like the 50th, showrunner have also been apprehensive to bring back the older looking actors for this very reason being a nightmare, now with every Doctor bigenerating they could have been in the 50th. In a way, I respect Dimensions in Time's bombast for just bringing the actors back for a celebration even if it makes no sense at all.
I think the only real problem with it for me was that the episode ends on 14, like 15 just wanders off a few minutes before the end, and it doesn't feel like it's handing over as much as normal. Which I mean is fine, because it's a story about 14, but my assumption is that they did Tennant as a new incarnation instead of just some more 10 stories, was precisely so that the new series would flow neatly off the end of the specials, which this kind of undercuts.
Do you think that could the version that becomes The Curator? Eleven asked the Curator if he could be The Curator
The Tennant Fatigue/Bigeneration argument is that while we knew he was coming back, 15 had already been announced. Tennant would only be here for a couple specials. Now they've opened the door so Tennant can pop in whenever he feels like it.
I think that we will see David Tennant again when he is recovered and will merge back with Ncuti.
To me the meta crisis and 14 are fundamentally different. We spent 3 episodes with 14 as THE doctor, with the meta crisis, 10 was still the Doctor and the focus of the episode- Tennant also carried on as the Doctor for another 5 episodes after MC was sealed away
14 has a TARDIS and is in our universe, he isn’t sealed away with the love of his life. 14 showing up in the finale of season 1 or 2 is way more likely than meta crisis coming back- especially due to showrunner change over
The worse regeneration is Patrick troughton to Jon Pertwee
We don’t literally see Troughton change into Pertwee, which led to decades of fan theories. But I think the final episode of the War Games is amazing and one of the more consequential regeneration stories ever. Spearhead from Space is a very good post-regeneration story, I think.
@@ThePlayTyperGuy I don’t know what they were thinking with that regeneration
I always like to hear your takes. They're very nuanced and often make me reassess my own feelings, and that’s sort of what happened here. I still don’t like it, but at the same time, I do have to agree with a lot of the points you made here. As long as he’s truly not brought back, I'm not going to dwell on it. People are already loving Ncuti in his own right and I'm happy to see the reception he's getting.
Though admittedly I’m an incredibly simple person and probably wouldn’t be complaining at all if it had been Paul McGann instead of Tennant.
For me, it's two things - I don't find the retirement either believable or something needed - Both Matt Smith and Capaldi's doctors had a retirement period of their lives.
The second, and probably the more important - it just complicates lore for no reason, for me I agree chances are he's not going to come back, but at the same time, if he's not going to come back why complicate lore? I think it makes Doctor Who less accessible to new/casual viewers for absolutely no benefit. If you compare it to the War Doctor, yeah, introducing the War doctor complicated lore, but they did something with it
Honestly, I think that the importance of the Doctor needing to heal his trauma was massively understated until the bigeneration, and looking back, I'm glad Fifteen acknowledged it and pointed it out for Fourteen and the audience. The Doctor has lived for thousands of years (if not millions, depending on how much one counts Heaven Sent). That's a TON of trauma.
Eleven took time off to cope with Amy and Rory's death, but that's only one incarnation's worth of sadness for two companions. What about the baggage from the other ten incarnations? According to the Moment, Eleven is the man who forgets, but he still possesses a level of pain and suffering even though it's more manageable. Eleven later stayed in one place to defend Trenzalore, so that's not exactly a proper retirement. Similarly, Twelve was guarding the vault the entire time he was a college professor. We as viewers don't know if anyone tried to interfere or how much additional healing he accomplished in that short (for him) span of 80 years. Speaking of Twelve, his questioning of whether he's a good man doesn't speak to someone who has it all together. Anyway, even with all that, a huge chunk of the universe was destroyed during the Flux and billions died---all to get rid of the effects of the Doctor's constant involvement---so that's brand new trauma to process.
Does bigeneration complicate the lore? Yes, but I don't think it does so in a negative way. It provides character development in a relatable and believable way (trauma and healing) with a genuine sci-fi twist. It's honestly no different from how the War Doctor was handled for the 50th Anniversary. The War Doctor is trauma healing for the Time War, and bigeneration is trauma healing for everything else. Does bigeneration make Doctor Who less accessible for casual viewers? I don't know. I'm not a new or casual viewer, but I do think new/casual viewers can understand the idea of trauma and healing pretty easily, though.
Also RE: RTD's comment about "The Doctorverse" definitely (at least to me) came across as him making a cheeky joke and creating a fun fan theory for the sake of it, it wasn't intended to be taken with any weight of "The Word of God" or anything.
As for Tales Of The Tardis though, Russell has stated that it is Canon.
I do not believe this was the best video they could have done. They clearly enjoyed it which is fine but this seemed like a bad faith video. Not to understand the other points but to give reasons why they arent warranted.
As someone who has seen both old and new who I would have liked it better if Ncuti only gave the one line. Or if they wanted to do the bigeneration have Tennant fade away when they were in the TARDIS at the end. Besides biases there was no reason for this actor to get two happy endings per say. For some reason RTD, for just Tennant, makes regeneration out to be some kind of death. Where narratively it would have been much better for him to come to terms with everything and give us "I'm ready to go".
But honestly as a black man I do feel robbed. The Ruth Doctor still doesnt make any sense and now the 15th. Why couldnt they allow this Doctor to not be in Tennant's shadow. They brought up the haters and how they are going to hate either way, fair but if RTD is going to go so far out of his way with representation he had speech ready for Davros, a villian , he should have gave the same effort for his Doctor.
I get it if people like the Bigeneration. I have friends who like it just cause its Tennant and I respect that. Esp cause they are honest with their reasoning. Tennant is the fan fav and they dont want to see him go. Cool. It doesnt take away the fact that it was still a mess.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Personally I dont mind bi-generation, but even if I despised it, the important thing is that they DID something with it. It wasn't just uprooting canon for no reason like Chibs did with Timeless Child and nuking Gallifrey.
Yes. I was annoyed basically immediately when Jodie regenerated into Tenant, but nevermind. The Bigeneration does have another classic precedent. Cho Ji / Khan Po The Doctor's bhuddist monk ex mentor character as revealed at the end of Planet of the Spiders. For the duration of the story, both the old man and the young monk are separate characters, until the old man dies, and it is revealed that they are the same person when one timelord regenerates into the other. One was a projection of his future self that ran the monestary, while the old man basically sat in his room as the guru figure. Then the Doctor's own regeneration needed a little push from Cho Ji because of interference from radiation exposure.
I always saw the watcher at the end of the Tom Baker doctor's life, intervening in the story in the background until his time came to become himself, as an iteration on the same idea. Like having learned of this from Cho Ji, he perhaps subconciously projected an incomplete or amorphous version of his future self into the world to help him. The watcher even had foreknowledge of some of the events of the story.
Happy to see I commented for you to make this video and you did! Feeling responsible right now.
So, I feel like the first special really did something special that justified Donna and tennant making a return. But I can't say I feel the same about the other two - most of the specials made me icky about seeing their dynamic again in a really similar way to before.
However, as for the bigeneration, I realized I've had a lot of different opinions when I first watched. I liked the fact Ncuti got more screen time but I was already feeling that sentiment from before about tennant. So it came to me as a frustration - because I was eager to see tennant GONE
But as time passed by and I watched it again, I liked the happy ending for the character The Doctor (but not as much who was playing them) - I just wished Jodie didn't regenerated into tennant, so I could fully enjoy without feeling fatigued from tennant & donna
I feel like the biggest issue I have is the fact that Tennant has a TARDIS. Like if he didn't have it, then I would believe he will retire. But the fact that the TARDIS is just sat there, I cannot believe the doctor wouldn't use it and then would end up in some sort of situation that would stop his retirement
Check the short I just put out.
Why would it. The TARDIS takes the Doctor to where they need to go. If the Doctor needs to relax and enjoy life, then that's what the TARDIS would do
Not a huge fan of Bi-generation, but it's a good excuse to get the old Doctors show up without de-aging them. And any excuse to get some classic Who into nu-Who is fine by me.
I’m cautiously optimistic about bi-generation. It’s gonna depend on what they do with it in the future.
Another idea that I had while I was watching your video; I enjoy seeing the new incarnation interact with the previous in the regen episode. I would like to see that happen more in the future.
What I mean is, they should finish the previous gen’s story in the last episode then have the doctor regenerate in the middle of the next episode but they split again and the old incarnation is slowly weakening while the new incarnation grows stronger and then at the end of the episode, the old gets absorbed by the new and becomes fully the Doctor.
And the next episode is that incarnation’s first adventure as themselves.
I think this would be interesting because it would make the previous incarnation work as the guide to the new and then the dynamic switches and it ends with the new incarnation comforting their previous self in their last moments.
And if the idea sucks, the writers can choose to never do it again.
Anyway that’s a long comment, let me know what you all think. Don’t be assholes.
Thx Vera, was looking forward to this. You always make me think, in good ways.
Lol, if the 14th experiences anything like my weird purposeless first two yrs of retirement, he won’t remember folks names or his login, so pretty useless to help if needed!
Ok, just an assumption, and I’m no Doctor, but man yea, when you’re done it’s really pretty much over, no matter how extraordinarily useful you used to be on a day to day basis. Finding a new purpose is truly key. Hope he’s doing better than I am at that!
I guess I am wondering how he’s doing, and wish him well. If he turns up again, appropriately, fine by me. Clearly no one on this earth could steal Ncuti’s thunder, not possible!
Quite right! Ncuti's energy can't be quenched.
You can do all those things without bi-generation. Just have Ncuti be brought to UNIT by the Toymaker from a point in 14ths future where he has just regenerated, with his own TARDIS, in Tennants clothes.
Everything plays out the same without having to confuse the audience or handwave up another TARDIS.
It also allows you to do a Time Crash resolution to the Toymakers game, where Ncuti's confidence in winning (cos 14 witnessed it) throws the Toymaker into losing. More satisfying and fits the theme of a reborn confident Doctor
also means that that earth is now forever guarded by a doctor or at least for a few thousand years
My thing is they said explicitly in the episode it’s supposed to be a myth and therefore extremely rare and we can therefore assume it won’t happen again and so it works in the anniversary context
We actually have seen a doctor regenerate into the same appearance. 10th doctor did it with the meta-crisis.