Is The Doctor Dead?
If you're one of the many people who watched last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who and sat there entranced - watching the screen even after the show had finished and the credits had rolled - then this article is for you. The question that's on everyone's mind is “Is The Doctor Dead?” The short answer: No. He'll only die after 12 regenerations (However Russell T Davies has stated that future producers will probably find away around this limit, as they are already on their 10th Doctor). However, is he really going to regenerate? Could the BBC really keep a secret that David Tennant is leaving so well that no-one had found it? Another short answer: No. It doesn't take long to figure out that he's not leaving, here's the main evidence that shows he's not leaving.
Evidence
First of all, David Tennant is contracted to do 3 special episodes next year - this is pretty good evidence as he can't really play the Doctor if he's left now can he?
“In 2009 Doctor Who will return with three specials starring David Tennant, with Head Writer, Russell T Davies.”
Taken From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/09/03/48471.shtml
To help support this evidence, I have also found a video that shows a slideshow of various pictures of the filming for the 2008 Christmas special this year. Some of these pictures include David Tennant:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ZmszIwlrjI
And also, here are some pictures of him at the “Bad Wolf Bay” set along with Catherine Tate (Donna Nobel) and Billie Piper (Rose Tyler):
Picture's taken from http://PhotoBucket.com
Also, something interesting to note in these pictures is that he is wearing his blue outfit in one of them, yet he is wearing his brown trousers in two of the others. Has he not got changed for the filming yet? Or is there something else about this?
Finally, even more evidence that he's not leaving: How would Professor River Song (future girlfriend but also ex-girlfriend - confusing? It's probably got something to do with “Timey Wimey”-ness) from the library episodes be able to recognise him if he'd left? Same goes for the Queen in “The Shakespeare Code”. Obviously he can't leave otherwise these characters would not be able to recognise him.
“How the Hell Does He do it Then?”
Well, now that I've cleared up the question about whether or not David Tennant is leaving, let's move on to “How the hell does he do it then?” Let's find out.
Does his appearance have to change?
Does it? With every single regeneration there comes a new appearance. Right? Wrong. I mean, look at Jenny's regeneration in “The Doctor's Daughter” - Her physical appearance doesn't change at all. Why does David Tennant's have to?
Picture from http://Sky.com
Something to do With His Hand?
Whether on purpose or not, the end scene shows the hand very clearly on the Tardis. Is this hinting that it might mean something important? Don't forget that the hand is actually his own hand, chopped off by a sword in one of the Christmas specials, found by Captain Jack Harkness and then given back to the Doctor. This hand is preserved and the cells are still regenerating, if the Doctor is also regenerating, maybe it would be easier to use the existing DNA from the living hand instead of creating new DNA for an entire new appearance. Of course this is just a guess.
Another wild stab in the dark to support my above idea: Nanogenes. Do these not look pretty similar to the regeneration process? All flying about, shiny and gold - regeneration could just be loads of super-nanogenes.
In “The Doctor Dances” these took the DNA from the mother and used it to heal all the “zombies” well if there is any similarity between this and the regeneration process then maybe the DNA from his hand could be used to make the new doctor, the same doctor.
There are many crazy rumours on the internet, if you've thought of any, feel free to post them in the comments box. I hope I've helped shed some light on this.
Thanks for viewing.
