Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 Part 3-For whom the Bell Tolls

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part three- For whom the Bell Tolls

When Tom Baker decided to leave I’m sure the BBC was in a lurch.  Would the show survive?  But this is what regenerations are made for!  In a three part series, The Keeper of Trakken/ Logopolis/ Castrovalia, Tom Baker left the show and Peter Davison took over the role of The Doctor.  Logopolis is a kind of messy episode, jumping all over the place.  This is the first time the Cloister Bell is heard, sounding alarm.  The Doctor decides to fix the chameleon circuit after who knows how many years it’s been broken.  Then the Master shows up.  Then we are on an alien planet to fix the TARDIS and the Master follows.  It seems like a script writer was given certain elements and told to make it work.  But it doesn't.  Then we have the Doctor crossing his own time stream.  Don’t cross the streams.  Then the Doctor has trouble with his regeneration.  What do his companions decide to do?  They play “Which Way” with the TARDIS, immediately falling into a trap set by the Master.  It is not till the end of Castrovalia that we get a idea of what the new Doctor is about.  This may have been done on purpose to place more time between Tom Baker and Peter Davidson.  When we do get the Doctor new clothes, it is an outfit of cricket clothes(that aren't really cricket clothes) and celery.  I’m sure at the time no one knew what to think.  Later producer said that this costuming was because of a newly growing American audience.  We also have a superfluity of companions.  No Doctor until David Tennant has ever had more “companion” in the TARDIS at once.  This overload of characters caused issues with plot development.  They were eventually written out to help concentrate on character development.

Regenerations #1-11 Part Two Leftbridge-Stewart and More

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part Two- UNIT, Leftbridge-Stewart and More

So now we know the Doctor can regenerate, although it was not called that yet.  The term renewal is used.  The Doctor has resumed his traveling ways.  He has new companions and new adventures.  Most of these adventures are missing due to a cleaning at the BBC.  Those who were alive should count themselves lucky to have seen such Classic Doctor Who.  But all good things must end. (Where have I heard that before?)  For Pat Troughton’s last episode we find the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie literally in the middle of a war zone.  It turns out that the Time Lords are having war games with each other.  They are using humans from different historical periods to fight their battles for them. (Could this be a foreshadowing of the Time War to come perhaps?)  When The Doctor finally figures out what is going on he has no choice, he must contact the Time Lords.  The Doctor has been a fugitive from his own people and they intend to punish him for it.  They force him to regenerate.  This is the first time we are shown that Time Lords have powers other than just having the ability to travel through time.  It is also shown that Time Lords can control regeneration.  There is a glimpse of the mental powers that Time Lords have but it is never quiet fulfilled either to the audience’s satisfaction.  End scene, fade to black, Hello new doctor.  A rock fall from space and according to the Time Lords, an Angel has fallen from grace.  The Doctor is now to be confined to Earth under the sentence of the Time Lords.  The TARDIS is barely functional.  How will the new Doctor handle this?  With aplomb, wit, and cool rides apparently.  The Doctor is now an advisor to UNIT(which at this point stands for United Nations Task Force) He’s the superspy granddad kids wish they had.  He also has a new enemy, The Master, a ying to his yang.  He does rather rant occasionally about not be able to leave Earth.  He also spends much time trying to fix his TARDIS.  The third doctor’s first episode establishes this more proactive character, a more theatrical incarnation.  He is also very physical, due to the fact that Jon Pertwee had been in the Navy.  He was the only incarnation of The Doctor to have a tattoo.  It was never mentioned, mostly covered and occasionally seen.  The Doctor is paired up with his old Friend Leftbridge-Stewart.  He has the distinction of having met the most incarnations of the Doctor. The restriction of remaining on Earth was due to the BBC, not the Time Lords.  These budget cuts affected the show if you look, although the series did begin to shoot in color. 

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Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 Part 3-For whom the Bell Tolls