Incorrect number of Doctors?

Jester Canuck said:

That's how I'd handle it. He gained a few extra regenerations from her. She only regenerated twice that we saw, but there was likely a third time in-between the '60s and the '90s when Amy and Rory were young. So there might be 9 Riverations left (8 if one was consumed to save his life). Using River's regens might be a fun excuse to have him regenerate into a woman after Capaldi.

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I hope for a more interesting story arc than just "he got River's". There's some great storytelling potential in how they handle the regen limit.

Valeyard was a distillation, not a regeneration. Moffat wrote 6 of the best stories for Doctor Who ever. Sadly, I totally disagree with the direction he took the show. Much better as a writer than a producer.

Jester Canuck said:

Using River's regens might be a fun excuse to have him regenerate into a woman after Capaldi.

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They don't need an excuse. In "Destiny of the Daleks", Romana is shown "trying on" several faces after her regeneration, at least one of which is male. So we know Time Lords can switch sex when they regenerate.

Honestly, I don't see this 'need' for a female Doctor, any more than I see a need for a female Bond, or a male actor playing the Queen. But, if they decide to go that way, and if they find the right actress, there's no particular in-universe reason why not.

That's how I'd handle it. He gained a few extra regenerations from her.

But there's the possibility John Hurt is a previously unknown regeneration between the 8th and 9th Doctors, so Capaldi would be the 13th and final version.

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I'd be inclined to handle it by giving the Doctor some easy means to extent (or eliminate) the limit... and at the same time give him good reason not to use it. Perhaps by forcing him to face whatever this dark secret of the John Hurt "Doctor" is, or perhaps his actions as the Valeyard. Either way, have him conclude that he doesn't want to regenerate again, and so put the device somewhere away beyond use.

(Potentially, he could then take the "Dwarf Slayer" route of seeking out more and more dangerous situations - he won't kill himself, but he does want to end his life, and will seek to do as much good as possible while doing so.)

Which would, I think, give a new role to the companions, something I don't think we've seen before - their job now is to keep the Doctor alive long enough to change his mind, and also to, well, change his mind.

delericho said:

They don't need an excuse. In "Destiny of the Daleks", Romana is shown "trying on" several faces after her regeneration, at least one of which is male. So we know Time Lords can switch sex when they regenerate.

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Plus the Corsair has been both sexes. It's definitely established.

[video=youtube;5PDyuGoKypk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PDyuGoKypk[/video]

delericho said:

I'd be inclined to handle it by giving the Doctor some easy means to extent (or eliminate) the limit... and at the same time give him good reason not to use it. Perhaps by forcing him to face whatever this dark secret of the John Hurt "Doctor" is, or perhaps his actions as the Valeyard.

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The Valeyard's a tricky one. Clearly, any future of the Doctor that was hinted at in the McCoy years and prior has been thoroughly invalidated by the Time Lock. While the Valeyard may still exist in the Doctor's future, what he has done or will do is in question at this point.

Umbran said:

The Valeyard's a tricky one. Clearly, any future of the Doctor that was hinted at in the McCoy years and prior has been thoroughly invalidated by the Time Lock. While the Valeyard may still exist in the Doctor's future, what he has done or will do is in question at this point.

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Indeed. I'm reasonably sure that RTD and now SM were given (or simply took) carte blanche to use anything they wanted from old-Who lore, and equally carte blanche to ignore anything that they wanted to ignore. And so, we get the occasional references to the old Doctors and old companions, we get the old monsters coming back occasionally... but conversely things like the Cybermen gold allergy disappeared for a long time.

In all honesty, that's probably the best way to go - there's a lot of lore out there, and some of it is of questionable quality. Some things are probably best ignored.

As for the Valeyard himself... well, he's been referenced in the most recent episode, so there's some indication that that's still valid. But whether they go any further with it or not is an open question. I'm not sure I'm bothered either way.