Regeneration Unlimited?
The Guardian now claims that the limit won’t just be extended, but removed entirely in a throwaway line of dialogue!
Says their article (Death of the Doctor spoilers),
Fans have always thought that the 13th doctor would be the last, thanks to a 1976 Doctor Who episode, The Deadly Assassin revealing for the first time the regeneration limit. But a passing comment in a children’s television programme later this month is set to rewrite history and cast the Doctor, iconic hero of the world’s most successful and longest-running science fiction series, as immortal.
The moment comes in the CBBC spin-off show, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which stars former companion Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Matt Smith, who plays the current Doctor Who, guest stars in a two-part episode called The Death of the Doctor, to be screened on October 25 and 26. While the Doctor and Clyde Langer, played by Daniel Anthony, are in the process of outwitting spooky vulture undertakers the Shansheeth, Clyde asks how many times he can regenerate. The Doctor indicates that there is no limit. The action continues.
However, another source at last night’s Death of the Doctor screening revealed the Doctor actually says he can regenerate 507 times. So there’s still a limitation, just a rather large one!
Either way, I think we now know what Steven Moffat meant when he said, “[The regeneration limit] is addressed in a very, very cheeky way by an old friend of mine”.
