The Regeneration Resolution

Death of the Doctor spoilers!

So, if you missed it, this is the moment from The Sarah Jane Adventures where the Doctor tells Clyde he can regenerate 507 times…

That’s it. No fancy explanation, no wibbly wobbly timey wimey messing around, just a simple throwaway line.

With the Doctor already on his eleventh incarnation, we knew this would have to be addressed in the not too distant future. But it’s slightly disappointing that a storyline opportunity has been, seemingly, scuppered. If that’s the last we ever hear of it, anyway.

It also seems a bit strange that this potentially significant development happens in a spin-off rather than the parent show, given that not every Doctor Who fan watches The Sarah Jane Adventures.

With the tone of the scene though, we can’t rule out the possibility that the Doctor is just lying or having a bit of a laugh (along with Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, no doubt).

At least we now know exactly what Moffat meant when he said back in April, “It’s addressed in a very, very cheeky way by an old friend of mine”.

What do you guys think though?

Update: This is what Russell T Davies had to say about it when asked by SFX.

507 – I could not resist! I was hooting. It’ll never stick, though. That 13 lives is stuck in people’s heads. It is, isn’t it funny? Yet they only said 13 once or twice.

There’s a fascinating academic study to be made out of how some facts stick and some don’t – how Jon Pertwee’s Doctor could say he was thousands of years old, and no-one listens to that, and yet someone once says he’s only got thirteen lives, and it becomes lore. It’s really interesting, I think. That’s why I’m quite serious that that 507 thing won’t stick, because the 13 is too deeply ingrained in the public consciousness. But how? How did that get there? It’s fascinating, it’s really weird. Anyway, that’ll be my book in my retirement!