![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The 12 ... er, 507 Regenerations Limit
Aug. 18th, 2011 12:24 amOne of those "d'oh!" moments -- I'd assumed that Russell T. Davies had basically pulled the number 507 from his ... er, from the Vortex when writing SJA Death of the Doctor, that being the answer the Doctor gives Clyde to the question of how many time he can regenerate. On reflection though, it's actually a round number.
How come? Well, RTD had previously commented on how they could get around the 12 regeneration limit -- first mentioned in the Fourth Doctor-era The Deadly Assassin -- by saying (rough quote) "not a problem, all we have to do is to have him say 'oh yeah, the Time Lords gave us another 150 regenerations so we could fight in the Time War'".
Now given that we assume the Eighth Doctor was the one fighting in the Time War, he had at that point regenerated seven times. So if the arbitrary extra regenerations the Time Lords gave him to fight with were 500 not 150, we get a total of ... 507. Voila.
I don't know if RTD has said that's what was in his mind, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was, especially in a SJA episode so stuffed with Classic Who references. Nor would I be surprised to hear that many people in fandom are way ahead of me on this point. But still, it does fit this into place, doesn't it?
How come? Well, RTD had previously commented on how they could get around the 12 regeneration limit -- first mentioned in the Fourth Doctor-era The Deadly Assassin -- by saying (rough quote) "not a problem, all we have to do is to have him say 'oh yeah, the Time Lords gave us another 150 regenerations so we could fight in the Time War'".
Now given that we assume the Eighth Doctor was the one fighting in the Time War, he had at that point regenerated seven times. So if the arbitrary extra regenerations the Time Lords gave him to fight with were 500 not 150, we get a total of ... 507. Voila.
I don't know if RTD has said that's what was in his mind, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was, especially in a SJA episode so stuffed with Classic Who references. Nor would I be surprised to hear that many people in fandom are way ahead of me on this point. But still, it does fit this into place, doesn't it?
