Originally Posted by Kody
Just because you could will yourself to do it like Romana did in a perfectly safe environment, doesn't mean it won't happen on death to.
And no, I'm sorry, but Rassilon is the little genius bugger that setup regeneration. He wouldn't make it keep regenerating someone under water, it has to have some kind of a saftey catch. 
When the previous Doctors regenerated, they were about to die, as in death was sure. Pertwee didn't even get to finish what he was saying before he died, then regenerated.
Either way, RTD has messed up the concept imo and it's still somewhat murky in areas. I think the excuse he used in Turn Left showed a lack of creativity and was forced in. |
It's never been stated that Rassilon did anything relating to regeneration...where are you getting this from? He invented the Gallifreyan transduction barrier, TARDIS technology, Time Travel (with Omega) and validium...but it never says he had anything to do with regeneration.
Of course the Doctor would only regenerate when near death, otherwise it would be a pointless waste of a life that he apparently only has a limited amount of (you said it yourself,
about to die
). That's why there's so much debate over Romana's 'regeneration'.
The fact that the series often states that regeneration is not guarenteed and can often fail. The Doctor alone has had 3 near-failed regenerations, one that nearly didn't occur and all and one that was extremely delayed. Out of 9 regenerations, that's 5 that have had some sort of issue and of the remaining 4 one was forced on him and one remains unseen, so we don't know the exact circumstances. That seems a pretty haphazard "biological process" to be honest. The fact that they so often go wrong (even on Gallifrey where the Sisters of Karn have to supply Elixir to help some Time Lords complete successful regenerations) means that there really doesn't appear to be any failsafes in the process at all. Coupled with the fact that Gallifreyans who are not Time Lords are often seen to die and not regenerate seems to suggest the process is not a biological one but one that is either implanted or learnt at the Time Lord Academy.
The Doctor has suggested on many occasions (such as
The Unquiet Dead), the Doctor has expressed a fear of dying rather than regenerating, again perhaps illustrating a non-automatic process. Also, stasers are seen to kill Time Lords outright, such as the Castellan and the Time Lord President in
The Deadly Assassin. Surely if the process was automatic rather than initiated by the Time Lord himself, such a weapon would not be possible?
I really don't see how RTD "messed up" regeneration? If anything, the TV movie came closest to overwriting the process as we know it, as the Doctor regenerates after several hours rather than immediately. RTD simply goes by stated continuity...the Ninth Doctor regenerates when mortally wounded as does the Master. The Master forces back his regeneration in the same way as the Fifth delays it in
Caves of Androzani and the reverse of Azmael forcing regeneration to occur in
The Twin Dilemma. All RTD has done is go by established fact.
Again, I also can't think of how it "lacked creativity"? Can you honestly think of a better explaination for the Doctors' death?