Howling:Is the Thirteenth Doctor's Limit a Psychological Problem or a Physiological One?

This is the spin-off thread for discussing whether the Thirteenth Doctor's limit is a psychological one or a physiological one, from Forum:The Thirteenth Doctor's Death, Tangerineduel and Icecreamdif has raised useful pieces of information concerning this problem. Tangerineduel said,

"The Doctor's death features in Alien Bodies, it's implied in The Five Doctors the Time Lords can give a whole new life cycle to another Time Lord. In one of the New Adventures it's stated the 13 regeneration limit is a psychological one rather than a physical limit. --Tangerineduel 15:58, August 3, 2010 (UTC)2

and Icecreamdif said,

"It definetly wan't a lie that he told his companions. The entire plot of both the Deadly Assassin and the TV Movie was that the Master was out of regenerations, and needed to use the eye of harmony to get a new body and a new regenerative cycle. It would be stupid if they decided to write a way around the regeneration limit, because it would get to be a ridiculous number of doctors, and the Doctor would be more like Captain Jack if it turned out that he was immortal. Matt Smith, and his two successors should just stay on for a while(unlike Christopher Eccleston), and then the show should end when the thirteenth doctor is ready to leave.Icecreamdif 18:50, August 3, 2010 (UTC)"

Are there any more support toward either side of the argument? --222.166.181.242 19:25, August 3, 2010 (UTC)

I remember reading about Moffat saying that he will solve the regeneration cycle issue in a tricky way ot something. I dont have a citation but i read it on several places and on this wiki (series 5 episodes main pages). I dont think it's a psychological limit at all, but it's not clear how the time lords are able to give a whole new cycle, and now after they're gone if it is still possible.. But even if Moffat finds a way to give the doctor a new cycle, this doesnt mean that the show will go on until the 26th doctor.. it might end with the 14th or 15th.. Now to answer a point mentioned by Icecreamdif, i said in the other thread that having an unlimited number of regenerations doesnt mean that the doctor is immortal. He can still die. The tenth doctor mentioned it to Wilf in the end of time that if he didnt have time to regenerate he might die permanently. It did happen in Turn Left when the doctor drowned. So now we can't say that the Eleventh doctor cant die permanently or he'll regenerate for sure. So whether he has 13 or 1300 regenerations he's still in danger every moment in his life and that's what makes it exciting :)77.42.181.163 20:03, August 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, Moffat said an old friend would take care of it in a cheeky manner, but nothing ever came of it. I don't see how it can be a psychological one; so the Doctor would have a mental breakdown if he was to regenerate again? Surely regeneration is a physiological thing as it is to do with physical changes to the body and is started, without choice, after an accident. It would also explain how Time Lords could grant new cycles by altering DNA etc. The Thirteenth Doctor 20:20, August 3, 2010 (UTC)

It also might be relevant that when the master was offered a new cycle of regenerations, he wasn't in a timelord body, but a trackenite body. The timelords may have been offering to change him into a timelord, or give him a new timelord body, which would also give him a new regeneration cycle. This wouldn't work for someone who was already a timelord.Icecreamdif 20:34, August 3, 2010 (UTC)