Howling:When the Doctor died in Turn Left...

Did he really die too quickly to regenerate? Or did he simply refuse to regenerate?

As we all know, "Turn Left" focused on an alternate history where the Doctor in his tenth incarnation died under the Thames during the events of "The Runaway Bride". So, I was watching the episode again and when the Doctor's body is put into the ambulance, the UNIT soldier suggests that the Doctor did not regenerate into his eleventh incarnation because his death "happened too fast" but there has been another theory: that the Doctor chose not to regenerate.

According to this theory, the Doctor let himself drown because of his depression over losing Rose. This idea has been portrayed in several fanfics on "Turn Left" such as these: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4543093/1/Drowning-Pains and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9159383/1/Self-Destruction Some would say that the Doctor would NOT just let himself die because he lost her. They argue that he lost several friends and STILL continued on, they also argue that he said goodbye to several companions when they left him and he STILL helped the Earth.

But there are several reasons to believe in the theory that the Doctor chose not to regenerate as opposed to the "it happened too fast" claim.

1. In "Last of the Time Lords", it is implied that regeneration is an option which can be chosen: despite the Doctor's pleas, the Master refused to regenerate after being shot by Lucy Saxon.

2. You gotta admit, the Doctor did seem almost suicidal after losing Rose since he did demand the Daleks to kill him in "Evolution of the Daleks" and he did threaten to blow himself up with the Sontarans in "The Poison Sky"(even if he was faking both).

3. In the "Runaway Bride", when the Doctor watched as the Racnoss drowned, his eyes were full of darkness and pain.

I know this almost certainly didn't happen in the episode but I love the theory that the Doctor chose not to regenerate and that he thought of Rose as he died.

So what do you think? Did the Doctor refuse to regenerate when he died in "Turn Left?" Regardless of whether he tried to regenerate or not, do you think he was thinking of Rose when he drowned? 92.15.130.239


 * Please sign your posts.
 * We know in The Impossible Astronaut (even through it was the teselecta) that if he was killed while already in the process of regenerating, it would cancel the regen and that'd be it. Whether he wanted to regenerate or not, he may truly not have had a chance to escape. Because he'd never been at Donna's reception, he probably never picked up the exploding Christmas ornaments, so he may have used a different, possible more destructive method of flooding the Racnoss's chamber with the Thames. Because we only see the aftermath, any such varying details can't be confirmed or denied. —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 13:57, June 19, 2013 (UTC)


 * It's easiest and the most helpful to sign with "~", as it automatically gives username/IP address plus talk page link and timestamp. —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 15:34, June 19, 2013 (UTC)

Depending on the specifics, if he was still underwater when he regenerated, it might not have helped. Of course the Thames was drained when Donna and the Doctor climbed out, so we really cannot say that in "Turn Left" there was more water, but where he was when he let it loose, and how he did it could have changed things substantially.Phil Stone ☎  06:08, June 24, 2013 (UTC)

Here's a thought: The Doctor had a flashback of him and Rose dancing earlier in the episode. At the end of Doomsday, some time has clearly passed since he lost Rose. Perhaps he may have actually been intending to kill himself as soon as the opportunity presented itself. If you look at the shot of him during the disco scene, it really looks as if he's in deep thought. Maybe he was actually going to, since the flood was done quite dramatically, and it seemed as if he were genuinely about to commit an act. I think Donna could have definitely saved him from it. "Sometimes I think you need someone to stop you." There could be several meanings to that. Gallifrey102 ☎  16:18, June 24, 2013 (UTC)


 * I haven't seen Doomsday in a while. When is the disco scene? Thanks! Shambala108 ☎  00:25, June 25, 2013 (UTC)


 * I think he may have been talking about Donna's reception party (which her family had "without me!?!") in "The Runaway Bride", but I'm not sure. —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 01:13, June 25, 2013 (UTC)
 * Ah, thanks. I haven't seen that one in a while either. Shambala108 ☎  04:29, June 25, 2013 (UTC)

It was stated on screen that the Doctor drowned too quickly to regenerate...so that's what happened. Also, that entire timeline was removed when Donna fixed it. Either way, the thought of a suicidal 10th Doctor has no merit, IMHO. Whosethebestwho ☎  05:35, June 25, 2013 (UTC)

I think it has a little bit of merit, at least later on his timeline. He seemed very suicidal in The End of Time. Nearly driving a ship into the ground, jumping from the sky into a glass roof and hitting the floor. He even seemed quite prepared to "die with [Rassilon]". His acceptance of his inevitable doom seemed to have taken quite a hold with him. Gallifrey102 ☎  16:06, June 25, 2013 (UTC)
 * He was not at all suicidal in The End of Time (TV story), quite the opposite. He did not want to die, not at all.  The spectre of death was hanging over him the whole time.  While he seemed to accept it towards the end, it most certainly does not make him suicidal.  he was actually quite relieved to find he had survived the encounter with Rassilon.  He wouldn't have if he were suicidal.  His last words were "I don't want to go."  Not the words of someone who was suicidal.  Whosethebestwho  ☎  03:34, June 26, 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree with Whosethebestwho. There is no indication that the Doctor wished for his own death. He may have been willing to die to "save the day", but that's a big difference from wishful suicide. Shambala108 ☎  04:28, June 26, 2013 (UTC)

Since the presumption is that suicide is inspired by losing Rose, its worth considering that we dont really know what was going through his mind when he sent her off with the Meta-Crisis Doctor. On the surface it looks like he was more reserved, but the more human Doctor could tell her he loved her (though even that is a private moment, shared only in effect with The Doctor, Donna and the audiance.) The next level down I think he knows she needs someone who can say it, even though he loves her and she him, she needs a more human him. Next level down he not only knows this, but knows "Handy" will say it, so purposely does not say it himself to make her believe "Handy" will make her happier. On the next level down, what he wished at the beginning of the episode is complicated by the creation of "Handy." He has to do something with him, and he probably knows he cannot be his own keeper any more than The Master could tolerate it. On the next level, he might have realized that he as a human could never get over Rose, where as the full Timelord would probably outlive her, and have a dfferent perspective. If the choice was either he or "Handy" would get Rose, "Handy" might suffer more for the loss. Or he might factor in what he told Rose when they met Sarah Jane Smith, that watching her age and die while he went on would be painful. Or ultimately, he might realize that he will suffer more for her loss, but make the sacrifice so that both of them might be as happy as they might. What did he really think? There is no way of being sure, particularly as we have Donna doing some of the explaining.

And none of that takes into account that he already knows that he is going to lose Donna.

If we don't understand what the Doctor was really thinking when he gave up Rose, I don't think its possible to have any confidence in a decision for suicide. We have seen him many times tell captors to kill him. Some recklessness with his own life is a basic part of who he is, and was always part of the explanation of why he fled Galifrey to live a far riskier life among the stars.Phil Stone ☎  14:34, June 27, 2013 (UTC)
 * Sorry, am I late to the party? I think this would have been a brilliant addition of the episode. However, the script does seem to contradict it. Of course, it is possible that UNIT simply assumed that was the cause of death, and he secretly let it happen.
 * Either way, if it were my choice, I would have this be the reason. That way, Donna saved the Doctor, stopped him, in a way we never really thought of. She not only stopped him from over-slaughtering a species, but she saved him from grief. She did clearly help him get over Rose in The Runaway Bride, so it is very possible that, should she not have been there to support him, he would have continued on being/become suicidal, and let himself die. It is quite poetic. --SOTO ☎ 10:04, June 28, 2013 (UTC)

I agree. The UNIT officer thought he drowned too fast to regenerate, but that isn't true. In The Runaway Bride, Donna tells him to stop - without her, he doesn't, and he lets himself die. Why? Because he's just gone through a horrific ordeal with losing Rose to the sealed off parallel world, and had no desire to live. This was displayed repeatedly in series 3. For example: in the Daleks in Manhattan episode, he basically screams at a Dalek to kill him because "it's his turn." This episode added an entirely new depth to that Christmas special and the Doctor's character and state of mind at that point in the show.

By the way, it's a good thing that was just an alternative version of the Doctor. Though I've always wondered -- without Donna there, how did he even know about the Racnoss without her appearing in his TARDIS? Was there another bride used in the Racnoss' plot?