While the Eleventh Doctor was initially the last incarnation in the First Doctor's regeneration cycle, he was able to undergo what he called "regeneration number thirteen" after being granted a new regeneration cycle by the Time Lords at Clara Oswald's urging during the end of the Siege of Trenzalore, (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) which had been prophesied as the Fall of the Eleventh by Dorium Maldovar, (TV: The Wedding of River Song [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).) thus averted a timeline where the Doctor had died on Trenzalore. (TV: The Name of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 7 (BBC One, 2013).)
History[]
Anticipation[]
According to one account, the Tremas Master described the the Valeyard to the Sixth Doctor as being the Doctor's "penultimate reincarnation" brought into existence "somewhere between [their] twelfth and thirteenth regenerations". (PROSE: The Ultimate Foe [+]Pip and Jane Baker, adapted from The Ultimate Foe (Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker), Target novelisations (Target Books, 1988).)
When encountering the "Vortex Butterfly", the Tenth Doctor was cryptically told that he would not be "limited" to "thirteen lives". (COMIC: Vortex Butterflies [+]Nick Abadzis, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor (Titan Publishing Group, 2017).)
When the Eleventh Doctor was researching the Silence to find out why they kept trying to kill him, he was informed by Dorium Maldovar that the Silence feared him because his "future [was] infinitely more terrifying" than his "long and dangerous past", with Dorium telling him how a "question [would] be asked" during the "fall of the Eleventh" on the Fields of Trenzalore where "no living creature [could] speak falsely or fail to answer", (TV: The Wedding of River Song [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).) which reminded the Doctor of what he learnt from the Teselecta about the First Question. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).) After the Doctor used the Teselecta to fake his assassination by River Song at Lake Silencio on 22 April 2011 so that he could "step back into the shadows", Dorium reminded him that the "Fall of the Eleventh" was still in his future. (TV: The Wedding of River Song [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).)
The cause[]
After fighting in the Siege of Trenzalore for nine-hundred years, (PROSE: Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor's Last Stand [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) with his mind having already been deteriorating by the seven-hundred-and-fiftieth year of the siege, (PROSE: The Dreaming [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) the Doctor had aged beyond his body's ability to properly function, not even having the strength to pull a Christmas cracker. When Tasha Lem brought Clara Oswald to him to say goodbye, the Daleks, (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) lead by the Supreme Dalek of the New Dalek Paradigm, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) launched a final assault on the town of Christmas as the Doctor prepared to face his death. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).)
The regeneration[]
As the Doctor made his way to the top of his clocktower to confront the Daleks, Clara made a plea to the Time Lords through the time crack to Gallifrey's pocket universe for them to interfere and save him, with the crack closing after she finished her speech, just as the Doctor made it to the top of the clocktower. With the Daleks reigning terror on Christmas as they waited for the Doctor to expire, the Doctor accepted that he was about to die of old age, only for a new crack to appear before him and bestow new regeneration energy into him, granting him a new regeneration cycle and allowing him to begin a regeneration. Not yet noticing his renewed vitality, the Supreme Dalek continued to brag about the Doctor's upcoming defeat, only for the Doctor to defy them by focusing his regeneration energy at the Dalek Attack Ships above him as he excitedly revelled in about to undergo "regeneration number thirteen". As Clara ushered the people of Christmas to safety, the Doctor unleashed the full power of his regeneration into the Daleks' saucer, (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) destroying the Parliament of the Daleks (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) and the Dalek Fleet. (PROSE: Twice Upon a Time [+]Paul Cornell, adapted from Twice Upon a Time (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).)
As his body prepared for the change of appearance by "reset[ting]" itself back to his younger form, the Doctor made his way back to his TARDIS, (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) where he used the TARDIS telephone on the outer plasmic shell to call Clara in the future to ask her to stay with the Twelfth Doctor, telling her that he would be even more scared of the transformation than she was, though he was dismayed to learn he would regenerate into an older body when he overheard his next incarnation's voice. (TV: Deep Breath [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).)
![The Doctor sees Amelia wish him goodnight. (: [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013)](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tardis/images/3/39/ElevenAmyTOTD.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131227015335)
The Doctor sees Amelia wish him goodnight. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).)
After he changed back into his regular outfit while enjoying a last bowl of fish fingers and custard, the Doctor saw that Clara had joined him in the TARDIS and told her that he was still going to regenerate into a new body despite his youth being restored, with his hands glowing with regeneration energy to prove his point. As he began to hallucinate a young Amelia Pond running around his TARDIS control room, the Doctor told Clara how everyone changed into "different people all through [they're] lives" and that it was important to "keep moving [on]" as long as they "remember[ed] all the people that [they] used to be", while promising to "not forget one line of [his life]" and to "always remember when the Doctor was [him]". After an image of Amy appeared to wish him "goodnight", the Doctor removed his trademark bow tie as a sign of his passage and, despite Clara's protests for him not to change, he swiftly regenerated into his next incarnation. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).)
Immediate aftermath[]
Info from Deep Breath [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014). needs to be added
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