Having felt his body "wearing a bit thin", the War Doctor regenerated in his TARDIS shortly after the Fall of Gallifrey, (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).) with his regeneration signalling the end of the Last Great Time War and the emergence of the Post-Time War universe. (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).)
However, some other accounts indicated that it was actually the Eighth Doctor who fought in the Time War (PROSE: Museum Peace [+]James Swallow, Short Trips: Dalek Empire (Short Trips short stories, 2006)., Osskah [+]Gary Owen, Short Trips: Snapshots (Short Trips short stories, 2007).; COMIC: The Forgotten [+]Tony Lee, IDW mini-series and one-shots (IDW Publishing, 2008-2009)., Don't Step on the Grass [+]Tony Lee, Doctor Who (2009) (IDW Publishing, 2010).) and subsequently regenerated directly into the Ninth Doctor in the final days of the Time War. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? [+]various authors, Who is Doctor Who? (BBC, 2005)., Doctor Who and the Time War [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who: Lockdown! (2020).)
History[]
Anticipation[]
As his body grew older, the War Doctor could feel the regeneration process trying to trigger, but he kept it at bay so that he could see the end of the Last Great Time War, managing to keep himself from regenerating for "years". (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).)
The cause[]
Already having had enough of the Time Lords' fall to corruption in the Time War, (PROSE: Engines of War [+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014).) the Doctor was finally pushed to use the Moment to wipe out both the Time Lords and the Daleks when he learnt of Rassilon's plan to rupture the Time Vortex and destroy the universe to allow the Time Lords to shed their corporeal bodies and achieve ultimate immortality. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) However, the Moment opened a time fissure to the universe after the Time War to bring the Doctor before his tenth and eleventh incarnations so that he could see who he would become after detroying Gallifrey. After he saw how their guilt for destroying their people had allowed them to quell a Zygon invasion into a diplomatic meeting between the Zygon High Command and UNIT-UK, as well as having a talk with Clara Oswald, the Doctor made his decision about destroying Gallifrey and went to activate the Moment. However, during his hesitation, the Moment broke the time lock encasing the Time War to allow the Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor and Clara to arrive, with Clara convincing the Doctors to find a better way. Once the Eleventh Doctor came up with the solution to relocate Gallifrey into a pocket universe and leave the Daleks to be destroyed in their own crossfire, the Doctors united their combined incarnations to save Gallifrey and destroy the Dalek Fleet. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
![The Doctor enjoys some solace after his final battle. (: [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013)](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tardis/images/6/66/The_Day_of_the_Doctor_Doctors_tea_party.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20250727111241)
The Doctor enjoys some solace after his final battle. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
The thirteen Doctors then met at the National Gallery to celebrate their victory with a tea party. (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) As he drank with Clara and his tenth and eleventh incarnations, the War Doctor voiced his uncertainty of their success of preserving their home planet, but took solace in the fact they may have "failed at the doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong". (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).) As he felt the regeneration he had been fighting off was about to begin, (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) the War Doctor made his leave, pleased he could call himself "the Doctor" until he would forget his attempt to save Gallifrey due to the timelines being out of sync, and bade farewell to Clara and his future selves as he left in his TARDIS. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
The regeneration[]
As soon as he set the TARDIS for flight away from the Under Gallery, the Doctor noticed regeneration energy emitting from his hands, and noted that it "[made] sense" for him to regenerate after "wearing a bit thin". As the regeneration spread to his entire body, the Doctor commented aloud how he hoped his next incarnation's ears would be "a bit less conspicuous" than his. Though he started to wheeze in pain from the change of appearance, he maintained a peaceful smile on his face as the Ninth Doctor's eyes started to emerge from him. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
Immediate aftermath[]
Due to the timelines being "out of synch," the Ninth Doctor lost all memory of what had happened at the end of the Time War, (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).) believing that he had been "born in battle" (TV: Journey's End [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).) after destroying Gallifrey, and that he was the last of the Time Lords, (TV: The End of the World [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., Dalek [+]Robert Shearman, adapted from Jubilee (Robert Shearman), Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) leaving him with an intense discomfort for his war incarnation. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction [+]Cavan Scott, Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor (Titan Comics, 2015).) Filled with regret, (COMIC: The Promise [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) the Doctor smashed every mirror in the TARDIS, vowing to never look at what face he was wearing, as he thought about how many children he would need to save to make up for the ones he killed by destroying Gallifrey, (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) while also vowing to earn back the name of "the Doctor" by making reparations for his wartime actions (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) by saving as many lives as he could (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) as his "punishment" for surviving the conflict, (PROSE: Meet the Doctor [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Annual 2006 (Panini UK, 2005).) deciding he "didn't need companions or friends". (PROSE: The Eyeless [+]Lance Parkin, BBC New Series Adventures (BBC Books, 2008).)
