The Time Of The Doctor: Three Things We Loved About Matt Smith’s Farewell
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The Regeneration
In the weeks leading up to “The Time of the Doctor,” Moffat had commented that Smith’s regeneration would be very different from that of David Tennant. The Tenth Doctor’s regeneration was, after all, treated much more like a death than it had before, culminating in Tennant’s unforgettable, heartbreaking “I don’t want to go.” That’s powerful stuff, emotionally, but also seemed a bit unlikely for a character who had already gone through this process many times over the centuries. But Moffat also acknowledged that, while it isn’t the same as death, it could still be a frightening prospect: you’re going to turn into somebody else, with a new face and new personality. Even though everything you are will still be there, in many ways an entirely new person will be at the wheel. That sounds vaguely terrifying, if you ask me.
Kudos, then, for the way they handled it in “Time.” Rather than a single regeneration, we get two. First a violent, cathartic, triumphant regeneration as the Time Lords grant the Doctor another full set of regenerations, and with it the means to deal with those pesky Daleks that had been such a problem for several hundred years. But then we get, in essence, a second regeneration. This one quieter, more emotional, where the Doctor acknowledges with sadness that regeneration may not be as bad as death, but it’s still very much an ending.
And just when we thought we were going to get through this thing without tearing up, here comes Amelia Pond to see her Raggedy Doctor off. I’m still kind of a mess.
With “The Time of the Doctor,” Moffat neatly wrapped up the arc of the show during Smith’s years, answering many questions and offering new ones, in the end leaving us feeling as if we’ve just finished a beloved book and are excited to pick out the next one. More importantly, he regenerated not just the Doctor, but the mythology of the series itself. He said in interviews a while back that he wanted to help ensure the show lasted another 50 years. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but in closing out the story of Matt Smith and the Eleventh Doctor, he’s deftly set the stage for Doctor Who to carry on at least that long. And when the Doctor runs through these new lives? Well, that’ll be somebody else’s problem to solve…
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