REVIEW OVERVIEW: THE TRILOGIES OF DOCTOR WHO

Once more, we dive into another REVIEW OVERVIEW essay. I've been coming up with quite a few of these, lately. So they will be making some fairly regular appearances over the next while. 

Trilogies in Doctor Who are a fairly unique phenomenon.  We really only see them in the JNT era (although, I have decided there is one more example of a trilogy from a different period - but it's my own personal opinion that defines it as such. I don't tend to hear other fans saying the same thing). Many of the trilogies that appeared in the 80s are fairly clear and distinct. Some are a bit less obvious. We will go through them all and rate them with a scale of sorts. 

To be clear: a trilogy is a series of three self-contained stories that combine together to tell a bigger tale. Or, at the very least, that deal with a single significant theme. Once that ongoing storyline or concept is done, the show very clearly moves on to something else. 

Trilogies, of course, should not be confused with the Three-parters we, sometimes, see in the New Series (or the three-parter we once saw in Season 22). These three-parters can bear a close resemblance to a trilogy. I look, for instance, at the three episodes about the Monks in Series 10 and see some pretty distinct stories that combine to tell a whole. But I'd still be more inclined to call that a three-parter. Trilogies from the Classic Series are much more discernible because they are multi-part stories that come together to tell a bigger tale. Whereas a three-parter is only made of three episodes, trilogies are usually comprised of twelve.    

RATING SYSTEM

Last time we did one of these, we were very thorough and scientific-seeming (totally a legitimate hyphenated term!). Even a little bit ambitious. We did five whole different points of criteria and addressed each of them specifically with every candidate. I was very proud of myself for being so clinical. Check it out for yourself if you want to be legitimately impressed with me (or, at least, mildly impressed with me!): https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-overview-which-doctor-is-best-at.html

This time, we're playing things a bit more loose. I'm only going with two points of criteria that will get, at least, vaguely touched-upon during my reviews of each trilogy. 

Point of Criteria #1: Execution of the Trilogy's Main Thrust

This would be the most obvious. There needs to be a through-theme that connects the three stories and makes them feel cohesive. Otherwise, we really don't have a proper trilogy. 

If we go to the Star Wars trilogies, for instance. The original three movies detailed the redemption of Anakin Skywalker. There were tonnes of other stories going on too, of course. But, behind it all, this plot was there. You just had to be looking for it. 

While many bemoan the Prequels, the main theme of this trilogy is well-displayed. In this case, we were watching the Fall of Anakin Skywalker. This process was shown quite clearly and evidently throughout the course of the three movies. It was also constructed in a very realistic manner. If we had gone through the same experiences Anakin had been put through, we probably would have made the same choice. 

So, if we were to compare these two trilogies, the main thrust of the Prequels is probably the better-executed of the two. Complain all you want about Jar Jar or the apparent wooden acting of certain performers. Or even how the story is just too political. But the Fall of Anakin is better-handled than his redemption (which, in some ways, almost seems to come out of nowhere during the third movie).   

We will be making these same sort of observations about the trilogies we'll be examining in Doctor Who. Do we see an underlying storyline building up throughout the three tales? Or could it have been shown more clearly?    

Point of Criteria #2: Actual Story Quality 

While Point of Criteria #1 is pretty important, this can have a very strong bearing too. The self-contained stories being told within the framework of the trilogy need to be well-executed. Otherwise, the whole thing can fall flat. 

Let's go back to that Star Wars comparison just a bit more. I have just pointed out that the Prequels do a much better job with the through-theme than Episodes IV, V and VI. But ask just-about any Star Wars fan which trilogy is better. Some might say those Prequels get picked on way harder than they should (and I would be one of those fans - I actually find them to be quite enjoyable), but would still admit that the Original Trilogy is the better of the two. Why do they feel that? The individual movies that make up the trilogy are just better-made. It's as simple as that. 

So, while a good through-theme is important, it's not everything. If the parts that make a whole are well-conceived, that can really make a difference in our appreciation of a trilogy. 

Special Note: I intentionally didn't go into the shambles that is the Disney trilogy as it would just get me ranting for way too long. And this is meant to be a Doctor Who blog, not Star Wars! 

THE ACTUAL TRILOGIES

Rather than try to rank them immediately, I am just going to tackle them in chronological order. I'll list each one and give a brief analysis on how well they handled those two Points of Criteria. At the end of the individual review, I will give them a score from 1 to 10. Based on that score, you can determine where I rank them all on your own. 

THE E-SPACE TRILOGY 

What impresses me the most about this particular trilogy was the fact that the production team seems to understand that this is the first time they are trying something like this so they keep it pretty simple. No complex multi-layered theme to examine, here. The TARDIS slips through a CVE that takes them into another universe. They then spend the next three stories trying to find their way back into their own reality. Pretty straightforward stuff. 

Both Full Circle and Warrior's Gate keep a strong enough focus on this theme. Particularly Warrior's Gate. The whole story is really about trying to find a way through to the other side of those mirrors. What is nice, though, is that State of Decay is telling a very different type of story from the other two. It really is more of a classic vampire story. With the Doctor and Romana, sort of, becoming Van Helsing together. But enough is inserted into the story about escaping E-Space that it still feels very cohesive. It's not like the middle story forgot, altogether, about the main thrust of the trilogy and just went for something wildly different. It all stitches up together quite nicely. 

All three stories are quite strong. Warrior's Gate is particularly brilliant. It almost makes it into my Top Ten all-time favorite stories, in fact. I'd definitely say it's in my Top Twenty. Which means that the trilogy finishes off beautifully. There's definitely a sense of progression, here. 

The trilogy does lose a point in Full Circle, though. Christopher Bidmead's desire to give Doctor Who a hard sci-fi edge goes just a bit too far, for once. There is, perhaps, just a bit too much technobabble going on, in places. Which causes the story to feel too remote and even a tad confusing. Overall, it's still a very good story. Particularly when you consider the age of its author. And it does also contribute to the overall arc quite nicely. 

The E-Space Saga also loses a point for, perhaps, just being a little too simple and straightforward. Especially as later trilogies come along and we see them dealing with far more complex and sophisticated matters. 

Overall, thought, still a strong trilogy. Especially for a first effort. 

Final Score:                                                                                8/10

THE REGENERATION TRILOGY 

Hot on the heels of The E-Space Trilogy comes a tale that does go for something higher concept. The production team has a little more confidence, now. Instead of using a plot element to link the three stories, it's something more thematic. They give us a very good product, though. Even if they're doing another trilogy again so soon. 

I would go so far to say that it's not so much the concept of regeneration that is the central premise. But, rather, rebirth. The Doctor's transformation is a natural process that all Time Lords must face. So he deals with it in a more healthy manner. The Master, of course, induces his change through the most ungodly of means. But, in both instances, we are watching these two major characters become something new and different. So that the whole thrust of the show can move in a new direction. Doctor Who, itself, becomes reborn as this trilogy concludes.

On this occasion, I like the middle story best. Logopolis actually makes it into my Top Ten (check it out, right here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html). Of all the swansong stories we've gotten, nothing beats this one. Nor do I think anything ever will. But the bookends to Logopolis are still quite magnificent, too.  There is a beautiful poetic quality to both Keeper of Traken and Castrovalva. Keeper plays out like a sci-fi Elizabethan drama while Castrovalva seems to almost hail from the Renaissance Period. It's great to see such classical influences in what is meant to be popular family viewing. It's all quite incredible. At a time when most still considered science fiction and/or fantasy to be "kids' stuff", stories like these prove such theories to be grossly inaccurate. This is very heady content. I'm so glad Bidmead was allowed to realize his full vision. Especially since it actually carried into a period he was no longer script editing for. The very fact that this trilogy completes itself in the next season speaks volumes of its potency. 

Having said all that, both Keeper and Castrovalva do have the slightest of sags to them. If the production team had not waited til the Sylvester McCoy Era to become open to the idea of three parters, both of these stories might have benefited greatly from losing an episode. It's still not enough to hurt the final score too much. But the sag is still there and needs to be acknowledged. 

Final Score:                                                                                9/10

THE GUARDIAN TRILOGY

After taking about a season off from making trilogies, the production team comes back with something truly amazing. The Guardian Trilogy just might be absolutely perfect. 

Mawdryn Undead is a timey-whimey work of brilliance that makes you think it inspired a young Steven Moffat to not be afraid to write the sort of complex paradoxes that we would see when he started contributing to the New Series. It does a remarkable job of bringing back the Brigadier, too (even though it was originally meant to be Ian!). I also love the amount of pathos that is created for the supposed "monsters" of the story. 

Terminus, like State of Decay, is the odd-man-out. It's telling a very different story. One that is very gritty and even a bit political (Stephen Gallagher really seems to hate Big Business!). But it's still a very solid middle tale that sees off Nyssa in a way that seems befitting to the character. Her little striptease is quite nice, too! 

And then there's Enlightenment. Sailing ships in space. Empty Eternals feeding off of our souls. A final showdown between the Guardians and the Doctor that feels legitimately epic (something the Classic Series could have a really hard time doing when it built up a longer arc because its budget was so limited). This is also another one of those 80s stories that seems to have an almost poetic quality to it. Not just because of the gorgeous flow of the dialogue. But the imagery, itself, conjures up that feeling of heightened sensitivity and deeper layers of meaning that a good piece of verse can create.  

And how can you not love: "Enlightenment was not the diamond. Enlightenment was the choice." Shivers every time! 

In terms of the through-theme, the execution is also flawless. Particularly in the middle story. Turlough checks in just often enough with the Black Guardian to remind us that the whole central predicament of the plot was caused by their unholy alliance. I also love that the White Guardian doesn't start appearing til the final tale. It gives us a sense that things are building up. That this is no longer just about the Black Guardian's revenge, it really is a clash between Good and Evil. 

Of course, there's also that bit in Mawdryn Undead where Turlough sees his own sleeping form as he realizes his conversation with the Headmaster was all a dream. So mega-cool! 

There really is nothing I can find wrong in this trilogy. 

Final Score:                                                                                10/10

THE TUTELAGE OF ACE TRILOGY

These last few trilogies start to become more and more subjective. With our first three, the production team tended to refer to them as actual trilogies. A very conscious effort was being made to get three stories to link together into a larger narrative. 

The Tutelage of Ace seems to be more of something that the fans have picked up on. There might have been some degree of intention from the creative team, too -  but it's difficult to say.  This really might be more of an afterthought. That, only after watching the last three stories of Seasond 26, we all decided there was a sort of through-theme going on. 

Naturally enough, that sense of continuity between the stories is fairly muddled. In Ghostlight, there is a definite idea that the Doctor has issued a challenge to Ace to assess where she is and what's going on, there. He is very consciously giving her a lesson of some sort. Which is why we come up with this whole idea that she is being specifically mentored (or even groomed) in these three stories. But the other two stories in the trilogy don't take on the same motif. The Doctor does still seem to be moving Ace through certain specific processes, but he becomes less and less obvious about it in every story. In Ghostlight, he is very consciously trying to teach her how to conquer her fear. In Curse of Fenric, he's a bit more discreet. But he is trying to get her to let go of her resentments. His intention in Survival seems even less clear. He's bringing Ace back home to help her come to terms with where she came from. And to, maybe,  help her to just move on from her past, in general. To be in the present. It really is difficult to tell. But, like the other two stories, he seems to have some sort of agenda. He has given her a goal to achieve. She's just not always aware that he's doing that. But this does cause us to believe that all three stories are interconnected in their own way. 

The fact that the through-line is not as clear-cut as it is in other trilogies is not, necessarily, a bad thing. If  anything, it shows that the production team can make three stories relate to each other without having to hit you over the head with what the central theme is meant to be. In some ways, I do feel that this particular trilogy has more artistic merit than the others. 

This is another trilogy where the stories are amazing. Ghostlight is, perhaps, one of the most sophisticated pieces of television ever created. It really demands that the viewers work out for themselves what the actual story is about. To create their own plot from what they are seeing. You just don't really see stuff like that on television. Curse of Fenric is an absolute Classic. In fact, I prefer this story over many of the tales that most fans attach this sort of label to. It's much better than, say, Genesis of the Daleks or Caves of Androzani. Survival might be the weakest entry of the three, but that's only because the bar is so ridiculously high. It's still incredible and takes the whole show out on a very classy note. I was delighted to see Rona Munro come back and write for New Who (where she did yet another amazing job!). She deserved the status of "First Writer from the Classic Series to Return to the Modern Version." 

Admittedly, I do still wonder if we can truly refer to this as a trilogy. As this does seem more like a title fans have ascribed to it rather than a genuine fact. That is about the only thing that really works to its detriment, though. In so many other ways, this is a great piece of work that builds up a fascinating backstory for Ace. Sadly, the arc it set in motion was meant to be completed in Season 27. But we never got to see it come to fruition. 

Final Score:                                                                                9/10

THE "OF THE DOCTOR" TRILOGY

When I posted my What Constitutes a Three-Parter essay a while back (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/09/points-of-debate-what-constitutes-three.html), an interesting point was made in the comments. Some fans felt that Name of the Doctor, Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor could constitute a very loosely-linked three-part adventure. 

I would like to take that theory one step further. Rather than call it a three part story, I think it actually constitutes a legitimate trilogy. Yes, these are just three episodes back-to-back. My own definition states that a trilogy is made up of several multi-part stories. But, when you consider the running times of some of the episodes, it is like you are getting multi-part adventures. Day has the length of about a four-parter. And Time is close to a three-part length. So we can "fudge the rules" just a little bit and let this one be a trilogy. 

How well do the stories link together? Fairly well. All three of them do tend to get a bit more introspective about our protagonist than usual. They take a deeper look into the Doctor and the nature of his heroism.We are definitely looking at some of the core issues of the character. Particularly in Day and Time. Both examine the philosophies that the Doctor holds that make him into the hero that he is. Name doesn't quite dive into this as strongly. It gets more into the idea of how he deals with his failures. It is also concentrating quite a bit on the whole Impossible Girl storyline. Almost to the point of distraction. It does link nicely with Day, at least, in that it deals with multiple incarnations a bit. So there is still some cohesiveness, there. 

There is another major theme that the trilogy deals with a bit better. Much of these three episodes narrate the Last Stages of the Doctor's Journey to Trenzalore. Which, in many ways, is meant to be the Doctor facing his Final End. In this sense, Name and Time connect better. Whereas Day only makes some very incidental mentions of it. Moff almost seems to be grafting on the arc a bit in Day rather than properly integrating it. 

What this does basically mean is that the through-themes only seem to work so well. Some stories link well with each other in some ways. And, in other manners, they're only so cohesive. Overall, though, I do think the connections are strong enough that we can call this a trilogy if we want to. 

Not too much problems with the stories. Name is competently-told. Day actually makes it into my Top Ten (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html). Time is definitely one of the better swansong stories the show has ever produced - particularly in the New Series. So there's little to complain about, there. 

There is, however, a sort of weird disconnect between Name and Day that, again, damages the cohesiveness of the whole trilogy. At the end of Name, the Doctor is still trapped in his own timeline. In Day, he has escaped it without any explanation. One almost expects the Doctor to proclaim: "I'm indestructible! The whole Universe knows that!" 

In some ways, of course, we can only complain so much about the disconnectedness. I don't really think the production team were trying to make this into a legitimate trilogy. Like the Tutelage of Ace, this is more of a fan concept. I would even say it's more of a concept of just one specific fan! 

However, if I am to subject it to my Points of Criteria, I still see that it's a pretty good trilogy. It deserves a decent score even if other trilogies are much better-constructed. 

Final Score:                                                                                7/10 

A FEW FINAL OBSERVATIONS

That, to me, constitutes all the trilogies that exist in the whole of the series. Because of the simple scoring system, I don't really see a need to rank them too formally. You can, pretty much, work it out for yourself. Quite obviously, I think The Guardians Trilogy is the best. "Of the Doctor" comes in at the bottom. 

Like my Review Overview of Visually Comedic Doctors, these scores are all quite high. This is another area where I always felt the show succeeded quite well. These trilogies were always competently-handled. It's not like, say, some of the regenerations that have been portrayed over the years. Some of them really were badly-done. Trilogies always seemed to be quite solid. 

One should take particular note of the strength of the stories that we find in these trilogies. None of them really ever had a "dud". In fact, several of these tales are very highly-regarded. Not just by me. But fandom, in general. It does almost seem like when trilogies were being made, much better attention was given to the execution of the story-telling. Which makes sense. When you're trying to link three adventures together into a bigger tale, you have to concentrate harder on the scripts. Which, in turn, creates stronger plots that are better-told. 

I do hope this latest entry didn't get a bit too lengthy for you. I was tempted to break it down into two parts but the word-count didn't quite constitute the need to do so. As a single entry, however, it does go a bit long. But it did seem better to keep it that way rather than break it apart. Hope you feel the same. 

Having said that, I really do think trilogies have worked excellently in Doctor Who. I would love to do a follow-up, someday, where I review a few more of them... 

 

COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS: HOW TO WATCH THE DOCTOR'S REGENERATIONS "PROPERLY"!

Way back in the 1960s, I wrote my Ranking The Regenerations entry (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-book-of-lists-ranking-regenarations.html). A half-century later, I had to give it a bit of an update (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-of-lists-appendix-1-ranking.html). I revealed in those entries how I tend to view the Doctor's regeneration stories a bit differently than most fans do. But I felt that I still really didn't explain myself clearly enough. That there's even more viewing that has to go on as you watch the Doctor move into a new incarnation. 

So I felt it was time to do a true "deep cut" of how I enjoy each time the Doctor changes. The way I observe a regeneration is almost absurd - but I still wanted to share the process with you. And, because I'm a bit ridiculous in how I do it, I felt this qualified as my latest COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS essay. 

As I first pointed out in my Ranking the Regenerations essay, I feel that just watching a Doctor's swansong story is not enough. If you truly want to observe the whole process, you need to also watch the first story of the new Doctor, too. On some occasions, the story starts with a re-cap of the previous incarnation's dying moments. So, from a technical perspective, you are still watching the regeneration. It seems to me, then, that it is crucial to see how the Doctor recovers from the whole transformation and moves on in his new body. That recovery is still part of the whole regeneration process. So if you truly want to follow the experience to its fullest extent, you should be watching more than just a Doctor's final story. If, for example, you put on Time of the Doctor, then you should follow it up with Deep Breath. 

But now it's time go one level deeper. In my ridiculously-skewed and/or warped perspective, I've found that there are often even more stories that should be viewed if you're trying to fully take in a complete regeneration that the Doctor is going through. 

Once or twice a year, I will just decide to go through all the times the Doctor changes. It can be quite the lengthy undertaking since I do throw in so many additional stories that one normally wouldn't bother with. But I want the full impact of the whole transition. So I go to all these extra lengths. 

I should note that I'm not trying to rate these regenerations again. I've done that enough already. I'm just going to tackle them chronologically and site all my reasons for the extra viewing that I feel is required. I do think you'll find most of my reasoning to be outrageously pedantic. But maybe you'll give my way a try, anyway. It might all be a bit silly. But silly can be quite fun. 

So, without much further ado....

FIRST REGENERATION: 

Up until a few years ago, it was pretty straightforward. I watched the first three episodes of The Tenth Planet along with the reconstructed version of Part Four that uses both telesnaps and some recovered footage. Then I went for the telesnap version of Power of the Daleks.

Things have gotten a bit more complicated, now. I'm not a huge fan of the style of animation that gets used for lost stories. The nicest way to put it is to say that it just doesn't really agree with my tastes. I still respect that efforts are being made to make these lost stories a bit more accessible. I just wish they'd do it differently. 

So that means I still tend to watch the reconstructed fourth episode of Tenth Planet rather than the animated version. However, six episodes of telesnaps is a bit tough to push through. So, for Power of the Daleks, I will watch the cartoons. 

But, these days. things have become even more complicated. We now have Twice Upon a Time to contend with. Sometime between the First Doctor leaving the Cyber-ship and entering his TARDIS to shed his first body, he has a whole separate adventure with his Twelfth Self. This must now be factored in if you are to fully enjoy the Doctor's very first regeneration. 

So now I sandwich in Twice Upon a Time between Tenth Planet and Power of the Daleks. It just doesn't feel right if I don't. As this is a special Appendix that has been added to the whole story where we see the First Doctor wrestling with letting go of himself and surrendering to change. It adds a whole new dimension to this pivotal moment in the Doctor's life. 

Important Note: As soon as the First Doctor returns to his proper timeline and initiates the regeneration, I shut Twice Upon a Time off. There's no need to hang around and watch what happens afterwards. That will get its proper viewing much further down the road.    

SECOND REGENERATION

This is another one that used to be a whole lot less complicated. There was a time when you could simply enjoy the long-but-epic War Games followed by the very filmic and colorful Spearhead from Space. 

But then we started having some continuity issues with Patrick Troughton's return appearances in the 80s. In The Five Doctors, how did the Second Doctor know about Jamie and Zoe's final fate when he shouldn't? Why is the Second Doctor doing errands for the Time Lords in The Two Doctors when he is meant to still be running away from them? 

Fandom manages to come up with the very clever Season 6b theory. The belief that the Doctor led a whole secret life between War Games and Spearhead. That, just before his regeneration was triggered, the Celestial Intervention Agency spirited him away and had him undertake a whole series of secret missions for them. When the whole thing was eventually discovered by the High Council, the Second Doctor was re-captured, forced to regenerate and serve his exile on Earth. 

So, now, if you're going to enjoy that second regeneration properly, you're going to have to watch The War Games, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors and then Spearhead from Space. 

It gets quite a few things to make better sense. Not just the discrepancies that present themselves in the multi-Doctor adventures, but even some things that occur in other stories. Like where did the Third Doctor get his TARDIS homing device in Spearhead from Space when he clearly didn't have it in The War Games? (It must have been another gift he was given by the CIA - just like the Statenheim Remote Control) Or why does the Doctor seem to be describing a very different trial to Jo Grant during Frontier In Space? (When the High Council discovered the Doctor's secret life in Season 6b, they brought him back to Gallifrey and put him through a second sentencing). 

It's a very cool way to enjoy this regeneration. Those 80s tales where Troughton returns have a very different feel to them, now. You're watching the Second Doctor living on borrowed time that you know he will eventually lose. 

THIRD REGENERATION

No actual change to this one. Which you will see from time-to-time in this entry. 

Thus far, there have been no episodes that came out after Planet of Spiders and Robot that have, somehow, added to the whole transition of Third to Fourth Doctor. So there is no need to place more stories in between them like we did with the first two regenerations. The two adventures can stand on their own. 

Which, in many ways, is good for me. I'm not particularly fond of either of these tales (neither of them really seem to have enough story to fill the episodes they've been allocated). So the less time I have to spend on this regeneration, the better! 

FOURTH REGENERATION

Technically, you can just watch Logopolis and Castrovalva back-to-back and be done with it. But I really do think you should include Keeper of Traken. 

These three stories are commonly referred to as The Regeneration Trilogy. So you should keep them all together. Particularly since Keeper of Traken does flow directly into Logopolis. Several key plot points  in Keeper of Traken (the Master's "regeneration", the introduction of Nyssa, etc...) have a direct influence on the Fourth Doctor's final tale. Some of these elements will even bleed into Castrovalva just a bit. 

So, really, you should experience The Regeneration Trilogy as a whole. Rather than cutting it off at the knees by excluding the first four episodes. 

FIFTH REGENERATION

Like the Second Regeneration, this one goes quite a bit longer than one might expect. For me, at least. 

I do even bring this up in my original Ranking the Regenerations essay. The Sixth Doctor's recovery period goes on much longer than usual. For the most part, a new Doctor is running on all cylinders by the end of his first adventure. But I don't think Sixie truly settles in until halfway through Vengeance on Varos. We are still seeing lots of clear signs of instability up until that point. The Doctor has weird memory issues in Attack of the Cybermen and seems to be legitimately scattered during Vengeance on Varos. And, in both stories, he's experiencing uncharacteristic manic outbursts that I  believe to be negative side effects from his latest transformation.

I do sincerely feel that we haven't truly witnessed the full regeneration until the new Doctor has completely recovered. So, this regeneration is not complete until we have viewed Caves of Androzani, Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen and the first part of Vengeance on Varos. 

The Doctor's near-death experience at the cliffhanger of Part One of Varos gives a shock to his system that finally gets him to stabilise (Thirteen goes through something similar that she describes near the end of The Woman Who Fell to Earth). So you don't have to watch that second part if you don't want to. Truthfully, though, I usually watch the whole story anyway. Because Vengeance on Varos is pretty damned brilliant. I love it this much: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-3.html. 

SIXTH REGENERATION 

Believe it or not, I'm actually not going to add something when others might be inclined to. 

Some would say that you should watch the final two episodes of Trial of a Time Lord (aka: The Ultimate Foe) before embarking upon Time and the Rani. They claim that, because we see the Doctor in the same outfit he wore as he left the space station/coutroom that the regeneration happens immediately after the events of Season 23. 

But I don't subscribe to that particular theory. I'm more inclined to believe that a good 50 years takes place between Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani. The Sixth Doctor just happens to put on the same vest and cravat that he was wearing during Ultimate Foe when the Rani diverts the course of his TARDIS and brings him to Lakyerta. So, as much as I like to watch all the Sixie I can, there is no need to view Ultimate Foe before the regeneration. 

Time and the Rani can stand by itself. Yes, there are parts of it that are a bit difficult to watch. But it's really not as bad as some would lead you to believe. So just enjoy it for what it's worth! 

SEVENTH REGENERATION

No additions necessary, here, either. Just sit back and watch what I believe to be the most visually-impressive regeneration of them all. Watching Seven turn into Eight as Frankenstein plays is absolutely gorgeous. 

Doctor Who - The Movie, like Time and the Rani, can be enjoyed all by itself. And, just like Time and the Rani, there are a few problems with the whole plot structure. But, really, you shouldn't get too hung up on it. There's a lot of fun, here, too. Just check your brain at the door and have a good time! 

EIGHTH REGENERATION

Night of the Doctor can also stand alone. Enjoy the near-seven minutes of the most-anticipated regeneration in the history of the show. McGann is brilliant and the briefest of glimpses of a young John Hurt is an excellent touch. 

NINTH REGENERATION

And, once more, I can start over-complicating things!

Although, really, Moff complicated things, first. He created a hidden Doctor that we never knew existed until the 50th anniversary. So, if you truly want to see every possible moment of the War Doctor's existence, then bother to watch Name of the Doctor. Just so you can see him appear in that final minute of the episode. I don't think it's mandatory, though (but then, is anything that I'm suggesting completely required of you?!). I will admit that, sometimes, I'm in the mood to watch Name of the Doctor when I observe this regeneration. Other times, I choose not to bother with it. So I leave it up to you, too. Watch it if you feel like it. 

Day of the Doctor, on the other hand, is completely necessary. It really is the only story that gives us any legitimate exposure to the War Doctor. John Hurt makes the best of his brief appearance. And, while it still pains me more that we don't get a greater quantity of McGann, it is also a bit sad that we will only ever see Hurt here and nowhere else. 

Like Twice Upon a Time, you are welcome to shut everything down after the War Doctor regenerates. But it's tough to stop things when you know that the Tom Baker cameo is coming. All eleven incarnations of the Doctor standing in dry ice fog is also great fun to watch. So, chances are you will finish things up. 

Once you are done, though, you need to include Rose in the viewing. That briefest of scenes where Nine appears to be seeing himself in a mirror for the first time indicates to me that the regeneration occurred only moments ago. So Day of the Doctor and Rose flow into each other and need to be watched back-to-back. 

TENTH REGENERATION

This is another one where I feel you get some options to play with. 

You do need to watch Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways to get the full experience of seeing Nine die. Some might argue that you should also watch Boomtown since it explains the all-important concept of staring into the Heart of the TARDIS. But I don't think that's necessary. Skip Boomtown. 

Once in a Blue Moon, I will bother with the Children In Need Special that they shot that is meant to take place immediately after the regeneration. But, really, it's so inconsequential that it doesn't need to be included. It really is much better to go straight from Parting of Ways to The Christmas Invasion. 

After that, you have more choices to make. I will, on occasion, pop in New Earth. That opening sequence where the Tenth Doctor is powering up the TARDIS console for the first time in his new body while Rose says bye to Mom and Mickey does feel very poignant. It, sort of, indicates that the regeneration recovery is truly complete. He's feeling better and is ready to go. 

So, sometimes, I will just bother to watch that scene and then be done with it. Other times,  I will watch all of New Earth - just because it feels weird to stop things after the pre-titles! Most of the time, however, it really is just Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion. It's just that, every once in a while, I'm in the mood for a bit more... 

ELEVENTH REGENERATION 

Don't get confused, here. We're counting Ten changing back into himself as a proper regeneration. 

For me, this is simply about Stolen Earth and Journey's End and nothing else. Even though some might feel that Turn Left should be included in the mix. 

However, I did do a big POINT OF DEBATE essay a while back about What Constitutes a Three Parter? (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/09/points-of-debate-what-constitutes-three.html). In it, I claimed that I felt that Turn Left stands as its own separate story and that the season finale is just a two-parter. So, once again, I'm trimming things down, here. I really enjoy Turn Left, but I don't include it in this particular study. This is, in my opinion, a completely ludicrous regeneration. So, the quicker we can get through it, the better.     

TWELFTH REGENERATION

This is another one I like to get through fast. I'm really not fond of The End of Time Part 1 and 2. In terms of final stories for a Doctor, I think it's probably the worst one that's been made, so far.  

I am much happier with the The Eleventh Hour. It does, perhaps, move a bit too slowly at the beginning. But it finishes up quite well.  Overall, though, I treat this one in much the same way as I would the Third Regeneration (although with a little bit less disdain since most of Eleventh Hour is rather enjoyable). Essentially, watch End of Time and Eleventh Hour and get on to something better.  

THIRTEENTH REGENERATION 

And so, the first regeneration cycle reaches its conclusion. A truly momentous occasion, but I still keep it pretty simple: Time of the Doctor and Deep Breath. That's all you need, here. Nothing more. 

FOURTEENTH REGENERATION

I just recently talked about my reasoning for this one in my Ranking The Regenerations Appendix so I won't go on about it too much in case you bothered to read that entry. 

World Enough and Time opens with the Doctor stumbling out of the TARDIS at the South Pole and starting to regenerate. So, to me, this is where the regeneration story starts. Because The Woman Who Fell to Earth ends on a cliffhanger, we should also include The Ghost Monument in the whole arc. 

So this regeneration takes a whopping five episodes: World Enough and Time, The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time (you can watch it all the way through, this time - don't shut it off after One dies!), The Woman Who Fell to Earth and The Ghost Monument. This is quite long by New Who standards. But it is fun to watch. For me, at least. Those less fond of Chibnall-era Who may beg to differ! 

SUPPLEMENTAL REGENERATION STUFF:

In the last few years, we've watched the Doctor mess around a bit here and there with regeneration energy. We're not entirely sure what sort of consequence such gestures might have. The Twelfth Doctor joked that it may cause deficiencies in future incarnations but he didn't sound particularly serious about it. If you are doing a deep study into the Doctor's regenerations, you may want to observe all these sequences. So, I'll bother to list them: 

First Time

The first time we saw the Doctor do this was in Angels Take Manhattan. After River's hand gets hurt, he gives her a little regeneration energy to heal it. Up until this moment, we'd never seen him do this. I suppose he could only accomplish this sort of trick with another Time Lord. Or, in the case of River, a partial Time Lord. I even think this might be a special modification that was made to their DNA during the Time Wars. As a means to help cure light wounds during battle, a Time Lord can give some of their regeneration energy to another Time Lord who might be in need of it. 

What makes less sense about this sequence, however, is the fact that the Doctor is meant to be on his last incarnation. How did he find any regeneration energy to give her? It's my guess that, even in the final incarnation, a Time Lord does have some regeneration energy left in them. Just not enough to trigger a complete transformation. 

Second Time

The next occasion that this occurs would be in The Witch's Familiar. Believing Davros to be near death and wanting him to live long enough to watch one more Skarosian sunrise, the Doctor modifies some life-support equipment so that he can donate regeneration energy to the mad scientist. It's all just a big trap that Davros has set up, of course. But that didn't matter, cause the Doctor knew what was really going on and had a trick of his own up his sleeve. It all almost kinda felt like Remembrance of the Daleks again! 

The Doctor does seem to be using a lot of regeneration energy, here. He does, essentially, end up donating it to every single Dalek on Skaro. The regeneration energy is also drained from him for a substantial period of time before it's finally stopped. If there's ever a time when he may have actually used up an entire regeneration, it might be here. 

Third Time 

Finally there's that time he tests Bill during The Lie of the Land. She shoots him with a gun loaded with blanks and he pretends to go into a regeneration. We see that familiar golden glow envelope him for a moment and then he suddenly brings it to a stop. The whole thing was just a big prank! 

This one seems the most inconsequential. He doesn't seem to use up much regeneration energy during this sequence. 

All these incidents lead us to wonder what exactly might be going on with the just how much the Doctor will be able to regenerate in this latest cycle. This could just be "spare" regeneration energy that he can mess with a bit without it really affecting his overall ability to change into new bodies. Or he may have lost an entire incarnation or two. 

Of course, Moff was clever enough not to reveal just how many regenerations the Doctor had been granted, this time. So part of the reason why the Doctor might be more liberal with his regeneration energy is because he has been given a whole lot more of it. Alternatively, it could just be that the Doctor has become quite reckless and doesn't care about how much longer he might be able to live (unlike that moment of reluctance in Mawdryn Undead where helping the weird exposed-brain aliens would have robbed him of his remaining lives). Better he sacrifice some regeneration energy to accomplish a greater good than try to survive for as long as possible.    

Special Note: "But Rob," some of you might be saying (there you go again!), "you forgot about that time in The Impossible Astronaut where the Doctor used some regeneration energy up when he was faking his death! Surely that counts as another one of those occasions!" 

I assume that, because he is safely inside the Teselecta while all of this is happening that he is not creating the effect. But, rather, the Teselecta, itself, is doing it (if they can create a whole motorcycle, they should be able to produce a golden glow!). More than likely, the miniaturized people piloting the whole thing understood how Time Lords worked and knew they had to make it look like the Doctor was attempting a regeneration before he died. Alternatively, the Doctor may have explained this to them. Either way, his death had to look convincing so they added the effect at the appropriate moment. But this is not the Doctor doing this. Which is why I don't qualify it as a "messing with regeneration energy" moment.    

WHAT ABOUT THAT CRAZY TIMELESS CHILD?! 

I suppose, technically, if you want to watch all the Doctor's regenerations, then you will also have to watch The Timeless Children. While some fans are still holding on to a belief that the Master was lying to the Doctor, most of us feel that this is now an important aspect of the Doctor's origins. That, as the Chibnall era progresses, we'll learn more and more of how this whole backstory fits in. So the very first regeneration on Gallifrey also counts as another one of the Doctor's. 

It should be noted, however, that there is one substantial difference between how the Timeless Child and the Doctor regenerate. It really does seem like the Timeless Child had an infinite (or, at the very least, near-infinite) number of regenerations. While we still haven't quite gotten the full story, it would appear that the Timeless Child, somehow, pissed off the Division and was punished by being turned into a normal Time Lord. So, while the Doctor was originally the Timeless Child, he has lost that ability to regenerate endlessly. He really did only have twelve regenerations in his first cycle. Again, we don't know how many this new cycle has (and he might not know, either!). But, at the end of Time of the Doctor, he really was going to die unless the Time Lords interceded. 

I am, very much, interested in seeing what other differences may exist with the regeneration process of the Timeless Child and the Doctor. We have seen that there are things that can kill a Time Lord, outright. That, if enough damage is done, the Doctor won't actually be able initiate a regeneration. He'll simply just die. I do suspect that the Timeless Child really was immortal. That, no matter what damage was done to her, she'll still regenerate. We'll have to wait and see if my theory is correct. More than likely, it won't be. Just about any time I try to predict something on Doctor Who, I am dead wrong. If I'm really lucky, Chibnall just won't actually reveal if the Timeless Child has this ability or not. 

So, there we go: How to watch all the Doctor's regenerations properly. To even insinuate that there is a true way to enjoy them is completely ludicrous, of course. Which is why I've made this a COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS essay. I know how ridiculous all of this looks. 

Still, if you've got a complete collection of all existing episodes - give it a try. It's actually a lot of fun.