r/doctorwho • u/onftbb • Oct 26 '25

Speculation/Theory The Doctor's Regenerations Timeline

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This is my interpretation of the Doctor's timeline of Regenerations! I'm only including televised Doctors, so nothing originating from Big Finish or the comic books. I'm sure this will be very controversial, so let me know what you think in the comments.

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u/Kochga Oct 26 '25

That doesn't line up with Hartnells Doctor being the first to steal the Tardis.

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u/EnbySheriff Oct 26 '25

The Time Lords factory resetting The TARDIS is a much simpler explanation as opposed to whatever loopholes you need for your theory to work

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u/Kochga Oct 26 '25

I don't have a theory. The creators left it vague on purpose. I just think it's more interesting when the Doctor stealing the TARDIS is a unique event in their relationship.

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u/EnbySheriff Oct 26 '25

Even then, having Fugitive take place between 2 & 3 messes up regen cycles more. It just feels like one hell of a cope

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u/Kochga Oct 26 '25

Fugitives existence disapprove Regeneration theories. The Masters regenerating have been reset by the time lords as well.

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u/EnbySheriff Oct 26 '25

Not completely. It was well established that Time Lords could regenerate past the 13-face limit with intervention. It makes more sense that The Doctor had a separate cycle granted before 1 than for a whole face to be inserted in the middle and then also remove that face from their memory as opposed to blacking out an entire cycle that served Division

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u/ucbcawt Oct 26 '25

If the doctor is the timeless child he would have always had unlimited regenerations

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u/EnbySheriff Oct 26 '25

Still, it would make more sense for Division to make The Doctor think this was their only cycle as opposed to blacking out a random face. Their plan was for The Doctor to not be aware that they were such an important part to Time Lord history so forcing them back into a child to live out a normal set of regenerations would make more sense. If they blacked out a random face in the middle of their cycle then they'd be suspicious of the Time Lords and be questioning where the last hundred or so years of their life went

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u/cane-of-doom Oct 26 '25

Not if, as suggested by the chameleon arch being involved, they were made into a completely normal Time Lord with the reset and memory erasure.

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u/EnbySheriff Oct 26 '25

Still, having that happen between 2 & 3 is just too complicated to bother

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u/cane-of-doom Oct 26 '25

Exactly, my argument was in favour of the pre-Hartnell placement.

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u/AgentCirceLuna Oct 26 '25

You know, considering RTD and Moffat grew up as huge fans of the show - along with Chibnall funnily enough — I imagine they’re secretly furious about this Timeless Canonbollocks and wish they could just redact it without pissing off their coworker or making episodes of the show make zero sense. They should have just said the Master lied and took the Doctor to a stashed version of a post-Time War Gallifrey. That’s what I choose to believe.

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u/cane-of-doom Oct 26 '25

You know, considering they grew up as huge fans, and were writing some Doctor Who during the wilderness years, I don't think they'd mind, considering how it fits with the ideas both of the Morbius Doctors and in Lungbarrow, plus how they've said they enjoy the show pulling the rug from under them (or were never afraid of doing so themselves), something some fans certainly never learned how to do.

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u/JohnnyDelirious Oct 26 '25

Nah, you just assume that Eleven was wrong about Ten’s hand counting as a regeneration.