Still annoyed that the new Doctor isn’t a woman? Or that the new Doctor is a white male?
According to writer Neil Gaiman it isn’t for lack of trying.
Gaiman reveals that a black actor was offered the role of the Doctor but turned it down.
“I was rather disappointed that Paterson Joseph didn’t get [the role] last time, although I’ve loved Matt’s Eleven.) And yes, I have no doubt there will be [a black Doctor]. (I know one black actor who was already offered the part of the Doctor, and who turned it down.) Just as there will be a female Doctor,” Gaiman says.
Gaiman also went on to address another controversial point will soon crop up — how the Doctor can live past his 13th and (according to canon) final regeneration.
“Well, [the regeneration limit of 13] was the rule when we had Time Lords running the show. (And they were the ones who gave the Master his extra regenerations.) There aren’t any Time Lords any more… MY OPINION (which is not Canon) is that the regeneration limit is a lot like the speed limit. You can break it, but things get a lot more dangerous if you do. The Time Lords were the traffic cops: they enforced the limit. With them gone, the Doctor can keep regenerating beyond 13, but with consequences,” he says.
So, do you agree with Gaiman? And yes, we will acknowledge that the Master got around the 13 lives rule years ago.
I had come to a very similar conclusion. Since the Time Lord council was capable of restarting a Time Lord’s regeneration cycle (a la the Master), and the Master himself was known in the classic series to have extended his own life past the 12th regeneration, there is nothing stopping the Doctor from living past life 13. One could also argue that, since in the classic series the Doctor was elected president of the Time Lords, that he would be legally held by “the rules” to govern Time Lord society in the absense of the rest of the ruling body. As he is essentially just ruling one time lord (himself), it becomes rather a semantic argument, but it is an argument that permits him to grant himself as many regenerations as he sees fit.
I always figured that they would get around the 13 regenerations thing somehow but Neil Gaimen has a really interesting way of looking at it. I like the idea of a post 13 regeneration having consequences or unintended side-effects.
There are a number of ways the Doctor could continue past his original 12 regenerations. Here are my top picks
He could absorb energy from the Eye of Harmony – Like the Master did in the Deadly Assassin. If he had the sash of Rassilon)
He could find/build a regeneration chamber like the one in Underworld, which gave the Miyans almost perpetual regenerations ( A similar regeneration chamber was also seen in Mawdryn Undead)
As seen in The End of Time, the Time Lords can even resurrect a ‘dormant’ Time Lord ( Rassilon ) if needed. So it would seem likely that any Time Lord fighting in the Time War would have been given a regeneration ‘booster’.
Also since our own science progresses, so could the Time Lords. They could of easily have extended the regeneration ability in a yet to be seen prequel/episode.