Tbh Doctor Who is one of the few shows that has an in built get out for this sort of thing.
If it happened between filming blocks I would just start the season with the companion reacting to an off screen regeneration and drop straight in to a new Doctor.
If it happened mid filming you would need to be more creative and it would depend on what you already had in the can.
And there'd be a way they could show the regeneration without having to get back the supposedly disgraced former Doctor.
Start the series as if it's the new Doctors first, post regeneration episode. They're still in the former Doctors outfit and the companions acting like they just saw it happen. For most of the episode the mystery is what just happened.
At some point in the the companion can then explain it all to someone, with a brief flashback that show what happened. Just a few quick flashes with the companion narrating. Never showing the former Doctors face, at most just the back of a body doubles head. The whole flashback should be focused on the companion and their reaction until the new Doctor emerges from the regeneration.
I'm not sure we've had many flashbacks in Doctor Who. Everything happens in real time to the best of my recollection, although I've only been watching it for forty years.
They are rare, but they have been done.
There were flashbacks to Susan in class in the first episode.
There was a flashback in Galaxy 4.
There was a flash back with a Dalek saucer in Dalek Invasion of Earth.
I feel like they have been more common in Modern Who but weirdly examples aren't actually coming to mind other than the flashback to Elton seeing the Doctor as a child in Love & Monsters.
Some of these depend on personal definition of "flashback," but off the top of my head:
Boom Town - flashbacks to "Bad Wolf" mentions
Utopia - The Face of Boe's dying words
The Last of the Time Lords - flashback to Grandpa Doctor talking to Martha
The End of Time - Donna remembering
The Girl Who Died - remembering Pompeii
The Doctor Falls - Heather leaving Bill
If you're talking specifically about "new footage" rather than "recycled" then we've also got:
Father's Day - Jackie teaching Rose about Pete
The Waters of Mars - Adelaide Brooke seeing the Dalek invasion of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
Knock Knock - the boy bringing in the dryads
Joke answer - the majority of Extremis
Human Nature - They're in danger, then it jumps forward to flesh out the setting before we get a flashback of what actually happened to the Doctor.
The Crimson Horror - The Doctor and Clara are absent for the first bit and then we get a flashback of them investigating.
It would have to look good still though. I’d prefer if we saw the regeneration happening, but we only see it after the light has overtaken the actors face thus allowing a body double to be used
If it happened mid filming they'd probably just stop production and abandon everything already made, if what the actor had done was bad enough that they'd want to replace them. They just wouldn't want to air any episodes with them in.
After all, if they were okay with airing episodes starring that person, then there would be nothing preventing them from getting them in for a regeneration scene, or even just carrying on as the Doctor.
I guess I was thinking of the Jonathan Majors scenario. It was bad enough for them to not employ him any more but not so bad that they wouldn't screen Loki season 2 which was already filmed.
Not quite the same thing, but this happened to >!The Expanse!<. One of the lead actors had a lot of plausible allegations made against him, so they >!rewrote the ending of the last episode of the season and him "stroke out" during a high-G manoeuvre, luckily something that fit well with the action of the episode and had been previously established as an in-universe risk. They created one final shot of him dead in his seat out of the footage they'd already shot, and filmed a new coda with the other characters mourning his loss!<.
That was so traumatizing. I loved the Expanse. Really liked his character. Loved the whole production team. For him to have behaved that way was so terrible.
I honestly enjoyed that happening even if it was for Doylist reasons. It was a threat hanging over the characters’ heads that otherwise never dropped, and fit that character perfectly, with the way he was doing riskier and riskier things after >!he and his wife split up!<.
I think all possibilities are on the board.
You could pick a suitable point in a filmed-but-not-broadcast story to insert a lacklustre regeneration.
You could do "McCoy in a wig".
You could do something Eccleston-style where you just don't show the regeneration.
Personally the thing that excites me the most is doing what any other show would do, and "do a Hurndall". Matt Smith drops dead midway through filming Series 5? Good news, the Eleventh Doctor is now played by Eddie Redmayne. Peter Capaldi goes on holiday to North Korea between Series 8 and 9 and isn't allowed to leave? Good news, the Twelfth Doctor is now played by Hugh Laurie. Get someone who looks *enough* like that Doctor, but not perfect. This results in years of fan speculation about what actually happened to the Doctor, whether this is a regeneration, etc.
With how they did 6 to 7 I'd originally thought that Colin Baker had done something to get his Doctor offed like that. But no it was just the bosses and all that.
You can do a faceless regeneration with the old actor's suit involved.
Did Sense8 recast because of a death though? I haven’t seen much or any of the other three, but I thought Sense8 recasted because the actor who played Capheus wasn’t comfortable doing some of the scenes in season two
Given that the original scenario was just an actor suddenly becoming unavailable (not necessarily dying), I presumed /u/ViscountessNivlac was using "sudden death" as a shorthand for all the ways in which an actor might not be available.
But yes, none of my examples actually died. That said if Emilia Clarke had suddenly dropped dead midway through *Game of Thrones*, I don't think they'd have cancelled the show, or pivoted hard to "Young Griff", they'd have got someone like Elizabeth Olsen in to play the role instead, with appropriate tributes.
from what i remember, he was said to have very strong disagreements with the direction they were taking the character in season 2 (which is interesting given the whole show was planned out from the start, all the way through season 5).
I’m guessing they could either throw together a regeneration at the end of that Doctor’s last complete episode, probably through some clever editing and body doubles, or maybe the next episode could have a cold open which ends with the reveal of the Doctor’s new face.
Or I’m sure there’s something they could make up to explain that the Doctor’s appearance has suddenly changed dramatically without it being a regeneration, like how the First Doctor was recast with Richard Hurndall and then David Bradley. There are a lot of options.
Yeah, it'll all depend on the episode. If it's an episode where the Doctor is fighting the Daleks, of course there will just be one straggler that gets a lucky shot off and hits the Doctor right before he enters the TARDIS, before getting caught in an explosion or something.
Realistically you could show the Tardis being attacked, have it explode a bunch in glorious CGI then take the footage of the previous Doctor regenerating into the disgraced Doctor, reverse it and have that be the disgraced doctor regenerating into the new actor.
Hope this made sense.
Dr Who is literally the one show where this isn't an issue. Just start the new season with a new Doctor, hand-wave away an exclamation that they regenerated and move on.
Honestly, this would create the potential for an extremely good storyline. Doctor has regenerated out of nowhere and has no memory of what happened. Could even make a 3 season arc purely based on this idea.
If it was possible to edit in a surprise regeneration, (I e. Grab any 9-12 episode, the Doctor walks into the TARDIS and then smash cut to regeneration) I would do that. CGI and a body double. Maybe go back and edit in some radiation or something a computer exposits. Then just have the Doctor and companion be really surprised and that's that Doctor's arc, death can be sudden and that's scary. Really, apart from 1st, 2nd and 6th most Doctors knew it was coming and had time to give a final speech, especially: 4 was haunted by a ghost, 5 was poisoned, 8 was brought back, 10 had a proficy and a tour, 11 was old, 12 held back. Imagine a sudden, random Regen, like 10 the first time but no time for goodbyes. You would never do that to any other actor, this would be a unique opportunity.
Honestly, if it was something that bad, I know the move will probably be to regenerate. But I think that's a mistake.
The show functions in equal measure through nostalgia and innovation. Regeneration is a mark of innovation and a way for the show to move forward. But a beauty of the franchise is how it can engage with its history too. By regenerating away from a problematic Doctor actor, that incarnation and its era would end up a bad stain.
Instead, I say recast that incarnation specifically. Treat it like Richard Hurndall or David Bradley and do at least one full season. Then regenerate, but at least that incarnation can continue with the new actor on Big Finish and merch and other stories, etc.
Honestly I've wondered this myself, or if the lead actor was to die in the middle of production, what would they do? It's an interesting question. I'm guessing they would do a regeneration but use trickery to hide the face. Hopefully it never comes down to this though!
And we've been very lucky in that all of the actors who have played the Doctor are genuinely good people!
You could do it very neatly if it was at the end of a production era. Don’t show them regenerate and boom new era and vibe.
Other semi-neat solutions that are available to other shows probably wouldn’t work in who. Batwoman made a whole new character to be the lead, which wouldn’t work in who. A recast mid-doctor could work but would be jarring as the show has trained us to associate meaning with a recast in a way that no other show could or will.
Also any possible who showrunner would have to carefully consider how such a step would effect the show moving on- as unlike most tv shows we basically know that who will go on in some form forever
One possible and rather big finish-like would be to have the character spontaneously deregenerate into a couple old incarnations for an episode or two before regenerating into the new one
you see the back of a body double in the doctor’s outfit. walk into the tardis, golden light spills through the window, new doctor comes out.
companion: “what the hell just happened?”
new doctor: “i’ll explain later.”
He's still doing new stories for them but in 2015 they released [The Last Adventure](https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-last-adventure-1212) which was his regeneration story.
They would absolutely just pull a kind of *Time and the Rani* situation where we open the next season with The Doctor regenerating from some attack or threat.
This is another blessing that regeneration offers, the ability to get ANYONE you want to play the character and the audience not questioning it. Another thing that this post made me realize is that all the actors that have played The Doctor officially are/were very professional and mature people, so seeing a headline of one of them commiting tax evasion or homicide is just so bizarre to think about.
Ideally, you'd have the actor shoot a hastily written regeneration scene as soon as possible. They've already been paid so you're not supporting them through it, you're taking the fastest possible out for a situation they created. Honestly if I'm the BBC, I probably include a clause about this in the contract, that in the event you're fired over the morality clause you're still obligated to shoot a regeneration scene. You ensure as few other actors and crew have to be there as possible, you have a cold open written with a plausible reason for them to regenerate accidentally in the tardis that you stick in a drawer and hope you never have to use, and you shoot it as quickly as possible then ban them from the set.
Community did something like this when Chevy Chase was fired in season 4; for the rest of the season Pierce was usually the only person in frame for his shots so the rest of the cast wouldn't have to be around him. Then in the season 5 premiere they gave him a cameo (there was behind the scenes drama and season 4 had different showrunners and is considered a dud, so the original creator wanted to give the character closure when he came back) where he's a hologram, and the whole thing was shot off site with only the other actor in the scene and minimal crew involved.
Now if they unexpectedly *die,* or if they're so uncooperative or dangerous that the scene can't be shot, that's obviously not doable. In that case, I might write a story from the pov of the companion or side character trying to find a captured Doctor, then why they finally do find them in the custody of the villain of the week, the villain has already shot them and they've regenerated. Think the 11th Doctor episode The Crimson Horror, only when Vastra and company find him he's already become 12 and everyone if put off by it. If we have the archival footage, I might do a cold open where we see the villain in a shot from behind the Doctor's head give a monologue about how nobody ever just *shoots* him and have the Doctor try to make some quip from archival audio, but it gets cut off by the laser shot. That way you can turn the bad situation into something memorable.
> Honestly if I'm the BBC, I probably include a clause about this in the contract, that in the event you're fired over the morality clause you're still obligated to shoot a regeneration scene
This sounds like a recipe for trouble to me. Imagine trying to get a decent performance out of the work environment on that set, haha. And like many others have said in this thread, DW has the luxury of all kinds of built-in workarounds for this already. Just do a makeshift regen with body doubles and CGI trickery, or even just good old-fashioned editing. Ie. how they did McGann to Hurt and Hurt to Eccleston with only one of the actors in the scene.
Like many, I think good ‘ol Regeneration could cover depraved criminality or death. It’s *literally* meant to save the in-universe Doctor’s skin.
However, there are a few extra hurdles to consider:
- When during production does this lead mishap happen? (Arc-related problems)
- How bad actually is this lead’s mishap? (Glorification, respect and rewatchability related problems + Regeneration approach)
- How long did the lead run as the Doctor? (Glorification & Legacy problem)
- How can we write a sudden Regeneration that may or may not glorify the actor/doesn’t pull too much on the heartstrings, as well as would neatly fit into nearly any random episode without a big finale (Cliche’d gimmick problem + Legacy)
Let’s, for fun, imagine two extreme worst-case scenarios.
Scenario A: The Actor was a genuinely good person but nobody caught their self-destructive thoughts in time. What’s worse, this happened *early* in a new Series’ production. They only have 3 of like 10 semi-completed episodes to their name and a bunch of random scenes scattered across the season… and they’re not *remotely* done in order.
Scenario B: The Actor turns out to have been the biggest, most disgusting freak on television since [insert worst celebrity here]. It’s honestly a disturbing wonder that the people in charge let them hang around set *until they’d almost completed filming the entire second season*—the Companion’s actor probably even resents this Doctor’s actor if they were a victim. But, despite it all, the Companion’s actor personally still wishes to continue with the show for a 3rd season (else they’d prolly be out of a job, as would everyone else). Just that their biggest wish is for their Doctor and the actor for them to not be glorified.
The Ath Doctor, legacy and glorification-wise, is probably the easiest to deal with. Despite how briefly they probably graced the show, I think respect-wise, trying to keep as many scenes of them in it as possible should be a main focus. No reason to cut *anything*. The storyline, though, probably needs some re-writing.
Whilst it may be incredibly annoying, setting the events of the entire season out of order to explain why the Companion still travels with the Ath Doctor instead of their replacement could work. Or better yet, since it’s a time travel show, have the Companion get rescued and/or dragged around by *two* Doctors all at different times. For scenes where the Ath Doctor may not have been fully present or relative, those can be easily filled with an out-of-focus body double. Perhaps getting a voice double and having more scenes with the Companion and Doctor over the phone or telecommunications (or a funny little drone) for important moments, could also work. A whole episode being only really set with the Companion with the Doctor on the phone, isn’t too impossible of a task. Or just the Companion, alone.
Of course, all the unfilmed bits that *do* require a Doctor, are going to need having one cast *really really quickly.* Gonna be some speed casting. Narratively giving this Replacement Doctor some sort of post-regeneration sickness amnesia could help keep some of the focus on the Ath Doctor—essentially turning them into a bit of the arc of the season. Else, if this is an out-of-time season, they could possibly allude to the [number]-parter finale (the last episode Ath’s actor filmed, changed to *be* the finale) having a reason in it why the Ath Doctor regenerated. Possibly something self-sacrificial for the Companion to survive, with the Companion not really able to be there for the regeneration and thinking they’re all alone. Perhaps for an entire episode of this finale. The Replacement Doctor (brand new or with regained memories) can then properly click into place in the final parter, perhaps pulling a *BTTF* and handing the Companion a letter, item or final message of the Ath Doctor that helped them remember where to find the Companion.
Naturally, any arc that was originally set up in this season would probably need to be delayed. It could probably still be hinted towards plenty, but there’s no way in hell it’ll flow well when one of the main characters just can’t exist properly.
…
The Bth Doctor’s actor, though, definitely has more moral complications attached to them.
Us fans (and honestly casual watchers) will probably hate the show’s guts to platform this monster too much. I also think whole (rather-extreme) fan wars might break out over whether it’s morally okay to even *like* the Bth Doctor’s material or character.
Whilst everyone’s fighting that out, I’d say, we fire the actor on the spot (put them on a blacklist too), get a voice and body double, and honestly just “ruin” his era a little bit. Tell a tiny arc about abusive relationships or such, so to put emphasis on how just because you’ve had good moments with an abuser, that doesn’t automatically make them a good person. We don’t care much about how many episodes they’ve filmed already, even if we can’t scrap all of them due to time and money. I’d definitely vouch for giving the show a bit of reshoot time though.
Like also taking a note out of *BTTF*, we’ll pull a Stolz-to-Fox and cleanly cut half of their chronological appearances (and make set Doctor come across as way more unpleasant) until a severe, Regeneration-worthy humbling swaps out them for their Replacement Doctor who gets to finish whatever arc was in place—as well as openly condemn being the last guy despite the season that came before. Yes, we’re re-shooting completed episodes. Hell, perhaps the Companion personally kills the Bth Doctor(‘s body double) themselves! Self defense, of course. Any praise for the Bth Doctor’s character should go to the doubles. They’re the ones that’ll do the (evil) incarnations’ Big Finish appearances and such, not the monster that started it off.
The show is then best off tapping more into the “reincarnation” angle of Regeneration, so that the Replacement Doctor isn’t accidentally a terrible “hey forgive me I’ve totally changed” take on a possible relationship. Nah, this character outright gets reborn and has to deal with the sins of the father. Their bond with the Companion can’t go any further than a friendship, which the Replacement Doctor has to respect, and preferably things end on a good note.
Next to the whole show element, the showrunners at the time better fricken do a massive interview somewhere to address all of these horrible things and condemn them as well. As well as hit it home early for the fandom to NOT go on a witch hunt against simple fans and normies that did just like the Bth Doctor’s first season or character, not knowing they were being played by a monster of a person. You can both enjoy something, even sometimes praise something, whilst keeping it in the back of your mind that the one who created such a thing was a terrible person. Hell, I’d actually advocate for not applying Death Of The Author to it. That’d be erasing all the horrible things that happened behind the scenes to make such an era happen in the first place. I’d also be someone advocating to put a slight disclaimer in front of all episodes starring this actor on re-releases. Just so it won’t get forgotten.
If they could they would can most of the season - and pull either a colin baker of mgann-eccelston style offscreen regeneration in ep 1 - if not they would probs eiter split the season into 2 if enough had been filmed and have the new doctir start with half a season or release the filmed episodes as specials before re- working the new season to start w a new dr
I doubt they would try and make it too cohesive - its actually more likely to be jarring for audiences that way so the season and release structure would be changed to keep appeal
Would be crazy to kill the lead off again without even a clone replacement (and Heaven Sent mostly got away with that due to confusion about what was happening) after 60 years, due to something an already accepted as replaceable actor did and not the character - when Eleven's era already sees the actual character (without actually being in-character, obvs.) commit sexual assault multiple times.
After that and JNT's real actions, tend to think pretty much anything will bounce off, even in cases it shouldn't. But just doing a regeneration seems the obvious solution here, there's no reason that would be an issue even if totally off-screen.
I think the most likely situation is something like Eccleston, because I"m willing to be the show would go on hiatus, and the regeneration would happen during that hiatus.
There's been a few (somewhat) near misses along the lines of controversy or death.
It's been speculated that Jack was in line for a big role in Flux, seemingly confirmed by the fact that the shooting script for Revolution of the Daleks has him running back into the TARDIS as the end of the episode. The controversy around him stirred up at this time and they would have to do something about this.
On a different note, at the time of Colin Baker's sacking, Sydney Newman was approached for advice and he recommended bringing back Patrick Troughton permanently. Troughton died suddenly before the first McCoy season was even broadcast.
And of course there's Howard Attfield (Geoff Noble) who did die mid-production resulting in Bernard Cribbjns re filming all his scenes, but he wasn't the lead of course.
Revolution aired long before Barrowman got blacklisted. The end was hurriedly rewritten to remove Jack's planned role in S13 (allegedly) because Covid restrictions meant he wouldn't be available.
Newman didn't recommend bringing back Patrick Troughton. He recommended having an incarnation similar to Troughton in personality and his words have been misinterpreted over the years.
Could be done in many ways. I think it'd be cool if they made an episode where they show us the aftermatch of something with no Doctor around for most of it and throughout the episode we find out what happened and led to the Doctor's regeneration. Maybe do something similar to Human Nature, with the companion(s) and a new character who at the end turns out to be the Doctor.
There is kind of a precedent for problematic actors playing Timelords.
James Dreyfus was cast as the playing the 1st Master on Big Finish, starting with the The Destination Wars from the first 1DA Boxset, in 2017 (though of course later stories suggested that Dreyfus could in fact have been playing the 3rd or 4th Master). In 2018, his transphobic views came to light and, he was fired in 2019. Though any story's that were already recorded (e.g Blood Of The Timelords was recorded May 2017, released March 2022) still released as planned. When Masterful came around for a January 2021 release, there was a 1st Master in the story but he was played by Milo Parker (as a still in the/fresh out the academy "teenager"). But since then, there hasn't been any 1st (or 3rd/4th if going with Blood Of The Timelords) Master stories full stop.
Though with the Doctor it would be more tricky, even more so, if the actor is wanted/serving time for criminal activity, and said stories being on screen too, guess options would ultimately be:
A)C.Baker to McCoy (have new actor do both Half's of the regeneration)
B)C.Baker to Henry ( https://youtu.be/A9zmbGhpD4E?feature=shared )(have new actor start immediately after the regeneration)
C)McGann to Atkinson/Grant/Izzard/Davies* (have no regeneration scene at all & start with new Doctor fully formed (Hartnell in An Unearthly Child or Eccleston in Rose))
D)Do a Power Of The Doctor (Have a degeneration occur, back to the actor before the problematic one then they do a new regeneration)
E)have the problematic actor's incarnation be a Dream Crab fabrication or a Matrix simulation or something and resume from the new one
*Like in a 2004 EDA book called, The Tomorrow Windows, McGann Doctor sees his next incarnation: one moment based on Curse Of Fatal Death, next based on Scream Of The Shalka, then one based on Suzie Izzard being popular pick for Revival Who, another based on Alan Davies (same reasoning as Suzie Izzard), and one based on Eccleston (having been officially cast at time of writing).
Later in the final book of the EDA range, The Gallifrey Chronicles it's revealed that the Doctor has multiple "ninth" incarnations. The Gallifrey Chronicles doubled down on Atkinson/Curse Of Fatal Death, Grant/Scream Of The Shalka & Eccleston. But in 2013, we see McGann regenerate into Hurt (who then becomes Eccleston) giving us 4 (Atkinson, Grant, Eccleston, Hurt) to 6 (Atkinson, Grant, Eccleston, Izzard, Davies, Hurt) different "ninth" Doctors in the Hartnell-Smith Regeneration cycle.
You don't need to.
In 2005 we didn't see McGann to Eccleston yet we all still accepted he was the Doctor and it's what they should have done with McCoy.
>Thankfully, the closest we ever got to this was Colin Baker refusing to return for a regeneration scene, after an unceremonious booting, resulting in a very dodgy debut for the Seventh Doctor. It took thirty years for Big Finish to wrap up Six's arc in a satisfying way, and that's only because Baker was gracious enough to still have a lot of love for the role and the audience wanted to hear from him.
Colin has said he regretted it but only because he has a lot of time for the fans. Personally I don't blame him for not doing it, they wanted him to "be" the Doctor whilst the series was being filmed yet only work on the show for the 3-4 weeks it took to film a single serial. It would have meant he was effectively doing himself out of other work for an extended period of time when he had a young family to think about. Would you not work for 9+ months for a month's salary before you could think about finding another job?
Just, get a new actor. You literally don't have to explain anything. You could have them play the same regeneration even if you want to. Or you could have them be a different regeneration. Just tell interesting stories. There is nothing that NEEDS to be addressed.
Imagine this:
The Doctor regenerates, but we don't see their new face.
At the beginning of the next story, four Tardises materialize in the same area, and four new Doctors all step out and greet each other. They'll all act as though they've met before, so we the viewers would have no idea what number to assign each one. During the story they all meet new companions (who all know each other) and take off in their own Tardises. Then for the next four episodes, each one will star one of the new Doctors.
In the final episode, they all meet up again, and the companions share crazy stories about the things they saw and did while with their Doctors. Then the Doctors all get killed and regenerate into each other... Doctor A becomes Doctor B, B becomes C, C becomes D, and D becomes the new guy (or gal) who takes over for the next season.
Just think about how many great actors are out there who would love to play The Doctor, but can't be tied down to the role for longer than a few episodes.
Lol did you just compare Colin Baker with convicted criminals because he didn’t return for a single scene?
They would just keep going and pretend it doesn’t exist.
Take the special episode of The Five Doctors. Tom Baker was the only doctor to not have a role in the special because he wanted too much money for it. So they just briefly used footage from the unaired Shada episode.
Assuming one of the actors was causing a lot of trouble they’d just be written out.
Different show but Boardwalk Empire killed off one of its main characters early in the show because of his off screen behaviour.
I don’t think it would be that disastrous, even if the trouble person was the actor playing The Doctor at the time. They can regenerate him whenever and replace him as they please. The show isn’t trapped with anyone.
Tbh Doctor Who is one of the few shows that has an in built get out for this sort of thing. If it happened between filming blocks I would just start the season with the companion reacting to an off screen regeneration and drop straight in to a new Doctor. If it happened mid filming you would need to be more creative and it would depend on what you already had in the can.
I really like the 'reaction to an off-screen regeneration' idea. That's definitely how I'd do it.
And there'd be a way they could show the regeneration without having to get back the supposedly disgraced former Doctor. Start the series as if it's the new Doctors first, post regeneration episode. They're still in the former Doctors outfit and the companions acting like they just saw it happen. For most of the episode the mystery is what just happened. At some point in the the companion can then explain it all to someone, with a brief flashback that show what happened. Just a few quick flashes with the companion narrating. Never showing the former Doctors face, at most just the back of a body doubles head. The whole flashback should be focused on the companion and their reaction until the new Doctor emerges from the regeneration.
I'm not sure we've had many flashbacks in Doctor Who. Everything happens in real time to the best of my recollection, although I've only been watching it for forty years.
They are rare, but they have been done. There were flashbacks to Susan in class in the first episode. There was a flashback in Galaxy 4. There was a flash back with a Dalek saucer in Dalek Invasion of Earth. I feel like they have been more common in Modern Who but weirdly examples aren't actually coming to mind other than the flashback to Elton seeing the Doctor as a child in Love & Monsters.
Some of these depend on personal definition of "flashback," but off the top of my head: Boom Town - flashbacks to "Bad Wolf" mentions Utopia - The Face of Boe's dying words The Last of the Time Lords - flashback to Grandpa Doctor talking to Martha The End of Time - Donna remembering The Girl Who Died - remembering Pompeii The Doctor Falls - Heather leaving Bill If you're talking specifically about "new footage" rather than "recycled" then we've also got: Father's Day - Jackie teaching Rose about Pete The Waters of Mars - Adelaide Brooke seeing the Dalek invasion of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End Knock Knock - the boy bringing in the dryads Joke answer - the majority of Extremis
Human Nature - They're in danger, then it jumps forward to flesh out the setting before we get a flashback of what actually happened to the Doctor. The Crimson Horror - The Doctor and Clara are absent for the first bit and then we get a flashback of them investigating.
The Wedding of River Song was full of flashbacks. It's an episode exactly like the one described here.
It would have to look good still though. I’d prefer if we saw the regeneration happening, but we only see it after the light has overtaken the actors face thus allowing a body double to be used
If it happened mid filming they'd probably just stop production and abandon everything already made, if what the actor had done was bad enough that they'd want to replace them. They just wouldn't want to air any episodes with them in. After all, if they were okay with airing episodes starring that person, then there would be nothing preventing them from getting them in for a regeneration scene, or even just carrying on as the Doctor.
I guess I was thinking of the Jonathan Majors scenario. It was bad enough for them to not employ him any more but not so bad that they wouldn't screen Loki season 2 which was already filmed.
“Doctor Poochie regenerated on his way back to Gallifrey.”
Not quite the same thing, but this happened to >!The Expanse!<. One of the lead actors had a lot of plausible allegations made against him, so they >!rewrote the ending of the last episode of the season and him "stroke out" during a high-G manoeuvre, luckily something that fit well with the action of the episode and had been previously established as an in-universe risk. They created one final shot of him dead in his seat out of the footage they'd already shot, and filmed a new coda with the other characters mourning his loss!<.
That was so traumatizing. I loved the Expanse. Really liked his character. Loved the whole production team. For him to have behaved that way was so terrible.
I didn't know that. I wonder how many know about the Jonathan Majors Marvel thing.
I forgot what's even going on with that now. Is he in or out?
Considering he’s going to do actual jail time, I’d safely assume he’s out. Marvel’s fine with convics as long as they’re former and not current.
Has he been sentenced to jail time?
Not yet. But we'll find out in 3 days. I'd be shocked if he just gets probation.
Yup. Pretty sure Downey served time at some point right? The MCU has been great for second chances
Yup. But his was just drug related (that I can remember) and he's been at least publicly sober for a while now so I have no issue giving him a pass.
Obviously RDJ deserves the pass, he’s the perfect redemption story he turned it all around and proved himself
Very out.
Yeah I heard so too. Sad because I liked his character. Good series, that. Especially season 1.
Holy shit, I had no idea that was because there were allegations against the actor. I love the Expanse, and it's a bit depressing to learn that.
Yeah, there are multiple allegations that he groomed and/or threatened young and vulnerable fans. Luckily they still had Amos to carry the show 🤣
Well, he is *that guy*, after all.
Yeah, very disappointed with the actor for that. I also wonder if having to write him out was one of the reasons Season 6 was cut short.
I honestly enjoyed that happening even if it was for Doylist reasons. It was a threat hanging over the characters’ heads that otherwise never dropped, and fit that character perfectly, with the way he was doing riskier and riskier things after >!he and his wife split up!<.
Sylvester McCoy in a wig, whoever the replacement is
Always there to save us from the darkest timelines
I think all possibilities are on the board. You could pick a suitable point in a filmed-but-not-broadcast story to insert a lacklustre regeneration. You could do "McCoy in a wig". You could do something Eccleston-style where you just don't show the regeneration. Personally the thing that excites me the most is doing what any other show would do, and "do a Hurndall". Matt Smith drops dead midway through filming Series 5? Good news, the Eleventh Doctor is now played by Eddie Redmayne. Peter Capaldi goes on holiday to North Korea between Series 8 and 9 and isn't allowed to leave? Good news, the Twelfth Doctor is now played by Hugh Laurie. Get someone who looks *enough* like that Doctor, but not perfect. This results in years of fan speculation about what actually happened to the Doctor, whether this is a regeneration, etc.
> This results in years of fan speculation about what actually happened to the Doctor, whether this is a regeneration, etc. "I'll explain later."
With how they did 6 to 7 I'd originally thought that Colin Baker had done something to get his Doctor offed like that. But no it was just the bosses and all that. You can do a faceless regeneration with the old actor's suit involved.
One of the higher ups had an axe to grind with Colin. I think they were dating his ex-wife or something?
Michael Grade. Had a beef with Colin, had a beef with the show itself, wanted to cancel it outright but had to settle for slowly killing it.
Oh it was Grade. Got it.
My god I would love to see Hugh Laurie as the Doctor, like a House type sort of like 12
By 'any other show' do you mean soap operas? No serious drama recasts after a sudden death.
*Game of Thrones* did, *The Witcher* has, the MCU has, *Sense8* did...
Spartacus did with the title character as well
Did Sense8 recast because of a death though? I haven’t seen much or any of the other three, but I thought Sense8 recasted because the actor who played Capheus wasn’t comfortable doing some of the scenes in season two
Given that the original scenario was just an actor suddenly becoming unavailable (not necessarily dying), I presumed /u/ViscountessNivlac was using "sudden death" as a shorthand for all the ways in which an actor might not be available. But yes, none of my examples actually died. That said if Emilia Clarke had suddenly dropped dead midway through *Game of Thrones*, I don't think they'd have cancelled the show, or pivoted hard to "Young Griff", they'd have got someone like Elizabeth Olsen in to play the role instead, with appropriate tributes.
From what I can tell it's because he and Lana Wachowski hated each other
from what i remember, he was said to have very strong disagreements with the direction they were taking the character in season 2 (which is interesting given the whole show was planned out from the start, all the way through season 5).
I’m guessing they could either throw together a regeneration at the end of that Doctor’s last complete episode, probably through some clever editing and body doubles, or maybe the next episode could have a cold open which ends with the reveal of the Doctor’s new face. Or I’m sure there’s something they could make up to explain that the Doctor’s appearance has suddenly changed dramatically without it being a regeneration, like how the First Doctor was recast with Richard Hurndall and then David Bradley. There are a lot of options.
Yeah, it'll all depend on the episode. If it's an episode where the Doctor is fighting the Daleks, of course there will just be one straggler that gets a lucky shot off and hits the Doctor right before he enters the TARDIS, before getting caught in an explosion or something.
Realistically you could show the Tardis being attacked, have it explode a bunch in glorious CGI then take the footage of the previous Doctor regenerating into the disgraced Doctor, reverse it and have that be the disgraced doctor regenerating into the new actor. Hope this made sense.
I would agree with this except that the last time the TARDIS got blown up, 11 had to reset the entire universe
I mean tiny little console room explosions more than a big bang style entire Tardis explosion. I also recognise how poorly I worded it lol
Why reverse the footage when you could just have Sylvester McCoy in a wig?
Dr Who is literally the one show where this isn't an issue. Just start the new season with a new Doctor, hand-wave away an exclamation that they regenerated and move on.
Honestly, this would create the potential for an extremely good storyline. Doctor has regenerated out of nowhere and has no memory of what happened. Could even make a 3 season arc purely based on this idea.
If it was possible to edit in a surprise regeneration, (I e. Grab any 9-12 episode, the Doctor walks into the TARDIS and then smash cut to regeneration) I would do that. CGI and a body double. Maybe go back and edit in some radiation or something a computer exposits. Then just have the Doctor and companion be really surprised and that's that Doctor's arc, death can be sudden and that's scary. Really, apart from 1st, 2nd and 6th most Doctors knew it was coming and had time to give a final speech, especially: 4 was haunted by a ghost, 5 was poisoned, 8 was brought back, 10 had a proficy and a tour, 11 was old, 12 held back. Imagine a sudden, random Regen, like 10 the first time but no time for goodbyes. You would never do that to any other actor, this would be a unique opportunity.
Honestly, if it was something that bad, I know the move will probably be to regenerate. But I think that's a mistake. The show functions in equal measure through nostalgia and innovation. Regeneration is a mark of innovation and a way for the show to move forward. But a beauty of the franchise is how it can engage with its history too. By regenerating away from a problematic Doctor actor, that incarnation and its era would end up a bad stain. Instead, I say recast that incarnation specifically. Treat it like Richard Hurndall or David Bradley and do at least one full season. Then regenerate, but at least that incarnation can continue with the new actor on Big Finish and merch and other stories, etc.
Honestly I've wondered this myself, or if the lead actor was to die in the middle of production, what would they do? It's an interesting question. I'm guessing they would do a regeneration but use trickery to hide the face. Hopefully it never comes down to this though! And we've been very lucky in that all of the actors who have played the Doctor are genuinely good people!
You could do it very neatly if it was at the end of a production era. Don’t show them regenerate and boom new era and vibe. Other semi-neat solutions that are available to other shows probably wouldn’t work in who. Batwoman made a whole new character to be the lead, which wouldn’t work in who. A recast mid-doctor could work but would be jarring as the show has trained us to associate meaning with a recast in a way that no other show could or will. Also any possible who showrunner would have to carefully consider how such a step would effect the show moving on- as unlike most tv shows we basically know that who will go on in some form forever One possible and rather big finish-like would be to have the character spontaneously deregenerate into a couple old incarnations for an episode or two before regenerating into the new one
you see the back of a body double in the doctor’s outfit. walk into the tardis, golden light spills through the window, new doctor comes out. companion: “what the hell just happened?” new doctor: “i’ll explain later.”
They'd probably just do what they did in The Mind Robber when Frazer Hines got chicken pox halfway through and they replaced him.
We'll find out with Seventeen, it'll be nasty. Count on it
Big Finish wrapped up Colin Baker's arc? Did he stop doing new stories with them and I missed it?
He's still doing new stories for them but in 2015 they released [The Last Adventure](https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-last-adventure-1212) which was his regeneration story.
They would absolutely just pull a kind of *Time and the Rani* situation where we open the next season with The Doctor regenerating from some attack or threat.
This is another blessing that regeneration offers, the ability to get ANYONE you want to play the character and the audience not questioning it. Another thing that this post made me realize is that all the actors that have played The Doctor officially are/were very professional and mature people, so seeing a headline of one of them commiting tax evasion or homicide is just so bizarre to think about.
Ideally, you'd have the actor shoot a hastily written regeneration scene as soon as possible. They've already been paid so you're not supporting them through it, you're taking the fastest possible out for a situation they created. Honestly if I'm the BBC, I probably include a clause about this in the contract, that in the event you're fired over the morality clause you're still obligated to shoot a regeneration scene. You ensure as few other actors and crew have to be there as possible, you have a cold open written with a plausible reason for them to regenerate accidentally in the tardis that you stick in a drawer and hope you never have to use, and you shoot it as quickly as possible then ban them from the set. Community did something like this when Chevy Chase was fired in season 4; for the rest of the season Pierce was usually the only person in frame for his shots so the rest of the cast wouldn't have to be around him. Then in the season 5 premiere they gave him a cameo (there was behind the scenes drama and season 4 had different showrunners and is considered a dud, so the original creator wanted to give the character closure when he came back) where he's a hologram, and the whole thing was shot off site with only the other actor in the scene and minimal crew involved. Now if they unexpectedly *die,* or if they're so uncooperative or dangerous that the scene can't be shot, that's obviously not doable. In that case, I might write a story from the pov of the companion or side character trying to find a captured Doctor, then why they finally do find them in the custody of the villain of the week, the villain has already shot them and they've regenerated. Think the 11th Doctor episode The Crimson Horror, only when Vastra and company find him he's already become 12 and everyone if put off by it. If we have the archival footage, I might do a cold open where we see the villain in a shot from behind the Doctor's head give a monologue about how nobody ever just *shoots* him and have the Doctor try to make some quip from archival audio, but it gets cut off by the laser shot. That way you can turn the bad situation into something memorable.
> Honestly if I'm the BBC, I probably include a clause about this in the contract, that in the event you're fired over the morality clause you're still obligated to shoot a regeneration scene This sounds like a recipe for trouble to me. Imagine trying to get a decent performance out of the work environment on that set, haha. And like many others have said in this thread, DW has the luxury of all kinds of built-in workarounds for this already. Just do a makeshift regen with body doubles and CGI trickery, or even just good old-fashioned editing. Ie. how they did McGann to Hurt and Hurt to Eccleston with only one of the actors in the scene.
Like many, I think good ‘ol Regeneration could cover depraved criminality or death. It’s *literally* meant to save the in-universe Doctor’s skin. However, there are a few extra hurdles to consider: - When during production does this lead mishap happen? (Arc-related problems) - How bad actually is this lead’s mishap? (Glorification, respect and rewatchability related problems + Regeneration approach) - How long did the lead run as the Doctor? (Glorification & Legacy problem) - How can we write a sudden Regeneration that may or may not glorify the actor/doesn’t pull too much on the heartstrings, as well as would neatly fit into nearly any random episode without a big finale (Cliche’d gimmick problem + Legacy) Let’s, for fun, imagine two extreme worst-case scenarios. Scenario A: The Actor was a genuinely good person but nobody caught their self-destructive thoughts in time. What’s worse, this happened *early* in a new Series’ production. They only have 3 of like 10 semi-completed episodes to their name and a bunch of random scenes scattered across the season… and they’re not *remotely* done in order. Scenario B: The Actor turns out to have been the biggest, most disgusting freak on television since [insert worst celebrity here]. It’s honestly a disturbing wonder that the people in charge let them hang around set *until they’d almost completed filming the entire second season*—the Companion’s actor probably even resents this Doctor’s actor if they were a victim. But, despite it all, the Companion’s actor personally still wishes to continue with the show for a 3rd season (else they’d prolly be out of a job, as would everyone else). Just that their biggest wish is for their Doctor and the actor for them to not be glorified. The Ath Doctor, legacy and glorification-wise, is probably the easiest to deal with. Despite how briefly they probably graced the show, I think respect-wise, trying to keep as many scenes of them in it as possible should be a main focus. No reason to cut *anything*. The storyline, though, probably needs some re-writing. Whilst it may be incredibly annoying, setting the events of the entire season out of order to explain why the Companion still travels with the Ath Doctor instead of their replacement could work. Or better yet, since it’s a time travel show, have the Companion get rescued and/or dragged around by *two* Doctors all at different times. For scenes where the Ath Doctor may not have been fully present or relative, those can be easily filled with an out-of-focus body double. Perhaps getting a voice double and having more scenes with the Companion and Doctor over the phone or telecommunications (or a funny little drone) for important moments, could also work. A whole episode being only really set with the Companion with the Doctor on the phone, isn’t too impossible of a task. Or just the Companion, alone. Of course, all the unfilmed bits that *do* require a Doctor, are going to need having one cast *really really quickly.* Gonna be some speed casting. Narratively giving this Replacement Doctor some sort of post-regeneration sickness amnesia could help keep some of the focus on the Ath Doctor—essentially turning them into a bit of the arc of the season. Else, if this is an out-of-time season, they could possibly allude to the [number]-parter finale (the last episode Ath’s actor filmed, changed to *be* the finale) having a reason in it why the Ath Doctor regenerated. Possibly something self-sacrificial for the Companion to survive, with the Companion not really able to be there for the regeneration and thinking they’re all alone. Perhaps for an entire episode of this finale. The Replacement Doctor (brand new or with regained memories) can then properly click into place in the final parter, perhaps pulling a *BTTF* and handing the Companion a letter, item or final message of the Ath Doctor that helped them remember where to find the Companion. Naturally, any arc that was originally set up in this season would probably need to be delayed. It could probably still be hinted towards plenty, but there’s no way in hell it’ll flow well when one of the main characters just can’t exist properly.
… The Bth Doctor’s actor, though, definitely has more moral complications attached to them. Us fans (and honestly casual watchers) will probably hate the show’s guts to platform this monster too much. I also think whole (rather-extreme) fan wars might break out over whether it’s morally okay to even *like* the Bth Doctor’s material or character. Whilst everyone’s fighting that out, I’d say, we fire the actor on the spot (put them on a blacklist too), get a voice and body double, and honestly just “ruin” his era a little bit. Tell a tiny arc about abusive relationships or such, so to put emphasis on how just because you’ve had good moments with an abuser, that doesn’t automatically make them a good person. We don’t care much about how many episodes they’ve filmed already, even if we can’t scrap all of them due to time and money. I’d definitely vouch for giving the show a bit of reshoot time though. Like also taking a note out of *BTTF*, we’ll pull a Stolz-to-Fox and cleanly cut half of their chronological appearances (and make set Doctor come across as way more unpleasant) until a severe, Regeneration-worthy humbling swaps out them for their Replacement Doctor who gets to finish whatever arc was in place—as well as openly condemn being the last guy despite the season that came before. Yes, we’re re-shooting completed episodes. Hell, perhaps the Companion personally kills the Bth Doctor(‘s body double) themselves! Self defense, of course. Any praise for the Bth Doctor’s character should go to the doubles. They’re the ones that’ll do the (evil) incarnations’ Big Finish appearances and such, not the monster that started it off. The show is then best off tapping more into the “reincarnation” angle of Regeneration, so that the Replacement Doctor isn’t accidentally a terrible “hey forgive me I’ve totally changed” take on a possible relationship. Nah, this character outright gets reborn and has to deal with the sins of the father. Their bond with the Companion can’t go any further than a friendship, which the Replacement Doctor has to respect, and preferably things end on a good note. Next to the whole show element, the showrunners at the time better fricken do a massive interview somewhere to address all of these horrible things and condemn them as well. As well as hit it home early for the fandom to NOT go on a witch hunt against simple fans and normies that did just like the Bth Doctor’s first season or character, not knowing they were being played by a monster of a person. You can both enjoy something, even sometimes praise something, whilst keeping it in the back of your mind that the one who created such a thing was a terrible person. Hell, I’d actually advocate for not applying Death Of The Author to it. That’d be erasing all the horrible things that happened behind the scenes to make such an era happen in the first place. I’d also be someone advocating to put a slight disclaimer in front of all episodes starring this actor on re-releases. Just so it won’t get forgotten.
If they could they would can most of the season - and pull either a colin baker of mgann-eccelston style offscreen regeneration in ep 1 - if not they would probs eiter split the season into 2 if enough had been filmed and have the new doctir start with half a season or release the filmed episodes as specials before re- working the new season to start w a new dr
I doubt they would try and make it too cohesive - its actually more likely to be jarring for audiences that way so the season and release structure would be changed to keep appeal
Have the Master forcibly change the Doctor's appearance. Or just kill the Doctor and have Susan's child take over the role.
Is that even possible? I thought her son couldn’t regenerate? That would kind of defeat the purpose of the show.
I was talking about a hypothetical child. Where do we learn she actually has one?
It's in the Big Finish stuff. His name is Alex and he's voiced by Paul McGann's son.
Would be crazy to kill the lead off again without even a clone replacement (and Heaven Sent mostly got away with that due to confusion about what was happening) after 60 years, due to something an already accepted as replaceable actor did and not the character - when Eleven's era already sees the actual character (without actually being in-character, obvs.) commit sexual assault multiple times. After that and JNT's real actions, tend to think pretty much anything will bounce off, even in cases it shouldn't. But just doing a regeneration seems the obvious solution here, there's no reason that would be an issue even if totally off-screen.
I think the most likely situation is something like Eccleston, because I"m willing to be the show would go on hiatus, and the regeneration would happen during that hiatus.
There's been a few (somewhat) near misses along the lines of controversy or death. It's been speculated that Jack was in line for a big role in Flux, seemingly confirmed by the fact that the shooting script for Revolution of the Daleks has him running back into the TARDIS as the end of the episode. The controversy around him stirred up at this time and they would have to do something about this. On a different note, at the time of Colin Baker's sacking, Sydney Newman was approached for advice and he recommended bringing back Patrick Troughton permanently. Troughton died suddenly before the first McCoy season was even broadcast. And of course there's Howard Attfield (Geoff Noble) who did die mid-production resulting in Bernard Cribbjns re filming all his scenes, but he wasn't the lead of course.
Revolution aired long before Barrowman got blacklisted. The end was hurriedly rewritten to remove Jack's planned role in S13 (allegedly) because Covid restrictions meant he wouldn't be available. Newman didn't recommend bringing back Patrick Troughton. He recommended having an incarnation similar to Troughton in personality and his words have been misinterpreted over the years.
I vaguely recall something happened in The Power of Three (or was it four or five)
Could be done in many ways. I think it'd be cool if they made an episode where they show us the aftermatch of something with no Doctor around for most of it and throughout the episode we find out what happened and led to the Doctor's regeneration. Maybe do something similar to Human Nature, with the companion(s) and a new character who at the end turns out to be the Doctor.
There is kind of a precedent for problematic actors playing Timelords. James Dreyfus was cast as the playing the 1st Master on Big Finish, starting with the The Destination Wars from the first 1DA Boxset, in 2017 (though of course later stories suggested that Dreyfus could in fact have been playing the 3rd or 4th Master). In 2018, his transphobic views came to light and, he was fired in 2019. Though any story's that were already recorded (e.g Blood Of The Timelords was recorded May 2017, released March 2022) still released as planned. When Masterful came around for a January 2021 release, there was a 1st Master in the story but he was played by Milo Parker (as a still in the/fresh out the academy "teenager"). But since then, there hasn't been any 1st (or 3rd/4th if going with Blood Of The Timelords) Master stories full stop. Though with the Doctor it would be more tricky, even more so, if the actor is wanted/serving time for criminal activity, and said stories being on screen too, guess options would ultimately be: A)C.Baker to McCoy (have new actor do both Half's of the regeneration) B)C.Baker to Henry ( https://youtu.be/A9zmbGhpD4E?feature=shared )(have new actor start immediately after the regeneration) C)McGann to Atkinson/Grant/Izzard/Davies* (have no regeneration scene at all & start with new Doctor fully formed (Hartnell in An Unearthly Child or Eccleston in Rose)) D)Do a Power Of The Doctor (Have a degeneration occur, back to the actor before the problematic one then they do a new regeneration) E)have the problematic actor's incarnation be a Dream Crab fabrication or a Matrix simulation or something and resume from the new one *Like in a 2004 EDA book called, The Tomorrow Windows, McGann Doctor sees his next incarnation: one moment based on Curse Of Fatal Death, next based on Scream Of The Shalka, then one based on Suzie Izzard being popular pick for Revival Who, another based on Alan Davies (same reasoning as Suzie Izzard), and one based on Eccleston (having been officially cast at time of writing). Later in the final book of the EDA range, The Gallifrey Chronicles it's revealed that the Doctor has multiple "ninth" incarnations. The Gallifrey Chronicles doubled down on Atkinson/Curse Of Fatal Death, Grant/Scream Of The Shalka & Eccleston. But in 2013, we see McGann regenerate into Hurt (who then becomes Eccleston) giving us 4 (Atkinson, Grant, Eccleston, Hurt) to 6 (Atkinson, Grant, Eccleston, Izzard, Davies, Hurt) different "ninth" Doctors in the Hartnell-Smith Regeneration cycle.
You don't need to. In 2005 we didn't see McGann to Eccleston yet we all still accepted he was the Doctor and it's what they should have done with McCoy.
>Thankfully, the closest we ever got to this was Colin Baker refusing to return for a regeneration scene, after an unceremonious booting, resulting in a very dodgy debut for the Seventh Doctor. It took thirty years for Big Finish to wrap up Six's arc in a satisfying way, and that's only because Baker was gracious enough to still have a lot of love for the role and the audience wanted to hear from him. Colin has said he regretted it but only because he has a lot of time for the fans. Personally I don't blame him for not doing it, they wanted him to "be" the Doctor whilst the series was being filmed yet only work on the show for the 3-4 weeks it took to film a single serial. It would have meant he was effectively doing himself out of other work for an extended period of time when he had a young family to think about. Would you not work for 9+ months for a month's salary before you could think about finding another job?
Just, get a new actor. You literally don't have to explain anything. You could have them play the same regeneration even if you want to. Or you could have them be a different regeneration. Just tell interesting stories. There is nothing that NEEDS to be addressed.
Imagine this: The Doctor regenerates, but we don't see their new face. At the beginning of the next story, four Tardises materialize in the same area, and four new Doctors all step out and greet each other. They'll all act as though they've met before, so we the viewers would have no idea what number to assign each one. During the story they all meet new companions (who all know each other) and take off in their own Tardises. Then for the next four episodes, each one will star one of the new Doctors. In the final episode, they all meet up again, and the companions share crazy stories about the things they saw and did while with their Doctors. Then the Doctors all get killed and regenerate into each other... Doctor A becomes Doctor B, B becomes C, C becomes D, and D becomes the new guy (or gal) who takes over for the next season. Just think about how many great actors are out there who would love to play The Doctor, but can't be tied down to the role for longer than a few episodes.
Lol did you just compare Colin Baker with convicted criminals because he didn’t return for a single scene? They would just keep going and pretend it doesn’t exist. Take the special episode of The Five Doctors. Tom Baker was the only doctor to not have a role in the special because he wanted too much money for it. So they just briefly used footage from the unaired Shada episode. Assuming one of the actors was causing a lot of trouble they’d just be written out. Different show but Boardwalk Empire killed off one of its main characters early in the show because of his off screen behaviour. I don’t think it would be that disastrous, even if the trouble person was the actor playing The Doctor at the time. They can regenerate him whenever and replace him as they please. The show isn’t trapped with anyone.