When the Doctor reincarnates, is he an adult, functional Time Lord? Does he know who is? Does he remember previous incarnations?
Yes. His personality and appearance change, but he still remembers his past.
Though sometimes it will take a while, depending on what caused him to regenerate. A traumatic event, such as being flooded with radiation, will cause him to temporarily lose his memory.
Thanks!
The change from the 3rd to the 4th and the 5th to the 6th came with what seemed like some memory problems and quite a few odd quirks. Coincidentally, the 4th and 6th Doctors were both played by actors surnamed Baker.
Fine chaps. All of them.
As did the change from the 6th to the 7th, and the 7th to the 8th. Tricky business, regeneration.
And he was badly disoriented, not to mention nearly killed, going from the 4th to the 5th.
Okay, you giys are so damn smart, what is the significance of the scarf, hmmm?
It’s just part of his costume. It was the celery stalk of the fifth doctor that was significant.
He was trying on different costumes to go chase a killer robot. That one was the least objectionable to the UNIT commander, Stewart. Jelly baby?
That’s Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart to you, mush.
Of course, it’s long been suggested (by Nathan-Turner, amongst others) that there is no reason the Doctor’s “gender” is fixed. So he could be a she some day.
Also, when James Bond regenerates, does he do so as an adult, functional Time Secret Agent? Does he know who is? Does he remember previous incarnations?
mm
Not in the novel You Only Live Twice.
It all derives from a Tom Baker joke. When he announced his retirements, he wished his successor luck, “whoever he or she might be.” The press picked up on it, though there were no plans for a female Doctor (other than Grace )
While the celery, as far as I remember, was purely ornamental (or did he chomp on it once?), the scarf was used several times, always quite cleverly. My favorite was when he used it to measure something very precisely (based on the number of rows of knitting, I presume.)
I’m curious, has anyone else heard that Baker picked out the scarf himself because he wanted the character to be reminiscent of Gandalf?
I heard this said, but I have never seen any verification of it.
Jim
So how come in the various multiple Doctor episodes the more recent Doctors don’t remember meeting their present selves?
No, in The Caves of Androzani we learn that the celery turns purple when exposed to a type of gas that the Doctor is allergic to.
At the risk of sounding like a Monty Python character, I don’t remember “the celery”.
:rolleyes: