Should the Sixth Doctor's Regeneration have been kept off-screen?
+++Originally posted on Gallifrey Base.+++
It would probably have been easier to not show the regeneration if Trial had ended on its planned cliffhanger.
Imagine if you will, Melanie walking through the village of Pease Pottage. She sees a smoking silvery device at the base of a tree. Fearing it might start a fire among all the leaves, she gingerly picks it up, taking it out of harm's way. Despite being a computer expert, she doesn't recognise it. "What on Earth is it?" she wonders out loud.
"It's a Stattenheim Remote Control. Or what's left of one."
"Who said that?"
"Up here!"
Dangling from the branch of the tree, looking like he's going to fall at any moment, is a small, scruffy little man in baggy yellow trousers. He's clinging on for dear life to a large multicoloured coat, which has snagged on the branch, and is currently the only thing stopping him from hitting the ground. And it's slowly tearing in two. To the viewer, this is obviously the outfit of the Sixth Doctor, but it isn't the Sixth Doctor in peril.
"What's a Stattenheim Remote Control?"
"It saved my life. I used it to summon my TARDIS whilst I was falling through time. Only it didn't quite work - the Time Vent reacted with the signal from the control, and it opened up above your delightful little village. The TARDIS and I fell out of the sky. You haven't seen it, have you? Large blue box with Police written on it... probably in a more dignified position than I am!"
"Whoa, wait a minute - what's a TARDIS? And a Time Vent? And who are you, anyway?"
"I'll tell you if you take two steps to the left."
"Why?"
"Humour me."
Mel takes two steps to the left. There's an almighty ripping sound as the coat is finally ripped in two, and the man in the tree plummets to the ground in a flurry of leaves, right on the spot where Melanie was previously standing. Getting up and brushing himself down, he continues:
"A Time Vent is a vent in time. Rather a nasty thing to get trapped in. The TARDIS is a time machine. Rather a useful thing to have if you're trapped in a Time Vent. Or even if you're not."
Melanie looks incredulous, but humours him. "Are you telling me you're a time traveller?"
"Yes, Mel."
"How do you know my name?"
"Well, I'm afraid I've just messed up your future. And I need your help to heal the timelines."
"Heal the timelines? What are you - some sort of time doctor?"
Close up on the man's face as he grins. "You know, I think you're going to do rather well..."
Cue titles.
The episode will go on to establish that the fall through the Time Vent triggered the Doctor's regeneration, and because he's now meeting Mel as Seven not Sixie, his whole personal future as predicted in the Matrix (including the Vervoids story and the creation of the Valeyard in the first place) has been completely rewritten. The show can now start afresh without needing to tie up any other loose ends from Trial.
It would probably have been easier to not show the regeneration if Trial had ended on its planned cliffhanger.
Imagine if you will, Melanie walking through the village of Pease Pottage. She sees a smoking silvery device at the base of a tree. Fearing it might start a fire among all the leaves, she gingerly picks it up, taking it out of harm's way. Despite being a computer expert, she doesn't recognise it. "What on Earth is it?" she wonders out loud.
"It's a Stattenheim Remote Control. Or what's left of one."
"Who said that?"
"Up here!"
Dangling from the branch of the tree, looking like he's going to fall at any moment, is a small, scruffy little man in baggy yellow trousers. He's clinging on for dear life to a large multicoloured coat, which has snagged on the branch, and is currently the only thing stopping him from hitting the ground. And it's slowly tearing in two. To the viewer, this is obviously the outfit of the Sixth Doctor, but it isn't the Sixth Doctor in peril.
"What's a Stattenheim Remote Control?"
"It saved my life. I used it to summon my TARDIS whilst I was falling through time. Only it didn't quite work - the Time Vent reacted with the signal from the control, and it opened up above your delightful little village. The TARDIS and I fell out of the sky. You haven't seen it, have you? Large blue box with Police written on it... probably in a more dignified position than I am!"
"Whoa, wait a minute - what's a TARDIS? And a Time Vent? And who are you, anyway?"
"I'll tell you if you take two steps to the left."
"Why?"
"Humour me."
Mel takes two steps to the left. There's an almighty ripping sound as the coat is finally ripped in two, and the man in the tree plummets to the ground in a flurry of leaves, right on the spot where Melanie was previously standing. Getting up and brushing himself down, he continues:
"A Time Vent is a vent in time. Rather a nasty thing to get trapped in. The TARDIS is a time machine. Rather a useful thing to have if you're trapped in a Time Vent. Or even if you're not."
Melanie looks incredulous, but humours him. "Are you telling me you're a time traveller?"
"Yes, Mel."
"How do you know my name?"
"Well, I'm afraid I've just messed up your future. And I need your help to heal the timelines."
"Heal the timelines? What are you - some sort of time doctor?"
Close up on the man's face as he grins. "You know, I think you're going to do rather well..."
Cue titles.
The episode will go on to establish that the fall through the Time Vent triggered the Doctor's regeneration, and because he's now meeting Mel as Seven not Sixie, his whole personal future as predicted in the Matrix (including the Vervoids story and the creation of the Valeyard in the first place) has been completely rewritten. The show can now start afresh without needing to tie up any other loose ends from Trial.