The Doctor’s many modern incarnations come together in a piece of Doctor Who artwork that celebrates the emotional process of Regeneration and each Time Lord’s final moments. Introduced in 1966 William Hartnell’s final adventure “The Tenth Planet”, the process of Regeneration is a unique process that sees a Time Lord completely reconstruct their body should it reach its end or be mortally wounded. Throughout the Doctor’s many regenerations and the changes of other Time Lords seen throughout the series have expanded on the process.
Marcela Ciriano shares a fan art piece on Instagram that unites every Doctor of the modern era.
In the piece, the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Fourteenth Doctor (Tennant), and the Fifteenth Doctor (Gatwa) stand in order and friendly spirits with an embrace. Alongside the beautiful illustration, the piece features each Time Lord’s final line to show the passing of each regeneration to their following incarnation.
How Regeneration Became One Of Doctor Who’s Most Emotional Traits
Further Context & Lore Added Weight To The Process
Every Doctor Who regeneration is an emotional moment that is ingrained in every viewer’s mind.
Regeneration may be something mundane to certain Time Lords in Doctor Who, even something that they see as acceptable to be spent haphazardly or stolen in pursuit of immortality, but it has never been like that for the Doctor, whose travels have given them a greater appreciation for life. For companions unfamiliar with the process, they are left stunned, even scared, as a new person emerges from the Doctor they knew, leaving the Doctor to do their best to keep their faith. But even the Doctor can find themselves emotionally invested in how their change may affect them.
From knowing certain regenerations mean they’re nearing their end, to their subconscious affecting the process to allow them to change or remind them who they are, as seen with the Twelfth Doctor and Fourteenth Doctor’s regenerations, the Doctor understands the full weight change may bring. As such, each regeneration has been treated with the appropriate amount of weight by each showrunner, from emotional callbacks and reunions with friends, to sheer spectacle. As such, every Doctor Who regeneration is an emotional moment that is ingrained in every viewer’s mind.
While regeneration may have originally been a necessity to allow the series to live on beyond Hartnell that has worked incredibly well in the show’s favor, it has allowed Doctor Who to go beyond being a simple fun sci-fi series. Regeneration allows many actors to embody the Doctor, giving multiple generations their own incarnation to be attached to and interesting explorations of mortality. As such, Ciriano’s piece is a beautiful tribute to Doctors past and present.