One of the many reasons Doctor Who has had such a fantastically long run time as a series is that The Doctor regenerates. That wasn’t always supposed to be true but when the First Doctor (William Hartnell) got sick the show was such a huge success the producers came upon this idea to keep it running.

The Doctor is an alien, who says when he dies, he doesn’t really die, but becomes someone else? Well, he’ll always be The Doctor, but he can be played by a different actor and have a different personality. Patrick Troughton took on the role of The Second Doctor and the rest is history.

It was a genius idea. Whenever an actor gets tired of playing the role someone else will take his (or her) place. A new Doctor is born with an updated personality. This also allows the series to change with the times.

It also allows fans to constantly argue over which Doctor is the best.

A Doctor’s regeneration is always a big deal. Matt Smith was one of the most popular Doctors ever and so when he decided to leave the character you just knew his departure would be huge.

It was. So huge in fact they tied it into a Christmas Episode (an annual tradition). The Time of the Doctor wrapped up several storylines and more. And then some more. As you can read in my review it is a lot of fun, but also an overstuffed mess.