History YMMV / DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor

'''WARNING! THERE MAY BE UNMARKED SPOILERS!'''

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The Series 9 finale nearly two years later effectively proves that no, the Time Lords ''don't'' love the Doctor; he's just a tool to be used by them. Other Gallifreyans do care about him, however.
** At the end of Series 9, the Doctor's promise to never forget a single moment of his time as Eleven is broken when all his memories of Clara are erased (then restored at the end of Twelve's run).
** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong The Husbands of River Song]]" reveals via a RetCon that he expected to die on Trenzalore ''without'' having seen River Song to Darillium, which would have triggered the same time-ending paradox that he is pilloried for threatening in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]" when he tries to save Clara from her fate. If not for Clara talking the Time Lords into keeping the Doctor alive, his death would have triggered something very bad since River would not have been sent to hers. That being said, given that he didn't have the TARDIS for the first 300 years he was there, it's not exactly something he could've done anything about.
** The Doctor's speech about remembering "all the people that you used to be" becomes this in light of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]" revealing that there are a whole bunch of people the Doctor ''doesn't'' remember being.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Creator/MattSmith wasn't the only one wearing a wig in his scene; Creator/KarenGillan had to, as well, having shaved her head for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014''. She regrets "more than anything" that they [[http://www.warpedfactor.com/2014/03/karen-gillan-talks-doctor-who-matt.html didn't think of swapping wigs]].
** The Eleventh Doctor's dramatic near-death and extra regeneration cycle in this episode seems a ShaggyDogStory now that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren "The Timeless Children"]] revealed [[spoiler:the Doctor never had anything to worry about due to being an incarnation of the Timeless Child, who has infinite regenerations. Either Gallifrey's leaders decided to give him some pointless regeneration energy just to avoid blowing the secret, or they didn't know and there's some {{irony}} involved when the Master came and blew them up that they probably could've used that energy more. Also HarsherInHindsight, as this contributed to both 12's self loathing feeling like he was a clerical error, and 13's passive death wish. However, the Time Lords are shown to be able to restrict the ability to regenerate, so it is possible that the Timeless Child had their regenerations limited and would have died there (in fact, he ''did'' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor before history changed]]), but the new regeneration energy undid the restriction. The interesting thing is, the line in "Let's Kill Hitler" stating that the Doctor's regeneration has been "disabled" would support this.]]

** Averted in the case of the Time Lords granting the Doctor a new set of regenerations. Although the show was accused of this by some, in fact the concept of regeneration cycles being renewed had been introduced 30 years earlier in "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]" and had been mentioned as recently as 2007's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums The Sound of Drums]]" as having been granted to the Master.

** While fans don't mind the War Doctor being added as a numbered Doctor, some don't like adding the Tenth Doctor's partial regeneration, saying that Creator/StevenMoffat added it just for angst. It caused continuity errors with several earlier episodes involving regeneration energy which would have played out differently if the Eleventh Doctor had been planned to be on his last regeneration from the start. (However it has been argued that the Doctor might not have worked out that the partial regeneration counted until sometime during his exile on Trenzalore; a deleted reference to him losing a leg (maintained [[AllThereInTheManual in a spin-off novel]] and made evident only by the Doctor limping in a few scenes) might have made this more clear.)

** At the end of Series 9, the Doctor's promise to never forget a single moment of his time as Eleven is broken when all his memories of Clara are erased (then restored at the end of his run).
** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong The Husbands of River Song]]" reveals via a RetCon that he expected to die on Trenzalore ''without having seen River Song to Darillium'', which would have triggered the same time-ending paradox that he is pilloried for threatening in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]" when he tries to save Clara from her fate. If not for Clara talking the Time Lords into keeping the Doctor alive, his death would have triggered something very bad since River would not have been sent to hers. That being said, given that he didn't have the TARDIS while he was there, it's not exactly something he could've done anything about.

** The Eleventh Doctor's dramatic near-death and extra regeneration cycle in this episode seems a ShaggyDogStory now that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren "The Timeless Children"]] revealed [[spoiler:the Doctor never had anything to worry about due to being an incarnation of the Timeless Child, who has infinite regenerations. Either Gallifrey's leaders decided to give him some pointless regeneration energy just to avoid blowing the secret, or they didn't know and there's some {{irony}} involved when the Master came and blew them up that they probably could've used that energy more. Also HarsherInHindsight, as this contributed to both 12's self loathing feeling like he was a clerical error, and 13's passive death wish. However, the Time Lords are shown to be able to restrict the ability to regenerate, so it is possible that the Timeless Child had their regenerations limited and would have died there (in fact, ''he did'' die [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor before history changed]]), but the new regeneration energy undid the restriction. The interesting thing is, the line in "Let's Kill Hitler" stating that the Doctor's regeneration has been ''disabled'' would support this.]]
** The [[Creator/MattSmith Eleventh Doctor]] lamenting the fact that the [[Creator/DavidTennant Tenth Doctor]] once regenerated but kept the same face becomes histerical after [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor The Power of the Doctor]] when [[Creator/JodieWhittaker Thirteen]] regenerates and Fourteenth's face is that of... [[Creator/DavidTennant David Tennant]]. Vanity issues indeed!

** After Eleven had a vision of Amy in his final moments, with the explanation that she was "the first face this face saw", fans have speculated about the implications regarding other Doctors' regenerations. In particular, the Eighth Doctor, because the first face he saw was Pete, a hospital worker played by Will Sasso who fainted upon seeing Eight walking out of the morgue. This would create some [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/2d7c68beb9ea0f663c1ce202297ee1ff/tumblr_myn3lwEVSG1rmydeho1_500.png hilarious]] MoodWhiplash for his regeneration in "Night of the Doctor".

** Creator/MattSmith wasn't the only one wearing a wig in his scene; Creator/KarenGillan had to, as well, having shaved her head for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. She regrets "more than anything" that they [[http://www.warpedfactor.com/2014/03/karen-gillan-talks-doctor-who-matt.html didn't think of swapping wigs]].

* TheUntwist: After months of speculation as to how the Doctor could regenerate past his final limit, it's revealed the Doctor receives a new batch of regenerations as a gift from the Time Lords. It's been implied since the 1980s that this was possible, but usually in stories involving the Master (suggesting one had to play dirty to extend their limit).

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/MattSmith wasn't the only one wearing a wig in his scene; Creator/KarenGillan had to, as well, having shaved her head for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. She regrets "more than anything" that they [[http://www.warpedfactor.com/2014/03/karen-gillan-talks-doctor-who-matt.html didn't think of swapping wigs]].

** The [[Creator/Matt Smith EleventhDoctor]] lamenting the fact that the [[Creator/DavidTennant Tenth Doctor]] once regenerated but kept the same face becomes histerical after [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor]] when [[Creator/JodieWhittaker Thirteen]] regenerates and Fourteenth's face is that of... [[Creator/DavidTennant David Tennant]]. Vanity issues indeed!

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Considering how most regeneration stories are usually two-parters, the fact that this story was only one special made the whole thing feel a bit rushed to some. That said, others consider this to be the finale of a loose trilogy that began with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor The Name of the Doctor]]" and continued with "The Day of the Doctor", so it could be said the Doctor's regeneration comes at the end of a three-part story.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Some fans complained that the Tenth Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" was really wangsty about his regeneration. The Eleventh Doctor is shown being okay and accepting of the change, culminating in a speech about how everything changes at some point.

** Averted in the case of the Time Lords granting the Doctor a new set of regenerations. Although the show was accused of this by some, in fact the concept of regeneration cycles being renewed had been introduced 30 years earlier in "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]" and had been mentioned as recently as 2007's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums The Sound of Drums]]" as having been granted to The Master.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong The Husbands of River Song]]" paints the Eleventh Doctor in a ''very'' poor light as it's revealed via a RetCon that he expected to die on Trenzalore ''without having seen River Song to Darillium'', which would have triggered the same time-ending paradox that he is pilloried for threatening in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]" when he tries to save Clara from her fate. If not for Clara talking the Time Lords into keeping the Doctor alive, his death would have triggered something very bad since River would not have been sent to hers.

* MemeticMutation: After Eleven had a vision of Amy in his final moments, with the explanation that she was "the first face this face saw", fans have speculated about the implications regarding other Doctors' regenerations. In particular, the Eighth Doctor, because the first face he saw was Pete, a hospital worker played by Will Sasso who fainted upon seeing Eight walking out of the morgue. This would create some [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/2d7c68beb9ea0f663c1ce202297ee1ff/tumblr_myn3lwEVSG1rmydeho1_500.png hilarious]] MoodWhiplash for his regeneration in "Night of the Doctor".

* AssPull: Averted in the case of the Time Lords granting the Doctor a new set of regenerations. Although the show was accused of this by some, in fact the concept of regeneration cycles being renewed had been introduced 30 years earlier in "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]" and had been mentioned as recently as 2007's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums The Sound of Drums]]" as having been granted to The Master.
** Some fans have accused Moffat of doing this by having the Tenth Doctor's partial regeneration in Series 4 count against his total, so that the special could end by dealing with the twelve-regeneration limit. However, the question of whether it counted had been a matter of debate among fans since 2008, so it didn't come out of nowhere; Moffat just decided to take a side.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: Some fans complained that the Tenth Doctor in "The End of Time" was really wangsty about his regeneration. The Eleventh Doctor is shown being okay and accepting of the change, culminating in a speech about how everything changes at some point.
* BadExportForYou: Viewers who get their Doctor Who off BBC Entertainment Asia had to wait until February 2015 for the special to air in their region. It would have been NoExportForYou, but after getting angry letters from Whovians from all over Asia throughout December 2013 and all through 2014, Creator/TheBBC finally relented.

** "The Husbands of River Song" paints the Eleventh Doctor in a ''very'' poor light as it's revealed via a RetCon that he expected to die on Trenzalore ''without having seen River Song to Darillium'', which would have triggered the same time-ending paradox that he is pilloried for threatening in "Hell Bent" when he tries to save Clara from her fate. If not for Clara talking the Time Lords into keeping the Doctor alive, his death would have triggered something very bad since River would not have been sent to hers.

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Considering how most regeneration stories are usually two-parters, the fact that this story was only one special made the whole thing feel a bit rushed to some. That said, others consider "The Time of the Doctor" the finale of a loose trilogy that began with "The Name of the Doctor" and continued with "The Day of the Doctor", so it could be said the Doctor's regeneration comes at the end of a three-part story.

** At the end of Series 9, the Doctor's promise to never forget a single moment of his time as Eleven is broken when all his memories of Clara are erased.

* ToughActToFollow: Considering the last regeneration story was "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" this story kind of felt weak in comparison. Coming off the highly acclaimed 50th Anniversary Special didn't help matters either.

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/MattSmith wasn't the only one wearing a wig in his scene; Creator/KarenGillan had to, as well, for her filming of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. She regrets "more than anything" that they [[http://www.warpedfactor.com/2014/03/karen-gillan-talks-doctor-who-matt.html didn't think of swapping wigs]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Fans have been dying for the ultimate staring contest; [[http://fashionablygeek.com/t-shirts/weeping-angel-vs-the-silence-stare-down-championship/#!qJDj6 Weeping Angels vs. the Silence,]] but no; the Weeping Angels[[DemotedToExtra got kicked down to a few seconds' appearance]].

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Considering how most regeneration stories are usually two-parters the fact that this story was only one special made the whole thing feel a bit rushed.
** The above is debatable, as "The Time of the Doctor" is considered the finale to a loose trilogy that began with "The Name of the Doctor" and continued with "The Day of the Doctor", so it could be said the Doctor's regeneration comes at the end of a three-part story.

** Some fans have accused Moffat of doing this by having the Tenth Doctor's partial regeneration in Series 4 count against his total, so that the special could end on a regeneration. However, the debate over whether it counted had been a matter of debate among fans since 2008, so it didn't come out of nowhere; Moffat just decided to take a side.

* AuthorSavingThrow: Some fans complained that the Tenth Doctor in "The End of Time" was really wangsty about his regeneration. The Eleventh Doctor is shown being okay and accepting of the change, culminating in a speech about how everything changes at some point.