Doctor Who: This edit of the Sixth Doctor’s regeneration is an essential watch
By James Aggas
A brand new edit has been made of the Sixth Doctor’s regeneration, and it just might be the best take on this major Doctor Who moment.
Back in 1987, at the start of its twenty-fourth season, Doctor Who kicked off with a brand new Doctor. To introduce us to Sylvester McCoy’s new incarnation, the opening story, Time and the Rani, began with a regeneration scene.
Not only did this mean that Colin Baker wasn’t given a proper send-off story for his Doctor. But, even worse, he didn’t even take part in the regeneration scene itself – wearing his predecessor’s clothes and a curly blond wig, McCoy played both Doctors during this vital moment!
Unsurprisingly, the lack of an actual regeneration story for the Sixth Doctor has been something that the expanded universe has aimed to rectify. Several times, in fact: first with the BBC novel Spiral Scratch in 2005, then the unofficial novel Time’s Champion in 2008 and, most recently, the audio box set The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure in 2015.
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A new take
This last take on the story feels particularly satisfying, especially with Colin Baker himself voicing the role and thus finally getting to take part in his Doctor’s swan song. Unsurprisingly, the ending sequence especially stands out, with his Doctor given a rather moving speech by writer Nicholas Briggs during his final moments.
There have been several attempts to visualize this scene already, one of which, we’ve even covered before. But this latest attempt by YouTube user The Confession Dial (who gave us the extremely impressive Gallifrey Stands edit) might just be the most impressive.
There’s a lot to like about this edit. First, there are several different techniques The Confession Dial has used to give us this take. Along with re-editing existing clips – not just from The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani, but from The Last Adventure, too – new special effects are used.
The result is an extremely impressive piece of work. It visualizes so many key elements from the original audio – including the Sixth Doctor’s last confrontation against his major enemy and his darker side, the Valeyard. This moment hasn’t been visualized before, so this was definitely a nice touch.
It also presents us with something far more satisfying than what we originally got on-screen. The Last Adventure has always been an audio that I’ve greatly enjoyed, especially the regeneration scene itself. It’s amazing to see it visualized so fully and effectively. As mentioned, this has been done several times already, and extremely well, too. But The Confession Dial’s take on this scene stands out as the best yet.
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What are your thoughts on this edit? Do you think it’s the regeneration scene that Colin Baker should have been given on television? If you’ve listened to The Last Adventure, how well do you think The Confession Dial visualized this key scene? Let us know in the comments below.