Doctor Who confirmed for Disney+ in 2023

[ProfessorDetective]

Honestly I think a volcano could do it.

INCINERATION! I knew I was forgetting one!

So, basically, chunky salsa rules. You destroy the body quickly and thoroughly enough, they'll stay down.

[clearspira]

I see what Frustration is saying though. In a meta sense, of course the Doctor cannot die. There would be no show. But in-universe, the 13 regeneration limit existed for a reason and that reason was to establish stakes. He can't just ''Highlander'' his way through a problem because he would be dead in a month. The Doctor is now effectively immortal and thus there is no sense of danger from any ''dangerous'' situation.

Really... the only person at any risk at all is the companion. Which I suppose has always been true.

[hammerofglass]

I agree with the infinite regenerations being cheap, but that's been the status quo for nine years now and it doesn't seem to have mattered much.

[Durandal_1707]

And besides, they were always going to hit the limit sooner or later anyway, and with the end of Smith's run, they did. What were they supposed to do, end the show?

[Lazerlike42]

I agree that infinite regenerations isn't that big a dramatic problem. Its long term implications for the dramatic aspect of a series aren't all that different from the implications for an individual incarnation of the Doctor at any given time. In other words, when Tom Baker was the Doctor or Peter Davidson, the writers still had to contend with the fact that the audience knew that the Doctor could die and he would nevertheless continue on.

Now, if suddenly past "phenotypes" of the Doctor are on the table to return with any given regeneration, this would seem to be at least a little bit of a dramatic problem, but we'll have to wait and see what is actually going on with Tennant's return and if it's framed in a way which would make this a long term possibility.

[Frustration]

I see what Frustration is saying though. In a meta sense, of course the Doctor cannot die.

Just as, in a meta sense, Batman isn't going to be shot unless the author of the story chooses for him to be shot - he has invulnerable plot armor. But unlike Superman, he can't just stand there and take the bullet. He has to dodge and duck, demonstrate the agility and highly-developed athletic ability that Batman possesses, and in theory any person with a gun is a threat to his life - a drama-producing threat.

Superman is nigh-invulnerable and thus it's much harder to create drama with him. Either Kryptonite needs to be brought in, or the threat has to be more abstract than mere injury or death. And that's more difficult to do well.

The Doctor isn't going to take a truly mortal wound until the showrunners decide he should die. But, in-universe, most mortal threats just aren't going to faze him at all, now. There is no risk. He was Batman, now he's Superman.

(Drowning is gonna be hard - the Doctor has a respiratory bypass, can store oxygen, and has survived in vacuum for extended periods. Water isn't going to kill him very quickly. The right kind of weapon can kill him stone-dead if it's used to disrupt the regeneration process, but since the Doctor is perfectly capable of wielding regeneration energy as a weapon, that's easier said than done.)

[hammerofglass]

He did drown with no regeneration in that "it's a wonderful life" episode where he never met Donna. Although that was effectively suicide.

[TGLS]

Well it's not like whoever manages to kill the Doctor is going to go, "Well, he transformed into a different guy, guess we can call it a day." They're probably going to get creative.

[Frustration]

In many ways, it's unrealistic for the Doctor who have survived this long. The Daleks would have just taken him out with an antimatter explosion or something. But killing a man with an intelligent time machine that sends him where he needs to go, who can see several seconds into the future, and regenerates from mortal wounds... is trickly.

The Silence had to create River Song just to have a chance of killing him.

[clearspira]

In many ways, it's unrealistic for the Doctor who have survived this long. The Daleks would have just taken him out with an antimatter explosion or something. But killing a man with an intelligent time machine that sends him where he needs to go, who can see several seconds into the future, and regenerates from mortal wounds... is trickly.

The Silence had to create River Song just to have a chance of killing him.

Those random street things in Dr Who The Movie showed how you kill this guy: you get a gun and you shoot him immediately after he leaves the Tardis. No speeches, no zany scheme, no giving him a chance. Just fill him full of lead. And then when he's on the floor, put him down execution style like a lame horse.

"Just shoot him" is the realistic end to 99% of all fictional heroes but Dr Who and James Bond especially. Any real world crook with a shotgun would put them in the ground within the week.