Topic of discussion: When did the 9th doctor regenerate?

I keep reading on the web and wikipedia how everybody assumes that the 9th doctor must have recently regenerated because in the rose episode he looks in the mirror and says that it could have been worse.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is just a form of gradual acceptence as opposed to a first reaction? We know in the family of blood episode that the doctor only looks at himself in the mirror like once a year or something, so one can assume that he just doesn't really examine his face all too often. So in rose, when he happens to come accross a mirror, one could assume that he's just maybe finally coming to terms with his new face or something.

I personally think the doctor had been traveling alone for quite some time since his regeneration. I feel this way because of the following:

1. The episode rose showed that 9th doctor had at least visited alone the JFK assasination, Kracatowa, and saved a family from the titanic.
2. The way he acts seems more akin to a man who has not had any or little outside contact with others in quite some time. He's short tempered, aloof, and somewhat fragile. All things that are probably brought on by traveling years, decades, even centuries alone and with the guilt of the time war weighing in on him. . .its almost how the 10th doctor is now acting after loosing donna noble. In the planet of the dead, he refuses a companion, saying he can't stand the loss of another one. It's almost as if he is reverting back to the 9th's personna.
3. The reaction in Rose, just doesn't seem big enough to be a first reaction. The 4th doctor had a bigger reaction in my opinion. As did the 3rd.

So what do you guys think? Recent regeneration, or just a slight reaction from seeing his face again.

I personally think this was just a goof on RTD's part. As is revealed later in the story, the 9th Doctor had done a fair bit of traveling since regenerating and I just find it hard to believe that Jackie's mirror would be the first one he'd run across.
It's a forgivable error and could easily be explained away with amnesia or something....but truth be told, its just something trivial that alot of people over-analyze (myself included)

I hold the belief that McGann's Doctor fought the Time War and was forced to regenerate after the Doctor's defeat of the Daleks. Such an adventure surely would have worn out his body. Your points are well taken as I too believe he spent a great deal of time after regeneration traveling alone to experience the joy of time travel again, which he clearly has once we see him in"Rose." He seems "alive" again and has a sense of adventure about him. He possibly hasn't stopped to see himself in a while. There are no obvious mirrors in the TARDIS, so who knows?

Actually there is a mirror in the TARDIS wardrobe (see "The Christmas Invasion").

I agree that he'd probably been alone for some time following his regeneration from 8th into 9th; there's plenty of onscreen confirmation that he had some adventures on his own before we met him.

I think people are reading too much into his self-inspection in the mirror. The 9th Doctor had an air of mystery about him, and I think his musings in front of the mirror were more of a tease for the audience (the message being, "There's more to this guy than is readily apparent") than an indication of his face being new.

the doctor is a time traveller. for all we know tom baker fought the time war and the doctor held the horror in for regereations to come. but i always felt that when eccleston makes those comments at the beginning of rose, that was for the old school fans as a joke slash nod to us, hes talking to us directly. i have always assummed that eccleston fought the time war because rtd introduced it and that was his doctor. plus eccelston is wayyy cooler. also i like the idea that he was the only one at the end just standing there alone. plus we all assume that eccleston is the 9th doctor. we dont really know this! he could be the fithteenth for all we know.

You're actually very right hitman! I remember reading somewhere that RTD said something about the 4th Doctor's mission for the Time Lords in "Genesis of the Daleks" being the first strike of the Time War

Tom Baker in Genesis should be considered the FIRST strike in the conflict between the Timelords and the Daleks. Another one can be the destruction of Skaro by the 7th doctor. One can assume that a temporary truce opened up in the TVM with the seventh doctor being allowed to take the master's remains for disposal. Kind of a military exchange of the dead so to speak.

We must remember what the tenth doctor said in Journey's end, he referred to the ninth doctor as being born out of war, just like his human clone. Therefore, the ninth doctor has to be either a product of the time war or came into being shortly before it ended.

What RTD has done in the new series, is he tied it to the old series by stating that in the background, far beneath it, and unbeknownst to all of us, there was this secret war going on between the daleks and the timelords. And it is only until the beginning of rose do we see the after affects of this seemingly unending conflict.

And I still say his comment in the mirror in Rose was more akin to "aha! there's my old ugly mug again! Well, I suppose after all this time it's not all that bad. In fact it could have been worse."

Finally, let's not forget the children in need special where the newly formed tenth doctor is happy to find hair. . .big hair! Must have been some sort of let down to have lost so much in between 8 and 9. . .After all, the 8th doctor had some nice long hair now didn't he?

When he was at the assasination of JKF and the rest, wasn't that ment to take place half way in the story? Like, in between blowing the building up and meeting Rose again? I've always heard that. Like, he went away, did it all, then landed back just where he left off.

Dalek Thay wrote:

When he was at the assasination of JKF and the rest, wasn't that ment to take place half way in the story? Like, in between blowing the building up and meeting Rose again? I've always heard that. Like, he went away, did it all, then landed back just where he left off.

Don't think so, the doctor was wearing different clothes in those pictures. When Rose finally met him, he had gotten into the habit of never changing out of his leather jacket outfit. Like in unquiet dead where he claimed that he just put on a new jumper. No, I think those adventures were before he met Rose. When he was still finding himself so to speak.

exilea wrote:

Actually there is a mirror in the TARDIS wardrobe (see "The Christmas Invasion").

Yeah, but with the exception of 10 who changes his outfit pretty regularly (same theme though), how often would he end up in that room? He could go years without having a real need to set foot in it again...

We saw those pics of 9 in different outfits (titanic, jfk, etc...), but who knows if he even really gave the mirror a glance when dressing? Not to say it's totally vain to do so, but perhaps he just wasn't that kinda guy that time around...

Or after being responsible for the death of two entire races (Timelords and Daleks) he could not face himself in the mirror. Perhapse it wasn't until he was in Rose's apartment that he finally had a look!

I never look in the mirror while getting dressed. Shaving and combing my hair is really all I use the mirror for.

I wouldn't be surprised if we find out Gallifrey was not destroyed but the time lords let the doctor believe they actually were gone so the universe thinks they are gone. The Daleks have done it why not the Timelords. it would open up for so many new stories/

Sci-FiJoe wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised if we find out Gallifrey was not destroyed but the time lords let the doctor believe they actually were gone so the universe thinks they are gone. The Daleks have done it why not the Timelords. it would open up for so many new stories/

After all the grief the Timelords have caused the Doctor, I say "screw 'em!"

Pulls out my 'Morbius Wants You' recruitment poster.

Signs up to destroy the doormice of the universe!

Calixar wrote:

I never look in the mirror while getting dressed. Shaving and combing my hair is really all I use the mirror for.

Same here. Though I'm sure some would argue that I don't look in the mirror when I'm shaving or combing either...

Hoosier Whovian wrote:

Signs up to destroy the doormice of the universe!

Of all posters, I would have thought you would know violence is not the answer. 42 is.