brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (08/11/84)
If any regeneration seems to be planned, it was the Pertwee->Baker one. Of course, that could all be contrived after the fact. In the last episode of JPs 2nd last season (Green Death) the Doctor doesn't want to play around on Earth because his Tardis is finally fixed. He's been promising Jo a trip to the "fabulous blue planet, Metebelius-3" for some time. He goes on his own, and finds it isn't quite as he thought. he does pick up a nice blue crystal, though, which has some remarkable powers, including the ability to save the day by clearing the minds of people who had been taken over by the computer in the story. Anyway, at the end, he gives the crystal as a gift to Jo, who's leaving him that episode to tour the amazon with her newfound husband. One whole season later, in "Planet of the Spiders", Jo returns the crystal (the natives don't like it) and it becomes the focal point for the regeneration episode, set on Metebelius-3 at a much later time than the Doctor's visit. So, do you think they had this all planned? Or did they make up Planet of the Spiders much later? Why did Pertwee leave anyway? He wasn't as good a Doctor as Baker, but he was a lot better than Davison. How much notice did he give? -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ontario (519) 884-7473