Why does the Doctor in Doctor Who have so many different faces? Well, in the real world, it allows the show to continue on with a brand new actor in the same role; an innovation that saved and redefined the series way back in 1966. But, within the reality of the Who canon, the regeneration process of the Time Lord known as the Doctor follows a mysterious set of rules. In “The Day of the Doctor,” the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) described regeneration as a “lottery,” while the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) called the process “dodgy.” But was there a hidden meaning behind the Doctor’s faces? Were these visages truly random?
Ten years ago, on October 17, 2015, with the release of the episode “The Girl Who Died,” the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) learned that the reason his face was so familiar was because, sometimes, the Doctor sends themselves messages via the next regeneration.
