Doctor Who's Thirteenth Doctor is fast approaching her final swansong and is set to regenerate in the next special. According to the Radio Times, her regeneration is going to be slightly different than anything the New Who fans have seen before, with it actually taking place outside the TARDIS rather than in.
This new revelation has certainly intrigued fans as it has now added a newfound level of suspense and unpredictability. While the Doctor's life has been on the line before, previous showrunners wouldn't dare stray from tradition because the TARDIS regeneration was beloved by fans (so any time the Time Lord's life was on the line outside of this, it was presumed they would pull through in the end). However, given their long tenures and the hardcore villains they face, many fans would agree that all the New Who Doctors would have regenerated a lot earlier than they initially did.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Being Drained Of Blood
"Smith and Jones" - Season 3, Episode 1
The opening episode of season 3 sees the Judoon transport a hospital to the Moon, uniting The Doctor with his new companion, Martha. The Judoon are searching for an alien threat who is able to disguise herself by drinking human blood. Unfortunately, this also puts The Doctor on their radar due to his non-terrestrial DNA.
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The Doctor tricks Miss Finnegan into drinking his blood, which allows the Judoon to detect her again. That being said, every human who has their blood drained dies after this but Martha is able to revive The Doctor without even a hint of his body trying to regenerate and save him as it usually would.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Being Electrocuted
"Evolution Of The Daleks" - Season 3, Episode 5
The first two-part story of season 3 sees The Doctor and Martha facing one of the best monsters from Doctor Who, The Daleks. When trying to remove Dalekanium from the newly constructed Empire State building, The Doctor is hit by a gamma radiation strike and electrocuted.
Martha, along with several other guest characters is able to use the same strike to take out several of the Daleks' Pig Slaves. While the Pig Slaves are much weaker life forms, what kills a large group of them only causes The Doctor to pass out. The Time Lord doesn't even need Martha to revive him this time around and recovers within minutes after the huge shock.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Being Possessed By An Alien Sun
"42" - Season 3, Episode 7
The Doctor faces yet another near-death experience in season 3 when he is possessed by an alien sun. In the episode, the Doctor and Martha arrive on a ship that is on a crash course with an alien sun. This same sun is possessing members of the crew and picking the others off one by one.
Although the humans possessed by the sun aren't killed, The Doctor is in visible pain when he is taken over and the entity's power appears to burn through his body. While Martha manages to save him here, The Doctor is shown to begin regenerating when he's shot in other episodes so hosting an alien sun could certainly have caused him to regenerate under different plot circumstances.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Being Aged By The Master
"The Last Of The Time Lords" - Season 3, Episode 13
The Doctor's arch-nemesis and former friend makes his long-awaited return to the show in the finale of season 3, which is one of the best Master stories from Doctor Who. After stealing the TARDIS and becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, he takes The Doctor hostage and forcefully ages him. Eventually, he ages The Doctor to reflect his 900 years of life and he becomes small and fragile.
Although The Master explains he's suspended The Doctor's ability to regenerate, this is quite convenient and is never really explained. As The Doctor has regenerated from old age both before and after this, he certainly would have here without this small line of dialogue to save him.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Drowning
"Turn Left" - Season 4, Episode 11
Towards the end of season 4, an alternate reality is built around Donna in one of the best Doctor Who episodes from Russell T. Davies' era. After time is changed, The Doctor dies as Donna isn't able to save him and Earth is left vulnerable to alien attacks. UNIT soldiers are overhead stating that the Time Lord drowned so fast that he couldn't regenerate but fans have seen him regenerate under much more circumstances in the past.
That being said, this element is key to the plot and allows for the exciting story to unfold. While this is a clever device to show a world without The Doctor, it feels odd that he couldn't regenerate here.
Ten Should Have Fully Regenerated After Being Shot By A Dalek
"The Stolen Earth" - Season 4, Episode 12
While the previous episode shows The Doctor dying in an alternate reality, "The Stolen Earth" also sees him come close. After finally seeing Rose again, The Doctor runs to reunite with him but is suddenly shot down by a Dalek. His companions quickly get him into the TARDIS and prepare as he begins to regenerate, providing a shocking cliffhanger to the episode.
However, the next episode begins with The Doctor channeling his regeneration energy into his severed hand. Although there is a legitimate reason for him not to regenerate here and it does have huge consequences later, he would have definitely done so if it hadn't been for the hand finding its way into the TARDIS at the end of the previous season.
Ten Should Have Regenerated After Jumping From The Vinvocci Shape Ship
"The End Of Time" - 2008-2010 Specials
Although the Tenth Doctor regenerates after saving Wilf, he has a near-death experience earlier on in the same story. The Doctor jumps from the Vinvocci shape ship, crashing through the glass roof of the Naismith Mansion and falling down to the floor. Despite being cut and bruised and clearly in pain, it's not long before he's back on his feet.
As The Doctor fell such a long way and hit the ground with such an impact, it's surprising he comes out relatively unscathed. The Fourth Doctor actually regenerates after a smaller fall than this one which makes Ten's lack of injuries even more baffling.
Eleven Should Have Regenerated After Being Shot By A Dalek... Again
"The Big Bang" - Season 5, Episode 13
During some particularly elaborate time-wimey shenanigans in this episode, another version of The Doctor appears and drops down dead in front of the present-day Doctor and his companions. When things come full circle, The Doctor is shot by a Dalek and then goes back in time using the vortex manipulator.
While it later becomes clear that he was pretending to be dead, it doesn't explain why he didn't begin to regenerate as he did when being shot in the season 4 finale. As the same injury almost caused a regeneration in the previous season, it's quite jarring that the same doesn't happen here. This episode is considered one of the best finales according to IMDB but may be difficult to follow for the more casual Doctor Who viewer.
Eleven Should Have Regenerated After Being Zapped By The Shansheeth
"The Death Of The Doctor" - Season 4, Episode 5
The Eleventh Doctor crosses over to the Sarah Jane Adventures after an alien race named the Shansheeth fake his death. During the story, the aliens target The Doctor's former companions in an attempt to gain access to the TARDIS.
When The Time Lord finally arrives in the story to reunite with his former companions, The Shansheeth attempt to kill him for real by zapping him. He writhes around on the ground but is then replaced by Clyde which causes the aliens to desist. That being said, The Doctor is zapped for an extended period of time and while it's obvious why he wouldn't regenerate in a spin-off episode, his lack of injury isn't explained.
Thirteen Should Have Regenerated After Falling From The TARDIS And Through A Train Roof
"The Woman Who Fell To Earth" - Season 11, Episode 1
After the Twelfth Doctor regenerates into the Thirteenth, The TARDIS crashes and throws the new incarnation out of the doors. The Doctor falls down to Earth and in the following episode, crashes through the roof of a train.
As she is newly regenerated, The Doctor is less vulnerable to injury than usual but this is still a huge fall. The Doctor seems completely fine afterward and it doesn't appear to have affected her physically. Having her regenerate straight away would be a first for the show but it feels strange that she's not even injured by the fall.