The Doctor Has 496 Regenerations to Go

On The Sarah Jane Adventures this past weekend — which, it’s worth noting, is considered the kiddie spin-off to Doctor Who — the Doctor made an amazing announcement. that announcement is as follows:

Okay, that might have been tough for non-Whovians to catch. The deal is that the Doctor said he has 507 regenerations, when previous Who canon states that he only has 13 (and he’s currently on #11). This news has, obviously, sent major Who-ligans into insanity. Here’s why it’s silly:

? Doctor Who has more conflicting canon already than virtually every other franchise with the possible exception of the Bible.
? No matter what one Doctor said in one episiode back in 1976 (which is where the 13 limit comes from), the BBC would never stop the series after the 13th Doctor kicks it.
? Even if we suddenly go through three Doctors a year, we’ll all be dead before we reach the 507 limit — and if the show is still making money by then, I have no doubt there will be a 508.
? The Doctor was probably kidding anyways.

I don’t blame Who fans, though. I mean, if you love a franchise it’s often because of that long-running coherence and consistency, so to suddenly negate a long-held tenet of the series sucks for fans. This Doctor Who news might not bother me, but if I hear about a He-Man movie where Skeletor is suddenly no longer a sorcerer but some dude who hates magic, I immediately flip my shit. So I don’t begrudge you Who fans getting upset. But you had to know there’s no way they’d stop with 13 Doctors. And really, would you want them to? (Via Blastr)