Tear-Jerking Reason Peter Capaldi's Doctor Did Not Want to Regenerate
In a sense, the Doctor is basically immortal, at least compared to his companions who can't regenerate — and that's what makes it ultimately sad.
Remember when Peter Capaldi 's Twelfth Doctor decided he didn't really want to regenerate and become a whole new person?
While the Doctor Who showrunners explained that it was due to the Doctor's realization that parts of him are lost in time (as well as his lack of desire to "die"), fans have come up with a much more depressing explanation.
Regeneration is always an emotional experience for both the Time Lord and the fans of the show, but with Capaldi's Doctor, there is one little detail that the entire fandom seems to be under-discussing. Basically, the Twelfth Doctor is the only Time Lord whose companions are all dead.
"Clara lost her life on Trap Street, Bill got a hole blew through her, and Nardole didn't likely last long hiding from the Cybermen.
Even allies like Missy, Osgood (although she sort of came back) and, to a lesser extent, Danny Pink, died. [Twelfth] was even The Doctor who sent River Song to meet her ultimate fate," Redditor jknight75 noted.
Perhaps the reason Capaldi's Doctor did not want to regenerate was because he no longer wanted to see people die around him. It makes even more sense when you consider that Jodie Whittaker 's Thirteenth Doctor never let her companions get too close to her, possibly as a result of her predecessor's grievances.
It's not just the depressing track record of Capaldi's Doctor.
After all, all Doctors have to realize that their companions die at some point, and they cannot "come back to life" like he can.
We also know that regeneration does not exactly feel like heaven for the Doctors; David Tennant's Tenth Doctor confirmed that it "feels like dying" and "some new man goes sauntering away."
It's not like Doctor Who needed an extra layer of potentially depressing subtext... but it looks like we just gave it to you. Who knows, maybe the upcoming 60th anniversary special episodes will delve even deeper into the potentially dark topic, as Tennant's Doctor is set to return?
The BBC has yet to set a premiere date for the anniversary specials.