Doctor Who - Regeneration Girl

*This article contains spoilers from Season 6, Episode 2: “Day of the Moon”. You’ve been warned.

The new season of Doctor Who started with a two part story that had people sitting on the edge of their seats and then ultimately fall right off as their jaws hit the ground in the closing scene. Theories and debates about this story began forming quick but most seem to focus on one particular moment at the end of Episode, 2 “Day of the Moon”. A little girl walks out from behind a dumpster in a New York City alley 6 months after the main story concludes and begins to regenerate.

One of the first obvious questions on peoples’ minds is, “Who can this girl be?” There have been many theories and accusations made that very well could be true, however most must be dismissed on the fact that there is not a shred of evidence to support them. This is a sci-fi, time traveling show so anything is always possible but people should be focused on evidence rather than just throwing out hopeful names. Some of the hopeful names being thrown out there are that this little girl could be Romana, the Rani, or Susan. Where as the return of any of these classic Doctor Who characters would be huge for the show and create an amazing story, there is simply no evidence out there to give them any credibility. So let's look at at things that there is evidence for.

First, let's start by looking at the scene itself. The little girl in question walks out from behind the dumpster and says, “It’s alright. It’s quite alright. I’m dying, but I can fix that. It’s easy really. See.” She is then enveloped in a golden glow and residual energy starts to leave her body as she begins the regeneration. We can see that she is not scared by this occurrence and that she has a look of awe and wonder and smiles as it begins. She clearly knows what a regeneration is and that she is capable of doing it. This could mean that she has regenerated in the past or at least has been told what regenerating is.

Now lets take a look at two credible theories; the first being that this little girl is Jenny. Jenny is the Doctor’s daughter from the Season 4 episode “The Doctor’s Daughter”. Jenny was grown through a machine on the planet Messaline in the year 6012. The machine took a tissue sample from the 10^th Doctor and extrapolated it, splitting his diploid cells into haploids and growing a fully grown person; Jenny. Since Jenny was grown from the Doctor’s DNA it is argued that she is a Time Lord (though the Doctor argues against this at first stating she is "an echo. That's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering," he later exhibits his willingness to accept her and what she is.). At the end of this episode Jenny is shot and killed. Though in the closing scene we see residual energy being released from Jenny’s mouth as she is revived. It is thought that Jenny used the healing factor of the regeneration to heal herself just like the 10th Doctor had in the episode "Journey's End" in Season 4. It is not known whether or not Jenny can fully regenerate. Another point to look at is the little girl’s age. She appears to be around the age of 10 or possibly a year or two younger. In the past we have seen an older Doctor regenerate into a younger Doctor. For example, the 4^th Doctor into the 5^th Doctor or the 10^th into the 11^th. So it is not far fetched that Jenny who appeared to be in her early 20s could regenerate into a body 10 or so years younger.

Another theory is that this little girl is Amy’s daughter. This is the theory that the show would have you believe as they give several clues of Amy being pregnant. Amy then finds a framed photograph of herself holding a baby in the little girl’s room suggesting that the little girl is the girl in the photograph. However, this theory raises many more questions. If this little girl is Amy’s child then is she from the future and travels back in time to 1969 or does Amy herself travel back to a time before 1969 and for reasons unknown leave the girl behind? Why is this girl alone? Why is Amy’s child a Time Lord and who is the father; the Doctor?

Although I only discuss two, there are many other theories out there. Again, this is a time traveling, sci-fi show so anything could happen and have a quick backstory drummed up. Look at how many times we've seen the Daleks wiped out in the current series only to have them return the next season. Whatever the case may be I hope its something good. What are your theories that you've come up with or heard and liked?

After everything is said and done, there is still one big question that involves this little girl. If this little girl is indeed a Time Lord, why could the Doctor not sense her presence as he always stated he would? What was hiding her true identity from him?