Doctor Who Speculation on the 13th Doctor and Beyond

First off if you haven't watched the 50th anniversary special that aired this past Saturday don't read this post as it will spoil major plot points.

Alright, if you are still reading then you must want to hear this. An established part of Dr Who cannon is that Gallifreyan's can regenerate their bodies 12 times which effectively gives them 13 bodies in total. A fact which has been confirmed by Steven Moffat. This was a plot device originally dreamed up in 60's in order to allow the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, to replace the first played by William Hartnell.

Looking back the following actors have played the Doctor:

1. William Hartnell
2. Patrick Troughton
3. Jon Pertwee
4. Tom Baker
5. Peter Davison
6. Colin Baker
7. Sylvester McCoy
8. Paul McGann
9. Christopher Eccleston
10. David Tennant
11. Matt Smith

But as we now know there was a Doctor between McGann and Eccleston, the War Doctor played by John Hurt. Plus it has already been announced that Matt Smith is leaving the show and Peter Capaldi will be taking over. So the list actually looks like:

1. William Hartnell
2. Patrick Troughton
3. Jon Pertwee
4. Tom Baker
5. Peter Davison
6. Colin Baker
7. Sylvester McCoy
8. Paul McGann
9. John Hurt
10. Christopher Eccleston
11. David Tennant
12. Matt Smith
13. Peter Capaldi

Oh no, we're at 13 Doctor's now. That must mean that Peter Capaldi will be the last actor to ever play the Doctor. Well of course not, they are going to keep making this show until it stops being profitable. During the 50th anniversary show we see John Hurt's Doctor beginning his regeneration but we never see him fully transforming into Christopher Eccleston. Perhaps this is because Christopher Eccleston was unable or unwilling to participate in the special or maybe it's something a little more timey wimey.

Since we had three Doctor's in the same time and space and they were actively messing around with their own timeline (yes, I know they hand wavey explained this away) I'm surmising that an alternative timeline has been created. Now when Doctor number 9 regenerates he doesn't become Christopher Eccleston but instead Peter Capaldi. This means that Capaldi could be Doctor number 10 and they've been able to stave off the question of a 13th Doctor for at least 3 more actors. 

8) Paul McGann
9) John Hurt
10) Peter Capaldi

11) ?

12) ??

13) ???

But wait, what about Matt Smith's Doctor what happens to him? Well, I believe that he is the 13th Doctor. You see David Tennant actually regenerated twice. Once in Journey's End and then again in his last show The End of Time. So that would make his list:

8) Paul McGann
9) John Hurt
10) Christopher Eccleston

11) David Tennant

12) David Tennant

13) Matt Smith

So in closing you probably had to be a real Whovian in order to read this post to the end but I believe we'll see a reboot of the Doctor Who franchise with Peter Capaldi stepping in as the new 10th Doctor and Eccleston, Tennant and Smith's Doctors being relegated to an alternative time line.