The Guardian newspaper asked this question in their analysis of the 'Doctor Who' Christmas special, "Twice Upon A Time":
The writer forgets something important about Toobworld - we don't have to see everything to have it confirmed as actually happening. We only needed to hear the toilet flushing to know Archie Bunker took a dump; we didn't need to see him playing the game of thrones with his pants around his ankles.
This is what I call the Khan-Chekov Principle. There will always be something that happens off-screen, unseen by the Trueniverse audience, but which could be referenced later in that series. The name - as any "Trekkier" should know - derives from the first meeting between Khan Noonian Singh and Commander Pavel Chekov in the movie "Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan".
CHEKOV:
Khan!
KHAN:
I never forget a face, Mister ...Chekov. Isn't it?
I never thought to see your face again.
TERRELL:
Chekov, who is this man?
CHEKOV:
A criminal, Captain...
a product of late twentieth century genetic engineering.
But Walter Koenig was not in the 'Star Trek' episode in which Khan was introduced - "Space Seed". So we didn't get to see Chekov but have to take it on tele-faith that it did happen.
And that was the case here. Granted, it doesn't take the TARDIS more than seconds to travel from present-day Earth Prime-Time to the end of the Universe, but there was still plenty of time during their time togetether for the Doctor to tell Bill about the fact that he could regenerate.
I would think it eventually had to be standard procedure for any Incarnation of the Doctor to tell the Companions that the possibility was out there in which he might become a totally different person when near death. If not, it should be, just as a polite consideration for the Companion.
BCnU!
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