This wiki is a XML full dump clone of "Heroes Wiki", the main wiki about the Heroes saga that has been shut down permanently since June 1, 2020. The purpose of this wiki is to keep online an exhaustive and accurate database about the franchise.

User:Gabriel Bishop/The Tenth Doctor: Difference between revisions

From Heroes Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older edit
Content deleted Content added
imported>Gabriel Bishop
No edit summary
imported>Gabriel Bishop
 
(10 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Character box
{{infobox fan creation

| caption = The ten faces of the Doctor in chronological order. Click a face for details.
| name = The Doctor
| name = The Doctor
| series = Doctor Who
| sortname = The Doctor
| age = [[#Age|900]]
| image =Sp Doctor.jpg
| race = [[Time Lord]]
| portrayer = David Tennant
| nick = The Doctor,John Smith,James Mcrimmon
| planet = [[Gallifrey]]
| debut =
| start = ''[[An Unearthly Child]]''
| mention =
| portrayed = [[William Hartnell]]<br />[[Patrick Troughton]]<br />[[Jon Pertwee]]<br />[[Tom Baker]]<br />[[Peter Davison]]<br />[[Colin Baker]]<br />[[Sylvester McCoy]]<br />[[Paul McGann]]<br />[[Christopher Eccleston]]<br />[[David Tennant]]<br />([[List of actors who have played the Doctor|''and others'']])
| known powers = Regeneration
| potential_power(s) = Empathy
| formal name = ?
| alias = The Doctor
| gender = <!-- 'Male' or 'Female' will be replaced by the corresponding icon -->male
| age = 903
| born =
| pob = Gallifrey
| died =
| home = The Tardis
| residence = The Tardis
| occupation = Time Lord
| significant other = Rose Tyler
| marriage =
| parent =
| grandparent(s) =
| guardian = <!--Non-parent guardian(s)-->
| child(ren) = Jenny
| grandchild(ren) = Susan Foreman
| ward(s) =
| sibling(s) =
| other relatives =
| spoiler =
}}
}}
"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old, and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" Voyage Of The Damned
The '''Doctor''' is the central [[fictional character|character]] in the long-running [[BBC]] [[Science fiction on television|television science-fiction]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and also features in a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series.


== Character History ==
To date, ten actors have officially played the role in the television series (including the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 television film]]), with these changes being explained by his ability to [[Regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerate]]. Several other actors have played the character on stage and film, in audio dramas, and in occasional special episodes of the series. The character's enduring popularity led the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' to dub him "Britain's favourite alien".<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |title=Dr Who profile: Britain's favourite alien |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2241353/Dr-Who-profile-Britain's-favourite-alien.html |work=[[Daily Telegraph]] |date=2008-07-04 |accessdate=2008-07-04 }}</ref>


=== Regeneration ===
==Background==
When the Doctor absorbed TARDIS Time Vortex from his companion, Rose Tyler, the forces contained in himself began to destroy every cell in his body. He regenerated for a ninth time to save his life. The Doctor immediately dematerialized the TARDIS from its location on Satellite 5, intending to fulfill his promise to take Rose to the planet Barcelona in the year 5006. His companion suffering an emotional crisis over the sudden change of his face, the Doctor instead takes pity and heads back to the Powell Estate in London on Christmas Eve 2006 after convincing her of his identity by reminding her of the very first thing he ever said to her. Before he could successfully complete the landing, he began to suffer adverse effects from the violence of his physical change and experienced manic hyperactivity, sending the TARDIS to such dangerous extremes of speed that it crash-landed. Shortly after this, his memory takes a turn for the worst and he drearily wishes Jackie and Mickey a Merry Christmas before promptly lapsing into a comatose state. he later snapped out of it briefly and then fell into it for a longer time in order to beat back an invasion of planet Earth by the Sycorax on Christmas morning. During this adventure he had his hand cut off while in a sword fight with the Sycorax leader but, still retaining enough cellular energy from his regeneration, grew it back.
{{Refimprovesect|date=June 2008}}
The Doctor is a [[Time Lord]], an [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|extraterrestrial]] scientist from the planet [[Gallifrey]], who wanders [[time]] and [[space]] in an internally vast [[time travel|time machine]] called the [[TARDIS]] — '''T'''ime '''A'''nd '''R'''elative '''D'''imension(s) '''I'''n '''S'''pace. This is an acronym the Doctor's granddaughter, [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], claims to have invented.<ref name="UnearthlyChild">{{cite serial | title = [[An Unearthly Child]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writers [[Anthony Coburn]], [[C. E. Webber]], Directors [[Waris Hussein]], [[Douglas Camfield]], Producers [[Verity Lambert]], [[Mervyn Pinfield]] | network = [[BBC]] | city = London | began = 1963-11-23 | ended = 1963-12-14}}</ref> Although the TARDIS once had the ability to disguise itself according to its environment, after landing in 1963 London its facade became stuck in the form of a British [[police box]] because of a malfunctioning [[cloaking device|chameleon circuit]]. It has remained in that shape ever since. Over the course of the series the Doctor occasionally attempts to fix the circuit, most notably in ''[[Logopolis]]'' and ''[[Attack of the Cybermen]]'' (in the latter turning the TARDIS exterior into a pipe organ, among other incongruous shapes), but eventually gives up the effort out of fondness for the police box shape. In "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", [[Donna Noble]] comments on how she can fix it, but never finishes the explanation. The discrepancy between the small exterior of the ship and its vast interior is explained by its dimensionally transcendental nature, whereby the ship's interior and exterior dimensions exist independently of each other.<ref> Now an entry in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] the word "TARDIS" is often used to describe anything that appears larger on the inside than its exterior implies. {{cite web|url = http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/424|title = Full record for Tardis-like adj.|work = Science Fiction Citations|accessdate=2007-08-27}}</ref>


=== Adventure's with Rose Tyler ===
The Doctor explores the universe at random, using his extensive knowledge of science, technology and history (from his perspective) to avert whatever crises he encounters. The imprecise nature of his travels is initially attributed to the age and unreliability of the TARDIS's navigation system. However, after his trial and restriction to late twentieth century Earth, he demonstrates the ability to reach a destination of his own choosing more often than not. In the last episode of series 4 in the revived series (2008) "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", the Doctor states that the reason for the previous bumpy navigation was that the TARDIS is meant to have six pilots. The Doctor generally travels with one or more [[companion (Doctor Who)|companions]]. Most of these make a conscious decision to travel with him, but others, especially early in the series, are accidental passengers.
The Doctor and Rose embarked on adventures together through time and space.


They came to New Earth and were summoned to the New New York Hospital by the Face of Boe. While there, he stopped the Sisters of Plenitude, who were creating Humans and infecting them with every disease. During this time, Rose was possessed by Cassandra, who was trying to extend her life, but the Doctor eventually convinced Cassandra to "end it."
===The Doctor's childhood===
Little is known about the Doctor's childhood. During "[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]", [[Madame de Pompadour]] "saw" memories of his childhood during a telepathic session between the two and commented that it was "so lonely". However, when asked if he has a brother in "[[Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)|Smith and Jones]]", the Doctor simply replied "not anymore", and was also once good friends with the Master. In the same episode, he mentioned "playing with [[Röntgen]] blocks in the nursery." In "[[The Time Monster]]", the Doctor says he grew up in a house on the side of a mountain, and talks about a hermit who lived under a tree behind the house and inspired the Doctor when he was depressed. In the BBC Novel, ''[[The Nightmare of Black Island]]'', the Doctor stated his favourite childhood story was ''Moxx In Socks''. In the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 television movie]], he says he remembers watching a meteor shower with his father. In "[[The Sound of Drums]]" (2007), the Doctor describes a Time Lord Academy initiation ceremony where, at the age of eight, Time Lord children are made to look into the [[Untempered Schism]], a gap in space and time where they could view the time vortex. Some are inspired, some go mad (as he suggests happened to his nemesis the [[Master (Doctor Who)|Master]]), and some run away. When asked what he did, he replies, "Oh, once I ran away, I never stopped!"


Next they took a trip to 1879 Scotland. There the Doctor and Rose stopped a werewolf from biting Queen Victoria and starting The Empire of the Wolf. As a reward, the Doctor was knighted Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Rose was knighted Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. They were then banished from the British Empire, since their blasé attitude to danger unnerved the Queen. The Doctor also inadvertently inspired Queen Victoria to found the Torchwood Institute, dedicated to defending Britain from the alien threat.
===Family===
References to the Doctor's family are rare in the series. During the first two seasons he travelled with his granddaughter, [[Susan Foreman]], and as noted above he apparently once had a brother. During his [[Second Doctor|second incarnation]] when asked about his family, the Doctor says his memories of them are still alive (''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]''). In ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]'', when asked if he has any family, the [[Seventh Doctor]] replies that he doesn't know, indirectly hinting that an unspecified fate may have befallen them. In "[[Fear Her]]" the Tenth Doctor mentions to Rose that he "was a dad once", but then quickly changes the subject; he makes the same admission to Donna in "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]" when she inaccurately assumes that he has "Dad-shock". He mentions his father in the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 ''Doctor Who'' telefilm]], where he also indicates his mother was human (see "Continuity curiosities" below). In "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]", the Doctor had his genetic information stolen and used to create a female soldier and comes to refer to the result, a young woman named [[Jenny (Doctor Who)|Jenny]] (played by [[Georgia Moffett]], real world daughter of [[Peter Davison]]), as his daughter (she in turn knows him as her father). In the episode "[[Blink (Doctor Who)|Blink]]", the Doctor claims that he never was good at weddings, especially his own. By the end of the episode "[[Journey's End]]" a half-human Doctor is created from his severed hand, when the Tenth Doctor transfers his regeneration energy into the hand to prevent a full regeneration of his own body. Both Doctors share the same memories up until that point but the half-human Doctor also has elements of Donna Noble's personality and her DNA as a result of her touching the hand, causing the mass regeneration to occur.


Back on 21st century Earth, the Doctor went undercover as John Smith, a physics teacher at a school which the Krillitane had infiltrated. The Doctor had a chance reunion with his past companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9. The Doctor also allowed Mickey Smith to accompany him and Rose on their travels at Sarah Jane's suggestion.
===In the beginning===
[[Image:Unearthlychild.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The episode title screen of the very first episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', broadcast 23 November 1963.]]
The character of the Doctor was created by the BBC's Head of Drama [[Sydney Newman]].<ref name="handbook">{{cite book | last = Howe | first = David J. | authorlink = David J. Howe | coauthors = & [[Mark Stammers]] & [[Stephen James Walker]] | year = 1994 | title = The Handbook: The First Doctor – The William Hartnell Years 1963–1966 | publisher = [[Virgin Publishing]] | location = London | id = ISBN 0-426-20430-1}}</ref> The first format document for the series that was to become ''Doctor Who'' — then provisionally titled ''The Troubleshooters'' — was written up in March 1963 by [[C. E. Webber]], a BBC staff writer who had been brought in to help develop the project. Webber's document contained a main character described as "The maturer man, 35–40, with some 'character twist'." However, Newman was not keen on this idea and &mdash; along with several other changes to Webber's initial format &mdash; created an alternative lead character named "Dr Who": a crotchety older man piloting a stolen time machine, on the run from his own far future world.<ref name="handbook"/> No written record of Newman's conveyance of these ideas &mdash; believed to have taken place in April 1963 &mdash; exists, and the character of "Dr Who" first begins appearing in existing documentation from May of that year.<ref name="handbook"/>


The Doctor, Rose and Mickey next found themselves in a 51st century ship, which was connected to 18th century France. There he met a pre-teen Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. The Doctor saved her as a child from the Clockwork Droids from the ship and several more times in her life. After the droids were stopped, he offered to allow her to travel with him, but he made a mistake and returned to her after she died.
The character was first portrayed by [[William Hartnell]] in 1963. When, after three years, Hartnell left the series due to ill health, the role was handed over to respected character actor [[Patrick Troughton]]. To date, official television productions have depicted ten distinct incarnations of the Doctor (due to Hartnell's death in 1975, actor [[Richard Hurndall]] substituted in his role as the [[First Doctor]] in 1983's ''[[The Five Doctors]]'', resulting in a technical total of eleven actors). Of those, the longest-lasting incarnation is the [[Fourth Doctor]], as played by [[Tom Baker]]. <ref name=BBCEpGuide>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/index_fourth.shtml Doctor Who: The Classic Series - Episode Guide]</ref> Currently, the [[Tenth Doctor]] is portrayed by [[David Tennant]].


On a parallel Earth, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey witnessed the birth of that universe's Cybermen. The adventure ended with Mickey deciding to stay in the parallel universe, leaving Rose and the Doctor to continue their travels together.
At the series' beginning, nothing at all is known of the Doctor: not even his name, the actual form of which remains [[#"Doctor who?"|a mystery]]. In the very first serial, ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'', two teachers from [[Coal Hill School]] in [[London]], [[Barbara Wright (Doctor Who)|Barbara Wright]] and [[Ian Chesterton]], become intrigued by one of their students, [[Susan Foreman]], who exhibits high intelligence and unusually advanced knowledge. Trailing her to a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, they encounter a strange old man and hear Susan's voice coming from inside what appears to be a police box. Pushing their way inside, the two find that the exterior is actually camouflage for the dimensionally transcendental interior of the [[TARDIS]]. The old man, whom Susan calls "Grandfather", subsequently kidnaps Barbara and Ian to prevent them from telling anyone about the existence of the ship, taking them on an adventure in time and space.


The Doctor and Rose planned to see an Elvis concert, donning the outfits of the fifties and riding a scooter, however, they accidentally end up in England, June 2, 1953. The Wire was planning to steal the essences and faces of everyone watching the coronation on television. Rose falls victim to the Wire, but during the coronation the Doctor defeated the Wire, restoring the faces of its victims.
===Becoming "involved"===
The Doctor is an adventurer and scientist with a strong moral sense. He usually solves problems with his wits rather than with force, and is more likely to wield a [[sonic screwdriver]] than a gun; although he has been seen to use weapons as a last resort.


The Doctor and Rose then travelled to the planet of Krop Tor, an impossible planet that orbited a black hole and inhabited by Sanctuary Base 6. The Humans of Sanctuary Base 6 had journeyed to Krop Tor to discover the source of power emanating from the planet's core, which was allowing the planet to orbit a black hole without falling in. The Doctor and a researcher from the crew of Sanctuary Base 6 named Ida Scott descended into the core of the planet to explore. There they discovered a pit, into which the Doctor went, alone. Once he'd reached the bottom, he found himself face-to-face with the Beast. The Beast had been terrorizing the explorers on the surface and possessing their servants, the Ood. The Doctor trapped the Beast by imprisoning it in the black hole and was joyfully reunited with Rose and the TARDIS.
As a time traveller, the Doctor has been present at or directly involved in countless major historical events on the planet [[Earth]] and elsewhere &mdash; sometimes more than once. In the [[List of Doctor Who serials#Series 1 (2005)|2005 series]] premiere, "[[Rose (Doctor Who)|Rose]]", it is revealed that the [[Ninth Doctor]] was instrumental in preventing a family from boarding the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'' prior to her fateful voyage. In "[[The End of the World (Doctor Who)|The End of the World]]", the Doctor claimed to have been on board and survived the ''Titanic'''s sinking to find himself 'clinging to an iceberg.' The [[Fourth Doctor]] also mentioned this event in ''[[Robot (Doctor Who)|Robot]]'' and ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'', where he claims the sinking was not his fault.


Some time later, he and Rose were in a fight with a Hoix, an event seen by Elton Pope. When Elton later offended Rose's mother, the Doctor and Rose confronted him, as well as helping him defeat the Abzorbaloff.
Many historical figures on Earth have also encountered the Doctor. In ''[[City of Death]]'' it is revealed that the Doctor has met [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[William Shakespeare]] (whom he re-met in "[[The Shakespeare Code]]"), and that the first folio of the latter's ''[[Hamlet]]'' was transcribed by the Doctor himself (''City of Death''). He has also met a young [[H. G. Wells]] (''[[Timelash]]''), [[Albert Einstein]] (''[[Time and the Rani]]''), [[Mao Tse Tung]] (''[[The Mind of Evil]]''), [[Richard the Lionheart]] (''[[The Crusade (Doctor Who)|The Crusade]]''), [[Wyatt Earp]] (''[[The Gunfighters]]'') and [[Marco Polo]] (''[[Marco Polo (Doctor Who)|Marco Polo]]''). More recently, the Doctor has shared adventures with [[Charles Dickens]] ("[[The Unquiet Dead]]"), [[Agatha Christie]] ("[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]"), [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] ("[[Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)|Tooth and Claw]]"), and [[Madame de Pompadour]] ("[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]"). A photograph seen in the 2005 series shows that the [[Ninth Doctor]] witnessed the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|death]] of [[United States|US]] [[president]] [[John F. Kennedy]]. In the episode ("[[Gridlock (Doctor Who)|Gridlock]]") after handing his coat to Brannigan and his wife he asks them to take care of it saying "[[Janis Joplin]] gave me that coat."


He and Rose then travelled to 2012 to see the London Olympics. He met a girl named Chloe Webber who had been possessed by a lone Isolus. Chloe was trapping other children from her street in drawings to stop the Isolus from feeling lonely. After briefly being trapped in a drawing himself, along with the TARDIS, the Doctor ran with the Olympic torch to the stadium, lit the Olympic flame and then reunited with Rose.
It is this penchant for becoming "involved" with the universe — in direct violation of official Time Lord policy — that has caused the Doctor to be labelled a renegade by the Time Lords. Most of the time, however, his actions are tolerated, especially given that he has saved not just [[Gallifrey]] but also the universe several times over. The Time Lords are also partial to sending him on missions when deniability or expendability is needed. The Doctor's standing in Time Lord society has waxed and waned over the years, from being a hunted man to being appointed Lord President of the High Council. He does not assume the office for very long, and is eventually removed from it in his absence.


When the Doctor and Rose returned to present-day London, they found that the entire planet was being visited by beings believed to be ghosts. The Doctor tracked the signal to Torchwood Tower and was subsequently held prisoner by the Torchwood Institute. He strongly opposed their use of "ghost shifts" for a power source, since it was ripping a hole between parallel worlds which increased in size with every "ghost shift". The original tear was caused by "The Sphere", an object the Doctor identified as a Void Ship. Later, three computer technicians (who were secretly under the control of Cybermen) restarted the ghost shift. This lead to the realization that the ghosts were actually Cybermen, coming through from the parallel world where the Doctor and Rose had left Mickey. As the Cyberman invasion of Earth began, the Void Ship opened, revealing the Cult of Skaro, a group of Daleks with a Genesis Ark. The Genesis Ark was Time Lord technology which contained millions of Daleks that had been imprisoned by the Time Lords.
By the time of his [[Ninth Doctor|ninth incarnation]], the Doctor believes himself to be the last surviving Time Lord following the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Last Great Time War]], although he learns in his [[Tenth Doctor|tenth incarnation]] that the [[Master (Doctor Who)|Master]] also survived ("[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]"). Despite the Doctor's desperate attempts to save the Master from his evil ways, the Master is shot by his wife and refuses to regenerate, seemingly leaving the Doctor alone once more ("[[Last of the Time Lords]]"). However, the final scenes involving the Master's body leave the possibility of a future return open.


In order to save both dimensions from annihilation and defeat the Daleks and Cybermen, the Doctor had to open the Void. This opening would suck anything covered in "Void stuff" into it. Realising that himself, Rose and the others were also covered in Void stuff, the Doctor sent Rose, against her will, to the parallel world, along with Mickey, Pete Tyler and her mother, where they all would be safe from the Void. However, Rose returned, refusing to leave the Doctor and knowing that in making her choice she would never see her family again. Together, the Doctor and Rose opened the Void and the Daleks and Cybermen were sucked in. The plan initially went smoothly, until Rose's lever malfunctioned, threatening to halt the process. Rose managed to secure the lever but couldn't hold on and was almost sucked into the Void, much to the Doctor's terror and despair. Rose was saved at the last second by her parallel father and taken back across to the parallel universe, separating her from the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose were able to meet one last time on Dålig Ulv Stranden in Norway; the Doctor orbiting a supernova for enough power to project an image through the last gap between the universes to say goodbye.
==Anatomy==
Although Time Lords resemble humans, their physiology differs in some key respects. For example, like other members of his race, the Doctor has two [[heart]]s<ref name="telegraph" /> (binary vascular system), a "respiratory bypass system" that allows him to go without air, an internal body temperature of 15–16 degrees [[Celsius]] (60 degrees [[Fahrenheit]]){{Fact|date=June 2007}} and he occasionally exhibits a super-human level of stamina, and the ability to absorb, withstand, and expel large amounts of certain types of radiation (the Tenth Doctor claimed they used to play with Röntgen bricks in the nursery, after absorbing the radiation from an x-ray of significantly magnified power). Additionally, he has shown a resistance to temporal effects and has demonstrated a [[Mr. Spock]]-like telepathic ability, albeit to a limited degree. In "[[The Fires of Pompeii]]" the Doctor reveals that he is able to perceive the fabric of time, discerning "fixed points" and "points in flux". The Doctor also exhibits some weaknesses uncommon to humans. For example, in ''[[The Mind of Evil]]'' (1971) he claimed that a tablet of [[aspirin]] could kill him.


=== Donna ===
In [[The War Games|his final serial]], the [[Second Doctor]] states that Time Lords can live forever, "barring accidents." When "accidents" do occur, Time Lords can usually [[Regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerate]] into a new body, however it is stated in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' that Time Lords can only regenerate a total of twelve times.
Whilst he was grieving over Rose, a bride named Donna Noble, to the Doctor's shock, appeared inside the TARDIS during her wedding ceremony. The Doctor discovered the involvement of the ancient Racnoss and defeated them. After the Doctor's destruction of the Racnoss, and largely because of the Doctor's merciless treatment of them, Donna decided not to travel with him and left after telling the Doctor to "find someone."


==Doctor who?==
=== Miss Jones ===
The Doctor met Martha Jones, a London medical student, and, after defeating a Plasmavore on the Moon invited her to travel with him in the TARDIS, they arrived in Shakespearian London and foiled the Carrionites and discovered the mystery of Love's Labours Won .He then broadened Martha's trip to one to the past and one to the future after being chased out of the time. He next landed on New Earth, which he had previously visited with Rose, he heard the final words of the Face of Boe: You are not alone. In 1930s New York City, the Doctor once again met and defeated the Cult of Skaro.
[[Image:Doctorcallingcard.jpg|thumb|200px|The Doctor's calling card (from ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'')]]
In the first episode, Barbara addresses the Doctor as "Doctor Foreman", as this is the surname the Doctor's granddaughter Susan goes by, and the junkyard in which they find him bears the sign "I.M. Foreman". When addressed by Ian with this name in the next episode, the Doctor responds, "Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about?" Later, when he realises that "Foreman" is not the Doctor's name, Ian asks Barbara, "Who is he? Doctor who?" (In an ultimately-unused idea from documents written at the series' inception, Barbara and Ian would have subsequently referred to the Doctor as 'Dr. Who', given their not knowing his real given name.)


Similarly, in the 2005 series premiere "Rose", when asked his name, the Doctor replies, "Just 'The Doctor'." New companion [[Rose Tyler]] later finds a [[website]] devoted to the Doctor on the [[Internet]], run by a conspiracy theorist who has been tracking the Ninth Doctor's appearances throughout history, carrying the title "DOCTOR WHO?" (see [[Doctor Who tie-in websites]]). The BBC launched a "real" version of this website with the idea that it is run by [[Mickey Smith]], Rose's boyfriend (having taken over the site following the death of its originator).
The Doctor in a tuxedo. Together they put an end to the work of mad Professor Lazarus and following that helped save a spaceship from plummeting into a sun. Later, the Doctor hid from the Family of Blood, a family of aliens who wanted his Time Lord brain, by using a Chameleon Arch to transform himself mentally and physically into a Human school teacher named John Smith, hiding completely his Time Lord self so that his alter ego had no recollection of the Doctor. John Smith subsequently fell in love, much to the disappointment of Martha, with the matron of the school, Joan Redfern and would have spent the rest of his life with her. However, the Doctor was forced to retake his Time Lord body to save the Earth from destruction, and sought suitable punishment for the Family of Blood.
The Doctor and Martha travelled to 2007 to investigate strange disappearances at an old abandoned house. They were transported back in time to 1969 by aliens in the form of stone angels who fed off their potential energy. Using information given to him by Sally Sparrow prior to the incident, he left messages for Sally in the future to bring the TARDIS back to 1969.


In Cardiff, where the Doctor had gone to "refuel" the TARDIS using the Cardiff rift, Captain Jack Harkness jumped onto and physically clung to the exterior of the TARDIS, hitching a ride to the planet Malcassairo in the very far distant future. On Malcassairo, the Doctor found Professor Yana, actually his most fearsome nemesis: The Master. The Master had been made human by another Chameleon Arch, but when Martha questioned his old fob watch, he opened it and became the Master again. After being shot by Professor Yana's assistant Chantho and facing imminent regeneration, the Master locked himself inside the Doctor's TARDIS and despite the pleas of his enemy, hijacked the ship and escaped, leaving the Doctor, Jack and Martha to die at the hands of the Futurekind. They were able to escape to the present when the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on Jack's broken Vortex Manipulator.
In "[[The Empty Child]]" (2005), for want of a better name Rose introduces the Doctor to [[Jack Harkness]] as "[[Mr. Spock]]". (According to the DVD commentary for this episode, the Doctor was originally to have responded "I'd rather have 'Doctor Who' than ''[[Star Trek]]''".)


Using the human name of Harold Saxon, the Master made himself Prime Minister of Great Britain and invited an army of Toclafane to invade the world. The Master imprisoned the Doctor for a year, during which time, he used his laser screwdriver to artificially age the Doctor 900 years, turning him into a small creature. The Master was later defeated by manipulation of his Archangel Network to the Doctor's own advantage. The Doctor displayed great powers during this period, using the psychic energy of the Earth to restore himself and manipulating it to grant him almost god-like powers. After disarming the Master, he then approached the Master and spoke the words the Master was terrified to hear: "I forgive you." The Master was shot soon afterwards by his human wife, Lucy Saxon, who sought revenge for his treatment of her. Subsequently, the Doctor decided to attempt to rehabilitate the Master, planning to keep him a prisoner aboard the TARDIS. At the thought of becoming the Doctor's captive, the Master refused to regenerate and died for, supposedly, the final time in the arms of the Doctor, thus leaving the Doctor truly the last Time Lord in existence.
Although listed in the on-screen credits for nearly twenty years as "Doctor Who" or "Dr Who", the Doctor is never really called by that name in the series, except in a tongue-in-cheek manner; for example, in ''The Five Doctors'' when one character refers to him as "the Doctor", another character asks, "Who?" The only real exception is the computer [[List of Doctor Who villains#WOTAN|WOTAN]] in the serial ''[[The War Machines]]'', which commands that "Doctor Who is required." The [[Third Doctor]]'s car, dubbed "Bessie", carried the licence plate WHO 1, the only ongoing reference to the "Doctor Who" enigma in the original series. The Third Doctor also later drove an outlandish vehicle called the "[[List of Doctor Who vehicles#Whomobile|Whomobile]]" in publicity materials, but it is never referred to as such in the series, being simply known as "the Doctor's car" or "my car", as the Doctor puts it. The name "Doctor Who" is also used in the title of the serial ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'', but this was a captioning mistake and not an in-story mention. The only other time this occurs is in the title of Episode 5 of ''[[The Chase (Doctor Who)|The Chase]]'': "The Death of Doctor Who".


Following the events of the Year That Never Was, Martha leaves the Doctor, believing that she needed to live her own life and be with her family. Her family had been tortured at the hands of the Master and Martha felt partly responsible for their suffering. Not only that but, almost from their first encounter, Martha had fallen in love with the Doctor, however, she knew that her love was unrequited and that he only saw Rose when he looked at her. Martha explained this to the Doctor and they parted amicably.
In the [[Third Doctor]] serial ''[[The Dæmons]]'' the Doctor is briefly given the alias of the Great Wizard Qui Quae Quod. This is actually the masculine, feminine and neuter forms of the relative pronoun ''"who"'' in the [[Latin]] language.


Shortly after Martha left, the Doctor accidentally crashed his TARDIS with that of one of his earlier regenerations. He was able to use his memory of the event (from his Fifth regeneration's perspective) to separate the TARDISes, though he forgot to turn the shields back on and the spaceship Titanic crashed in through the walls. Shortly afterwards, he made a new friend, Astrid Peth, on-board the Titanic. When the Titanic was purposefully crashed, the Doctor attempted to save the passengers, but could only save Astrid by transforming her into a being of light.
In "[[The Christmas Invasion]]", the newly regenerated Doctor stumbles out of the TARDIS in a confused state in front of Jackie Tyler and Mickey. When Rose emerges from the TARDIS, she tells them that he is the Doctor, to which a confused Jackie replies "What do you mean that's the Doctor? Doctor Who?". In "[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]" (2006), [[Madame de Pompadour]] reads the Doctor's mind and remarks about his name, "Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" In the podcast commentary on the BBC website, writer [[Steven Moffat]] suggests that, as the Doctor does not tell even his closest companions his name, there must be a "dreadful secret" about it. Within the same commentary, Moffat and actor [[Noel Clarke]] jokingly suggest his name to be "Curtis". Ironically, according to the in-vision commentary on the DVD release, [[David Tennant]] had to inform actress [[Sophia Myles]] (who played [[Madame de Pompadour]]) that she was not, in fact, revealing the Doctor's surname as she believed was the intent of the dialogue. In "[[The Shakespeare Code]]", the [[Carrionite]] Lilith, unable to discover his true name, remarks, "Why would a man hide his title in such despair?" A psychically-inspired human in "[[The Fires of Pompeii]]" remarks that his name Doctor is "false" and that his "true name" is in fact "hidden". In Moffat's "[[Forest of the Dead]]", the character River Song reveals she knows the Doctor in his future, and it is implied that they shared a very intimate relationship. In order to gain his trust, she whispers something—inaudible to the audience—into his ear, which he later reveals was his real name. The Doctor states that there is "only one reason" he would reveal his name and that there is "only one time [he] could."


=== Noble Return ===
[[Doctor Who spin-offs|''Doctor Who'' spin-off]] media, which are of uncertain [[Whoniverse#Inclusion and canonicity|canonicity]], have suggested that the character uses the name "the Doctor" because his actual name is impossible for humans to pronounce.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Robinson, Ben (editor) |coauthors=Clare Lister (deputy editor) |year=2006 |month=September |title=Who is the... Doctor? |journal=Doctor Who - Battles in Time |issue=1 |pages=p. 6}}</ref> This is also repeated by companion [[Peri Brown]] in the radio serial ''[[Slipback]]''. This is unlikely to be true, since River Song whispers it to him in "Forest of the Dead." The [[Faction Paradox]] encyclopedia ''[[The Book of the War]]'', which is of dubious canonicity, states that all renegades from the Homeworld/Gallifrey abandon their names to symbolise how they leave their culture.
While investigating Adipose Industries, the Doctor was reunited with Donna Noble, who finally accepted his invitation to travel with him. The Doctor was quick to rule out the possibility of a romantic involvement, giving their companionship a different dynamic to that of the ones the Doctor had previously experienced with Rose and Martha.


During their travels, the Doctor realized he was responsible for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, in order to avert world domination by the Pyroviles. He also helped set free the enslaved Ood of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, and disrupted a Sontaran invasion on Earth, during which time he was reunited with Martha Jones.
The character played by [[Peter Cushing]] in the films ''[[Dr. Who and the Daleks]]'' and ''[[Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD]]'' referred to himself as "Dr. Who". However, these films are not considered part of the [[Canon (fiction)|canon]] as they were based upon already-televised adventures featuring William Hartnell and made considerable alterations to the characters of the Doctor and his companions.


Directly following this, the TARDIS transported the Doctor, Donna and Martha to Messaline, where his DNA was stolen and replicated to produce Jenny, his biological daughter. Initially critical of the girl due to her strong predilection for violence, the Doctor came to love his daughter, and mourned her death at the hands of General Cobb. He overcame his desire for revenge, however, in order to help found a new society on the planet.
===Alias 'The Doctor'===
Quite apart from his name, why the Doctor uses the title of "The Doctor" has never been fully explained on screen. The Doctor, at first, said that he was not a [[Doctor of Medicine|medical doctor]], often referring to himself as a [[Doctor of Philosophy|scientist]] or an [[Doctor of Engineering|engineer]]. However he does occasionally show medical knowledge and has stated that he studied under [[Joseph Lister]] and [[Joseph Bell]] on separate occasions. In ''[[The Moonbase]]'', the [[Second Doctor]] mentions that he studied for a medical degree in [[Glasgow]] during the 19th Century. He has also been mocked by his fellow Time Lords for adhering to such a "lowly" title as "Doctor", although in ''[[The Armageddon Factor]]'' he tells Drax that he achieved his doctorate, indicating it was at least a somewhat respectable title. In "[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]", he draws an analogy between the title and [[Madame de Pompadour]]'s. In "[[The Sound Of Drums]]", [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]] remarks to the Doctor that they both chose their names, and that it was sanctimonious of the Doctor to identify himself as "the man who makes people better", as well as the fact that one of the [[Master (Doctor Who)#Companions|Master's assistants]] calls him a doctor of "everything". The Fourth Doctor states that his companion, Harry Sullivan, is a Doctor of medicine, while he is "a doctor of many things" (''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]''), but on another occasion states that his doctorate is only honorary.


Another important woman in the Doctor's life was introduced to him in The Library: Professor River Song, who claimed to know the Doctor from a distant point in his future. She displayed knowledge of the Doctor's real name, as she revealed prior to sacrificing herself to save the Data Ghosts trapped in the Library's core. The Doctor, inspired by her faith in him, was able to save River Song by preserving her ghost in the core's virtual reality.
The [[Telos Doctor Who novellas|Telos novella]] ''[[Frayed]]'' by [[Stephen Cole (writer)|Tara Samms]] (which takes place prior to "An Unearthly Child") has the [[First Doctor]] being given that title by the staff of a besieged human medical facility on the planet Iwa, suggesting at the end that the Doctor liked the official title so much that he adopted it. However, this does not quite explain why the Time Lords use the same title in addressing him. The same story also has Jill, a young girl living in the facility, naming the Doctor's granddaughter "Susan" after Jill's mother. The [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]] of all non-television sources is uncertain.


Shortly afterwards he and Donna visited the leisure planet Midnight. Donna stayed at the leisure palace whilst the Doctor took a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. The bus was subsequently attacked by an unknown creature which possessed one of the passengers, Sky Silvestry and eventually the Doctor, with Sky controlling it. Shortly afterwards, Sky Silvestry was dragged out into the X-Tonic sun by the bus' hostess, who believed that Sky was stealing the Doctor's voice, and the creature died with her.
To make up for his lack of a practical name, the Doctor often relies upon convenient pseudonyms. In ''[[The Gunfighters]]'', the First Doctor uses the alias [[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920 film)|Dr. Caligari]]. In ''[[The Highlanders (Doctor Who)|The Highlanders]]'' the Second Doctor assumes the name of "Doctor von Wer" (a [[German language|German]] approximation of "Doctor Who"), and signs himself as "Dr. W" in ''[[The Underwater Menace]]''. In ''[[The Wheel in Space]]'', his companion [[Jamie McCrimmon]], reading the name off some medical equipment, tells the crew of the Wheel that the Doctor's name is "John Smith". The Doctor subsequently adopts this alias several times over the course of the series, often prefixing the title "Doctor" to it. This name is particularly prominent during his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]] when, as scientific advisor to [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]], he gives it to [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] to be put on his official credentials. The [[Eighth Doctor]]'s companion [[Grace Holloway|Grace]] briefly refers to him by the alias "Dr Bowman" in the 1996 [[Doctor Who (1996)|''Doctor Who'' television movie]].


Next, the Doctor and Donna visited the Chinese-influenced planet of Shan Shen. When Donna went to get her fortune told, a member of the Trickster's Brigade created an alternate universe around her. In this alternate universe she met Rose, who told her two words to tell the Doctor. After Donna corrects the universe, she is able to tell the Doctor the two words: Bad Wolf. Donna asks what it means and the Doctor replies with "The end of the Universe".
In the audio adventure ''[[The Sirens of Time]]'' when the 5th Doctor is asked his name, he states: "I'm the Doctor." To which, he's answered: "Doctor? That's a profession, not a name." The Doctor is then quoted as saying: "It's all I have."


He rushed back to Earth to check that everything was fine, but as soon as they went back to the TARDIS, the whole planet was stolen. Finding no clue as to where the Earth was, he went to the Shadow Proclamation and learned that 27 planets including Earth had been stolen. With a bit of help from Harriet Jones, Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Martha Jones, Mr Smith and Rose Tyler as well as Donna's mother and grandfather he was able to be contacted and managed to lock on to the location of the Earth. After a quick chat with his friends and Davros (who had been saved by Dalek Caan from the Last Great Time War) he landed on Earth. While talking to Donna, Donna pointed out that Rose was behind him. He turned around and the two began to run towards each other. Then a Dalek emerged from the shadows and fired at him. It was only a glancing blow but was enough to mortally wound him. He had to be taken back into the TARDIS where he began to regenerate.
In "[[New Earth]]", it is implied that the Doctor is part of the prophecy of the [[Face of Boe]] and is referred to as "The Lonely God". In "Tooth and Claw", having landed in Scotland, the Tenth Doctor introduces himself as "Dr James McCrimmon" from the township of [[Balamory]], referencing the [[Second Doctor]]'s companion [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]]. Later in that episode, the Doctor is knighted by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] as "Sir Doctor of TARDIS."


Using his nearby severed hand, he used the regeneration to heal himself, but not to regenerate into a new form. As a result of this, a new Doctor was born from his severed hand and Donna who was accidentally made part-Time Lord, becoming the DoctorDonna. DoctorDonna stopped Davros from destroying the Universe and the three Doctor's sent the planets back to their original time and space. However, he was horrified by the actions of the new Doctor, who wiped out the last remaining members of the Dalek race. He left the new Doctor in Pete's World, hoping that Rose Tyler and the new Doctor would be able to help each other. He was also forced to remove Donna's Time Lord abilities, as they would eventually kill her. He returned Donna to her mother and grandfather, and told them that they would have to make sure she never remembered the Doctor.
To his greatest enemies, the [[Dalek]]s, the Doctor is known as the ''Ka Faraq Gatri'', the "Bringer of Darkness", "Destroyer of Worlds" or "The Oncoming Storm". This is first mentioned in the novelisation of ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' by [[Ben Aaronovitch]] and subsequently taken up in the spin-off media, particularly the [[Virgin New Adventures]] books and the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic strip. In "[[The Parting of the Ways]]", the Doctor claims that the Daleks call him "The Oncoming Storm" — this name is used by the [[Draconian (Doctor Who)|Draconians]] (whose word for it is "Karshtakavaar") to refer to the Doctor in the Virgin New Adventures novel ''[[Love and War (Doctor Who)|Love and War]]'' by [[Paul Cornell]].

The series has also occasionally toyed with the Doctor's identity (or lack thereof). In the first part of ''[[The Mysterious Planet]]'', the Doctor suggests writing a thesis on "Ancient Life on [[List of Doctor Who planets#R|Ravolox]], by Doctor...", but is interrupted by [[Peri Brown|Peri]]. In ''The Armageddon Factor'', the Time Lord Drax addresses the [[Fourth Doctor]] as "Thete", short for "Theta Sigma". Later, in ''[[The Happiness Patrol]]'', this was clarified as a nickname from the Doctor's University days; he is called by this name again in the Paul Cornell novel ''[[Goth Opera]]''. In ''Remembrance of the Daleks'' the Seventh Doctor produces a calling card with a series of pseudo-[[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letters inscribed on it (as well as a stylised question mark). This may be a reference to [[Terrance Dicks]]' and [[Malcolm Hulke]]'s book ''The Making of Doctor Who'' (1972), which claims that the Doctor's true name is a string of Greek and mathematical symbols.

The question mark motif was common throughout the eighties, in part as a branding attempt. Beginning with season eighteen, the [[Fourth Doctor|Fourth]] through [[Seventh Doctor]]s all sported costumes with a red question mark motif (usually on the shirt collars, except for the Seventh Doctor &mdash; it appeared on his pullover and in the shape of his umbrella handle). In the 1978 serial ''The Invasion of Time,'' the Fourth Doctor is asked to sign a document; although the signature itself is not directly seen on screen, his hand movements clearly indicate that he signs it with a question mark. A similar scene occurs with the Seventh Doctor in ''Remembrance of the Daleks.''

It was mentioned by Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, during an interview with ''The Age'' in 2003, that the Doctor is called so because he is "a doctor of time and relative dimension in space".<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Age News Website | work = | publisher = The Age Company Ltd | date = [[2003-10-07]] | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/06/1065292512520.html?from=storyrhs | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> Apart from being called a doctor of the TARDIS, the Doctor has also been referred to as just a "doctor of time travel".<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Pan and Scan | work = | publisher = Snugglefish Media | date = | url = http://www.panandscan.com/product/show/907 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-04-09 }}</ref>

===On-screen credits===
In the early years of the [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] comic strips, books, films and other media, the character was initially called "Doctor Who" (or just "Dr Who") in the stories as a matter of course. This usage declined as the years went by.

Perhaps complicating the matter is that, from the first television serial through to ''[[Logopolis]]'' (the last story of [[List of Doctor Who serials#Season 18 (1980–81)|Season 18]] and also of the Tom Baker era), the lead character was credited as "Doctor Who" (or sometimes "Dr Who"). Starting from [[Peter Davison]]'s first story, ''[[Castrovalva]]'' (the first story of the series' [[List of Doctor Who serials#Season 19 (1982)|Season 19]]) to the end of [[List of Doctor Who serials#Season 26 (1989)|Season 26]], he is credited simply as "The Doctor".

This format is continued in the 1996 television movie for Paul McGann's credit, while Sylvester McCoy's incarnation is credited as "The Old Doctor". For the 2005 revival starring [[Christopher Eccleston]], the credit reverted to "Doctor Who". However, in "[[New Earth]]", and subsequent stories featuring [[David Tennant]], the character is once again identified in the closing credits as "The Doctor", with [[The Christmas Invasion]] being the only episode to feature David Tennant in which he is credited as playing "Doctor Who". According to ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #367 this reversion was specifically requested by Tennant.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Sorvad|first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |month=March |title=Matrix Data Bank |journal=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |volume= |issue=367 |pages=23 |id= |url= |accessdate= 2008-04-23 |quote=David Tennant asked to be billed as the Doctor, for the reason he outlined on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''. }}</ref>

==Changing faces==
The changing of actors playing the part of the Doctor is explained within the series by the [[Time Lord]]s' ability to [[Regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerate]] after suffering illness, mortal injury or old age. The process repairs and rejuvenates all damage, but as a side-effect it changes his physical appearance and personality. This ability was not introduced until producers had to find a way to replace the ailing [[William Hartnell]] with [[Patrick Troughton]] and was not explicitly called "regeneration" until [[Jon Pertwee]]'s transformation to [[Tom Baker]] at the climax of ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'' (1974). On screen, the transformation from Hartnell to Troughton was called a "renewal" and from Troughton to Pertwee a "change of appearance".

The original concept of regeneration or renewal was that the Doctor's body would rebuild itself in a younger, healthier form. The Second Doctor was intended to be a literally younger version of the First; biological time would turn back, and several hundred years would get taken off the Doctor's age, rejuvenating him. In practice, however, after the Doctor stated his age in the Second Doctor serial ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' (1967), the Doctor's age has been recorded progressively, however many regenerations the Doctor goes through (but see [[#Age|below]]). Coincidentally or otherwise, the general trend has been toward increasingly younger actors for the role.

The actors who have played the Doctor in the series, and the dates of their first and last regular television appearances in the role, are:

#'''[[First Doctor]]''' - [[William Hartnell]]: 23 November 1963 &ndash; 29 October 1966, [[Richard Hurndall]]: 25 November 1983
#'''[[Second Doctor]]''' - [[Patrick Troughton]]: 29 October 1966 &ndash; 21 June 1969
#'''[[Third Doctor]]''' - [[Jon Pertwee]]: 3 January 1970 &ndash; 8 June 1974
#'''[[Fourth Doctor]]''' - [[Tom Baker]]: 8 June 1974 &ndash; 21 March 1981
#'''[[Fifth Doctor]]''' - [[Peter Davison]]: 21 March 1981 &ndash; 16 March 1984
#'''[[Sixth Doctor]]''' - [[Colin Baker]]: 16 March 1984 &ndash; 6 December 1986
#'''[[Seventh Doctor]]''' - [[Sylvester McCoy]]: 7 September 1987 &ndash; 6 December 1989 in the series, and 27 May 1996 in the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|''Doctor Who'' film]]
#'''[[Eighth Doctor]]''' - [[Paul McGann]]: 27 May 1996, in the ''Doctor Who'' film, and in the BBC Radio 7 ''Doctor Who'' series.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009szrhBBC Radio 7 Programmes - Doctor Who - Previous episodes]</ref>
#'''[[Ninth Doctor]]''' - [[Christopher Eccleston]]: 26 March 2005 &ndash; 18 June 2005
#'''[[Tenth Doctor]]''' - [[David Tennant]]: 18 June 2005 &ndash; 2010 <ref name="tennantquits">{{cite web
| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7698539.stm
| title=David Tennant quits as Doctor Who
| publisher=[[BBC News]]
| date=2008-10-29
| accessdate=2008-10-29}}<br>{{cite web
| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/misc/news/
| title=David Tennant to leave Doctor Who
| publisher=BBC ''Doctor Who'' website
| date=2008-10-29
| accessdate=2008-10-29}}</ref>

Actors who have played the Doctor in the Dr. Who cinema films:
#'''[[Dr. Who and the Daleks]]''' and '''[[Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD]]'''- [[Peter Cushing]]: 1965/1966

Actors who have played the Doctor canon status unclear:
#'''[[Scream of the Shalka]]''' and '''[[The Feast of the Stone]]'''- [[Richard E. Grant]]: 2003

===Personality===
{{Original research|date=April 2008}}

Throughout his regenerations, the Doctor's personality has retained a number of consistent traits.<ref name="telegraph" /> Its most notable aspect is an unpredictable, affable, clownish exterior concealing a well of great age, wisdom, seriousness and even darkness. While the Doctor can appear childlike and jocular, when the stakes rise, as, for example, in ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]'', he will often become cold, driven and even callous. Another aspect of the Doctor's persona, which, though always present, has been emphasised or downplayed from incarnation to incarnation, is [[compassion]]. The Doctor is a fervent [[pacifist]] and is dedicated to the preservation of sentient life, human or otherwise, over violence and war,<ref name=conf>Doctor Who Confidential; 8 May 2008</ref> even going so far as to doubt the morality of destroying his worst enemies, the [[Dalek]]s, when he has the chance to do so in ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'', and again in "[[Evolution of the Daleks]]". He also, in ''[[The Time Monster]]'', begs Kronos to spare the Master torment or death, unintentionally winning the evil Time Lord's freedom, which he tells Jo Grant was preferable anyway, and forgives the Master for his actions in "[[The Sound of Drums]]" and "[[Last of the Time Lords]]", vowing to take responsibility for his former friend.

Nonetheless, the Doctor will kill when given no other option and occasionally in self-defence;<ref name=conf/> examples of this can be seen in ''[[The Krotons]]'', ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'', ''[[The Three Doctors (Doctor Who)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'', ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]'', ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'', ''[[Earthshock]]'', ''[[The Two Doctors]]'', ''[[Silver Nemesis]]'', "[[The Christmas Invasion]]", "[[Tooth and Claw]]", "[[The Runaway Bride]]", "[[Smith and Jones]]", "[[Partners in Crime]]" and most notably in ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' when he arranges for the planet [[Skaro]] to be destroyed; it is also suggested he may have been responsible for destroying both the Dalek and Time Lord races in order to end the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]] referenced numerous times in the series beginning in 2005. Another example of the Doctor purposely taking a life is ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', where he tells Harry Sullivan to remove a device from the Sontaran ship, an act which results in the death of the Sontaran. In the 2005 episode "[[The End of the World (Doctor Who)|The End of the World]]", the Doctor teleports Cassandra back onto the ship and does nothing to prevent her death, even ignoring her cries for help and pity. In situations where fixed points in history must be preserved, the Doctor is sometimes faced with hard choices resulting in the deaths of many; In ''[[The Visitation]]'' he started the Great Fire of London, and in "[[The Fires of Pompeii]]" he caused the volcano above Pompeii to erupt, which killed everyone in the city (but saved the rest of the world). On other occasions he is seen to be critical of others who use deadly force, such as his companions [[Leela (Doctor Who)|Leela]] in ''[[The Face of Evil]]'' and ''Talons of Weng-Chiang'', or [[Jack Harkness]] in "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]".

The Doctor has an extreme dislike for weapons such as firearms (including [[rayguns]]) and will often decline to use them even when they are convenient. He has proven capable of using them effectively, when necessary as seen in ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]''. He will occasionally use a firearm as a convenient way to bluff his way through a situation, hoping that his foe will not suspect that he does not intend to shoot.

The Doctor has a deep sense of right and wrong, and a conviction that it is right to intervene when injustice occurs, which sets him apart from his own people, the [[Time Lord]]s, and their strict ethic of non-intervention.

Although throughout his regenerations the Doctor remains essentially the same person, each actor has purposely imbued his incarnation of the role with distinct quirks and characteristics and the production teams purposefully dictate new personality traits for each actor to portray.

===Accent===
Different actors have used different [[Regional accents of English speakers|regional accents]] in the role. The first six Doctors spoke in [[Received Pronunciation]] or "BBC English", as was standard on British television at the time. Sylvester McCoy used a very mild version of his own [[Scottish English#Phonology|Scottish accent]] in the role, and [[Paul McGann]] spoke with a faint [[Scouse|Liverpudlian]] lilt. Only rarely, as in the case of the Eighth Doctor, who was identified by [[United States|American]] characters as "British", or the Ninth, whose accent was clearly described as "[[English English#Northern England|Northern]]", was this even addressed in the series (in the latter case with the line, "lots of planets have a North").

Another example is in ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' when the Doctor is identified as "English" and, dissembling, plays along. Though David Tennant speaks with a natural Scottish accent, he plays the Doctor with an [[Estuary English|Estuary]] accent (apart from when, in the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]]-set episode "[[Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)|Tooth and Claw]]", the character is pretending to be a local). According to producer [[Russell T Davies]], this was intended as a consequence of spending so much time with Rose. "The Christmas Invasion" would have alluded to this, but the line was cut.
<ref name="accent">{{cite web
| last =Lyon
| first =Shaun
| date = [[2005-12-16]]
| url =http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EEFuZAAAFuWmPEOGph&tmpl=newsrss
| title =TARDIS Report: Week-Ending
| work =[[Outpost Gallifrey]] News Page
| publisher =Quoting from ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]''
| accessdate =2006-06-15
}}</ref> Davies also said that after Eccleston's accent, he did not want Tennant "touring the regions" with a Scottish one, and so asked Tennant to affect the same accent he used for the earlier BBC period drama ''[[Casanova (2005 TV serial)|Casanova]]''.<ref name="touring>{{cite web
| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4858010.stm
| title=Third series for Dr Who and Rose
| author=Nick Dermody
| work=BBC Wales news website
| date=2006-03-30
| accessdate=2006-12-29
}}</ref>

When asked if he is English/British, the Doctor has been known to reply: "No, but thank you for the compliment." In the ''[[Big Finish]]'' audio adventure ''[[The Sirens of Time]]'' the captain aboard a German U-boat assumes he is English because of the way he pronounces his words. Quote: "So, you speak German, ... but you speak it like an English gentleman."

===Changing fashions===
[[Image:Bakert.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Fourth Doctor]]'s impractically long scarf became an iconic image of the character.]]
The Doctor's clothing has been equally distinctive, from the distinguished [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] suits of the First Doctor to the Second Doctor's rumpled, [[Charlie Chaplin|Chaplinesque]] attire to the frills and velvet of the Third Doctor's era. The Fourth Doctor's long frock coat, loose fitting trousers, occasionally worn wide-brimmed hat and trailing, multistriped scarf added to his somewhat shambolic and bohemian image; the Fifth's Edwardian [[cricket]]er's outfit suited his youthful, aristocratic air as well as his love of the sport (with a stick of [[celery]] on the lapel for an eccentric touch); and the Sixth's multicoloured jacket, with its cat-shaped lapel pins, reflected the excesses of 1980s fashion. The Seventh Doctor's outfit — a straw hat, a coat with two scarves, a tie, checked trousers and brogues/wingtips — was more subdued and suggestive of a showman, reflecting his whimsical approach to life. In later seasons, as his personality grew more mysterious, his jacket, tie, and hatband all grew darker.

Throughout the 1980s, [[question mark]]s formed a constant motif, usually on the shirt collars or, in the case of the Seventh Doctor, on his sleeveless jumper and the handle to his umbrella. The idea was grounded in branding considerations, as was the movement starting in Tom Baker's final season toward an unchanging costume for each Doctor, rather than the variants on a theme employed over the first seventeen years of the programme. When the Eighth Doctor regenerated, he clad himself in a 19th century frock coat and shirt based around a [[Wild Bill Hickok]] costume, reminiscent of the out-of-time quality of earlier Doctors and emphasising the Eighth Doctor's more [[Romanticism|Romantic]] persona.

In contrast to the more flamboyant outfits of his predecessors, the Ninth Doctor wore a nondescript, worn black leather jacket, V-neck jumper and dark trousers. Eccleston stated that he felt that such definitive "costumes" were passé and that the character's trademark eccentricities should show through their actions and clever dialogue, not through gimmicky costumes. Despite this, there is a [[running joke]] about his character that the only piece of clothing he changes is his jumper, even when trying to "blend into" a historical era. The one exception, a photograph of him taken in 1912, wearing period gentleman's clothing, resembles the style of the Eighth Doctor.

The Tenth Doctor sports either a blue or a brown pinstripe suit - usually worn with ties - a tan ankle-length coat and trainers, the latter recalling the [[plimsoll shoe|plimsoll]]s worn by his fifth incarnation. Also like that incarnation (and his first one), he occasionally wears spectacles: a pair with brown, thick-rimmed frames. In the 2007 ''Children in Need'' special he states that he doesn't actually need the glasses to see, but rather wears them to "look a bit clever". On some occasions he wears a black [[tuxedo]] with matching black trainers. In interviews, Tennant has referred to his Doctor's attire as [[geek chic]]. According to Tennant he had always wanted to wear the trainers, however, the overall costume was influenced by an outfit worn by [[Jamie Oliver]] in a TV interview on the [[talk show]] ''[[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]]''.<ref>{{cite interview | subject = David Tennant | subjectlink = David Tennant | interviewer = [[Michael Parkinson]] | program = [[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]] | callsign = [[ITV]] | city = [[London]] | date = [[2007-05-05]]}}</ref>

The Tenth Doctor says in "[[The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)|The Runaway Bride]]" that, like the TARDIS, his pockets are bigger on the inside. The Second, Fourth and Seventh Doctors routinely carried numerous items in their coats without this being conspicuous.

===Transitions===
Save for the off-screen transition between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, to date each regeneration has been worked into the continuing story. Also, most regenerations (save the Second-to-Third and Eighth-to-Ninth transitions) have been portrayed on-screen, in a symbolic handing over of the role. The following list details the manner of each regeneration:

#'''First Doctor''' (Hartnell): apparently succumbed to old age, steadily growing weaker throughout ''[[The Tenth Planet]]'' and collapsing at the serial's end. Although the writer's intent was that this was due to the energy drain from the planet Mondas, this was not made clear in the transmitted story.
#'''Second Doctor''' (Troughton): a forced "change in appearance" and exile to Earth by the Time Lords in the closing moments of ''[[The War Games]]''.<ref name="seconddoctor">We do not see Patrick Troughton turn into Jon Pertwee's Doctor. ''The War Games'' had Troughton spinning away into darkness as the serial ended and the next time we saw the Doctor in ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'' it was Jon Pertwee who stumbled out of the TARDIS, wearing Troughton's clothes. This left a possible gap between ''War Games'' and ''Spearhead'' into which some have inserted a hypothetical "[[Season 6B]]" for the Second Doctor (see ''[[The Two Doctors]]'').</ref>
#'''Third Doctor''' (Pertwee): radiation poisoning from the Great One's cave of crystals at the end of ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]''.
#'''Fourth Doctor''' (Baker, T): fell from the Pharos Project radio telescope in ''[[Logopolis]]''.
#'''Fifth Doctor''' (Davison): spectrox toxaemia, contracted near the start of ''[[The Caves of Androzani]]''.
#'''Sixth Doctor''' (Baker, C): suffered unspecified injuries when the [[Rani (Doctor Who)|Rani]] attacked the TARDIS and caused it to crash land at the start of ''[[Time and the Rani]]''.<ref name="sixthdoctor">Colin Baker did not actually appear in the regeneration scene from ''[[Time and the Rani]]'', as he declined to participate. Instead, Sylvester McCoy was seen briefly, wearing a blond wig, with his facial features obscured by a video effect before he regenerated into the Seventh Doctor. According to the [[Past Doctor Adventures]] spin-off novel ''[[Spiral Scratch (Doctor Who)|Spiral Scratch]]'', the Sixth Doctor was exhausted by a battle with a Lamprey and his regeneration had already begun when the tractor beam of the Rani ensnared the [[TARDIS]]. The [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]] of this event is unclear.</ref>
#'''Seventh Doctor''' (McCoy): died in [[San Francisco]] during exploratory heart surgery by a doctor unfamiliar with Time Lord physiology, after being hospitalised for non-life threatening gunshot wounds in the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 television movie]].
#'''Eighth Doctor''' (McGann): not yet revealed.<ref name="eighthdoctor">Paul McGann did not return to film a regeneration scene, nor was a regeneration scene filmed with another actor to link between the 1996 television movie and the 2005 series (although in an interview for the British [[magazine]] ''[[SFX magazine|SFX]]'' he claimed that he was "more than happy" to return to film such a scene). No reason is given for the Doctor's regeneration into his ninth incarnation but several episodes have implied it was a consequence of the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]]. However, in 2007, the essay "Flood Barriers" by ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic strip editor Clayton Hickman ("Flood Barriers", in ''Doctor Who: The Flood - The Complete Eighth Doctor Comic Strips Vol. 4'' (Panini Books, ISBN 978-1-905239-65-8) revealed that Davies had authorised the strip to depict the regeneration as occurring at the end of the arc ''The Flood''. The Doctor would have been shown regenerating as a consequence of being exposed to the Time Vortex (the same cause as that which triggered his next regeneration) after thwarting a Cybermen invasion. The plan to depict the regeneration was dropped because the writers weren't allowed to include the strip's then-current companion, [[Destrii]], in the regeneration or aftermath.</ref> Implied to be a result of the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]].
#'''Ninth Doctor''' (Eccleston): cellular degeneration caused by absorbing the energies of the [[Time vortex (Doctor Who)|space-time vortex]] from Rose, which she in turn had absorbed through the heart of the [[TARDIS]] in "[[The Parting of the Ways]]".

In the original series, with the exception of the change from Troughton to Pertwee, regeneration usually occurred when the previous Doctor was near "death". The changeover from McCoy to McGann was handled differently, with the Doctor actually dying and being dead for quite some time before regeneration occurred. The Eighth Doctor comments at one point in the television movie that the anesthesia interfered with the regenerative process, and that he had been "dead too long", accounting for his initial [[amnesia]].

The 2005 series began with the Ninth Doctor already regenerated and fully stabilized, with no explanation given. In his first appearance in "Rose", the Doctor looked in a mirror and commented on the size of his ears, suggesting that the regeneration may have happened shortly prior to the episode, or that he has not examined himself in the mirror recently. However, the Ninth Doctor's appearances in old photographs, without being accompanied by Rose, may also suggest that he had been regenerated for some time. [[Russell T Davies]], writer/producer of the new series, stated in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' that he has no intention of showing the regeneration in the series, and that he believed the story of how the Eighth Doctor became the Ninth is best told in other media. In ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' Davies revealed his reasoning that, after such a long hiatus, a regeneration in the first episode would not just be confusing for new viewers but also lack dramatic impact, as there would be no emotional investment in the character before he was replaced.

Eccleston stepped down from the role at the end of the 2005 series, and the Ninth Doctor regenerated into the Tenth in "The Parting of the Ways". It remains to be seen whether the Ninth Doctor will appear again, although Russell T Davies has stated that he does not intend to bring back former Doctors.<ref name="rtd">{{cite news
| first=Cameron
| last=Robertson
| url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16926209&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=writer-russell-won-t-be-asking-old-docs-back--name_page.html
| title=Writer Russell won't be asking old Docs back
| publisher=[[The Daily Mirror]]
| date=2006-04-10
| accessdate=2006-04-13
}}</ref> (Despite this, Peter Davison did briefly reprise the role of the Fifth Doctor in the [[Time Crash|2007 Children in Need charity special]] alongside Tenth Doctor David Tennant.)

===Regenerations===
{{further|[[Regeneration (Doctor Who)]]}}
[[Image:Regeneration9to10.jpg|thumb|350px|The Ninth Doctor regenerates into the Tenth Doctor (from "[[The Parting of the Ways]]").]]

It was established in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' (1976) that a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times before permanently dying - a total of thirteen incarnations. In the 1996 television movie the Eighth Doctor explicitly said that a Time Lord has "thirteen lives". (The Doctor's enemy, [[Master (Doctor Who)|The Master]] has, however, been shown circumventing this limit on several occasions.) In "The Christmas Invasion" it was stated the regenerative cycle creates a large amount of energy that suffuses the Time Lord's body. As demonstrated by the Tenth Doctor for the first time in that story, in the first fifteen hours of regeneration this energy is enough to even rapidly regrow a severed hand.

The Doctor's regenerations are usually as a result of his previous incarnation sustaining mortal injury or (in one case) having a change forced on him by the Time Lords. Other Time Lord regenerations, like [[Romana]]'s, have not been as dramatic or painful.

The Doctor frequently experiences a period of instability and partial [[amnesia]] following regeneration. Some post-regeneration experiences have been more difficult than others. In particular, the Fifth Doctor began reverting to his previous personalities and required the healing powers of the TARDIS's "Zero Room" to recuperate (''[[Castrovalva]]''). The Sixth Doctor experienced extreme [[paranoia]] and flew into a murderous rage, nearly killing his companion (''[[The Twin Dilemma]]''). The Eighth Doctor experienced amnesia (1996 ''Doctor Who'' television movie).

The regeneration from the Ninth to the Tenth Doctor at first seemed smooth, with the Doctor regenerating standing up for the first time ("[[The Parting of the Ways]]"). However, shortly thereafter he began to experience spasms and became somewhat manic, frightening his companion as he pushed the TARDIS to dangerous extremes ([[Doctor Who: Children in Need|Children in Need mini-episode]]). After crash-landing the TARDIS, the Doctor collapsed and remained unconscious for most of the next fifteen hours ("[[The Christmas Invasion]]"). The experience was traumatic enough to cause one of his hearts to temporarily stop beating.

As noted above, the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor was able to regrow his hand when it was severed at the wrist during a swordfight with the [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Sycorax|Sycorax]] leader. This ability had never been exhibited before.

The TARDIS also appears to aid in the regenerative process. Of the four occasions the Doctor regenerates outside the TARDIS, one was forced on him by the Time Lords (''The War Games''), one required a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (''Planet of the Spiders''), one needed the TARDIS Zero Room to help him recover (''Castrovalva'') and the last apparently occurred a few hours after he had actually "died", leaving him with temporary amnesia (the 1996 television movie).

In "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", the [[Tenth Doctor]] manages to avert his own regeneration, using some of the energy to heal himself then channeling the remaining energy into his severed hand, thus retaining his appearance and personality. The question of whether this partial regeneration process uses up one of this thirteen incarnations is left open.<ref>{{cite episode |title=End of an Era |episodelink=Doctor Who Confidential#Series 4 (2008) |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/confidential/ |series=Doctor Who Confidential |serieslink=Doctor Who Confidential |credits=Zoe Rushton (Producer); Gillane Seaborne (Series Producer); [[David Tennant]] (Interviewee) |network=[[BBC Three]] |city=Cardiff |airdate=2008-07-05 |seriesno=4 |number=13 |minutes=13:30 | quote="Now, whether this means the Doctor has used up one of his limited regenerations or not is a matter for some future debate, I suspect." David Tennant. }}</ref> Later in the episode, the energy left over from the regeneration forms a "new" Doctor when [[Donna Noble]] inadvertently causes a "human biological metacrisis". This Doctor is part Time Lord and part human, possessing the Doctor's memories and physical appearance but also inheriting some of [[Donna Noble]]'s personality traits. The part-human Doctor also has only one heart, ages like a human, and cannot regenerate. At the same time, the residual energy imbues Donna with the vast intellect of a Time Lord. However, the knowledge is too much for her human mind to handle and at the end of the episode the Doctor has to remove all her memories of her time with him in order to save her life.

====Continuity curiosities====
Over the years, different writers and production teams have introduced their own twists to the Doctor's character, sometimes as part of a grand creative reinvention; others, out of narrative convenience or outside pressures. Without one driving vision to maintain continuity, newer details may occasionally seem to contradict earlier ones. Other details — sometimes significant ones — are later ignored, sometimes leading to argument amongst series fans as to how, or whether, these details apply in a broader context.

In the early serials ''[[The Edge of Destruction]]'' and ''[[The Sensorites]]'', it appeared that the First Doctor had only a single heart. The novel ''[[The Man in the Velvet Mask]]'' by Daniel O'Mahony suggests that Time Lords only grow their second heart during their first regeneration. In ''[[The Mind of Evil]]'', "[[The Christmas Invasion]]" and "[[The Shakespeare Code]]" one of the Doctor's hearts temporarily stops beating due to intense trauma.

Also during his first regeneration, and for similarly unclear reasons, the Doctor's clothes (save for his cloak and ring, both of which quickly thereafter fall off) changed along with his body (''[[The Power of the Daleks]]''); on all subsequent regenerations the new Doctor generally continues to wear the clothing he regenerated in until he selects a new outfit (though due to a continuity error, the regeneration from the Fourth to the Fifth Doctors included a change of footwear).

In ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'' (produced shortly before ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''), visual images displayed during a mental battle between the Fourth Doctor and Morbius can be taken as implying that the Doctor had at least eight incarnations prior to the First Doctor. However, multiple dialogue references throughout the series (particularly in ''[[The Three Doctors (Doctor Who)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[Mawdryn Undead]]'' and ''The Five Doctors'') contradict this, as well as the fact that the Doctor has regenerated six times since then (as stated in "School Reunion"). Explanations have included theories that the images were of Morbius's previous incarnations (two images that are certainly Morbius also appear, and the game seems to have a symmetrical arrangement), or false images induced by the Doctor. The ''Doctor Who'' novels have suggested that these may have been faces of the [[Other (Doctor Who)|Other]], a figure from Gallifrey's ancient past and the genetic predecessor of the Doctor (although being from the tie-in novels, the [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who)|canonicity]] of this character is debatable). The producers, however, intended that these were, in fact, figures from the Doctor's past. Producer Philip Hinchcliffe has said, "We tried to get famous actors for the faces of the Doctor. But because no one would volunteer, we had to use backroom boys. And it is true to say that I attempted to imply that William Hartnell was not the first Doctor."<ref>Lance Parkin, ''A History of the Universe'' pg. 255</ref> Other indications are given on screen to suggest the same thing, such as the references from the '[[Cartmel Masterplan]]' and the secondary control room, which the Doctor says he used before (''[[The Masque of Mandragora]]''). The alternate console room also contained articles connected to the second (a recorder) and third (a ruffled-front shirt) Doctors, suggesting use of the room during those incarnations.<ref>[[Paul Cornell|Cornell, Paul]], [[Martin Day|Day, Martin]], and [[Keith Topping|Topping, Keith]], ''Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide'', [[Virgin Books]], 1995, p. 106 & p. 194.</ref>

In the Sixth Doctor story arc ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'', a Time Lord with the title of the [[Valeyard]] (played by [[Michael Jayston]]) was revealed to be a potential future Doctor, a "distillation" created somewhere between his twelfth and final incarnations and embodying all the evil and malevolence of the Doctor's dark side. The Valeyard was defeated in his attempt to actualise himself by stealing the Sixth Doctor's remaining regenerations, however, and so may never actually come to exist.

The idea of an "in-between" version of the Doctor has its precedents. In ''Planet of the Spiders'', a Time Lord's future self (described as a "distillation" of the future incarnation) was shown to exist as a [[tulpa|corporeal projection]] that assisted his then-current incarnation. In ''[[Logopolis]]'', an eerie and mysterious white-clad figure known as the Watcher assisted in the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors. [[Nyssa of Traken|Nyssa]] commented that the Watcher "was the Doctor all the time" as he merged with the supine form of the fourth Doctor, regeneration beginning just before the merging is complete.

Perhaps the most controversial element from [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|the 1996 television movie]] was the revelation that the Doctor is half-human ("on [his] mother's side"). The spin-off novels and audios have tried various methods to explain this revelation, suggesting that the Doctor retained some human [[DNA]] from his time as Dr John Smith (in which the Doctor, using bought technology, became biologically human with a different persona unaware of his Time Lord self) in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''[[Human Nature (Doctor Who novel)|Human Nature]]'', that his origins have become muddied by agents manipulating his personal timestream (the [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''[[Unnatural History (Doctor Who)|Unnatural History]]''), or that only his mother's incarnation at the time of his birth was Human. In the [[New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)|New Series Adventures]] novel ''[[The Deviant Strain]]'' by Justin Richards, the Doctor comments that his DNA is "close" to that of humans. However, as noted above, the canonical nature of the novels is uncertain. The idea of a "half-human" Doctor is further discredited by the 2008 series finale "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", wherein the Doctor is presented as being fully Gallifreyan.

The Time Lord ability to change species during regeneration is referenced by the Eighth Doctor in relation to the Master in the television movie, being supported by Romana's regeneration scene in the 1979 serial ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''. The [[Dalek]]s also implied during the events of ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]'' (1965–66) that the First Doctor's humanoid form is not his actual appearance. The new series has not made any allusions to mixed parentage, simply referring to the Doctor as "alien" or "Time Lord". However, the trade paperback ''Doctor Who: The Legend Continues'' by [[Justin Richards]], published to coincide with the new series, refers to the Doctor as half-human. The 2007 Tenth Doctor episodes "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]" and "[[The Family of Blood]]", adapted from the above-mentioned Seventh Doctor novel, ''Human Nature'', also show the Doctor using technology to become biologically human, although he does so through Time Lord science. Later, in "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]", the Master is revealed to have undergone the same process.

====When incarnations meet====
Due to time travel, it is possible for the Doctor's various incarnations to encounter and interact with each other, although this is supposed to be prohibited by the First Law of Time (as stated in ''[[The Three Doctors (Doctor Who)|The Three Doctors]]'') or permitted only in the "gravest of emergencies" (''[[The Five Doctors]]''). In the 1963–1989 television series, such encounters were seen on three occasions, in ''The Three Doctors'' (1972), ''The Five Doctors'' (1983) and ''[[The Two Doctors]]'' (1985). In ''[[Day of the Daleks]]'' (1972), the Third Doctor and [[Jo Grant]] very briefly met their future selves due to a glitch during a temporal experiment (the serial was supposed to end with the same scene depicted from the perspective of the "other" Doctor and Jo, but was excised because it was anticlimactic<ref>[[Andrew Pixley|Pixley, Andrew]], "The DWM Archive: ''The Day of the Daleks''," ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'', #501, 7 March 2001, p.31 (sidebar: "Editing Episode Four").</ref>). In "[[Father's Day (Doctor Who)|Father's Day]]" (2005), the Ninth Doctor and Rose observed but did not interact with past versions of themselves; when Rose changed history, the earlier selves vanished and a temporal paradox was created that attracted the extradimensional [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Reaper|Reapers]]. The Tenth and Fifth Doctors met in the TARDIS in the mini-episode "[[Time Crash]]", which aired on 16 November 2007 as part of the BBC's annual [[Children in Need]] appeal. This marks the first time the Doctor has met a previous incarnation since the show's revival. Although the scene aired outside the series itself, it was established as taking place between the events of "[[Last of the Time Lords]]" and "[[Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)|Voyage of the Damned]]."

The BBC novel ''[[The Eight Doctors]]'' was written by respected Doctor Who writer [[Terrance Dicks]], the same author who wrote ''[[The Five Doctors]]''. In it, he tries to reconcile the continuity errors of the 1996 movie, while having the Eighth Doctor meet and interact with each of his previous selves.

Physical contact between two versions of the same person can lead to an energy discharge that shorts out the "time differential". This is apparently due to a principle known as the [[Blinovitch Limitation Effect]], and was seen when the past and future versions of [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] touched hands in ''Mawdryn Undead''. Oddly, the Doctor's incarnations do not appear to suffer this effect when encountering each other and shaking hands. This has never been explained. An essay in the ''About Time'' series by [[Lawrence Miles]] and [[Tat Wood]] suggests that Time Lords are somehow exempt from the effect by their very nature. [[Rose Tyler]] is seen holding an infant version of herself in "Father's Day", with no visible energy discharge, but the contact does allow the Reapers to enter the church in which the Doctor and several others are taking refuge. While doing a live commentary on the episode at the 2006 Bristol [[Comic Expo]], episode author [[Paul Cornell]] said that this is supposed to be due to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, even though it is not mentioned by name. He also suggested that the lack of a spark may be down to the fact that the Time Lords were no longer around to manage anomalies.

The interaction of the Doctor's various incarnations produces a continuity anomaly that requires [[suspension of disbelief]] on the part of viewers, as one may assume that his past selves would forget that he would later regenerate. In ''[[Castrovalva]]'', the newly-regenerated Fifth Doctor clearly indicates that the outcome of his regeneration cannot be predicted; however, the Fifth Doctor should have had memories from his earlier incarnations of having met himself per the events of ''The Three Doctors'' and ''The Five Doctors''. Also, the Second, Third and Fifth Doctors should be already familiar with the events of ''The Five Doctors'', having already lived through them multiple times. It has been suggested in fandom that the Time Lords erase the Doctor's memory after such encounters (and in ''The Two Doctors'' there is mention of Dastari administering to the Second Doctor a drug that he bemoans "affects the memory"); the novel ''[[The Empire of Glass]]'' features the First Doctor directly after his return from the events of ''The Three Doctors'', his memory of the adventure having been totally erased barring a vague recollection of meeting "a [[Third Doctor|dandy]] and a [[Second Doctor|clown]]". The [[Virgin Missing Adventures]] novel ''[[Cold Fusion (Doctor Who)|Cold Fusion]]'' by [[Lance Parkin]] suggests that memory-erasure is sometimes, but not always, due to something called "Blinovitch Conservation".

In the 2006 episode "[[School Reunion (Doctor Who)|School Reunion]]", the Tenth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith both seem to indicate in dialogue that they haven't seen each other since her departure from the TARDIS in ''[[The Hand of Fear]]'', although this contradicts their having met later during ''The Five Doctors''. She, in that story, does not realise that the [[Fifth Doctor]] is a later incarnation of the [[Third Doctor|third]] and [[Fourth Doctor|fourth]] Doctors with whom she had previously travelled. In "Time Crash", the Tenth Doctor remembers and reproduces what he saw himself do when he was the Fifth Doctor, a fact that seems to surprise the Fifth Doctor himself; however, the Tenth Doctor does not demonstrate any knowledge about what to do until hearing the TARDIS' cloister bell alarm.

Russell T Davies has expressed a dislike for stories in which multiple incarnations of the Doctor meet, stating that he believes they focus more on the actors than on the story itself.<ref name="rtd" /> David Tennant had shown enthusiasm for the idea of a multi-Doctor story, opening the possibility of further appearances by [[Paul McGann]] and [[Christopher Eccleston]]. However, he has expressed doubts about the practicality of shows involving multiple previous Doctors, given that three of the actors who played the character are now deceased.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Ben
| first = Rawson-Jones
| title = Tennant talks about multiple Doctor story
| work = Cult - News
| publisher = [[Digital Spy]]
| date = 23 March 2007
| url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a44303/tennant-talks-about-multiple-doctor-story.html
| accessdate = 2007-03-26 }}</ref>

[[Image:Past Doctors.jpg|thumb|right|350px|The temporarily human Doctor (John Smith) draws his dreams of past incarnations in "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]" A page from The Journal of Impossible Things showing all ten incarnations of the Doctor. (Left hand page: Ten and Nine; Right hand page, left to right, top to bottom: Four, Three, Two, Seven, Eight, One, Six, Five) ]]

Since the series revival, there has been one multi-Doctor story, the Children in Need special ''[[Time Crash]]''. Before that, the only references to past incarnations (from 1963 to 1996) have been in the aforementioned episode "School Reunion" (in which the Doctor acknowledges having regenerated "half a dozen times" since last seeing Sarah Jane) and in drawings that the Doctor (who has temporarily become human to hide from the Family Of Blood) makes based on dreams of his other life in the 2007 episode "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]". Seen on screen are the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, but a fuller view briefly available on the BBC website depicted all ten incarnations.

''Time Crash'' featured [[Peter Davison]] returning as the Fifth Doctor. This event is explained as occurring due to the current Doctor having left his shields down when rebuilding the TARDIS following "[[Last of the Time Lords]]" and then accidentally crossing the Fifth Doctor's timeline, allowing the two TARDISes to merge. When the Tenth Doctor effortlessly averts the impending [[Belgium]]-sized hole in the Universe caused by this temporal anomaly, he reveals having known what to do because he saw himself do it as the Fifth Doctor and remembered. He goes on to tell the Fifth Doctor how fond he was of his incarnation and how he influences the current Doctor's personality.<ref>{{cite news
| last =
| first =
| title = Dr. Peter is Back in the TARDIS
| work =
| publisher = [[The Sun]]
| date = 21 August 2007
| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article265299.ece
| accessdate = 2007-10-16 }}<br>{{cite news
| last =
| first =
| title = Peter is Doctor Grew
| work =
| publisher = [[The Sun]]
| date = 13 October 2007
| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article337262.ece
| accessdate = 2007-10-16 }}</ref>

====Reprising the role====
On a few occasions, previous Doctors have returned to the role, guest-starring with the incumbent:

*[[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]] with [[Jon Pertwee]] in ''[[The Three Doctors (Doctor Who)|The Three Doctors]]''. Originally Hartnell's role had been intended to be more extensive, but his health had deteriorated to the extent that he could only make a limited appearance. In the end, it turned out to be his last television role.
*Troughton and Pertwee with [[Peter Davison]] in ''[[The Five Doctors]]'', the twentieth anniversary special, with another actor, [[Richard Hurndall]], standing in for the late William Hartnell (the story began with a clip from ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'' featuring Hartnell himself). [[Tom Baker]] declined to appear, feeling that the role came too soon after he had left the programme (a decision he later said he regretted{{Fact|date=June 2008}}) and the narrative was reworked to use clips from ''[[Shada]]'', an intended six-part story from the Fourth Doctor's era that was never completed due to industrial action. A waxwork dummy of Baker from [[Madame Tussauds]] was used in the publicity photographs.
*Patrick Troughton with [[Colin Baker]] in ''[[The Two Doctors]]''.
*Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and [[Sylvester McCoy]] — with rubber dummy heads standing in for the late William Hartnell and the late Patrick Troughton — in ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'', a charity special in aid of [[Children in Need]] in 1993, the programme's 30th anniversary year. Except for the [[mannequin]] versions of Hartnell and Troughton, no two Doctors are shown on screen at the same time. (This story was a crossover with [[EastEnders]]).
*Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy in the first Big Finish audio adventure, ''[[The Sirens of Time]]''.
*Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and [[Paul McGann]], with Jon Pertwee posthumously joining them by virtue of an extant fan recording, in the [[Big Finish|audio]] adventure ''[[Zagreus (Doctor Who)|Zagreus]]'', a fortieth anniversary special and the fiftieth release.
*Peter Davison with [[David Tennant]] in the 2007 [[Children in Need]] special "[[Time Crash]]".

Other actors have portrayed the character of the Doctor outside of the television series. For details on this see under [[Doctor Who#Adaptations and other appearances|Adaptations and other appearances]] in the main article and [[Doctor Who spin-offs]].

For a list of all actors who have played the Doctor see [[List of actors who have played the Doctor]].

==Age==
In early production documents, the Doctor was said to be 650 years old, although this was never stated on screen.<ref name="handbook"/> By the time the Doctor did cite his age ("Let me see, in human terms, 400, yes, 450 years" in the serial ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]''; he also kept a 500-year diary), he had already regenerated to a younger form. The intention at that time was that regeneration had turned back the Doctor's clock, making him younger both in appearance and in biological age. Since the Doctor's age had never previously been given, 450 Earth years became a starting point onto which further years would be progressively added as the series continued and the character lived out his further incarnations.

The Third Doctor implied in ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'' and in ''[[The Mind of Evil]]'' that he had a lifetime that covered "several thousand years", though in either case he may have been referring to the breadth of time he had visited (or was able to visit) rather than actually lived through, or perhaps his own life expectancy. While the Doctor's age has never been a known quantity, these numbers are the most difficult to reconcile with the rest of the series.

By the time of ''The Brain of Morbius'', the Fourth Doctor was stated to be 749 years old ("something like 750 years" in the prior ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]''). In ''[[The Ribos Operation]]'', the first [[Romana]] said the Doctor was 759 years old and had been piloting the TARDIS for 523 years, making him 236 when he first "borrowed" it. In ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]'' the Sixth Doctor was 900 years old, and in ''[[Time and the Rani]]'', the Seventh Doctor's age was 953, the same as villainous Time Lady the [[Rani (Doctor Who)|Rani]] (in both serials, the Doctor's age is stated in dialogue). In ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' the Seventh Doctor said that he had "900 years’ experience" rewiring alien equipment. At the beginning of the 1996 television movie, the Seventh Doctor was shown to have a 900-year diary in his TARDIS.

In the spin-off prose fiction, the Sixth Doctor celebrated his 991st birthday in the short story "Brief Encounter: A Wee Deoch an..?", written by [[Colin Baker]] himself, in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]] Winter Special 1991'': ''UNIT Exposed'', the Seventh Doctor celebrated his 1,000th birthday in ''[[Set Piece (Doctor Who)|Set Piece]]'' by [[Kate Orman]], and the Eighth Doctor declared his age to be 1,012 in ''[[Vampire Science]]'' by Orman and [[Jonathan Blum]]. The Eighth Doctor also spent nearly a century on Earth during a story arc spread over several novels.

In the 2005 series, the Doctor's age is stated in publicity materials as 900 years,<ref>{{cite news|title= Scary new Dr Who series unveiled|author=Newsround|date=2005-03-09|accessdate=2006-11-16|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4330000/newsid_4331800/4331803.stm|}}</ref> and in "[[Aliens of London]]", he says, "Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother." Rose follows up by asking him if he is 900 years old, and he replies affirmatively, though it is unclear whether he is being disingenuous. He restates this as "Nine hundred years of phone box travel and it's the only thing left that surprises me", however, in "[[The Empty Child]]". In "[[Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)|Voyage of the Damned]]", the [[Tenth Doctor]] states that he is 903 years of age,<ref>Doctor Who: ''[[Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)|Voyage of the Damned]]'', BBC TV, Dec. 25, 2007</ref> the first time since ''Time and the Rani'' that an exact number has been stated in dialogue; previously, [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]] also indicated the Doctor's age to be about 900 in the "[[The Sound of Drums]]"/"[[Last of the Time Lords]]" story arc.

How this figure is to be reconciled with the Doctor's age in the rest of the series and spin-off media is uncertain.

In the 2006 episode "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]", the Doctor transfers part of his life energy to a component of the TARDIS in hopes of regenerating the disabled craft; he states that he has given up ten years of life in doing so.

At the end of "The Sound of Drums", the Master ages the Doctor by 100 years using his [[List_of_Doctor_Who_items#L|laser screwdriver]], leading the Doctor to assume an elderly appearance. In "[[Last of the Time Lords]]", the Master states to the population of Earth that the Doctor is nine hundred years old, and informs his subjects he will show them the Doctor's true form, suspending his ability to regenerate. The Master proceeds to age the Doctor further with his laser screwdriver, reducing him to a tiny, wrinkled being subsequently imprisoned inside a bird cage until reverted to his current form with the help of Martha Jones and the entire population of Earth.

==Romance==
In the very first episode of the television series it is established that [[Susan Foreman]] is the Doctor's granddaughter, but neither Susan nor the Doctor ever speaks of her parents. In "[[Fear Her]]" (2006), the Doctor states that he was "a dad once", suggesting that he reproduced at some point. Furthermore, in "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]", he says he fathered offspring, now dead. Thus, the Doctor's family history, including the time period "before" the beginning of the series, is largely a matter of conjecture.

During the initial series, [[William Hartnell]]'s age precluded any involvement of the character with the only other female lead at the time. The First Doctor did flirt with — and was accidentally engaged to — the character Cameca in ''[[The Aztecs (Doctor Who)|The Aztecs]]''; although this was part of a ploy to get the TARDIS back, there was a hint of mutual attraction in Hartnell's performance (especially as he is ultimately unable to leave behind the love token she has given him). The fact that the TARDIS crew kept pressing forward in their travels was probably also a factor in preventing any romantic attachments.

As the series progressed and grew more popular among children, the Doctor was firmly established as an avuncular figure to his younger companions, the one exception being the Third Doctor's hurt reaction to his companion [[Jo Grant]]'s leaving him for an idealistic scientific adventurer whom she describes as "a younger version" of the Doctor (''[[The Green Death]]''). Jo kisses the Doctor on the cheek before she departs, the second time this form of affection had been shown on screen (the second Doctor having similarly kissed [[Zoe Heriot|Zoe]] in ''[[The War Games]]'').

Despite the press (and, occasionally, the production team) trying to play up the sexiness of some of the female companions or suggesting "hanky panky" in the TARDIS, the series reached the point where any suggestion of the Doctor as a sexual being was avoided altogether. One example was during ''[[City of Death]]'', when the Fourth Doctor says to Countess Scarlioni, "You're a beautiful woman, probably," suggesting that he is incapable of appreciating a human woman's attractiveness. This rule held true even when the Doctor's apparent age was closer to those of his companions, or if there was on-screen chemistry between the actors, as there was between Fourth Doctor [[Tom Baker]] and his wife-to-be [[Lalla Ward]]'s [[Romana#Romana II|Romana II]]. In fact, a 1980 television commercial broadcast in [[Australia]] for Prime Computers showed Baker and Ward romancing each other, in character as The Doctor and Romana, with the commercial ending with The Doctor (prompted by the computer) proposing marriage.<ref>[http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/tsv26/primecomputers.html Doctor Who in Advertising: The Pr1me Computer Commercials By Jon Preddle] accessed 22 February 2007</ref> These commercials are not, of course, part of the regular series continuity.

In some of the voice overs on Peter Davison's DVDs the matter of physically expressed sexual attention is discussed. According to Peter Davison and Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), John Nathan-Turner had very strict rules laid down about how the companions were allowed to physically interact with the Doctor, and Adric was allowed more physical contact with the Doctor than the female companions to downplay any potential romantic and/or sexual connotations.

The perception of the Doctor as essentially an asexual character, uninterested in romance, is why some portions of fandom reacted so strongly to the Eighth Doctor ([[Paul McGann]]) kissing Dr. [[Grace Holloway]] in the 1996 television movie, breaking the series' long-standing taboo against the Doctor having any romantic involvement with his companions.

===Spin-off passion===
However, the spin-off media both before and after the television movie have toyed with the idea in various ways. In the 1995 Virgin New Adventures novel ''Human Nature'' by [[Paul Cornell]], the Seventh Doctor takes on the human guise of "Dr John Smith" and has a romance with a school nurse in 1913, albeit as a means to understand the human condition and with the Doctor's own memories as a Time Lord suppressed. This novel was adapted to the screen and comprised two episodes in the new series: "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood". The Doctor became human and his Time Lord essence was locked away in a watch. He fell in love with a nurse, while Martha jealously looked on.

The concluding chapter of ''[[The Dying Days]]'', an Eighth Doctor novel by [[Lance Parkin]], strongly implies intimacy occurring between the Doctor and [[Bernice Summerfield]]. In the Virgin novel ''[[Death and Diplomacy]]'', by [[Dave Stone]], the Seventh Doctor implies that he intentionally creates an image of asexuality to keep things simple.

In various novels — especially ''[[Lungbarrow]]'' — it is also established that Time Lords do not reproduce sexually, but emerge from genetic Looms fully grown, although in equivocal fashion the same book also hints that the Doctor's birth was an exception. This idea was brought to the forefront in the '96 movie, where the Doctor states he is "half-human, on [his] mother's side", suggesting he had a normal human birth, rather than a synthetic Gallifreyan one. Madame de Pompadour's reference to the Doctor's lonely childhood in "The Girl in the Fireplace" would also seem to contradict the Loom theory. The 2007 episode "The Sound of Drums" also directly contradicts this, with Gallifreyan children leaving for the academy when they reach the age of 8. This episode also shows a young [[The Master (Doctor Who)|Master]].

The classic series also made occasional references to the Doctor's childhood on Gallifrey (''[[The Time Monster]]'', ''[[State of Decay]]'' and ''[[Black Orchid (Doctor Who)|Black Orchid]]''), and there had been the occasional reference to Gallifreyan children, also referred to as "''Time Tots''" by Romana in the audio adventure ''[[Zagreus (Doctor Who audio)|Zagreus]]'' and the incomplete 1979 serial ''[[Shada]]''.

In the [[Big Finish Productions]] audio play ''[[Loups-Garoux]]'', the [[Fifth Doctor]] reluctantly agrees to marry the [[werewolf]] Ileana De Santos and although he gets out of it later there is, as in Cameca's case, a degree of mutual attraction was present. In the plays involving the Eighth Doctor, his companion [[Charley Pollard|Charley]] confesses her romantic feelings for him in ''[[Zagreus]]'', but although he admits he loves her back at the time, it is a highly dramatic moment and the relationship does not progress beyond the platonic.

The recurring novel and audio character [[Iris Wildthyme]], created by [[Paul Magrs]], is first introduced in the ''[[Short Trips]]'' story ''Old Flames'', is a past romantic interest of the Doctor's who continues to flirt with him whenever they meet. In the audios Iris is played by Katy Manning, the actress who had formerly played Jo Grant during the Third Doctor's era. More of the Doctor's past relationships are explored in ''[[The Infinity Doctors]]'' and ''[[Cold Fusion (Doctor Who)|Cold Fusion]]''.

The question of romance is sometimes side-stepped with plot devices in the spin-off media. In the 2001 BBC Books novel ''[[Father Time (Doctor Who)|Father Time]]'' by [[Lance Parkin]], the Doctor adopts an orphaned Gallifreyan-like alien called [[Miranda (Doctor Who)|Miranda]]. It is implied in the book that Miranda is actually the daughter of the Doctor himself from the far future. Miranda returns in the novel ''[[Sometime Never...]]'' by [[Justin Richards]], with her own daughter Zezanne. At that novel's end, a time-active being called Soul travels into the past accompanied by Zezanne, the two believing themselves to be the Doctor and [[Susan (Doctor Who)|Susan]], respectively.

===Modern-day romance===
The 2005 series played with the idea of a romantic relationship between the [[Ninth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler]], with many characters assuming they were a couple (although they always both denied it), and Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith clearly viewing the Doctor as a romantic rival for whom Rose has, in some sense at least, left him. Both showed flashes of jealousy when the other flirted with other characters.

In the finale for that season, "[[The Parting of the Ways]]", the Doctor even kissed Rose (although the kiss also served a plot purpose). In the same episode, the Doctor's male companion [[Jack Harkness]] kisses both the Doctor and Rose in what he believes is a last goodbye. In the New Series Adventures novel ''[[Only Human (Doctor Who)|Only Human]]'' by Gareth Roberts, Rose asks the Doctor how he would know that marrying for love is overrated, to which he cryptically answers, "Who says I don't? You ask the [[Lady Mary Wortley Montagu]]." In a December 2005 interview on [[BBC Four]], actor [[David Tennant]], who had just taken the role of the Tenth Doctor, described the relationship between the Doctor and Rose as "basically a love story without the shagging".

In the 2006 series, the Doctor and Rose kiss in "New Earth", but Rose is possessed by [[Lady Cassandra|Cassandra]] at the time. In "[[School Reunion (Doctor Who)|School Reunion]]", the arrival of the Doctor's previous companion [[Sarah Jane Smith]] and his reaction to seeing her again prompts jealousy and worry from Rose, and Sarah all but admits that she has long been in love with the Doctor. In the same episode, the Doctor hints at deeper feelings for his companions when he remarks to Rose that humans wither and die, and it is hard to watch that "happen to someone who you..." but leaves the rest unsaid. In the following episode, "The Girl in the Fireplace" (written by Steven Moffat), the Doctor shares a passionate kiss and a strong romantic connection with [[Madame de Pompadour]], who takes him away to "dance", but how far the metaphor (coined in the episode "[[The Doctor Dances]]") is taken is not seen on screen. Although Rose does not seem to exhibit jealousy towards Madame de Pompadour, she does show some jealousy with regards to a woman called Lucy whom the Doctor speaks kindly of in the next episode, "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]". In the novel ''[[The Stone Rose]]'', by [[Jacqueline Rayner]], the Doctor kisses Rose after she saves him from being petrified, although it is described as "a kiss of gratitude and joy and unspeakable pleasure at being alive."

In "[[The Impossible Planet]]" the Doctor and Rose share an awkward moment when they have to consider settling down in one time period and Rose suggests they do so together, and she later plants a kiss for good luck on the Doctor's spacesuit prior to his descent into the pit. In "[[The Satan Pit]]" the Doctor tells Ida Scott that Rose already knows how he feels about her, saying "If you see Rose, tell her...tell her...oh, she knows". In "[[Doomsday (Doctor Who)|Doomsday]]", when the Doctor says his goodbyes to Rose, she finally tells him that she loves him. He begins to reply, but only gets as far as saying her name before he gets cut off, and the next scene shows him standing silently alone, a single tear down his cheek, whatever words he had intended to say remaining unspoken. In the audio commentary for the episode, executive producer [[Julie Gardner]] had stated that "he absolutely was going to say it...he was going to tell her he loved her."<ref name="Doomsdaycommentary">{{cite episode|title=Doctor Who Commentaries - "Doomsday"|episodelink=Doomsday (Doctor Who)|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/sounds/index2006.shtml|series= Doctor Who|serieslink=Doctor Who|credits=[[Russell T Davies]], [[Julie Gardner]] and [[Phil Collinson]]|network=BBC web site|season= 2|number=13|minutes= 44:08}}</ref>

In "[[Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)|Smith and Jones]]", the Doctor says that he would rather 'be alone'. He kisses his new companion, [[Martha Jones]], but only as a "genetic transfer" to distract their pursuers and he is extremely alarmed when she attempts to flirt with him on the TARDIS. The Doctor tells Martha that he and Rose "were together", and is clearly upset over losing her, although Martha points out that it was the Doctor who initiated their kiss and that he chose to take her away in the TARDIS (and moreover, she states that she 'only goes for humans', albeit to hide her disappointment).

Later, in "[[Daleks in Manhattan]]", Martha confesses to Tallulah that she is attracted to the Doctor (though Tallulah euphemistically guesses that the Doctor is "into musical theatre", implying that she believes the Doctor is gay). In "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]", as in the original novel, the Doctor's human self, John Smith, falls in love with Joan Redfern (now a nurse, rather than a science teacher) and Martha notes that the Doctor 'had to fall in love with a human' other than herself. When the Doctor is himself again at the end of "[[The Family of Blood]]" — during which Martha admits, in an attempt to convince Smith to change back to being the Doctor, that "he is everything to me, and he doesn't even look at me, but I don't care, because I love him to bits, and I hope to God he won't remember me saying this" — he tells Joan he is capable of everything that Smith was, but she rejects his attempt to establish a relationship with her as the Doctor. In the following episode, "[[Blink (Doctor Who)|Blink]]", he refers to being "rubbish at weddings, especially my own".

In the penultimate 2007 series episode "[[The Sound of Drums]]", when The Doctor then adds a perception filter to the TARDIS keys, allowing the trio to move about unnoticed. When he explains the perception filter to Martha and Jack, Martha is confused at first, but then the Doctor describes it as "...like when you fancy someone, and they don't even know you exist." As Martha stares incredulously at him, Jack looks at her sympathetically and says, "You too, huh?",
suggesting that they share a hopeless attraction to the Doctor. Martha unambiguously states in the season finale, "[[Last of the Time Lords]]" that she is in love with the Doctor and ultimately chooses to leave him as he seems unable or unwilling to reciprocate.

In the 2008 series various characters assume the Doctor and [[Donna Noble]] to be a couple (apart from [[Agatha Christie]] in "[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]", who notices that they have no wedding rings), which the pair, having mutually agreed in "[[Partners In Crime (Doctor Who)|Partners In Crime]]" to strictly be friends, always strongly deny, comprising a [[running gag]]. This makes Donna the first companion of the new series - apart from brief companions Adam and Mickey - to not have a romantic interest in the Doctor. In "The Unicorn and the Wasp", the Doctor is kissed by Donna, although it is an act to help him expel poison from his body by shocking him rather than a romantic gesture. In the two-part story "[[Silence in the Library]]"/"[[Forest of the Dead]]", the character Professor River Song reveals herself to be a future companion of the Doctor, and although the exact nature of her relationship with his future self remains unrevealed, it is intimate enough that she is openly affectionate towards him and is the only known person to be told his true name.

At the conclusion of the 2008 series finale "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", the Doctor returns Rose Tyler to her parallel universe, asking her to help his part-human, part-Time Lord copy. Rose then asks both Doctors what he was going to say back on Bad Wolf Bay the last time they were there. While the original Time Lord Doctor sadly replies: "Does it need saying?", the part-human Doctor whispers something in her ear, and they passionately kiss. (Speaking about what the part-human Doctor said to Rose, series executive producer [[Julie Gardner]] said in ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'', "Of course he's saying 'I love you.' Of course he is. Even though we don't hear it, of course he's saying 'I love you'.")<ref>{{cite episode |title=End of an Era |episodelink=Doctor Who Confidential#Series 4 (2008) |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/confidential/ |series=Doctor Who Confidential |serieslink=Doctor Who Confidential |credits=Zoe Rushton (Producer); Gillane Seaborne (Series Producer); [[Julie Gardner]] (Interviewee) |network=[[BBC Three]] |city=Cardiff |airdate=2008-07-05 |seriesno=4 |number=13 |minutes=24:38 }}</ref> The Time Lord Doctor then leaves in the TARDIS allowing Rose and the part-human Doctor to have a life and grow old together.

==Discontinuities==

While over the decades several revelations have been made about his background — that he is a Time Lord, that he is from Gallifrey, among others — the writers have often striven to retain some sense of mystery and to preserve the eternal question, "Doctor who?" This back-story was not rigidly planned from the beginning, but developed gradually (and somewhat haphazardly) over the years, the result of the work of many writers and producers.

This has led to [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]] problems. Characters such as the [[Meddling Monk]], expressly said to be from the same planet as the Doctor, were retroactively labelled [[Time Lord]]s, early histories of races such as the [[Dalek]]s were rewritten, and so on. Series writer [[Paul Cornell]], discussing continuity errors, opines that the modern series' "[[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]]" can explain away (or [[retconning|retcon]]) such discontinuities, giving the example of Earth's different destructions in ''[[The Ark (Doctor Who)|The Ark]]'' (1966) and "[[The End of the World (Doctor Who)|The End of the World]]" (2005).<ref name="Cornell">{{cite web |url=http://paulcornell.blogspot.com/2007/02/canonicity-in-doctor-who.html |title=Canonicity in Doctor Who |accessdate=2008-07-22 |last=Cornell |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Cornell |date=2007-02-10 |work=Paul Cornell's House of Awkwardness}}</ref> Writer and future ''Doctor Who'' executive producer [[Steven Moffat]] has gone further, arguing that "a television series which embraces both the ideas of parallel universes and the concept of changing time can't have a continuity error — it's impossible for ''Doctor Who'' to get it wrong, because we can just say 'he changed time'."<ref>{{cite video |people=[[Steven Moffat|Moffat, Steven]] (Panelist) |date2=2008-07-24 |title=Doctor Who Panel Part 5 SDCC 2008 |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRK4XSJXtQQ&feature=related |format= |medium= |publisher=[[YouTube]] |location=[[Comic-Con International|San Diego Comic-Con]] 2008 |accessdate=2008-07-28 |time=6:53 |quote= }};<br/>{{cite news |title=Moffat promises new Who monsters |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7531310.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2008-07-29 |accessdate=2008-07-29 }}</ref>

Some of the stories during the Seventh Doctor's tenure, part of the so-called "[[Cartmel Masterplan]]", were intended to deal with this issue by suggesting that much of what was believed about the Doctor was wrong and that he was a far more powerful and mysterious figure than previously thought. In both an untelevised scene in ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' and the subsequent ''[[Silver Nemesis]]'' it was implied that the Doctor was "more than just another Time Lord." The suspension of the series in 1989 meant that none of these hints were ever resolved. The "Masterplan" was used as a guide for the [[Virgin New Adventures]] series of novels featuring the Seventh Doctor, and the revelations about the Doctor's origins were written into the novel ''[[Lungbarrow]]'' by [[Marc Platt]]. However, the [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]] of these novels, like all [[Doctor Who spin-offs]], is unclear.

==Other appearances==
''See also [[Doctor Who spoofs]]''

*In the comic ''[[Death's Head]]''
*In various episodes of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' including "[[Treehouse of Horror X]]"
*In a [[Doctor Who (pinball)|Pinball Arcade game]]
*With [[Dan Dare]] in the 1991 Comic Relief Charity Magazine<ref>[http://www.dandare.org.uk/DanDareSpoofA1.htm Comic Relief - Dan Dare]</ref>
*In a cameo, stepping briefly out of the [[TARDIS]] in the sitcom ''[[Chelmsford 123]]''.
*In a skit with [[Catherine Tate]]'s character [[Lauren Cooper]] in the 16 March 2007 edition of [[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]]. The Doctor is shown disguised as a substitute teacher much as he was in "[[School Reunion (Doctor Who)|School Reunion]]" (though in the sketch Tennant uses his Scottish accent) and becomes annoyed at Lauren's taunts (including a [[metafiction]]al reference to [[Billie Piper]]) before pulling out his sonic screwdriver and turning Lauren into a [[Rose Tyler]] action figure.
*In ''[[Dead Ringers (comedy)|Dead Ringers]]'' episode 6 of television series 7, [[Tony Blair]] (portrayed by [[Jon Culshaw]]) regenerates into David Tennant, who parodies the tenth Doctor (his first words being "[[New Labour]], that's weird.", a parody of the tenth Doctor's first words "New teeth, that's weird.").
*In ''[[Family Guy]]'s'' "[[Star Wars]]" parody episode "[[Blue Harvest (Family Guy)|Blue Harvest]]", Peter Griffin (as [[Han Solo]]) comments on how odd it looks as they enter hyperspace. It is revealed to be a portion of the Doctor Who main title, from the [[Fourth Doctor]] (Tom Baker) era.
* A Doctor figure, along with Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, K-9, Davros and the TARDIS, are currently shown in the London section of Miniland, [[Legoland Windsor]].
*Jonas, a main character of [[The Phoenix Requiem]] webcomic, was implied to be a Time Lord in an [[April Fools Day]] comic strip which featured the [[TARDIS]].
*In the comic book ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight]]'' #6 ("No Future for You" Part 1), the Tenth Doctor and [[Rose Tyler]] appear in cameo on the penultimate page, alongside a [[red telephone box]]. In issue #10 ("Anywhere but Here"), a cottage appears which, like the TARDIS, is bigger on the inside.
* In the book [[Brisingr]] of [[Christopher Paolini]]'s book series, Arya refers to a "lonely god" which Paolini admits was a reference to ''Doctor Who''. <ref>Paolini, Christopher. "Acknowledgements". <i>Brisingr</i>. Doubleday 2008. p 763.</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{sourcesstart}}
*{{cite book
|author= [[Paul Cornell|Cornell, Paul]], Martin Day and Keith Topping
|year=1995
|title=The Discontinuity Guide
|location=London, UK
|publisher=Doctor Who Books
|id=ISBN 0-426-20442-5
}}
*{{cite book
| author = [[David J. Howe|Howe, David J]], [[Mark Stammers|Stammers, Mark]] & [[Stephen James Walker|Walker, Stephen James]]
| year = 1996
| title = Doctor Who: The Eighties
| edition = 1st ed.
| location = London, UK
| publisher = [[Virgin Publishing]]
| id = ISBN 1-85227-680-0
}}
*{{cite book
| author = Howe, David J & Walker, Stephen James
| year = 1998
| title = Doctor Who: The Television Companion
| edition = 1st ed.
| location = London
| publisher = [[BBC Books]]
| id = ISBN 0-563-40588-0
}}
*{{cite book
| author = Howe, David J & Walker, Stephen James
| year = 2003
| title = The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to DOCTOR WHO
| edition = 2nd ed.
| location = Surrey, UK
| publisher = [[Telos Publishing Ltd.]]
| id = ISBN 1-903-88951-0
}}
*[[Mark Lawson|Lawson, Mark]] (interviewer) (2005, 8 December). ''[[Front Row (radio)|Front Row]]'' (radio series), [[BBC Four]].
*{{cite book
| first=Lance
| last=Parkin
| authorlink=Lance Parkin
| editor=Additional material by [[Lars Pearson]].
| year=2006
| title=AHistory: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe
| publisher=Mad Norwegian Press
| location=Des Moines
| id=ISBN 0-9725959-9-6
}}
{{sourcesend}}


== Jackson Lake and the Cybermen ==
==External links==
An unknown length of time after leaving Donna, the Doctor travelled to London, Christmas Day 1851. The Doctor met a man calling himself 'the Doctor' and at first assumed him to be his future incarnation. In reality, he was a Human man, Jackson Lake, who had the contents of an Infostamp about the Doctor imprinted on his brain. Jackson and Rosita Farisi aided the Doctor in stopping the plot of the Cybermen and their ally, Mercy Hartigan. London was saved, Lake was reunited with his son, and invited the Doctor to share Christmas dinner with his new family (an offer which was at first denied, then accepted by the Doctor).
{{portalpar|Doctor Who}}
{{BBCportal}}
{{TardisIndexFile|The Doctor}}
*[http://www.radiotimes.com/content/features/galleries/doctorwhocovers/06/ Doctor Who ''Radio Times'' covers] - photos of the Doctor
*[http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk "WHO IS DOCTOR WHO?"]
*{{imdb character|0009587|The Doctor}}


== Planet Of The Dead ==
{{Doctornav}}
Sometime later, the Doctor travelled to London in the year 2010 at Easter, investigating strange readings on a bus. While he investigated, the bus was hurtled through a portal and reappeared on San Helios. On the bus he met yet another one-off companion Christina de Souza and embarked on a mission with her (and UNIT on the end of a phone) to return the bus and its occupants to Earth and stop the Alien Stingrays from invading. At the end of this adventure, just before leaving in the TARDIS, the Doctor rejected Christina's offer of companionship, stating that he has lost anyone who travels with him and he'd swore never again. When Christina (who was a jewel thief) was arrested, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to aid her escape in the bus. Finally, when the Doctor was about to be arrested for helping Christina, he entered the "police box" to "arrest [himself]" and left.
{{Doctor Who}}

Latest revision as of 20:26, 17 June 2009

The Doctor
Portrayed by David Tennant
In-story stats
Known ability Regeneration
Formal name ?
Alias The Doctor
Nicknames The Doctor,John Smith,James Mcrimmon
Gender
Age 903
Place of birth Gallifrey
Home The Tardis
Residence The Tardis
Occupation Time Lord
Significant other Rose Tyler
Child Jenny
Grandchild Susan Foreman

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old, and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" Voyage Of The Damned

Character History

Regeneration

When the Doctor absorbed TARDIS Time Vortex from his companion, Rose Tyler, the forces contained in himself began to destroy every cell in his body. He regenerated for a ninth time to save his life. The Doctor immediately dematerialized the TARDIS from its location on Satellite 5, intending to fulfill his promise to take Rose to the planet Barcelona in the year 5006. His companion suffering an emotional crisis over the sudden change of his face, the Doctor instead takes pity and heads back to the Powell Estate in London on Christmas Eve 2006 after convincing her of his identity by reminding her of the very first thing he ever said to her. Before he could successfully complete the landing, he began to suffer adverse effects from the violence of his physical change and experienced manic hyperactivity, sending the TARDIS to such dangerous extremes of speed that it crash-landed. Shortly after this, his memory takes a turn for the worst and he drearily wishes Jackie and Mickey a Merry Christmas before promptly lapsing into a comatose state. he later snapped out of it briefly and then fell into it for a longer time in order to beat back an invasion of planet Earth by the Sycorax on Christmas morning. During this adventure he had his hand cut off while in a sword fight with the Sycorax leader but, still retaining enough cellular energy from his regeneration, grew it back.

Adventure's with Rose Tyler

The Doctor and Rose embarked on adventures together through time and space.

They came to New Earth and were summoned to the New New York Hospital by the Face of Boe. While there, he stopped the Sisters of Plenitude, who were creating Humans and infecting them with every disease. During this time, Rose was possessed by Cassandra, who was trying to extend her life, but the Doctor eventually convinced Cassandra to "end it."

Next they took a trip to 1879 Scotland. There the Doctor and Rose stopped a werewolf from biting Queen Victoria and starting The Empire of the Wolf. As a reward, the Doctor was knighted Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Rose was knighted Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. They were then banished from the British Empire, since their blasé attitude to danger unnerved the Queen. The Doctor also inadvertently inspired Queen Victoria to found the Torchwood Institute, dedicated to defending Britain from the alien threat.

Back on 21st century Earth, the Doctor went undercover as John Smith, a physics teacher at a school which the Krillitane had infiltrated. The Doctor had a chance reunion with his past companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9. The Doctor also allowed Mickey Smith to accompany him and Rose on their travels at Sarah Jane's suggestion.

The Doctor, Rose and Mickey next found themselves in a 51st century ship, which was connected to 18th century France. There he met a pre-teen Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. The Doctor saved her as a child from the Clockwork Droids from the ship and several more times in her life. After the droids were stopped, he offered to allow her to travel with him, but he made a mistake and returned to her after she died.

On a parallel Earth, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey witnessed the birth of that universe's Cybermen. The adventure ended with Mickey deciding to stay in the parallel universe, leaving Rose and the Doctor to continue their travels together.

The Doctor and Rose planned to see an Elvis concert, donning the outfits of the fifties and riding a scooter, however, they accidentally end up in England, June 2, 1953. The Wire was planning to steal the essences and faces of everyone watching the coronation on television. Rose falls victim to the Wire, but during the coronation the Doctor defeated the Wire, restoring the faces of its victims.

The Doctor and Rose then travelled to the planet of Krop Tor, an impossible planet that orbited a black hole and inhabited by Sanctuary Base 6. The Humans of Sanctuary Base 6 had journeyed to Krop Tor to discover the source of power emanating from the planet's core, which was allowing the planet to orbit a black hole without falling in. The Doctor and a researcher from the crew of Sanctuary Base 6 named Ida Scott descended into the core of the planet to explore. There they discovered a pit, into which the Doctor went, alone. Once he'd reached the bottom, he found himself face-to-face with the Beast. The Beast had been terrorizing the explorers on the surface and possessing their servants, the Ood. The Doctor trapped the Beast by imprisoning it in the black hole and was joyfully reunited with Rose and the TARDIS.

Some time later, he and Rose were in a fight with a Hoix, an event seen by Elton Pope. When Elton later offended Rose's mother, the Doctor and Rose confronted him, as well as helping him defeat the Abzorbaloff.

He and Rose then travelled to 2012 to see the London Olympics. He met a girl named Chloe Webber who had been possessed by a lone Isolus. Chloe was trapping other children from her street in drawings to stop the Isolus from feeling lonely. After briefly being trapped in a drawing himself, along with the TARDIS, the Doctor ran with the Olympic torch to the stadium, lit the Olympic flame and then reunited with Rose.

When the Doctor and Rose returned to present-day London, they found that the entire planet was being visited by beings believed to be ghosts. The Doctor tracked the signal to Torchwood Tower and was subsequently held prisoner by the Torchwood Institute. He strongly opposed their use of "ghost shifts" for a power source, since it was ripping a hole between parallel worlds which increased in size with every "ghost shift". The original tear was caused by "The Sphere", an object the Doctor identified as a Void Ship. Later, three computer technicians (who were secretly under the control of Cybermen) restarted the ghost shift. This lead to the realization that the ghosts were actually Cybermen, coming through from the parallel world where the Doctor and Rose had left Mickey. As the Cyberman invasion of Earth began, the Void Ship opened, revealing the Cult of Skaro, a group of Daleks with a Genesis Ark. The Genesis Ark was Time Lord technology which contained millions of Daleks that had been imprisoned by the Time Lords.

In order to save both dimensions from annihilation and defeat the Daleks and Cybermen, the Doctor had to open the Void. This opening would suck anything covered in "Void stuff" into it. Realising that himself, Rose and the others were also covered in Void stuff, the Doctor sent Rose, against her will, to the parallel world, along with Mickey, Pete Tyler and her mother, where they all would be safe from the Void. However, Rose returned, refusing to leave the Doctor and knowing that in making her choice she would never see her family again. Together, the Doctor and Rose opened the Void and the Daleks and Cybermen were sucked in. The plan initially went smoothly, until Rose's lever malfunctioned, threatening to halt the process. Rose managed to secure the lever but couldn't hold on and was almost sucked into the Void, much to the Doctor's terror and despair. Rose was saved at the last second by her parallel father and taken back across to the parallel universe, separating her from the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose were able to meet one last time on Dålig Ulv Stranden in Norway; the Doctor orbiting a supernova for enough power to project an image through the last gap between the universes to say goodbye.

Donna

Whilst he was grieving over Rose, a bride named Donna Noble, to the Doctor's shock, appeared inside the TARDIS during her wedding ceremony. The Doctor discovered the involvement of the ancient Racnoss and defeated them. After the Doctor's destruction of the Racnoss, and largely because of the Doctor's merciless treatment of them, Donna decided not to travel with him and left after telling the Doctor to "find someone."

Miss Jones

The Doctor met Martha Jones, a London medical student, and, after defeating a Plasmavore on the Moon invited her to travel with him in the TARDIS, they arrived in Shakespearian London and foiled the Carrionites and discovered the mystery of Love's Labours Won .He then broadened Martha's trip to one to the past and one to the future after being chased out of the time. He next landed on New Earth, which he had previously visited with Rose, he heard the final words of the Face of Boe: You are not alone. In 1930s New York City, the Doctor once again met and defeated the Cult of Skaro.


The Doctor in a tuxedo. Together they put an end to the work of mad Professor Lazarus and following that helped save a spaceship from plummeting into a sun. Later, the Doctor hid from the Family of Blood, a family of aliens who wanted his Time Lord brain, by using a Chameleon Arch to transform himself mentally and physically into a Human school teacher named John Smith, hiding completely his Time Lord self so that his alter ego had no recollection of the Doctor. John Smith subsequently fell in love, much to the disappointment of Martha, with the matron of the school, Joan Redfern and would have spent the rest of his life with her. However, the Doctor was forced to retake his Time Lord body to save the Earth from destruction, and sought suitable punishment for the Family of Blood. The Doctor and Martha travelled to 2007 to investigate strange disappearances at an old abandoned house. They were transported back in time to 1969 by aliens in the form of stone angels who fed off their potential energy. Using information given to him by Sally Sparrow prior to the incident, he left messages for Sally in the future to bring the TARDIS back to 1969.

In Cardiff, where the Doctor had gone to "refuel" the TARDIS using the Cardiff rift, Captain Jack Harkness jumped onto and physically clung to the exterior of the TARDIS, hitching a ride to the planet Malcassairo in the very far distant future. On Malcassairo, the Doctor found Professor Yana, actually his most fearsome nemesis: The Master. The Master had been made human by another Chameleon Arch, but when Martha questioned his old fob watch, he opened it and became the Master again. After being shot by Professor Yana's assistant Chantho and facing imminent regeneration, the Master locked himself inside the Doctor's TARDIS and despite the pleas of his enemy, hijacked the ship and escaped, leaving the Doctor, Jack and Martha to die at the hands of the Futurekind. They were able to escape to the present when the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on Jack's broken Vortex Manipulator.

Using the human name of Harold Saxon, the Master made himself Prime Minister of Great Britain and invited an army of Toclafane to invade the world. The Master imprisoned the Doctor for a year, during which time, he used his laser screwdriver to artificially age the Doctor 900 years, turning him into a small creature. The Master was later defeated by manipulation of his Archangel Network to the Doctor's own advantage. The Doctor displayed great powers during this period, using the psychic energy of the Earth to restore himself and manipulating it to grant him almost god-like powers. After disarming the Master, he then approached the Master and spoke the words the Master was terrified to hear: "I forgive you." The Master was shot soon afterwards by his human wife, Lucy Saxon, who sought revenge for his treatment of her. Subsequently, the Doctor decided to attempt to rehabilitate the Master, planning to keep him a prisoner aboard the TARDIS. At the thought of becoming the Doctor's captive, the Master refused to regenerate and died for, supposedly, the final time in the arms of the Doctor, thus leaving the Doctor truly the last Time Lord in existence.

Following the events of the Year That Never Was, Martha leaves the Doctor, believing that she needed to live her own life and be with her family. Her family had been tortured at the hands of the Master and Martha felt partly responsible for their suffering. Not only that but, almost from their first encounter, Martha had fallen in love with the Doctor, however, she knew that her love was unrequited and that he only saw Rose when he looked at her. Martha explained this to the Doctor and they parted amicably.

Shortly after Martha left, the Doctor accidentally crashed his TARDIS with that of one of his earlier regenerations. He was able to use his memory of the event (from his Fifth regeneration's perspective) to separate the TARDISes, though he forgot to turn the shields back on and the spaceship Titanic crashed in through the walls. Shortly afterwards, he made a new friend, Astrid Peth, on-board the Titanic. When the Titanic was purposefully crashed, the Doctor attempted to save the passengers, but could only save Astrid by transforming her into a being of light.

Noble Return

While investigating Adipose Industries, the Doctor was reunited with Donna Noble, who finally accepted his invitation to travel with him. The Doctor was quick to rule out the possibility of a romantic involvement, giving their companionship a different dynamic to that of the ones the Doctor had previously experienced with Rose and Martha.

During their travels, the Doctor realized he was responsible for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, in order to avert world domination by the Pyroviles. He also helped set free the enslaved Ood of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, and disrupted a Sontaran invasion on Earth, during which time he was reunited with Martha Jones.

Directly following this, the TARDIS transported the Doctor, Donna and Martha to Messaline, where his DNA was stolen and replicated to produce Jenny, his biological daughter. Initially critical of the girl due to her strong predilection for violence, the Doctor came to love his daughter, and mourned her death at the hands of General Cobb. He overcame his desire for revenge, however, in order to help found a new society on the planet.

Another important woman in the Doctor's life was introduced to him in The Library: Professor River Song, who claimed to know the Doctor from a distant point in his future. She displayed knowledge of the Doctor's real name, as she revealed prior to sacrificing herself to save the Data Ghosts trapped in the Library's core. The Doctor, inspired by her faith in him, was able to save River Song by preserving her ghost in the core's virtual reality.

Shortly afterwards he and Donna visited the leisure planet Midnight. Donna stayed at the leisure palace whilst the Doctor took a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. The bus was subsequently attacked by an unknown creature which possessed one of the passengers, Sky Silvestry and eventually the Doctor, with Sky controlling it. Shortly afterwards, Sky Silvestry was dragged out into the X-Tonic sun by the bus' hostess, who believed that Sky was stealing the Doctor's voice, and the creature died with her.

Next, the Doctor and Donna visited the Chinese-influenced planet of Shan Shen. When Donna went to get her fortune told, a member of the Trickster's Brigade created an alternate universe around her. In this alternate universe she met Rose, who told her two words to tell the Doctor. After Donna corrects the universe, she is able to tell the Doctor the two words: Bad Wolf. Donna asks what it means and the Doctor replies with "The end of the Universe".

He rushed back to Earth to check that everything was fine, but as soon as they went back to the TARDIS, the whole planet was stolen. Finding no clue as to where the Earth was, he went to the Shadow Proclamation and learned that 27 planets including Earth had been stolen. With a bit of help from Harriet Jones, Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Martha Jones, Mr Smith and Rose Tyler as well as Donna's mother and grandfather he was able to be contacted and managed to lock on to the location of the Earth. After a quick chat with his friends and Davros (who had been saved by Dalek Caan from the Last Great Time War) he landed on Earth. While talking to Donna, Donna pointed out that Rose was behind him. He turned around and the two began to run towards each other. Then a Dalek emerged from the shadows and fired at him. It was only a glancing blow but was enough to mortally wound him. He had to be taken back into the TARDIS where he began to regenerate.

Using his nearby severed hand, he used the regeneration to heal himself, but not to regenerate into a new form. As a result of this, a new Doctor was born from his severed hand and Donna who was accidentally made part-Time Lord, becoming the DoctorDonna. DoctorDonna stopped Davros from destroying the Universe and the three Doctor's sent the planets back to their original time and space. However, he was horrified by the actions of the new Doctor, who wiped out the last remaining members of the Dalek race. He left the new Doctor in Pete's World, hoping that Rose Tyler and the new Doctor would be able to help each other. He was also forced to remove Donna's Time Lord abilities, as they would eventually kill her. He returned Donna to her mother and grandfather, and told them that they would have to make sure she never remembered the Doctor.

Jackson Lake and the Cybermen

An unknown length of time after leaving Donna, the Doctor travelled to London, Christmas Day 1851. The Doctor met a man calling himself 'the Doctor' and at first assumed him to be his future incarnation. In reality, he was a Human man, Jackson Lake, who had the contents of an Infostamp about the Doctor imprinted on his brain. Jackson and Rosita Farisi aided the Doctor in stopping the plot of the Cybermen and their ally, Mercy Hartigan. London was saved, Lake was reunited with his son, and invited the Doctor to share Christmas dinner with his new family (an offer which was at first denied, then accepted by the Doctor).

Planet Of The Dead

Sometime later, the Doctor travelled to London in the year 2010 at Easter, investigating strange readings on a bus. While he investigated, the bus was hurtled through a portal and reappeared on San Helios. On the bus he met yet another one-off companion Christina de Souza and embarked on a mission with her (and UNIT on the end of a phone) to return the bus and its occupants to Earth and stop the Alien Stingrays from invading. At the end of this adventure, just before leaving in the TARDIS, the Doctor rejected Christina's offer of companionship, stating that he has lost anyone who travels with him and he'd swore never again. When Christina (who was a jewel thief) was arrested, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to aid her escape in the bus. Finally, when the Doctor was about to be arrested for helping Christina, he entered the "police box" to "arrest [himself]" and left.

Retrieved from "https://heroeswiki.ddns.net/index.php?title=User:Gabriel_Bishop/The_Tenth_Doctor&oldid=175807"