Doctor (Doctor Who)

Revision as of 21:04, 15 November 2005

The Doctor is a Renegade Time Lord and defender of the universe. The Doctor led a comparatively mediocre life on Gallifrey, during which he had friends and contemporaries such as the Rani and the Master. At the age of 236, the Doctor left his homeworld with his granddaughter Susan and began travelling through space and time in his Type 40 TARDIS, righting wrongs and defending the good and the weak from the evil and the strong.

Since then, the Doctor has travelled with numerous companions and battled a wide variety of threats, from the Daleks and the Cybermen to the Black Guardian and Omega. Like all Time Lords, the Doctor has innate (if minor and subtle) psychic abilities, phenomenal powers of concentration and meditation, and an ability to regenerate into new bodies when the previous is wounded or damaged, up to 12 times total. Each of his incarnations has been like a new individual, and he has regenerated eight times thus far.

First Doctor

The First Doctor.

The First Doctor was a wise but temperamental elderly man, who told his companions little about himself. He often used reason and chastisement (rather than outright interference) to accomplish his goals, but was known to become unreasonable when anything threatened to impinge on his freedom to travel. He also seemed more arrogant than most of his later incarnations. The few times he encountered his future selves, he had little patience for them. He initially travelled with Susan, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright, and later took aboard companions such as Vicki, Steven, Dodo, Polly and Ben. He was forced to regenerate when his body failed him, shortly after his first defeat of the Cybermen.

Novels

The Doctor shared the genetic heritage of the Other, one of the founders of Time Lord society. His first incarnation may have only had one heart, instead of the normal Time Lord twin hearts- this changed after he regenerated.

Second Doctor

The Second Doctor.

The Second Doctor was younger and far more frivolous, almost clownlike in his behavior. He could still be just as sharp in manner as his predecessor, but generally opted not to, assuming the role of the apparent fool. His pockets were always full of tricks, and he was fond of playing the recorder. His companions included Jamie, Victoria and Zoe Herriot. The few times he encountered his successor, he had an instant dislike for him. The Second Doctor was captured when he was forced to summon the Time Lords to stop the War Chief. Condemned for tampering with history, he was forcibly regenerated and banished to Earth.

Novels

However, between his capture and his exile to Earth, the Time Lords drafted him into their service, forcing him to serve as their agent on various special missions.

Third Doctor

The Third Doctor.

The Third Doctor became the scientific advisor to UNIT in Britain under Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in the 1970s, and proved himself a man of action (he practiced Venusian aikido for self-defense) and a formidable asset in dealing with extraterrestrial and domestic threats. He was aided by Liz Shaw and Jo Grant, and was granted freedom from Earth after teaming with his past two selves to defeat Omega. He had a love for gadgets and vehicles, making frequent use of his refurbished motorcar "Bessie" and the sonic screwdriver. He disliked his previous incarnation both times he met him. The Third Doctor was forced to regenerate after being poisoned by radiation from the crystals of Metebelis Three.

Novels

The Eighth Doctor accidentally altered the history of his third incarnation, causing him to regenerate prematurely on the planet Dust. Worse yet, the Third Doctor's death on Dust enabled him to be infected by a Faction Paradox biodata virus, creating the possibility that the Doctor would ultimately be transformed into a faction agent. This new timeline was held at bay by the Doctor's TARDIS (causing it immense strain) until the Eighth Doctor restored things to their proper course... at a great cost.

Alternate Timelines (Novels)

In one alternate timeline, the Third Doctor was killed by the Silurians, and they eventually took over Earth. In another timeline, eventually destroyed by Stahlman's Gas, an evil counterpart of the Doctor became a fascist England's dictator.

Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor.

The Fourth Doctor (best known of his incarnations) was more of a travelling vagabond, a cheerful and restless wanderer. He was fond of jelly babies, and was known to offer them to people he encountered. Dressed flamboyantly with a long scarf, he had some of the most critical adventures of any incarnation, dealing with the origins of the Daleks and gathering the Key to Time to thwart the Black Guardian. He also became the President of the High Council of Time Lords for a time, if only to stop the Vardans and Sontarans from conquering Gallifrey. His companions included Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Leela, K-9, and Romana. The Fourth Doctor was wounded in a fall from a broadcast tower thanks to the Master, and regenerated as a result.

Fifth Doctor

The Fifth Doctor.

The much more idealistic and optimistic Fifth Doctor was fond of cricket. His companions included Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa of Traken, Turlough, and Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown. He was forced to deal with guilt over the death of another companion, Adric (who died with a ship sabotaged by the Cybermen). The Fifth Doctor was a target of the Black Guardian, seeking revenge for his defeat at the hands of his previous incarnation. He was stricken with spectrox toxaemia while retrieving a substance to cure Peri of the same, and regenerated for the fifth time.

Sixth Doctor

The Sixth Doctor.

The unstable and erratic Sixth Doctor dressed as bizarrely as he acted, and had a well-developed sense of outrage along with a sometimes explosive temper. He had some of the most bizarre adventures of any Doctor, and his companion Peri was sometimes concerned with his behavior. The Sixth Doctor was the target of the Valeyard, a manifestation of his own dark side from the future, who engineered a trial for the Doctor that accused him of crimes against the universe. He exposed the plot, and adventured for a time with new companion Melanie Bush. Crashlanding on the planet Lakertya thanks to the Rani, the Sixth Doctor regenerated again.

Novels

The Sixth Doctor was shaken by his encounter with the Valeyard, and tried in vain to avoid Melanie Bush- hoping that averting the one event he knew for certain lay in his future might prevent that evil. He was grievously wounded after confronting the multiverse-threatening Lamprey, leaving him in no state to avoid the tractor beam from the Rani that captured him.

Later, it appeared that the Doctor subconsciously permitted his regeneration, hoping that his seventh incarnation would be better equipped to prevent the Valeyard's existence. Unfortunately, other events suggested that the remnants of the Doctor's betrayed sixth incarnation within his psyche might eventually become the very dark side he was hoping to destroy.

Alternate Timelines (Novels)

Known alternate versions of the Sixth Doctor include at least two blue-suited versions who faced the Cybermen, a black-clad, scarred version from a reality where the Roman Empire never fell, and another version who travelled with a half-reptile version of Mel (Mel Baal).

Seventh Doctor

The Seventh Doctor.

The sometimes jesterish but mysterious and manipulative Seventh Doctor styled himself as "Time's Champion." With Mel and, later, Ace by his side, he revealed deeper, far-advanced plans to battle evil than had been previously known. He faced such powerful foes as Fenric and Light. Unfortunately, his occasional deceits made his friendship with Ace difficult at times.

He ultimately oversaw the "execution" of the Master, but en route to deliver his remains to Gallifrey, the liquefied Master forced his TARDIS to land in 1999 San Francisco. The Seventh Doctor was shot by gangsters, and died in the emergency room; in the morgue, he regenerated again.

Novels

The Seventh Doctor also travelled with Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester, among others.

Alternate Timelines

In another reality (possibly a "bottle universe" created by I.M. Foreman), the Seventh Doctor (and all other Time Lords) possessed godlike power. He eventually passed the mantle of his power to Ace.

Eighth Doctor

The Eighth Doctor.

The Eighth Doctor had a mercurially positive outlook on life combined with an absent-minded veneer. He professed to have a half-human heritage, had a brief sort-of romantic relationship with cardiologist Grace Holloway, and helped stop the Master's plans to access the Eye of Harmony and acquire incredible power.

Novels

The Eighth Doctor later travelled with Sam Jones, Fitz Kreiner and Compassion, and became embroiled in the machinations of Faction Paradox as well as the Time Lords' own preparations for a "War" with a mysterious "Enemy." His past was even tampered with by the Faction, who wished to make the Doctor into their agent. The crisis culminated in the destruction of Gallifrey, following which the Doctor's original past was restored but his memories were lost.

Arriving on 19th-century Earth, the Doctor slowly regained his identity (but not his memories) over a century there. He also raised a daughter, Miranda, who was the descendant of another race of Time Lords. He was reunited with Fitz, and began his travels through the universe again, albeit a universe without the influence of the Time Lords. He entered a rivalry with the human time traveller Sabbath while he adventured with Fitz and new companions Anji and Trix. After defeating Sabbath and his masters (during which Miranda died), the Doctor encountered another surviving Time Lord, Marnal. Marnal learned that the Doctor had amnesia because he had stored the sum memories of all the other Time Lords within his mind, saving them from a final destruction. The Doctor, finally knowing why he had amnesia, planned to eventually restore them and create a new Gallifrey.

Audios

The Eighth Doctor became involved in a major time crisis when he saved Charley Pollard from her predestined death aboard the crashed airship R-101. This eventually led to his confrontation with beings from an anti-time universe, and his temporary corruption into the evil Zagreus. The Doctor and Charley left the normal universe for another, timeless reality, only recently returning.

Ninth Doctor

The Ninth Doctor.

The Doctor eventually faced a great Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords, and was involved in the terrible end of that war- the destruction of Gallifrey and the entire races of Time Lords and Daleks. Broken and guilt-ridden, the Ninth Doctor wandered the universe for a time, continuing to adventure and putting on a cheery face- but actually feeling very empty. His life was brightened when he met new companion Rose Tyler, and the two became very close in their travels. Later accompanied by human time traveller Captain Jack Harkness, the Doctor entered a final confrontation with the surviving Emperor Dalek and his new army of human-mutant Daleks. When Rose absorbed the energies of the Time Vortex to save him, the Doctor was forced to take the energies from her, which he restored to their proper location. However, his body was gravely damaged, and he was forced to regenerate a ninth time...

Alternate Timelines

A completely different Ninth Doctor, who traveled with an android version of the Master, faced the Shalka and defeated their invasion of Earth.

Future Doctors

One of the Doctor's future incarnations will become Merlin. During his time as Merlin, he will regenerate at least once.

Comics

The so-called "Nth Doctor" is a future incarnation that travels with the sorceress Ria.

Novels

A red-haired Doctor who believed he needed to atone for some of his past mistakes may have become the first Merlin incarnation. Another incarnation, named Muldwych, may have been the incarnation after "Merlin"'s regeneration. There is even a "42nd Doctor," who is married to his companion.

See also

• Chief Physician
• Doctor Who
• Professor (Fans)
• Professor Gamble