The Doctor (Doctor Who)

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - The Doctor (Doctor Who)

OR:

The Doctor (Doctor Who) on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

The Doctor is the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

in the long-running

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

programme '' Doctor Who''. Since the show's inception in 1963, the character has been portrayed by thirteen lead actors. In the programme, "the Doctor" is the alias assumed by a millennia-old humanoid

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

, a

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

who travels through space and time in the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

, frequently with companions. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...

of " regeneration", a biological function of the Time Lord race that allows a change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a fatal injury. A number of other actors have played the character in stage and audio plays, as well as in various film and television productions. The Doctor has been well-received by the public, with an enduring popularity leading ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' to dub the character "Britain's favourite alien", while abroad the character has come to be seen as a British cultural icon. The Doctor has also been featured in films and a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips. Returning for the 60th anniversary,

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

is now portraying the

Fourteenth Doctor The Fourteenth Doctor is the current incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, '' Doctor Who''. The Fourteenth Doctor is portrayed by Scottish actor, David Tennant, who previously por ...

, having previously played the

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

from 2005-2010, succeeding Jodie Whitaker at the end of "

The Power of the Doctor "The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', and was broadcast on BBC One on 23 October 2022. The episode was ordered for the occasion of the 100th ann ...

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He rose to prominence as Eric Effiong on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–present), which earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Te ...

is scheduled to take over as the

Fifteenth Doctor The Fifteenth Doctor will be the next incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. He will be portrayed by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa is the first black actor and t ...

from 2023.

Character biography

Within the fictional narrative, the Doctor is a Time Lord who travels through

time and space In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differen ...

in a stolen dimensionally transcendental – "bigger on the inside" –

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

: the

(Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) which takes the exterior form of a 1963 police telephone call box, and retains the appearance throughout the programme. Human companions accompany the Doctor through their adventures who serve as

audience surrogate A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...

characters to ask questions which allow the Doctor to provide relevant exposition. "Doctor" is a self-selected alias. In later episodes of the revived programme, specifically under show runner

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

, the story arcs surrounding events in the Doctor's future implied serious consequences in the event of the Doctor's true name being spoken, with the nature of these finally revealed in "

The Time of the Doctor "The Time of the Doctor" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', written by Steven Moffat and directed by Jamie Payne, and was broadcast as the ninth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special on 25 December 201 ...

". Spin-off media offer the explanation that the Doctor's true name is unpronounceable by humans. In "The Name of the Doctor", the Eleventh Doctor tells companion

Clara Oswald Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the Doc ...

that the name "Doctor" is essentially a promise he made. The promise itself is revealed in "

The Day of the Doctor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

": "Never cruel nor cowardly. Never give up. Never give in."

Early life

The Doctor was originally known as the Timeless Child, as revealed in "

The Timeless Children "The Timeless Children" is the tenth and final episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 1 March 2020. It was written by Chris Chibnall, and directed by Jamie ...

" (2020). This episode substantially

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

ned the Doctor's history, as they had previously been said to be a high-born Time Lord whose

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

played by

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Bri ...

in the show was born on Gallifrey. In the Doctor's revised and expanded

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

, a native Gallifreyan Shobogan scientist and explorer named Tecteun discovered the child as a young girl next to a portal to another reality. Tecteun adopted her as her own and discovered that the Child had a capacity to regenerate her body indefinitely. After much study, Tecteun genetically incorporated this ability into some of the Shobogan race, who became the basis for the formation of the elite

s, although their regenerations were forcibly limited to twelve. After many regenerations, Tecteun inducted the Timeless Child into a clandestine operative group within the Time Lords known as the Division. The secrecy of the Division required Tecteun to eventually wipe all of the Timeless Child's memories up to that point and leave them, reduced in age to a child once again, in Gallifreyan society. This is where the Doctor's memories begin, with his boyhood as the First Doctor. The First Doctor's childhood on Gallifrey has been little described in the series. In " Hell Bent" the Doctor recalled his origins as a high-born Gallifreyan. In ''

The Time Monster ''The Time Monster'' is the fifth and final serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 20 May to 24 June 1972. The serial is set in a vi ...

'', the Doctor says he grew up in a house on a mountainside and talks about a hermit who lived under a tree behind the house and inspired the Doctor when he was depressed. He is later reunited with this former mentor, now on Earth posing as the abbot K'anpo Rimpoche, in ''

Planet of the Spiders ''Planet of the Spiders'' is the fifth and final serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 May to 8 June 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's fina ...

''. In "

The Girl in the Fireplace "The Girl in the Fireplace" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 6 May 2006. Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Euros Lyn, the epi ...

", according to Madame de Pompadour who psychically linked with the Doctor's memories, the Doctor experienced a very lonely childhood. An elderly woman on Gallifrey died and was shrouded in veils and surrounded by flies, giving the Doctor recurring nightmares, which the confession dial in " Heaven Sent" would later visualise to torment him. In "

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a TCP connection state on the server side indi ...

", it is revealed the Doctor as a child often slept alone in a barn in the Drylands (a desert region outside the city capital), was withdrawn from other children, and was cared for by guardian figures who privately doubted the child's ability as an eventual Time Lord. Through the dialogue, it is suggested that several Gallifreyan children were pressured into joining the army, a path which did not sit right with the Doctor's pacifist beliefs, and as a result he wished to enroll into the Time Lord Academy instead. The classic programme refers to his time at the Academy and his affiliation with the notoriously devious Prydonian chapter of Time Lords. In "

The Sound of Drums "The Sound of Drums" is the twelfth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007. It is the second of three episodes that form a linked narrati ...

", the Doctor describes an Academy initiation where, at the age of 8, Gallifreyan children were taken from their families and made to look into the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality, to view the Time Vortex. According to the Doctor, when regarding the effects of the initiation on participants: "Some would be inspired, some would run away and some would go mad (as he suggests happened to his nemesis, the Master)." When asked to which group he belonged, he replied, "Oh, the ones that ran away; I never stopped!". The Doctor was taught by future Lord President

Borusa Borusa is a fictional character in the series ''Doctor Who'', a member of the race of Time Lords from Gallifrey. Within the context of the series, Borusa is a former teacher of the Doctor who appears in four serials. Notably, Borusa was portraye ...

and Azmael,Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 709. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. . where he met Drax, with whom he attended a Tech course as part of the class of '92. In ''

the Armageddon Factor ''The Armageddon Factor'' is the sixth and final serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 20 January to 24 February 1979. It was the las ...

'', it is revealed that the Doctor scraped through the Academy with 51% on his second attempt. In ''

The Time Meddler ''The Time Meddler'' is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four ...

'', it is said that the Doctor was fifty years before the Meddling Monk. In ''

Time and the Rani ''Time and the Rani'' is the first serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy ...

'', the Doctor claims to have attended university alongside the Rani, specialising in thermodynamics. At the academy, he met his childhood friend the Master and the pair grew up together. In " The End of Time", the Master recollects their childhood together where they would run all day across his father's field, described as 'pastures of red grass stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition' and the boys would call up at the sky. In " World Enough and Time", the Doctor claims that they both made a special pact where together they would visit every star in the universe; however, The Master was 'too busy burning them'. In " Hell Bent", one day at the Academy, the Doctor found himself lost inside the Cloisters (an area located deep beneath the citadel) and spent four days inside. He was contacted by a Wraith who told him about the prophecy of a legendary creature known as 'the Hybrid', prophesied to have been crossbred from two warrior races that would stand in the ruins of Gallifrey, unravel the Web of Time and burn a billion hearts to heal its own. The Wraiths then revealed to him the secret passage leading to another side of the city. The last anyone heard from him was that he apparently stole the moon and the President's wife; however, this was revealed to have been a lie spread about by the Shobogans when in reality it was the President's daughter and he lost the moon. This event had a massive impact on the Doctor, who theorized that he himself was possibly the Hybrid. The Doctor decided to leave Gallifrey out of fear. The Doctor chose to steal a faulty Type 40 TARDIS in order to explore the universe. In "

The Doctor's Wife "The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, and later the same day in the United States. It was writ ...

" it is revealed that when the Doctor was young, he first saw the Tardis in a museum, where after stroking her console he commented that she was the most beautiful thing he had ever known. In "

The Shakespeare Code "The Shakespeare Code" is the second episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 mi ...

", the Doctor once took a driving test to pilot the Tardis and failed. In Amy's Choice, the Doctor mentions that he threw the instruction manual in a supernova because he disagreed with it. In "

The Name of the Doctor "The Name of the Doctor" is the thirteenth and final episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 May 2013. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed ...

" the Tardis was later relocated in a repair shop which the Doctor managed to seize alongside his granddaughter Susan. In "

", Idris mentions that the Doctor had been travelling in the Tardis for 700 years, which indicates that he would have been 200 years old when he first borrowed her. In " Twice Upon a Time" it is revealed that the Doctor also left to investigate the mystery of why good prevails in a universe where evil would seem to have so many advantages. It would be after his encounter with his twelfth incarnation that the Doctor realized his actions made the difference in the balance between good and evil, stating "The universe generally fails to be a fairy tale, but that's where we come in." In other media, more has been revealed of the Doctor's early life. In the

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books impri ...

novel '' Divided Loyalties'', the Doctor recalls his Academy years in a dream induced by

the Celestial Toymaker ''The Celestial Toymaker'' is the mostly missing sixth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 April 1966. In this serial, t ...

. According to this, he was a member of an organisation called the Deca, ten brilliant Academy students campaigning for increased Time Lord intervention, alongside Mortimus (the Meddling Monk), Ushas (the Rani), Koschei (the Master), Magnus (the War Chief), Drax, a spy named Vansell, Millennia, Rallon and Jelpax. With this group, he learns about the Celestial Toymaker and travels to his realm in a type 18 TARDIS with Deca members Rallon and Millennia, who are killed. This leads to the Doctor's expulsion from the Academy, condemned to five hundred years in Records and Traffic Control. In ''

The Quantum Archangel ''The Quantum Archangel'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Sixth Doctor and Mel, the Master, and an appearance by an a ...

'', it is revealed the Doctor studied cosmic science alongside the Master, taught by Cardinal Sendok. In the

Virgin Missing Adventures The ''Virgin Missing Adventures'' were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the p ...

novel '' Goth Opera'', it is said the Doctor was a frequent prankster while at the Academy, introducing

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s into Gallifrey's ecosystem with his friend Ruath and electrifying a "perigosto stick" belonging to his teacher, Borusa. Feeling that too much of the Doctor's backstory had been revealed by the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. ...

's era, writers

Andrew Cartmel Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television serie ...

Ben Aaronovitch Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the ''Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who' ...

and Marc Platt developed a new direction for the series. Cartmel wished to restore the character's "awe, mystery and strength" and make him "once again more than a mere chump of a Time Lord" – an idea the media dubbed the "

Cartmel Masterplan The Cartmel Masterplan is a fan name for the planned ''Doctor Who'' backstory developed primarily by script editor Andrew Cartmel and writers Ben Aaronovitch and Marc Platt, by which they intended to restore some of the mystery of the Doctor's ...

". Under Cartmel, the show foreshadowed this concept; however, its 1989 cancellation meant that it was never realised onscreen. The proposed backstory was fully explored in Platt's 1997 novel ''

Lungbarrow ''Lungbarrow'' is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Published in Virgin Books' ''New Adventures'' range, it was the last of that range to feature the ...

'', where the Doctor is revealed as "

the Other In phenomenology, the terms the Other and the Constitutive Other identify the other human being, in their differences from the Self, as being a cumulative, constituting factor in the self-image of a person; as acknowledgement of being real; h ...

", a mysterious figure in Gallifreyan lore who co-founded Time Lord society with

Rassilon Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey and its first lea ...

and

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

. After a curse renders Gallifrey sterile, the Other devises biotechnological looms to "weave" new Time Lords; his granddaughter Susan is Gallifrey's last natural child. To escape a civil war with Rassilon, the Other throws himself into the loom system, where he is disintegrated and later woven into the Doctor.

Family

References to the Doctor's family are rare in the programme. During the first two seasons, he travelled with his granddaughter,

Susan Foreman Susan Foreman (also known as Susan Campbell in spin-off media) is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The granddaughter and original companion of the First Doctor, she was played by actress Car ...

, who has since been referred to occasionally and who returned in ''

The Five Doctors ''The Five Doctors'' is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced in celebration of the programme's 20th anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago ...

''. In "

The Tomb of the Cybermen ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. In the serial, the ...

" when asked about his family, the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. While the Troughton era of ''Doctor Who'' is well-remembered by fans an ...

says his memories of them are alive when he wants them to be otherwise they sleep in his mind and he forgets. In ''

The Curse of Fenric ''The Curse of Fenric'' is the third serial of the 26th season of the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 October to 15 November 1989. In it, the ancient evil ...

,'' when asked if he has family, the Seventh Doctor replies that he does not know. In the 1996 television movie, the Eighth Doctor remarks that he is half-human on his mother's side, and recalls watching a meteor storm with his father on Gallifrey. The revived series never addresses a human mother again and at times even contradicted this remark: The half-human clone of the Tenth Doctor is initially disgusted to be half-human ("Journey's End") and the Twelfth Doctor rejects that he could be a hybrid of human and Time Lord ("Hell Bent"). Furthermore, an unnamed Time Lady appearing throughout The End of Time which the Tenth Doctor appears to recognize towards the end of the story was intended to be the Doctor's mother. The Doctor mentions having had a brother in " Smith and Jones", and sisters in "

Arachnids in the UK "Arachnids in the UK" is the fourth episode of the eleventh series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was written by showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall, directed by Sallie Aprahamian, and first ...

". In "

It Takes You Away "It Takes You Away" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the eleventh series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was written by Ed Hime and directed by Jamie Childs, and was first broadcast on BBC One on ...

", the Doctor claims that she had seven grandmothers. Later in the same scene, she mentions that her favourite grandmother, Granny 5, alleged Granny 2 was "a secret agent for the

Zygon The Zygons are an extraterrestrial race in the long-running British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Zygons have shape-shifting abilities, allowing them to replicate the appearance of another being. Limited by the sma ...

s". Throughout the revival, the Doctor routinely attempts to change the topic when questioned about being a parent or his family life, as in "

Fear Her "Fear Her" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 24 June 2006. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Euros Lyn. The episode takes place in L ...

", "

The Beast Below "The Beast Below" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat and broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 10 April 20 ...

" and "

A Good Man Goes to War "A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011. It served as a mid-series finale. The episode was written ...

". In "

The Empty Child "The Empty Child" is the ninth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 May 2005. It was the first episode written by Steven Moffat, who later beca ...

", a hospital doctor named Dr. Constantine says to him, "Before this war began,The episode takes place during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither. But I'm still a doctor." The Ninth Doctor's reply is, "Yeah. I know the feeling." In "

The Doctor's Daughter "The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008. Set on the planet Messaline, the episode features Georgia Moffett as Jen ...

", when discussing the topic of parenthood, the Tenth Doctor confirms that he had at one point been a father and that he lost his children 'a long time ago', saying 'When they died that part of me died with them'; the nature of their deaths, however, has never been explained, as it is suggested that whatever happened to his family is very painful for the Doctor to talk about. In "

The Woman Who Fell to Earth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" is the first episode of the eleventh series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was written by new head writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Childs, and ...

" when the Thirteenth Doctor is questioned how she copes with the loss of her family, she states that she carries the memories of them with her and thus makes them a part of who she is, saying "even though they're gone from the world ... they're never gone from me." In " The End of Time", a mysterious individual, referred to only in the credits as "The Woman", appears unexpectedly to

Wilfred Mott Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of her mother, Syl ...

throughout both episodes. She is later revealed to be a dissident Time Lady, who opposed the Time Lord High Council's plan to escape the Time War. When she reveals her face to the Doctor, his reaction indicates that he recognises her. Julie Gardner, in the episode's commentary, states that while some have speculated that the Time Lady is the Doctor's mother, neither she nor Russell T. Davies is willing to comment on her identity. When later asked by Wilfred who she was, the Doctor evades answering the question, making their connection unclear. In ''Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale – The Final Chapter'', Russell T Davies states that he created the character to be the Doctor's mother and this is what actress

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

was told when she was cast. In spin-off media, several individuals related to the Doctor have made appearances, and do not appear in the television series, such as his grandchildren

John and Gillian John and Gillian, a young brother and sister, are characters in the ''TV Comic'' strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Overview The stories featuring them were drawn first by Neville Main, th ...

, who appeared alongside the First and Second Doctors in comics and annuals. Two different, conflicting accounts exist on the descendants of Susan after leaving the Doctor. In the audio play " An Earthly Child", it is revealed that Susan has had a half-human child, Alex Campbell, the Doctor's great-grandson. Alternatively, in the novel ''

Legacy of the Daleks ''Legacy of the Daleks'' is an original novel written by John Peel and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, Susan, the Master - as the Roger Delgado incarnation - and ...

'', Susan and her husband David adopt three children whom they name David Campbell Jr, Ian and Barbara; named after David himself, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, respectively. Irving Braxiatel, a character first introduced in the novel ''

Theatre of War In warfare, a theater or theatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress. A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations. T ...

'', was initially hinted at, and later confirmed to be, the Doctor's biological older brother. He has since become a recurring character, especially within the Big Finish spin-off audio series ''

Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in ...

'' and ''

Bernice Summerfield Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length '' Doctor Wh ...

''. In the novel ''

Father Time Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. As an image, "Father Ti ...

,'' the Eighth Doctor, during his hundred-year exile on Earth, found an orphaned Time Lord girl named Miranda whom he adopted and raised until she was 16. In the novel '' Sometime Never...'', she returned to the Doctor with her daughter Zezanne. She was also the central character in a three-issue comic book series published by Comeuppance Comics in 2003. Author Lance Parkin, who devised the character of Miranda, has hinted that her real father is a future incarnation of the Doctor which, if so, would make Zezanne the Doctor's biological granddaughter as well. The

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the televisio ...

novel ''

'' presents an alternative take on the Doctor's origins, suggesting that Time Lords are "loomed" in large batches of "cousins" and not produced via sexual reproduction. ''Lungbarrow'' portrays the Doctor as one of 45 cousins grown from his house's genetic loom as an adult. By contrast, the TV programme has shown Time Lords as children and stated that Time Lords can have sexual relationships. The Doctor is assumed to be or to have been married to Susan's grandmother, including by head writer

. In " Blink", the Doctor mentioned that he was rubbish at his own wedding. In The

novel ''

Cold Fusion Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within stars and artificially in hydrogen bombs and p ...

'', a Time Lord lady named Patience who was the widow of

, one of the founding-fathers of Gallifreyan society who fell into an anti-matter universe. Patience later met and married the Doctor and together they had thirteen children. Once their first-born son announced the arrival of a baby, the family was targeted by the Lord President, as the child was to be conceived naturally and only the Loom-born could inherit the Legacy of Rassilon; as a result, the Doctor's children were systemically culled. The Doctor managed to help Patience escape through the use of the Machine, a prototype TARDIS, after assuring that her daughter-in-law had given birth to a girl named Susan and promised that he would keep the child safely away from Gallifrey. In "

The Wedding of River Song "The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode in the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 1 October 2011. It was written by lead writer and executiv ...

", he marries a recurring companion and love interest River Song. Comments by both River and the Doctor in the seventh series, particularly in "

The Angels Take Manhattan "The Angels Take Manhattan" is the fifth episode of the seventh series of the revived British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 September 2012. It is the last in the first block of epis ...

", confirmed that they were married; in "The Name of the Doctor", the Doctor refers to her as his "wife" after seeing a grave stone with her name on it, after initially answering "yes" when Clara asks if she was an "ex". In " The End of Time", the Tenth Doctor mentions marrying

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and implies that they had sex, stating: "her nickname

he Virgin Queen He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

is no longer...". The joke continues in "

", featuring future British monarch Queen Elizabeth X or Liz Ten, and the marriage is finally shown in "The Day of the Doctor" during an adventure with

s. In the 2010 Christmas special, " A Christmas Carol", the Eleventh Doctor accidentally marries

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

but later questions the authenticity of the chapel in which they were married. Steven Moffat did not consider the marriages to Elizabeth I and Marilyn Monroe to count when questioned on how many wives the Doctor had had, remarking that he was married to Susan's grandmother and River Song.

Adventures

An adventurous scientist, the Doctor usually solves problems with his wits rather than with force. With the exception of his

sonic screwdriver The sonic screwdriver is a fictional multifunctional tool in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, used by the Doctor. Like the TARDIS, it has become one of the icons of the programme, and spin-o ...

(which cannot kill, wound or maim), the Doctor detests weapons and uses violence only as a last resort. According to the alien villain Chedaki in the episode ''

The Android Invasion ''The Android Invasion'' is the fourth serial of the thirteenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 13 December 1975. The serial is ...

,'' "his entire history is one of opposition to conquest." As a time traveller, the Doctor has been present at, or directly involved in, countless major historical events on the planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

and elsewhere – sometimes more than once. In the 2005 series premiere, "

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

", it is revealed that the

Ninth Doctor The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the seri ...

was instrumental in preventing a family from boarding the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' prior to her fateful voyage. In " The End of the World", the Doctor recalls having been on board and surviving the ''Titanic's'' sinking to find himself "clinging to an iceberg". The

Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...

mentioned this event in ''

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

'' and ''

The Invasion of Time ''The Invasion of Time'' is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the fin ...

'', where he insists that the sinking was not his fault; the Seventh Doctor became involved in the sinking when tracking an alien entity in the novel '' The Left-Handed Hummingbird''. The Doctor has also encountered many of Earth's historical figures. It is his tendency 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 as stated in ''

The War Games ''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...

.'' However, the Doctor's actions are largely tolerated as he saved Gallifrey and the universe several times. The Time Lords are partial to sending him on missions when deniability or expendability is needed, implied to have begun after his capture during ''

'' and witnessed further in later stories, the Time Lords directing the Doctor and/or the TARDIS to specific locations in ''

Colony in Space ''Colony in Space'' is the fourth serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 10 April to 15 May 1971. The serial, wriiten by Malcolm ...

'', ''

The Curse of Peladon ''The Curse of Peladon'' is the second serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 January to 19 February 1972. The serial is set on ...

'', ''

The Mutants ''The Mutants'' is the fourth serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 April to 13 May 1972. The serial is set on and high above th ...

'', ''

Genesis of the Daleks ''Genesis of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts fr ...

'', ''

The Brain of Morbius ''The Brain of Morbius'' is the fifth serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1976. The screenwriter credit is given ...

'' and '' Attack of the Cybermen''. The Doctor's standing in Time Lord society has waxed and waned over the years, from being a hunted man who was eventually punished with a forced regeneration and an exile sentence on Earth, to being appointed Lord President of the High Council. He does not assume the office for very long, fleeing Gallifrey after his appointment rather than accepting the limitations on his freedom that the role would place on him (''

''), and is eventually

deposed Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch.
ORB: The Online Reference for Med ...

''in absentia'' (''

The Trial of a Time Lord The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: ''The Mysterious ...

''). By the time of his twelfth incarnation, he is regarded by many Gallifreyans as a war hero, "the man who won the Time War" (" Hell Bent").

The Time War

In the first series of the 2005 revival, writer

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...

introduced the concept of the Time War to streamline the Doctor's backstory for new viewers of the show. It was a war across all of time and space which ended when the Doctor presumably destroyed both the Time Lords and the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

s. The Doctor's remorse for his actions in his Ninth, Tenth and

Eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a ...

incarnations is a key part of his characterisation throughout the revival. The Time War happened between the 1996 television movie and 2005 opening episode "

" according to the show's internal chronology, although the events of past serials such as ''

'' have been retroactively attributed to the Time War. It was never shown on-screen until " The End of Time", which was both Davies' last story as head writer and producer and

's last regular story as the Tenth Doctor. This episode featured brief views of Gallifrey and the Time Lords on the last day of the Time War. The 2013 mini-episode "

The Night of the Doctor "The Night of the Doctor" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was made available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube on 14 November 2013, as part of the BBC One lead-up to the show's 50th anniver ...

", released as a prelude to the 50th anniversary special, featured

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

reprising his role as the Eighth Doctor and was set during the Last Great Time War, albeit much earlier than during "The End of Time". The mini-episode presented him as a conscientious objector to the war who regenerated under controlled circumstances into the

War Doctor The War Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by the English actor John Hurt. Although he precedes Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the ...

(

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

), a previously unseen incarnation created retroactively by Davies' successor as head writer,

, for the 50th anniversary special "

". The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors explained that Hurt's regeneration was not the Doctor because his actions during the Time War were a betrayal of the promise that name symbolized. "The Day of the Doctor" revisited the last day of the Time War after "The End of Time "and revealed that the interference of the future Doctors and future companion

caused the War Doctor to change his plan at the last moment. Ultimately, Gallifrey was hidden in a parallel dimension and the Daleks destroyed themselves in the ensuing crossfire; to all observers, it appeared as though the two races had been annihilated together. The unsynchronized timestreams caused the War Doctor to forget the specifics of his actions at this time. The Doctor remembered committing the apparent genocide during the lives of his ninth, tenth and eleventh incarnations up until the time of the Eleventh Doctor's present.

Development

The character of the Doctor was created by BBC Head of Drama,

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...

. The first format document for the programme that was to become ''Doctor Who'' – then provisionally titled ''The Troubleshooters'' – was written in March 1963 by C. E. Webber, a 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.' " Newman was not keen on this idea and – along with several other changes to Webber's initial format – 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. No written record of Newman's conveyance of these ideas – believed to have taken place in April 1963 – exists, and the character of Dr Who first begins appearing in existing documentation from May of that year. It is possible that series co-creator Donald Wilson may have named the character; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have come up with the series' title, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. The character was first portrayed by

in 1963. At the programme's beginning, nothing at all is known of the Doctor: not even his name, the actual form of which remains a mystery. In the first serial, ''

An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...

,'' two teachers from

Coal Hill School Coal Hill School is a fictional school in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series ''Class''. It is located on Coal Hill Road in the Shoreditch area of London. The school first appeared in the first ...

in London, Barbara Wright and

Ian Chesterton Ian Chesterton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and a companion of the First Doctor. He was played in the series by William Russell, and was one of the members of the programme's first r ...

, become intrigued by one of their pupils,

, 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 camouflage for the dimensionally transcendental interior of the

. The old man, whom Susan calls "Grandfather", kidnaps Barbara and Ian to prevent them from telling anyone about the existence of the TARDIS, taking them on an adventure in time and space. The first Doctor, says cultural scholar John Paul Green, "explicitly positioned the Doctor as grandfather to his companion Susan." He wore long white hair and Edwardian costume, reflecting, Green says, a "definite sense of Englishness". When Hartnell left the programme after three years due to ill health, the role was handed over to character actor

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

. , official television productions have depicted fourteen distinct incarnations of the Doctor.Following Hartnell's death in 1975, actor

Richard Hurndall Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special '' The Five Doctors''. Caree ...

substituted in his role as the

First Doctor The First Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time ...

in 1983's 20th-anniversary special, ''

''.The

was introduced in "

" and follows

's "Eighth Doctor" and precedes Christopher Eccleston's "Ninth Doctor" within the show's internal chronology. The longest-lasting on-screen incarnation is the

, played by

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...

for seven years. Within the narrative, these changes were explained as regeneration, a biological process which heals a Time Lord when their incarnation is about to die. Consequently, the Time Lord is given a wholly new body. In ''

The Deadly Assassin ''The Deadly Assassin'' is the third serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 30 October to 20 November 1976. It is the first seri ...

'', the concept of a regeneration limit is introduced, giving Time Lords a fixed number of twelve regenerations, meaning that every Time Lord had a total of thirteen incarnations including the original. The plot of "

" involves the Doctor receiving a new cycle of regenerations from the Time Lords before his expected demise, triggering the regeneration into the

Twelfth Doctor The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incar ...

, played by

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

.The Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith) believed himself to be the final incarnation, owing to the existence of the War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor's partially aborted regeneration in "

The Stolen Earth "The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the Doctor Who (series 4), fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One ...

"/"

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

". The origins of the programme were explored in the docudrama ''

An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...

'' as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of ''Doctor Who'', which starred David Bradley as

Physiology

Although Time Lords resemble humans, their physiology differs in key respects. Like other members of their race, the Doctor has two

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

s (binary vascular system), a "respiratory bypass system" that allows the Doctor to go without air, an internal body temperature of 15–16 °C (60 °F) and 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 stated they used to play with Röntgen bricks in the nursery, after absorbing the radiation from an x-ray of significantly magnified power). This ability would seem to have limitations which have yet to be fully explained, as the Doctor ''is'' harmed by radiation in ''

The Daleks ''The Daleks'' (also known as ''The Mutants'' and ''The Dead Planet'') is the second Serial (radio and television), serial in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadca ...

'', ''

'' and " The End of Time". The Doctor has withstood, with minimal damage, exposure to electricity deadly enough to kill a human (''

Terror of the Zygons Terror of the Zygons is the first serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was the first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 30 August to 20 September 1975. It was the last regula ...

'', ''

'', " Aliens of London", "

The Christmas Invasion "The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2005. This episode features the first full-episode appearance of David Te ...

", " The Idiot's Lantern", " Evolution of the Daleks" and spin-off audio '' Spare Parts''). Certain stories imply that the Time Lord is resistant to cold temperatures (" 42"). To counter extreme trauma, such as exposure to the poisonous fungus in ''

The Seeds of Death ''The Seeds of Death'' is the fifth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Brian Hayles and an uncredited Terrance Dicks and directed by Michael Ferguson, it originally aired ...

'' and after being shot in ''

Spearhead from Space ''Spearhead from Space'' is the first serial of the seventh season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1970. It was the first ''Doctor Who'' ...

'', the Doctor can go into a self-induced coma until they recover. The Doctor's hypersensitive body and senses enable them to detect anomalies humans cannot, such as identifying alien species, blood type or chemical composition by taste and determining location or time period by sniffing the air. In "

The Unicorn and the Wasp "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was aired on BBC One on 17 May 2008. Set in an English manor house in 1926, shortly before the ...

" (2008) he was able to sense the changes in his body's enzymes (i.e. cyanide poisoning) and expel the

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

from his body by ingesting a concoction of

ginger beer Traditional ginger beer is a sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. Historically it was produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast and sugar. Current ginger beers are often manufactured rather than ...

, protein foods and salts. The Doctor has shown a resistance to temporal effects and has demonstrated telepathic ability, both the ability to mentally connect to other incarnations of themselves they have encountered (''

''), and an ability to enter into the memories of other individuals ("

"). The Doctor can apparently reverse this process, sharing their memory with another, as shown in " The Lodger". Some humans can enter the Doctor's memories after the Doctor enters theirs, as demonstrated by Madame de Pompadour (much to the Doctor's surprise) in "The Girl in the Fireplace", when she explains, "A door, once opened, may be stepped through in either direction." In "

The Fires of Pompeii "The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. Set shortly before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD ...

", the Doctor reveals that he is able to perceive the fabric of time, discerning "fixed points" and "points in flux" – moments when history must remain as it was originally versus moments when he can change or influence the original course of events, as well as all past, present and possible future events. However, in "

Kill the Moon "Kill the Moon" is the seventh episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 October 2014. The episode was written by Peter Harness and directed by Paul W ...

", the

claims that there are "grey areas", points in time for which he cannot see the outcome. Like many other alien species in the programme, the Doctor is able to sense when their own species is within proximity through an inherent telepathic connection. The Doctor exhibits some weaknesses uncommon to humans. For example, according to ''

The Mind of Evil ''The Mind of Evil'' is the second serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 30 January to 6 March 1971. In the serial, the alien ...

'' (1971), a tablet of

aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

could kill him. In " Cold Blood", a process meant to decontaminate him of bacteria from the surface of Earth causes him intense pain, and he says it could have killed him if allowed to proceed to completion. In the

Eighth Doctor Adventures The ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes abbreviated as EDA or referred to as the EDAs) are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books impr ...

novel ''

The Adventuress of Henrietta Street ''The Adventuress of Henrietta Street'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Anji. This novel se ...

'', the Doctor's second heart was surgically removed, resulting in the loss of his abilities to metabolise drugs and go without air; these are restored when he begins to grow a new heart after his old one 'dies' (''

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

''). In his final serial, the

states that Time Lords can live forever, "barring accidents." When "accidents" do occur, Time Lords can usually regenerate into a new body. It is stated in ''

'' that Time Lords can only regenerate a total of twelve times, giving a theoretical final total of thirteen incarnations. However, The Doctor has a natural ability to regenerate an infinite number of times. It is possible to exceed this limit: in ''The Five Doctors'' the Time Lords offer the Master, who is inhabiting a Trakenite body after exhausting his original twelve regenerations, a new regeneration cycle as a reward for his help and cooperation, and at some point, during the Time War they resurrected him, with his new body having at least one regeneration of its own. Regeneration is apparently optional, as in "

Last of the Time Lords "Last of the Time Lords" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007. It is the last of three episodes that form a ...

" the Master refuses to regenerate despite the Tenth Doctor's pleading. In addition, there are ways of killing a Time Lord that do not permit regeneration; for example, more than once it has been implied that stopping both the Doctor's hearts simultaneously would accomplish this (as demonstrated in the Eleventh Doctor story "

The Impossible Astronaut "The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was written by show runner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. It was first broadcast on 23 ...

"). The Chancellery Guard (Gallifrey's equivalent of a police force) are armed with stasers, weapons capable of suppressing regeneration. In ''

Death of the Doctor ''Death of the Doctor'' is a two-part story of ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' which was broadcast on CBBC on 25 and 26 October 2010. It is the third story of the fourth series. A cross-over story with ''Doctor Who'', story involves UNIT informing ...

'', a serial from spin-off programme ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC ...

'', the Eleventh Doctor flippantly responds to Clyde Langer that he can regenerate "507" times; writer Russell T. Davies intended this line as a joke. Due to the retroactive creation of a numberless War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor's aborted regeneration in "

"/"

", the Eleventh Doctor was the final incarnation in his natural cycle. The Time Lords used a crack in the universe to give him a new cycle consisting of an unknown number of regenerations in "

", triggering the regeneration into the Twelfth Doctor (

). The Twelfth Doctor later claims to be uncertain he "won't keep regenerating forever" ("Kill the Moon"), and even Rassilon, the president of the Time Lords, expresses uncertainty about how many regenerations the Doctor has available to him. Other skills include his mental communication with other Time Lords, in some cases over a galaxy's distance. His skill with hypnosis requires only a glance into the eyes to put the subject under a trance. The Doctor can read an entire book cover to cover in a second by thumb-flipping the pages before his eyes (''

City of Death ''City of Death'' is the second serial of the seventeenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. It was produced by the BBC ...

'', "

", "

The Time of Angels "The Time of Angels" is the fourth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showr ...

"). Though medical skills he shows early in the programme are rudimentary, by ''

Remembrance of the Daleks ''Remembrance of the Daleks'' is the first serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The serial was first broadcast in four weekly episodes from 5 to 26 October 1988. It was written by Ben Aaronovi ...

'' he can perform sophisticated medical diagnoses merely by touching someone's ear. He is an excellent

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

player ('' Black Orchid'') and in " The Lodger" he proves to be a prodigiously talented

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

despite unfamiliarity with some of the game's basic rules. Though reluctant to engage in combat against living opponents, this is not for lack of skill; the Doctor is conversant with both real and fictitious styles of unarmed combat (most obviously the "Venusian Aikido" practised by the Third Doctor), has won several sword fights against skilled opponents, and is able to make extremely difficult shots with firearms and, in ''

The Face of Evil ''The Face of Evil'' is the fourth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 22 January 1977. This serial marked the debut of Loui ...

'', with a crossbow. Thanks to exposure to many of history's greatest experts, including those from the future, the Doctor is a talented boxer, musician, organist, scientist and singer (able to shatter windows with his voice), and has a PhD in

cheesemaking Cheesemaking (or caseiculture) is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentr ...

The God Complex "The God Complex" is the eleventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 17 September 2011. It was written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Nick Hurran. In t ...

").

Name

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, the Doctor responds, "Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about?" Later, when Ian 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 programme's inception, Barbara and Ian would have subsequently referred to the Doctor as "Doctor Who", given their not knowing his name. Throughout both the classic and revived programme, a running joke is that when the Doctor is introduced as just the Doctor, characters reply "Doctor who?" Another variation is "Doctor what?" The story arc running throughout the tenure of the

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doct ...

involved the oldest question in the universe, revealed in "

" to be "Doctor who?", giving the phrase in-universe significance. In "

", the Doctor's real name was revealed to be the password used to enter the Doctor's tomb following his death on the planet Trenzalore. The story arc was resolved in "

", wherein it was revealed that the question had been projected by the

s across all of time and space through a "crack in the skin of the universe" as a means of contacting the Doctor and seeing whether it was safe to leave the parallel universe in which their planet,

, had been left following the events of "

". This arc was penned by

, who has been exploring the significance of the Doctor's name in his episodes since 2006's "

", in which historical figure Madame de Pompadour reads the Doctor's mind and remarks, "Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" According to the in-vision commentary on the DVD release,

had to inform actress

Sophia Myles Sophia Jane Myles (; born 18 March 1980) is an English actress. She is best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in ''Thunderbirds'' (2004), Isolde in '' Tristan & Isolde'' (2006), Darcy in '' Transformers: Age of Extincti ...

(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. The 2011 mid-series finale "

", also written by Moffat, suggested through the character of River Song that the Doctor's travels had influenced the

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

of the word "doctor", perverting its meaning on some worlds from "wise man" or "healer" to "great warrior". In " The End of Time" (2009–2010) it is mentioned that after he smote a demon in the 13th century, the residents of a convent called the Doctor the "sainted physician". This was proposed by Moffat on

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it wa ...

16 years before "A Good Man Goes to War": The anonymity of the Doctor is the theme of

series 7 Series 7 may refer to: *The seventh season of any of many shows or series; see and *Series 7 exam, officially the General Securities Representative Exam, the most comprehensive financial securities exam offered by the FINRA *'' Series 7: The Conte ...

of the revived programme. After faking his death, the Doctor erases himself from the various databases of the universe. In "

Asylum of the Daleks "Asylum of the Daleks" is the first episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', broadcast on BBC One on 1 September 2012. It was written by executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by ...

", a "time splinter" of future companion

using the name Oswin wipes all knowledge of the Doctor from the Daleks' collective memory. This knowledge is regained when the Daleks conquer the Church of the Silence in "

" (2013). The Doctor is not present on Solomon's database in " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and holds a conversation about his newfound anonymity in "

" with River Song. In "

Nightmare in Silver "Nightmare in Silver" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 May 2013. It was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by ...

", the collective consciousness of the

Cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ( ...

informs the Doctor that he could be reconstructed from the "hole" – the missing records – that he has left behind, a mistake which the Doctor intends to rectify. Few individuals are said to know the Doctor's true name. River Song whispered something to the Tenth Doctor to make him trust her during "

Silence in the Library "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story; the second part, ...

"/"

Forest of the Dead "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story; the first part, "Silence in ...

", confirmed to have been his name towards the end of "Forest of the Dead". The events of "

" make it clear that his people, the Time Lords, know his true name, despite referring to him by his chosen alias as "the Doctor", even in formal settings such as court. Despite the common belief amongst some areas of the fanbase that the Doctor should never be referred to by the name of the series, "Doctor Who" is actually fairly often used as the character's name, most frequently in the spin-off material of the 1960s and 1970s, but occasionally also in the TV series itself. For example, in ''

The Gunfighters ''The Gunfighters'' is the seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. The serial is set in and around the tow ...

'' the Doctor assumes the name of Doctor Caligari and subsequently responds to the question "Doctor who?" with "yes, quite right". In the serial ''

The War Machines ''The War Machines'' is the ninth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966. The serial is set in 1960s London ...

'', the computer

WOTAN (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

commands that "Doctor Who is required", and his human agents also use the name. The

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord fr ...

's car, dubbed "Bessie", carried the plate WHO 1, the only ongoing reference to the "Doctor Who" enigma in the original programme. The Third Doctor later drove an outlandish vehicle called the "Whomobile" in publicity materials, but it is never referred to as such in the programme, being simply known as "the Doctor's car" or "my car", as the Doctor puts it. The name "Doctor Who" is used in the title of the serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', but this was a captioning error rather than an in-story mention. The only other time this occurs is in the title of episode five of '' The Chase'', which is titled "The Death of Doctor Who". In " World Enough and Time" (2017), the Doctor's old friend and archenemy the Master (as Missy) insists that the Doctor's real name is in fact Doctor Who, and that he chose it himself, though he tries to reassure his companion that she is joking, although later in the episode self-identifies by that name. In " Twice Upon a Time", before regeneration the

states that no one would ever understand his name except for children saying 'if their hearts are in the right place and the stars are too, children can hear your name.'

offered his own theory regarding the Doctor's real name, commenting "I don't think human beings could even really say his name. But I think we might be able to hear it, at a certain frequency. If the stars are in the right place, and your heart's in the right place, you'll hear it." On occasion, the Doctor uses other aliases, such as "John Smith". In the

serial ''

The Armageddon Factor ''The Armageddon Factor'' is the sixth and final serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 20 January to 24 February 1979. It was the las ...

'', the Doctor runs into a former classmate of his named Drax. Drax calls the Doctor Theta Sigma or "Thete" for short, an alias which is clarified as the Doctor's nickname at the Prydon Academy on Gallifrey in ''

The Happiness Patrol ''The Happiness Patrol'' is the second serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 16 November 1988. The serial is set on the Ea ...

'' and referred to again in the 2010 episode "

The Pandorica Opens "The Pandorica Opens" is the twelfth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on 19 June 2010 on BBC One. It is the first in a two-part finale; the second part, "The Big Bang" ...

". In the 2015 episode "

The Zygon Inversion "The Zygon Inversion" is the eighth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 7 November 2015, and was written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat and directe ...

", The Doctor tells Osgood that his first name is "Basil". ''Doctor Who'' spin-off media have suggested that the character uses the name "the Doctor" because his actual name is impossible for humans to pronounce. For instance in the novel ''

Vanderdeken's Children ''Vanderdeken's Children'' is an original novel written by Christopher Bulis and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor and Sam. Plot overview The TARDIS The TARD ...

'', it is told that the Doctor already told Sam his real name which is entirely alien and virtually unpronounceable. This is repeated by companion

Peri Brown Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. An American botany major from Pasadena, California, Peri is a companion of the Fifth ...

in the radio serial ''

Slipback ''Slipback'' is a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced by the BBC and first broadcast in six episodes on BBC Radio 4 from 25 July to 8 August 1985, as part of a children's ...

''. The

Faction Paradox ''Faction Paradox'' is a series of novels, audio stories, short story anthologies, and comics set in and around a "War in Heaven", a history-spanning conflict between godlike "Great Houses" and their mysterious enemy. The series is named after a ...

encyclopaedia ''

The Book of the War ''The Book of the War'' is a hypertext multi-author novel presented in the form of an encyclopedia of the first 50 years of the War in the Faction Paradox universe based on the '' Doctor Who'' universe. The book was edited by Lawrence Miles, a ...

'' states that all renegades from the Homeworld/Gallifrey abandon their names to symbolise how they leave their culture. Similarly, the novel ''

'' reveals that the Doctor's name has been struck from the records of his family and therefore cannot be spoken. The character played by

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

in the films ''

Dr. Who and the Daleks ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars Peter Cushi ...

'' (1965) and ''

Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. ''Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' is a 1966 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the second of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars ...

'' (1966) referred to himself as "Dr. Who". However, these films are not considered part of the same narrative continuity as the television programme, as they were rewritten from two television serials (''

'' and ''

The Dalek Invasion of Earth ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' is the second Serial (radio and television), serial of the Doctor Who (season 2), second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Ma ...

'', respectively) featuring William Hartnell, making considerable alterations to the characters of the Doctor and his companions.

Alias "The Doctor"

Quite apart from his name, why the Doctor uses the title "The Doctor" has never been fully explained on screen. The Doctor, at first, said that he was not a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, often referring to himself as a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

or an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

. However, he does occasionally show medical knowledge and has stated on separate occasions that he studied under

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...

and

Joseph Bell Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Hol ...

. In ''

The Moonbase ''The Moonbase'' is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967. In this serial, the Secon ...

'' (1967), the

mentions that he studied for a medical degree in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

during the 19th century. The Fourth Doctor was awarded an honorary degree from St. Cedd's College, Cambridge in 1960.Stated by Wilkin who recognises the Fourth Doctor in '' Shada''. He has been mocked by his fellow Time Lords for adhering to such a "lowly" title as "Doctor", although in ''

'' (1979), Drax congratulates him on achieving his doctorate, indicating it was at least a somewhat respectable title. In "

" (2006), he draws an analogy between the title and Madame de Pompadour's. In ''

'' (1972) an official asks the Third Doctor if he is, in fact, a doctor, to which the Doctor replies "I am, yes"; when asked what he is qualified in, the Doctor replies, "Practically 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 ''Revenge of the Cybermen'' is the fifth and final serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 19 April to 10 May 1975. It was the first ...

'', 1975). The

Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...

claims to be a doctor "of everything" in ''

Four to Doomsday ''Four to Doomsday'' is the second serial of the 19th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 18 to 26 January 1982. The serial is set almost enti ...

'' (1982), and a message to the same effect is related from the Tenth Doctor in "

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

" (2007). In talking with Harry in ''

'' (1974–1975) the Doctor states "You may be ''a'' doctor, but I'm ''the'' Doctor. The definite article, you might say." In ''

The Ark in Space ''The Ark in Space'' is the second serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 January to 15 February 1975. The serial is set more tha ...

'' (1975), aired later that year, the Doctor states that his doctorate is only honorary; the Tenth Doctor, however, considers the name to be his legitimate academic rank in "

The Waters of Mars "The Waters of Mars" is the third episode of the 2008–2010 specials of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. The story is set on Mars in the year 2059 where t ...

" (2009), describing his "name, rank and intention" as "The Doctor; doctor; fun." In an interview with ''The Age'' in 2003,

mentioned that the Doctor is called so because he is "a doctor of time and relative dimension in space". Apart from being called a doctor of the TARDIS, the Doctor has been referred to as a "doctor of time travel." The revived programme establishes that Time Lords invent their own names. In "

" (2007), the Tenth Doctor remarks to the Master that they both chose their names, with the Master calling him sanctimonious for identifying himself as "the man who makes people better." The

, in "

", and repeated in the next episode, "

", by the

and Eleventh Doctor (collectively), elaborate that the name is a promise to be: "Never cruel or cowardly. Never giving up and never giving in." By contrast, the Eleventh Doctor had earlier spoke of the War Doctor as being the man who broke that promise, being the one to fight in the Time War before learning the actual fate of the Time Lords. Since contradicted by the television series, the 2003 Telos novella '' Frayed'' by Tara Samms, set prior to the programme's first episode in 1963, presents the alternative explanation that the Doctor was given that name by medical staff on a foreign planet and liked it. To make up for his lack of a practical name, the Doctor often relies upon convenient pseudonyms. In ''

'' (1966), the First Doctor uses the alias Dr. Caligari. In '' The Highlanders'' (1966–67), the Second Doctor assumes the name of "Doctor von Wer" (a German approximation of "Doctor Who"), and signs himself as "Dr. W" in ''

The Underwater Menace ''The Underwater Menace'' is the half-missing fifth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 January to 4 February 1967. In this seri ...

.'' He similarly poses as "the Great Wizard Quiquaequod" in ''

The Dæmons ''The Dæmons'' is the fifth and final serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in five weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 May to 19 June 1971. In the serial, the alien ...

'' (''qui'', ''quae'' and ''quod'' being, respectively, the masculine, feminine and neuter Latin translation of the nominative form of ''who''). The Master was utilising Latin translation in the same serial, posing as "Mr Magister". The Eighth Doctor's companion

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

briefly refers to him by the alias "Dr. Bowman" in the 1996 ''Doctor Who'' television movie. In ''

The Wheel in Space ''The Wheel in Space'' is the mostly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968. In this seria ...

'' (1968), his companion

Jamie McCrimmon James Robert McCrimmon, usually simply called Jamie, is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A piper of the Clan MacLeod who lived in 18th-century Scotland, ...

, reading the name on medical equipment, tells the crew of the Wheel that the Doctor's name is "John Smith". The Doctor subsequently adopts this alias numerous times over the course of the programme, sometimes prefixing the title "Doctor" to it. In the audio adventure, ''

The Sirens of Time ''The Sirens of Time'' is a 1999 audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was the first Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the series and became the first in the company's '' ...

'', when the Fifth Doctor is asked his name, this conversation ensues:

"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor? That's a profession, not a name."
"It's all I have."

To his greatest enemies, the

s, the Doctor is known as the ''Ka Faraq Gatri,'' the "Enemy of the Daleks", the "Bringer of Darkness" or "Destroyer of Worlds". This is first mentioned in the novelisation of ''

'' by

and subsequently taken up in the spin-off media, particularly the

books and the '' Doctor Who Magazine'' comic strip.

Davros Davros () is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was created by screenwriter Terry Nation, originally for the 1975 serial ''Genesis of the Daleks''. Davros is a major enemy of the se ...

uses the title "Destroyer of Worlds" to describe the Doctor in "

" (2008). In the Virgin New Adventures novel '' Love and War'', the Doctor is referred to as "The Oncoming Storm" by the Draconians (whose word for it is "Karshtakavaar"); according to the episode "

The Parting of the Ways "The Parting of the Ways" is the thirteenth episode and the season finale of the revived first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 June 2005. It was the se ...

" (2005), the same title is used by the Daleks. The Doctor refers to himself as "The Oncoming Storm" in " The Lodger" (2010). In "

" (2012), it is stated that Daleks refer to the Doctor as "The Predator". The Virgin New Adventure ''

Zamper ''Zamper'' is an original novel written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris Chris is a short form of various names includ ...

'' establishes that the Chelonians refer to him as "Interfering Idiot". The programme has occasionally toyed with the Doctor's identity (or lack thereof). In the first part of ''

The Mysterious Planet ''The Mysterious Planet'' is the first serial of the larger narrative known as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast i ...

'' (1986), the Doctor suggests writing a thesis on "Ancient Life on Ravolox, by Doctor...", but is interrupted by his companion Peri. In ''The Armageddon Factor'', the Time Lord Drax addresses the

as "Thete", short for "Theta Sigma". Later, in ''

'' (1988), 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 Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

letters inscribed on it (as well as a stylised question mark). This may be a reference to ''The Making of Doctor Who'' (1972), by

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working a ...

and

Malcolm Hulke Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...

, which claims that the Doctor's true name is a string of Greek letters and mathematical symbols. The question mark motif was common throughout the 1980s, in part as a branding attempt. Beginning with season eighteen, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and

s all sported costumes with a red question mark motif (usually on the shirt collars, except for the Seventh Doctor – 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.''

On-screen credits

In the early years of the franchise, the character was credited as "Doctor Who" or "Dr Who", up to the final story of season 18, ''

Logopolis ''Logopolis'' is the seventh and final serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 28 February to 21 March 1981. It was Tom Baker's last ...

'' (1981), which was the last story featuring

as the then-incumbent

. Beginning with the debut of Peter Davison as the

in '' Castrovalva'' (1982), the character was credited as "The Doctor", which he had been referred to in-universe since the tenure of

. This credit remained from season 19 to season 26. In the

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

, the trend is continued, with

's debuting Eighth Doctor credited as "The Doctor" and

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

's out-going

as "The Old Doctor". The 2005 resurrection of the programme credited Christopher Eccleston – playing the

– as "Doctor Who" again in

series 1 The IBM Series/1 is a 16-bit minicomputer, introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP. The Seri ...

. "

", featuring the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth Doctor (

) credits Tennant as "Doctor Who". The credit reverted to "The Doctor" for 2005's Christmas special "

" and all subsequent stories at Tennant's request.

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

and

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017). She came to prominence ...

have continued to be credited as "The Doctor".

plays a mysterious past incarnation of the Doctor in the 50th anniversary special "

", with minor roles in "

" and mini-episode "

", created as a "mayfly Doctor" by

. In the television episodes, he is credited as "The Doctor", but he is introduced as "The War Doctor" in "The Night of the Doctor". The end of "The Name of the Doctor" closes with text superimposed over footage of Hurt introducing him, pictured to the left, which was unprecedented for the show. In "The Day of the Doctor", Hurt appears in a "multi-Doctor" special alongside

and David Tennant as the

and Tenth Doctors, respectively. The three are collectively credited as "The Doctor" alongside Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy,

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee,

and William Hartnell, although the latter nine appeared only through the reuse of archive footage. Tom Baker did reappear, but as "the Curator", an ambiguously different character who he was not credited for playing. A voice actor, John Guilor, recorded a line of audio impersonating the

, for which he was credited as "Voice Over Artist". In other multi-Doctor stories, the multiple actors are all credited as "The Doctor", the exception being '' The Three Doctors'' (1972–73), which credited William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee as "Doctor Who" as the 1972 serial preceded the practice of crediting the character as "The Doctor". In "

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

" (2007), the plot involves the Tenth Doctor altering his biology and becoming a human to avoid detection. As a human, he takes the name "John Smith". David Tennant is credited as "The Doctor/Smith" for the episode, although the two-parter's concluding episode, "

The Family of Blood "The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 June 2007. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul C ...

" (2007), credits him simply as "The Doctor".

Changing faces

The recasting of actors playing the part of the Doctor is explained within the programme by the

s' ability to regenerate after suffering illness, mortal injury or old age. The process repairs all damage and rejuvenates the Doctor's body, but as a side effect it changes the Doctor's physical appearance and personality. This ability was not introduced until producers had to find a way to replace the ailing

with

and was not explicitly called "regeneration" until Jon Pertwee's transformation to

at the climax of ''

'' (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, since the Doctor stated his age in the Second Doctor serial ''

'' (1967), his age has been recorded progressively (see below). In seven out of eleven transitions, the new actor was younger than their predecessor had been when they began the role. In the revived programme, the pattern is resumed with the transition of the Ninth to the Tenth, the Tenth to the Eleventh and the Twelfth to the Thirteenth Doctor, although

is on record stating the intention was to cast an actor in his mid-30s to 40s for the role of the Eleventh Doctor, despite casting

, who is the youngest actor to ever have played the role.

Actors

The actors who have played the lead role of the Doctor in the programme and the dates of their first and last regular television appearances in the role, are: In addition to the above-listed actors, others have played versions of the Doctor for the duration of particular storylines. Notably,

guest starred as the

in the closing moments of the 2013 episode "

", the webcast "

" and the 50th Anniversary episode "

". The War Doctor is an incarnation existing between those of McGann and Eccleston. Hurt was never the programme's lead actor; his Doctor was retroactively inserted into continuity for the programme's 50th anniversary, and was written so as not to disturb the ordinal naming of the established Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. In the 1986 serial ''

'',

Michael Jayston Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, is an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have include ...

played the

Valeyard The Valeyard () is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, '' Doctor Who''. He is described by the Master as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incar ...

, an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations. In the Series 12 episode "

Fugitive of the Judoon "Fugitive of the Judoon" is the fifth episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 26 January 2020. It was written by Vinay Patel and current showrunner Chris C ...

Jo Martin Jo Martin (born 29 April) is a British actress. She played Natalie Crouch in the BBC One sitcom '' The Crouches'', which aired between 2003 and 2005. She joined the cast of ''Holby City'' in 2019 as neurosurgeon Max McGerry. Martin portrayed a ...

played a previous and unknown incarnation of the Doctor who existed at some point before the Time War. The capacity for the Doctor to have other previously-unknown regenerations prior to the First Doctor was introduced in "The Timeless Children" (2020), having previously been hinted at in the serial ''

''.

Personality

While the Doctor remains essentially the same person throughout their regenerations, each actor has purposely imbued the character with distinct quirks and characteristics, and the production teams dictate new personality traits for each actor to portray. Several personality traits remain constant throughout the Doctor's incarnations, most notably a disarming or mercurial surface, concealing a deep well of age, wisdom, melancholy, and darkness. This duality is explored more overtly in the revived series (2005–present), which has described him as "fire and ice and rage, he's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun, he's ancient and forever, he burns at the centre of time..." and "the man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name". Though the Doctor tends to present a jocular, even childlike, persona, when the stakes rise—e.g., in ''

Pyramids of Mars ''Pyramids of Mars'' is the third serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer under the pseudonym of "Stephen Harris" and directed by Paddy Russell, ...

'' (1975)—that mask tends to fall, revealing a Doctor who is cold, driven, at times callous. This dark side sits in contrast to the Doctor's deep compassion, which manifests to different strength and effect across their incarnations. The Doctor prefers a pacifist solution to most problems, and is an ardent champion of life and dignity over violence and war.Doctor Who Confidential; 8 May 2008 Their pacifism runs deeply enough to, on many occasions, doubt the morality of destroying their worst enemies - the

s. Their compassion for their fallen friend, the Master, often runs against clear reason or self-interest, as when they urge a dying Master to regenerate ("

") or vows to watch over them for 1,000 years in order to avert their execution ("

Extremis ''Extremis'' is a six-issue story arc from the comic book series ''Iron Man'' (vol. 4), published in issues one through six in 2005 and 2006 by Marvel Comics. It was written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov. ''Extremis'' elevat ...

"). The Doctor has a deep sense of right and wrong, and a conviction that it is right to intervene when injustice occurs, which sets them apart from their own people, the Time Lords, and their strict ethic of non-intervention. Often the Doctor is critical of others who employ deadly force, be they their companions ( Leela in ''

'' and ''

The Talons of Weng-Chiang ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' is the sixth and final serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 2 April 1977. In the seria ...

'' (1977);

Jack Harkness Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. The character first appears in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the ...

in "

" (2007)) or other supporting characters. In the episode " The Lodger" (2010), a member of the Doctor's football team offhandedly mentions annihilating the team they will play next week. The Doctor looks very angry and says, "No violence, not while I'm around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the oncoming storm... and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?" The Doctor has a particular dislike for ranged weapons such as firearms or rayguns and tends to make a special effort to avoid their use. The Tenth Doctor especially makes a show of his distaste, discarding guns while declaring "I never would!" ("

") and asserting that he is unarmed: "That's me. Always." ("

Doomsday Doomsday may refer to: * Eschatology, a time period described in the eschatological writings in Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios of non-Abrahamic religions. * Global catastrophic risk, a hypothetical event explored in science and fict ...

"). On some rare occasions, the Doctor does make use of weapons (as in

Day of the Daleks ''Day of the Daleks'' is the first serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 to 22 January 1972. It was the first of four Third Doctor serials ...

, The Talons of Weng Chiang, and

Resurrection of the Daleks ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 between 8 February and 15 February 1984. The serial ...

), but most of the time it is usually to bluff or employ for an alternative use, e.g., destroying a machine vital to their enemies' scheme (" The End of Time"). Nonetheless, when brought to an extreme (e.g., ''

Earthshock ''Earthshock'' is the sixth serial of the 19th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 to 16 March 1982. This serial marks the final regular appe ...

,'' ''

Vengeance on Varos ''Vengeance on Varos'' is the second serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 19 and 26 January 1985. The serial is set on the planet Varos, whe ...

,'' "

") the Doctor may resort to violence—even deadly force—to protect those considered under the Doctor's care. In ''

'' (1988), the Doctor even contrives for the Daleks' homeworld,

Skaro Skaro is a fictional planet in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks. In ''The Daleks'' (1963–64), Skaro is described as being the twelfth ...

, to be destroyed, albeit manipulating the Daleks into doing it themselves after he sabotaged their equipment. Starting with the 2005 revival, the Doctor carries the weight of a Time War between the Daleks and his people, the Time Lords, in which he believes himself responsible for the genocide of both races, in aid of the greater good, but this burden was lessened after "

" revealed that the Doctor's thirteen incarnations joined forces to save Gallifrey and create the illusion of its destruction. Bearing the strain of his wartime actions, the

deliberately tortures a lone Dalek he encounters ("

"), despite its pleas to "have pity," stating coldly, "you never did." The

notably declares a "one chance only" policy when dealing with aliens invading the Earth, leading his companion Donna Noble to comment that he needs "someone" to keep his temperament in check. In "

" (2007), a defeated alien reflects that the Doctor "never raised his voice – that was the worst thing, the fury of a Time Lord". Through the course of his adventures, the

underwent significant personality shifts, becoming ever more ruthless when travelling alone; falling into a deep depression and inertia when his friends Amy and

Rory Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...

were lost to him, and finally undergoing a manic change at the prospect that

Clara Oswin Oswald Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the seventh series as a new travell ...

was still alive. By contrast, the

became a lighter person over the course of his life, beginning with a grim mood where he may have dropped a man out of a hot air balloon and questioning his own nature ("

Into the Dalek "Into the Dalek" is the second episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Phil Ford and Steven Moffat, and directed by Ben Wheatley, and first broadcast on BBC One on 30 Aug ...

") but ending with a firm resolve that he would take the hard option just because it was right ("

The Doctor Falls "The Doctor Falls" is the twelfth and final episode of the tenth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay, and was broadcast on 1 July 2017 on BBC One. I ...

").

Accent

Different actors have used different

regional accents In sociolinguistics, an accent is a way of pronouncing a language that is distinctive to a country, area, social class, or individual. An accent may be identified with the locality in which its speakers reside (a regional or geographical acce ...

in the role. The first six Doctors spoke in

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard and most prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been argument over such questions as the definition of RP, whether it is geog ...

or "BBC English", as was standard on British television at the time. Sylvester McCoy used a very mild version of his own

Scottish accent Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

in the role, and

spoke with a faint

Liverpudlian Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

lilt. Only rarely is this even addressed in the programme. In the case of McGann's Doctor, who is identified by American characters as "British", he seems only slightly conscious of the way he sounds, responding with "Yes, I suppose I am." When the accent of Eccleston's Doctor is clearly described as " Northern", he responds with the line "Lots of planets have a North." Capaldi's portrayal of the Doctor explicitly identified his own accent as " Scottish" after commenting on the English accents of his friends,

Jenny Flint Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax (informally known as the Paternoster Gang, together with the Doctor), are a trio of recurring fictional characters in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', created by Steven Moffat ...

and

, while experiencing post-regeneration amnesia (" Deep Breath"). Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor speaks with the actress' natural Yorkshire accent and is identified as British during a trip to America. Another example is in ''

'' when the Doctor is identified as "English" and, dissembling, plays along. Though David Tennant speaks with a natural Scottish accent, he played the

with an

Estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

accent (apart from when, in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

-set episode " Tooth and Claw", the character is pretending to be a local). According to producer

, 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. Davies also said that after Eccleston's accent, he did not want Tennant "touring the regions" with a Scottish one,See

Regional accents of English Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. For example, the United Kingdom has the largest variation of accents of any country in the world, and therefore no single "British accent" exists. This ar ...

. and so asked Tennant to affect the same accent he used for the earlier BBC period drama ''

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

''. In contrast,

was explicitly allowed to continue using his native Scottish accent as the

. In the Big Finish audio adventure ''

'', the captain aboard a German U-boat assumes that he is English because of the way he pronounces his words: "So, you speak German ... but you speak it like an English gentleman."

Clothing

The Doctor's clothing has been equally distinctive, from the distinguished

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

suits of the First Doctor to the Second Doctor's rumpled, clown-like Chaplinesque attire to the dandyish frills and velvet of the Third Doctor's era. The Fourth Doctor's long frock coat, loose-fitting trousers, occasionally worn a wide-brimmed hat and trailing, multi-striped scarf added to his somewhat shambolic and bohemian image; the Fifth's Edwardian

er's outfit suited his youthful, aristocratic air as well as his love of the sport (with a stick of

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

on the lapel for an eccentric touch, though in ''

The Caves of Androzani ''The Caves of Androzani'' is the sixth serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 to 16 March 1984. In the serial, the Doctor ...

'' (1984), it is revealed to turn purple when exposed to gases the Doctor is allergic to); and the Sixth's multicoloured jacket, with its cat-shaped lapel pins, reflected the excesses of 1980s fashion. The Seventh Doctor's outfit – a Panama hat, a coat with a scarve, a tie, checked trousers and brogues/wing-tips – 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 The question mark (also known as interrogation point, query, or eroteme in journalism) is a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative clause or phrase in many languages. History In the fifth century, Syriac Bible manuscripts used que ...

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 on a

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...

costume, reminiscent of the out-of-time quality of earlier Doctors and emphasising the Eighth Doctor's more Romantic persona. In contrast to the more flamboyant outfits of his predecessors, the Ninth Doctor wore a nondescript, weathered 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 his actions and clever dialogue, not through gimmicky costumes. Despite this, there is a

running joke A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...

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 brown or a blue pinstripe suit – usually worn with ties – a tan ankle-length coat and trainers, the latter recalling the plimsolls worn by his fifth incarnation. Also like that incarnation (and his first one), he occasionally wears spectacles. In the 2007 ''Children in Need'' "

Time Crash "Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need. Written by Steven Moffat, it sta ...

" special he states that he does not actually need glasses to see, but rather wears them to "look a bit clever", as did the Fifth, whom he meets in the special. On occasions, he wears a black

tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element ...

with matching black trainers. In interviews, Tennant has referred to his Doctor's attire as

geek chic The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generall ...

. According to Tennant, he had always wanted to wear the trainers. The overall costume was influenced by an outfit worn by

Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reac ...

in a TV interview on the talk show '' Parkinson''. The Tenth Doctor says in " The Runaway Bride" that, like the TARDIS, his pockets are bigger on the inside. The Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors routinely carried numerous items in their coats without this being conspicuous. The Eleventh Doctor's appearance has been described as appearing like "an

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

professor", with a

tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

jacket, red or blue striped shirt, red or blue

bow tie The bow tie is a type of necktie. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also called the bow knot for that reason. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar of a shirt in a symmetrical manner so that t ...

, black or grey trousers with red or blue braces, and black boots. He maintains "Bow ties are cool" even when his companions do not agree, and is delighted to meet Dr Black, the first man who agrees with him, in the episode "

Vincent and the Doctor "Vincent and the Doctor" is the tenth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 5 June 2010. It was written by Richard Curtis and directed by Jonny Campbell and featu ...

" (2010). As a running gag, he exhibits attraction to unusual hats, like a

fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

, a pirate hat and a stetson, often only to have them destroyed by River Song shortly afterwards. Starting in the second half of series 7, the Eleventh Doctor reverted to wearing a frock coat, similar to those worn by his predecessors, with a waistcoat and black trousers, black braces, an off-white shirt, bow tie and brown boots. He also added round-rimmed glasses that belonged to former companion Amy Pond. The

's costume has been described as looking like a magician." Time Heist". Doctor Who.

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. It echoes his third incarnation's look, specifically the red lining on the inside of his Crombie coat. It has been described as "no frills, no scarves, just 100% rebel Time Lord." The Twelfth Doctor wears a white shirt with no tie, with his top button fastened and no cuff links, a dark blue cardigan (sometimes replaced with a waistcoat), navy trousers and black boots. The

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, st ...

's costume features blue high-waisted culottes with yellow braces, a navy blue or burgundy shirt with a rainbow stripe across it, a lilac-blue coat, brown lace-up boots, blue socks and piercings on her left ear. During the clip where Whittaker was announced as the new Doctor, she wore a grey overcoat over a black hoodie, reminiscent of Capaldi's costume. The Doctor has occasionally expressed distaste and confusion about his own fashion choices in other incarnations. The

referred to his third incarnation as a "

Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...

", and his second incarnation as a clown. The

cringed at his fifth self's choice of wearing

on his lapel. The

, upon meeting his previous self, referred to his Converse trainers as "sand-shoes." The

believes his previous incarnation's long scarf "looked stupid" and his prior's love of bow-ties is "embarrassing."

Transitions

Each regeneration to date has been worked into the continuing story, and most regenerations (minus the Second-to-Third) have been portrayed on-screen, in a handing over of the role. Before permanently dying, a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times for a total of thirteen incarnations. The following list details the manner of each transition between incarnations: *

(

): Steadily weakening from the Cybermen's attempt to drain all of Earth's energy before being "renewed" by the TARDIS in ''

The Tenth Planet ''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...

'' (1966). Briefly stalled in " Twice Upon a Time" (2017). *

(

): A forced "change in appearance" and exile to Earth by the Time Lords in the closing moments of ''

'' (1969). *

( Jon Pertwee): Radiation poisoning from the Great One's cave of crystals on the planet Metabilis 3 at the end of ''

'' (1974). *

(

): Fell from the Pharos Project telescope and merged with a mysterious "in-between" incarnation named 'The Watcher' in ''

'' (1981). *

( Peter Davison): Succumbed to spectrox poisoning, contracted near the start of ''

'' (1984). *

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

(

): Severely injured when the Rani crash-landed the TARDIS on the planet Lakertya at the start of ''

'' (1987).Colin Baker did not actually appear in the regeneration scene from ''

'', 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. Baker later voiced the character in the 2015 audio drama The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure, which served to explain the cause of his regeneration; the Doctor deliberately drew himself towards Lakertya to be poisoned by its radiation, which prevented the Valeyard from taking over existence. This supersedes a previous account of his regeneration as depicted in the

spin-off novel ''

Spiral Scratch ''Spiral Scratch'' is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band (preceded by The Damned's " New Rose" in October 1976, a ...

'', in which the Sixth Doctor was already mortally wounded in a battle with a Lamprey prior to the Rani's tractor beam ensnaring the

. *

(

): Gunned down during a San Francisco gang shooting in the 1996 television movie, and died during exploratory heart surgery by a doctor unfamiliar with Time Lord physiology. * Eighth Doctor (

): Died from crash-landing a gunship on the planet Karn in "

" (2013). There, the Sisterhood of Karn revived the Doctor and provided an elixir that allowed him to choose the outcome of his next regeneration. *

(

): Having spent the duration of this incarnation's lifetime fighting in the Time War, regenerates due to "wearing a bit thin" in "

" (2013). *

( Christopher Eccleston): Cellular degeneration caused by absorbing the energies of the time vortex from

Rose Tyler Rose Tyler is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Russell T Davies and portrayed by Billie Piper. With the revival of ''Doctor Who'' in 2005, Rose was introd ...

in "

" (2005). *

(

): Having aborted one regeneration to heal from

gunfire in "

" (2008), he later succumbs to radiation poisoning incurred while saving

, using up his twelfth regeneration in " The End of Time" (2009–10). *

(

): Aged after several hundred years defending the planet Trenzalore, and in his final body, the Time Lords grant the Doctor a new regeneration cycle in "

" (2013) *

(

): Electrocuted by a Cyberman aboard a colony ship in "

" (2017). Initially refusing to change again, the Doctor finally embraces regeneration at the end of " Twice Upon a Time" (2017). *

(

): Fatally wounded by the Master who directed an energy beam designed to destroy a planet at the Doctor in "

" (2022). The Doctor's first (Hartnell to Troughton), ninth (Hurt to Eccleston), and thirteenth (Smith to Capaldi) regenerations occur due to natural causes – in all three cases, the Doctor shows increasing signs of age, and comments that his body is "wearing a bit thin," though in the First Doctor's case this is apparently exacerbated by the energy drain from Mondas. All of the other regenerations have been caused by external factors, such as radiation poisoning, infection or fatal injuries. In the original programme, 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 a time before regeneration occurred. The Eighth Doctor comments at one point in the television movie that the anaesthesia interfered with the regenerative process and that he had been "dead too long", accounting for his initial amnesia.

Kate Orman Kate Orman (born 1968 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Orman was born in Sydney, but grew up in Canberr ...

's novel '' The Room with No Doors'', set just before the regeneration, notes that this is one of the few regenerations in which the Doctor was not conscious and aware that he was dying. The Second Doctor (Troughton), was the only Doctor whose regeneration was due to nothing more than a need to change his appearance. He was not aged, in ill health nor mortally wounded at the end of ''The War Games'' (1969). Prior to his exile, the Time Lords deemed that his current appearance was too well known on Earth and therefore forced a "change of appearance" on him. This method of changing appearance was a source of early speculation that the Second and Third Doctor were actually the same incarnation since the second was never seen to truly "die" onscreen. Continuity has since established that one of his allotted regenerations was indeed used up for this transition. The 2005 series began with the Ninth Doctor already regenerated and fully stabilised, with no explanation given. In his first appearance in "Rose" (2005), 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 his reflection recently.

, writer/producer of the new series, stated in '' Doctor Who Magazine'' that he had 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 ''Doctor Who Confidential'' is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Each episode was broadcast on BBC T ...

'', 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 lack dramatic impact, as there would be no emotional investment in the character before he was replaced. The circumstances of the Eighth Doctor's regeneration were explored during the 2013 specials, with the revelation of the incarnation played by Hurt that existed between the Doctor's Eighth and Ninth incarnations. In the 2013 mini-episode "

", a prelude to the 50th anniversary special "

", it was revealed that the Eighth Doctor had been revived by the Sisterhood of Karn after dying in a spacecraft crash. The Sisterhood offered him an elixir that enabled him to choose the characteristics of his next regeneration, and he opted for "a warrior"; the final scene of the mini-episode shows him regenerating not into the Ninth Doctor, as had been widely assumed, but into the War Doctor, played in the final scene of "

" by

. Davies's 2018 novelisation of his debut episode "

" states that the Doctor's future incarnations include "a tall, bald black woman wielding a flaming sword" and "a young girl or boy in a hi-tech wheelchair with what looked like a robot dog at their side".

Regenerations

It was established in ''

'' (1976) that a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times before permanently dying – a total of thirteen incarnations. The 20th Anniversary special, the 1996 television film and 2013 special "

" all confirm this with the latter showing that the Time Lords can circumvent the cap of 12 regenerations in total by giving a Time Lord extra regenerations. While many of the previous regeneration sequences were unique, the Doctor's regenerations of the revived programme were similar with each transition being an explosion of energy in a particularly violent fashion. This can be seen from the

's regeneration damaging the

, to the

's causing a shock wave that devastated the countryside while obliterating a Dalek mother-ship. In the BBC Series 4 FAQ, writer Russell T Davies made a joke that now the Time Lord social order has been destroyed, the Doctor may be able to regenerate indefinitely: "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives." In "

" (2005), it was stated the regenerative cycle creates a large amount of residual regeneration 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. In the case of the Doctor, his regenerations are usually a result of a previous incarnation sustaining mortal injury, though he can regenerate from old age and was once forced to regenerate by the Time Lords. A common side effect the Doctor frequently experiences is 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 Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy co ...

and flew into a murderous rage, nearly killing his companion ('' The Twin Dilemma''). The Eighth Doctor experienced amnesia due to the anaesthetics affecting his physiology (1996 ''Doctor Who'' television film). While his regeneration first appeared to be smooth ("

"), the Tenth Doctor began to experience spasms and became somewhat manic, frightening his companion as he pushed the TARDIS to dangerous extremes ( Children in Need mini-episode). After crash-landing the TARDIS, the Doctor collapsed and remained unconscious for most of the next fifteen hours ("

"). The experience was traumatic enough to cause one of his hearts to temporarily stop beating. The TARDIS appears to aid in the regenerative process, with few occasions where the Doctor regenerates outside it. Three of these are initiated by Time Lords: one forced on him before banishment to Earth (''The War Games''), one requiring a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (''Planet of the Spiders''), and one needing the Watcher – which the Doctor's travelling companions believed to be some version of the Doctor himself (''Logopolis''). The Eighth Doctor's regeneration apparently occurred a few hours after he had actually "died", leaving him with temporary amnesia due to his body's adverse reaction to earth medicines. In "

", the

manages to avert his own regeneration by using some of the energy to heal himself, then channeling the remaining energy into his severed hand, thus retaining his appearance and personality. That regenerative energy was a key point in a "human–Time Lord biological metacrisis" inadvertently caused by Donna Noble that creates the Meta-Crisis Doctor while she obtains a Time Lord intellect. Later in the series, during the events of "

" the Eleventh Doctor revealed that it was considered a full regeneration; he just kept the same face due to "vanity issues", and that he was now in his final (13th) life (given that the Tenth Doctor counted as two regenerations and the revelation of the existence of the War Doctor, this made a total of 12 regenerations). However, during the same episode, the Doctor is given a new cycle of regenerations by the Time Lords, allowing him to regenerate for the thirteenth time into the

, with the Twelfth Doctor ("

") and Rassilon (" Hell Bent") each expressing uncertainty about how many regenerations the Doctor now has.

Multi-Doctor stories

Due to time travel, it is possible for the Doctor's various incarnations to encounter and interact with each other, although supposedly prohibited by the First Law of Time (as stated in '' The Three Doctors'') or permitted only in the "gravest of emergencies" (''

''). In the 1963–1989 television programme, such encounters were seen on three occasions: in ''The Three Doctors'' (1972), ''The Five Doctors'' (1983) and ''

The Two Doctors ''The Two Doctors'' is the fourth serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 16 February to 2 March 1985. The serial is set on an alien ...

'' (1985). In ''

'' (1972), the Third Doctor and

Jo Grant Josephine "Jo" Grant, later Jo Jones, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Jo was introduced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the first episode of ''D ...

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). In "

Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the Unite ...

" (2005), the Ninth Doctor and Rose observed but did not interact with past versions of themselves; when Rose changed history, the earlier selves – after momentarily noticing Rose running past – vanished and a temporal paradox was created that attracted the extra-dimensional Reapers. The Tenth and Fifth Doctors met in the TARDIS in the mini-episode "

", 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 programme's revival. Although the scene aired outside the programme itself, it was established as taking place between the events of "

" and "

Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell. The story was inspired by actual events co ...

". In the

, the Seventh Doctor is shown briefly interacting with a man who may be the Third Doctor in the Sherlock Holmes crossover novel ''

All-Consuming Fire ''All-Consuming Fire'' is a novel written by Andy Lane and the 27th entry in the ''Virgin New Adventures'', a series based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The novel is a crossover with Arthur Co ...

'', but the scene is narrated from the perspective of

Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...

and thus the other man is never expressly identified. The

novel ''

'' is a unique twist on the traditional multi-Doctor story as it focuses on the Fifth Doctor's adventures before he meets the Seventh, where normal stories treat the later Doctor as 'the' Doctor. The BBC novel ''

The Eight Doctors ''The Eight Doctors'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was the first of the Eighth Doctor Adventures range and features the Eigh ...

'' was written by respected Doctor Who writer

, the same author who wrote ''

''. 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, although the Eighth Doctor visited each incarnation one at a time rather than all eight of them appearing in the same place. Later Eighth Doctor novel ''

Interference – Book One ''Interference – Book One: Shock Tactic'' is an original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, the Third Doctor, Sam, Fitz, Sar ...

'' sees the Eighth Doctor briefly meeting the Third, although this occasion results in the Doctor unwittingly changing his own history so that the Third Doctor will regenerate ahead of schedule (A change that is later 'reset' in the novel ''

The Ancestor Cell ''The Ancestor Cell'' is a novel by Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, based on the science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner, Compassion, and Romana III, as well as a brief appearance of ...

'' thanks to the TARDIS taking action to preserve the original history). In the

, the novel ''

Heart of TARDIS ''Heart of TARDIS'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Dave Stone and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features both the Second and Fourth Doctors with Jamie, Victoria, and Romana I. P ...

'' features the Second and Fourth Doctors dealing with two different ends of the same crisis, with the Second Doctor trapped in a dimensional anomaly created by a government experiment and the Fourth recruited to stop the experiment destroying the world, but although they are at one point both in the Second Doctor's TARDIS, the Fourth Doctor and his companion hide on the opposite side of the console from his past self and the Second is never aware of his future self. In ''

The Colony of Lies ''The Colony of Lies'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Colin Brake and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Second Doctor, Zoe and Jamie. It also features appearances by t ...

'', the Second Doctor briefly interacts with the

in a VR simulation, but it is unspecified if this is the actual Seventh Doctor or just a VR program he left to advise his past self. In '' Wolfsbane'', like in ''Heart of TARDIS'', the Fourth and Eighth Doctors deal with separate ends of the same crisis, the Eighth stopping the threat in November 1936 while the Fourth ties up loose ends in December of the same year, but the two incarnations never meet directly, and due to the Eighth Doctor's current amnesia none of the other characters realizes that the two Doctors are the same person. Physical contact between two versions of the same person in the programme can lead to an energy discharge that shorts out the "time differential". This is apparently due to a (fictional) principle known as the

Blinovitch Limitation Effect The Blinovitch Limitation Effect is a fictional principle of time travel physics in the universe of the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It is usually understood as having two aspects: firstly, that a time t ...

, and was seen when the past and future versions of

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', created by writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln and ...

touched hands in ''Mawdryn Undead''. 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'' episode guides by

Lawrence Miles Lawrence Miles (born 15 March 1972 in Middlesex) is a science fiction author known for his work on original ''Doctor Who'' novels (for both the Virgin New Adventures and BBC Books series) and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox. He is also ...

and Tat Wood suggests that Time Lords are somehow exempt from the effect by their very nature.

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 The Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo, commonly known as Comic Expo or BCE, was an annual comic book convention held in the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2013. The show was held once a year in Bristol in the spring. The organiser was ...

, episode author

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

said that this is supposed to be due to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, even though it is not mentioned by name. He suggested that the lack of a spark may be down to the fact that the Time Lords were no longer around to manage anomalies. In the 2006 episode " 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 ''The Hand of Fear'' is the second serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 October 1976. The serial was the last regular appe ...

'', although this contradicts their having met later during ''The Five Doctors''. In that story, she does not appear to realise that the

is a later incarnation of the third and 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. 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. In 2007, David Tennant showed enthusiasm for the idea of a multi-Doctor story but expressed doubts about the practicality of episodes involving multiple previous Doctors, given that three of the actors who played the character were deceased. Since the programme's revival, there have been four multi-Doctor stories: the ''Children in Need'' special "

", the 50th-anniversary special, "

", the 2017 Christmas special " Twice Upon A Time", and the

series 12 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

episode "

". 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 "

". 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. In the 2008 Christmas episode,

The Next Doctor "The Next Doctor" is the first of the Doctor Who (2008–2010 specials), 2008–2010 specials of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' that was broadcast on 25 December 2008, as the fourth List of Doctor Who Christmas s ...

, the Tenth Doctor discovers an info stamp originally held by the Cybermen, which includes images of all his past selves. This is a clear affirmation of his past, and that the (then) current incarnation was indeed the Tenth. This was reaffirmed in the episode " The Eleventh Hour", when the Doctor asks the Atraxi whether this planet is protected. The Atraxi then shows 10 images, one of each Doctor from the first to the tenth, with the eleventh walking through the image of the tenth at the end. This is confirmed in the episode " The Lodger", when the Doctor, explaining to Craig who and what he is, points at his face and says, "Eleventh." Because each new Doctor is different from their previous incarnations, how their personalities interact varies when two or more different incarnations encounter each other. ''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 "

" 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. However, in their two meetings, the

and

had a degree of antagonism towards each other, with the patriarchal

critical of them both. During the

, the Seventh Doctor was occasionally at odds with his subconscious memory of his previous incarnation as his memory of his past self became increasingly associated with the

, his dark, future self, but he eventually accepted his dark side and 'reformed' his memory of his former self, although it was never established how the two Doctors would interact if they had met in person. On many occasions the Eleventh Doctor has actually encountered himself from a different point in his timeline – in "The Big Bang", the mini-episodes "Space" and "Time" and " Last Night" – and in "

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" is the tenth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on 27 April 2013 on BBC One and was written by Stephen Thompson and dire ...

", at the end, the Doctor interacted with his past self to reset time. In all stories, multiple versions of the Eleventh Doctor from different timelines meet and carry on brief conversations. Additionally, the Eleventh Doctor encountered an artificial (though physically and mentally identical) copy of himself in "

The Almost People "The Almost People" is the sixth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Grah ...

"; fought against "Mister Clever", an artificial personality generated out of his own by the Cybermen in "

"; and was pitted against "The Dream Lord", a manifestation of his self-loathing and anger, in " Amy's Choice". Later, the Eleventh Doctor entered his own timeline in "

" to rescue his companion Clara Oswald, and while there observed a past incarnation portrayed by

, one whose actions caused him to be unworthy of the name "Doctor" and viewed as shameful by his future selves. In the 50th anniversary special, "

", the Eleventh Doctor encounters both the Tenth Doctor and the War Doctor (played by John Hurt). The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors are generally amicable towards each other, despite bickering, although the War Doctor treats them both as behaving too childishly. Despite this, he does come to admire both of his future incarnations, working together with them and eventually choosing to go through with the act of destroying Gallifrey because he knows it will help them become what they are. The Tenth and Eleventh are initially leery of the War Doctor, the Eleventh describing him as the "one life I have tried very hard to forget." However, both of them later recognise that the War Doctor followed what seemed to be the only course open to him, and are even willing to help him carry it out so that he won't have to suffer the guilt alone. Fortunately, with influence from the Moment – a sentient Time Lord weapon that brought about their meeting – the three are able to stumble upon an alternative: sending Gallifrey into a pocket universe, making it seem as though it has been destroyed. The three are then joined by the other nine previous Doctors and the future

(

) in this act (the War, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors having evidently contacted them off-screen). The Eleventh Doctor is shown to have memories of these events but only recalls them after they have begun. This is explained in dialogue as an instability in the timeline, which causes the War and Tenth Doctors to forget their meeting, thus maintaining the continuity in which the Doctors from the War Doctor onwards believe themselves to have destroyed Gallifrey. The

meets a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor portrayed by

in "

". It is implied in "

" that Martin's Doctor was a previous incarnation that had been erased from the Doctor's memory by the Division.

Reprising the role

On a few occasions, previous actors to have played Doctor have returned to the role, usually guest-starring with the incumbent: *

and

with Jon Pertwee in '' 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 which would be his last television role. *Troughton and Pertwee with Peter Davison in ''

'', the twentieth anniversary special, with newly released footage of

and another actor,

, standing in for the deceased William Hartnell. Archive footage of Hartnell taken from ''

'' introduced the story. Baker declined to appear, feeling that the role came too soon after he had left the programme (a decision he later said he regretted) 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 strikes. A waxwork dummy of Baker from Madame Tussauds was used in publicity photographs. *Patrick Troughton with

in ''

''. This story is notable for not being produced either to celebrate the programme's anniversary or as a Children in Need production. *

was joined by Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker, with the first and the second Doctor being represented by rubber heads, because both actors had died by then, in ''

Dimensions in Time ''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and the soap opera '' EastEnders'' that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwic ...

'', the programme's thirtieth-anniversary charity special in aid of Children in Need in 1993. Except for the

mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...

versions of Hartnell and Troughton, no two Doctors are shown on screen at the same time. (This story was a crossover with '' EastEnders''). *Sylvester McCoy returned to film early segments of '' Doctor Who'', the TV film featuring the Seventh Doctor's regeneration scene. *Peter Davison with

in the 2007 Children in Need special "

". *

returned to film the Eighth Doctor's final moments and regeneration in the 2013 mini-episode "

", a prelude to the 50th anniversary special "

". None of the other Doctors appeared in this mini-episode, although archive footage of

appears briefly in the closing scene, for which he provided original audio. *David Tennant appeared in the 50th anniversary special "

" with

. Also co-starring was

as a newly revealed incarnation of the Doctor. Tom Baker had a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the special as the curator of the National Gallery. He was implied to be a future Doctor who was "revisiting" an "old favourite" face, but the script never explicitly states this. Dialogue states that "perhaps it doesn't matter either way" whether the Doctor and Curator are the same individual. Archive footage of the original eight Doctors was reworked with new audio from voice actor John Guilor, and a brief appearance by future Doctor actor

was inserted, to represent all (then) thirteen incarnations of the Doctor. *Matt Smith made another appearance in " Deep Breath", the first full episode after his regeneration. He made a telephone call to his future to reassure

and urge her to accept his successor, portrayed by

. The scene was filmed on the set of "

", Smith's last story as the incumbent Doctor, for the eighth series. *David Bradley, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann appeared in "

" as spirit forms of their Doctors who interact with the

. Davison and McCoy also appeared as holographic versions of their incarnations, when the Thirteenth Doctor talks to

Tegan Jovanka Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fift ...

and

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

. *David Tennant appeared as the

in "The Power of the Doctor" and is set to star in the 60th anniversary specials in 2023. In addition to the above, Tom Baker, Davison, Colin Baker, McCoy, McGann, Hurt, Eccleston and Tennant have reprised the role in audio dramas from Big Finish Productions.

Age

In early production documents, the Doctor was said to be 650 years old, although this was never stated on screen. By the time the Doctor did cite his age ("Let me see, in human terms, 400, yes, 450 years" in the serial ''

'' (1967); he 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'' (1970) and in ''

'' (1971) that he had a lifetime that covered "several thousand years". 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 ''

'', which prompts

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...

to joke that he will "soon be middle-aged"). In '' The Ribos Operation'' (1978), 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. When the Doctor encounters his old friend Drax in ''

'' (1979), Drax says it has been 450 years since their time together at the Academy, suggesting only that Drax was 450 years younger, but implying nothing about the Doctor's age, since it could have been a different amount of time for him. Drax implies that the Doctor got his doctorate after that. In ''

The Robots of Death ''The Robots of Death'' is the fifth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 January to 19 February 1977. In the serial, the Fou ...

'' (1977), the Fourth Doctor states he is 750 years old. In ''

Revelation of the Daleks ''Revelation of the Daleks'' is the sixth and final serial of the 22nd season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 and 30 March 1985. This was the final serial t ...

'' (1985), the Sixth Doctor said that he was "a 900-year-old Time Lord", and in ''

'' (1987), the Seventh Doctor's age was 953, the same as villainous Time Lady the Rani (in both serials, the Doctor's age is stated in dialogue). In ''

'' (1988), 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. Amongst the works of spin-off prose fiction, in the Fourth Doctor comic "The Time Witch", after the Doctor and Sharon cross through the split in time which ages them four years, the Doctor says "I shall still think of myself as 743 ... or was it 730, I never can remember...". The Sixth Doctor celebrated his 991st birthday in the short story "Brief Encounter: A Wee Deoch an..?", written by

, in '' Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1991'': ''UNIT Exposed''. The Seventh Doctor celebrated his 1,000th birthday in ''

Set Piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

'' by

, and the Eighth Doctor declared his age to be 1,012 in ''

Vampire Science ''Vampire Science'' is the second novel in the BBC Books series, the Eighth Doctor Adventures, based upon the BBC's long-running science fiction television series, ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman. Synopsis An an ...

'' by Orman and Jonathan Blum. The Eighth Doctor spent nearly a century on Earth during a story arc spread over several novels, and around 100 years asleep in '' The Sleep of Reason'' by Martin Day. In the Big Finish Productions audio play ''Orbis'', the Eighth Doctor says that he has spent 600 years living on the planet Orbis since the previous play. He states that he lost count of his true age long ago, and rounds it down, taking into account the varying lengths of a "year" in different locations. In the 2005 series, the Ninth Doctor's age is stated in publicity materials as 900 years, 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. He restates this in "

" as "Nine hundred years of phone box travel and it's the only thing left that surprises me". In "

" (2007), the

states that he is 903 years of age, the first time since ''Time and the Rani'' that an exact number has been stated in dialogue; previously, the Master indicated the Doctor's age to be about 900 in "

"/"

" (2007) story arc. In "The Sound of Drums", the Master ages the Doctor by 100 years using his laser screwdriver, leaving the Doctor with an elderly appearance. In "

", 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, 15 satellites and the entire population of Earth. However, as the resolution of that story is by means of a reversal of time, there is a suggestion that the events of that year never actually took place, and yet are present in the Doctor's memory. In " The End of Time" (2009–10), the Tenth Doctor tells Wilfred Mott he is 906 years old. In "

Flesh and Stone "Flesh and Stone" is the fifth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, the episode was first broadcast on 1 May 2010 on BBC One. Featuring ...

" (2010), the Eleventh Doctor tells Amy Pond that he is 907. "

" (2011) depicts the Doctor from two different points in his life, one at age 909 and the other at 1103. In "

" (2011), the TARDIS, while embodied as Idris, says the Doctor has been travelling with her for 700 years. By the end of series six, the Doctor has reached the age of 1103, the older version that appeared in "

". The next series ages the Doctor further, with "

A Town Called Mercy "A Town Called Mercy" is the third episode of the Doctor Who (series 7), seventh series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', transmitted on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2012. It was written by Toby W ...

" (2012) establishing that he is now approximately 1,200 years old. However, in "

The Bells of Saint John "The Bells of Saint John" is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One; the episode was the first of the second ha ...

" (2013), the Doctor says that he was "one thousand years old", whilst in "

" (2013) commenting that he had piloted the TARDIS "for over 900 years". In the 50th anniversary special, "

" (2013), the Eleventh Doctor is queried about his age by his younger self, to which he replies "I dunno, I lose track. Twelve hundred and something I think, unless I'm lying. I can't remember if I'm lying about my age – that's how old I am." He makes several references to being 400 years older than the

, which would encompass the timelines of the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. In the next episode, "

", the Doctor spends centuries defending the planet Trenzalore. After one interval, the Doctor states he has lived there for 300 years. Another long interval passes, during which the Doctor's age is not given, but he physically ages considerably before regenerating into the

. The 2014 e-book ''Tales of Trenzalore'' states the Doctor spent 900 years on Trenzalore. In the following episode, " Deep Breath" (2014), the Twelfth Doctor states that he is over 2,000 years old. However, writer

has said, "He's lying. How could he know, unless he's marking it on a wall? He could be 8,000 years old, he could be a million. He has no clue. The calendar will give him no clues." In the episode "The Girl Who Died" the Doctor is shown to possess a 2000 Year Diary. Moffat later said that he believes the Doctor remembers all 4.5 billion years he spent dying and recreating himself in " Heaven Sent" (2015), and that the confession dial extracts the Doctor's memories of each iteration, feeding them back to him as a means of torture. In a subsequent interview with '' SFX'', Moffat confirmed, "Technically he's four and a half billion years old."

Romance

Original series

The very first episode of the television programme established that

is the Doctor's granddaughter, but neither Susan nor the Doctor ever speaks of her parents. The First Doctor did flirt with – and was accidentally engaged to – the character Cameca in '' The Aztecs'' (1964). Although this was part of a plot 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 Third Doctor expresses hurt feelings when his companion

leaves him for an idealistic scientific adventurer whom she describes as "a younger version" of the Doctor (''

The Green Death ''The Green Death'' is the fifth and final serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 19 May to 23 June 1973. It was the last regular appe ...

''). 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 in ''

''). There was on-screen chemistry between Fourth Doctor

and his wife-to-be

Lalla Ward Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981. Career Early career Ward's stage na ...

's Second Romana. A 1980 television commercial broadcast in Australia for

Prime Computer Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. With the advent of PCs and the decline of the minicomputer industry, Prime was forced out of the market in the early 1990s, and by the end of ...

s showed Baker and Ward romancing each other, in character as the Doctor and Romana, with the Doctor (prompted by the computer) proposing marriage. In voiceovers on Peter Davison's DVDs, the matter of physical affection is discussed. According to Davison and

Matthew Waterhouse Matthew Waterhouse (born 19 December 1961) is an English actor and writer. From 1980 to 1982 he played the role of Adric in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Early life Waterhouse was born in Hertford, but brought up ...

(

Adric Adric is a fictional character played by Matthew Waterhouse in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was a young native of the planet Alzarius, which exists in the parallel universe of E-Space. A compan ...

), producer

John Nathan-Turner John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...

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 potential romantic and/or sexual connotations.

Revived series

Beginning in 2005 the programme has suggested that the Doctor has romantic feelings towards different people. This shift is satirised in "

" wherein the

, having witnessed a passionate kiss exchanged between his tenth incarnation and Queen Elizabeth I, asks of the

eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a ...

, "Is there a lot of this in the future?" to which he replies, "It does start to happen, yeah." The series has played with the idea of a romantic relationship between the

and

, with many characters assuming they were a couple. Rose's boyfriend

Mickey Smith Mickey Smith is a fictional character portrayed by Noel Clarke in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The character is introduced as the ordinary, working class boyfriend of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), a London shopgirl ...

clearly views the Doctor as a romantic rival for whom Rose has left him. Each shows flashes of jealousy when the other flirts with other characters. In "

" (2005), the Doctor's male companion

kisses both the Doctor and Rose in what he believes is a last goodbye. In the same episode, the Doctor kisses

to get the time vortex energy that was killing her back into the TARDIS, subsequently "killing" him and causing his next regeneration. In the New Series Adventures novel '' 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 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...

." In a December 2005 interview on BBC Four, actor

, who had just taken the role of the

, described the relationship between the Doctor and Rose as "basically a love story without the shagging". He later stated that Rose was the Doctor's girlfriend, though it was never explicitly stated on screen. The Doctor's relationship with Rose intensifies after he regenerates into the Tenth Doctor. In " New Earth" (2006), Rose's body is temporarily inhabited by

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...

, who kisses the Doctor romantically. This is one of the few scenes in the entire programme where the Doctor is kissed romantically by his companion. In " School Reunion" (2006), the arrival of the Doctor's previous companion

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. The Doctor also expresses dismay at having his companions age while he regenerates. In the episode, "

" (2006) (written by

), the Doctor develops a romantic relationship with Madame de Pompadour, with whom he shares a passionate kiss. She even takes him away to "dance", but how far the metaphor (coined in the episode "

The Doctor Dances "The Doctor Dances" is the tenth episode of the first series in the reboot of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2005. It is the second of a two-part story, following t ...

") is taken is not seen on screen. Rose does not openly exhibit jealousy towards Madame de Pompadour. In the novel ''

The Stone Rose The ''New Series Adventures'' are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, '' Doctor Who''. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by BBC Books, and are regularly published twice a ...

'', by

Jacqueline Rayner Jacqueline Rayner is a British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Pau ...

, the Doctor kisses Rose after she saves him from being petrified, with it being described as "a kiss of gratitude and joy and unspeakable pleasure at being alive". In "

The Impossible Planet "The Impossible Planet" is the eighth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 3 June 2006. It is the first part of a two-part story. The second part ...

" (2006), 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. 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 Satan Pit" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 10 June 2006. It is the second part of a two-part story. The first part, " The Impossible Plane ...

" the Doctor, fearing for his life, tells someone "If you see Rose, tell her... tell her... oh, she knows." In "

", when the Doctor says his goodbye to Rose, she finally tells him that she loves him. He begins to reply, but the message is cut off, and he is unable to reciprocate; in the episode's audio commentary, executive producer

Julie Gardner Julie Ann Gardner (born 4 June 1969) is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off shows ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. ...

had stated that "he absolutely was going to say it... he was going to tell her he loved her." Executive producer Russell T Davies states in ''

'' that the reunion between the Doctor and Rose in the 2008 episode "

" is a parody of romantic film conventions because the heightened emotional content is abruptly interrupted by the Doctor being shot by a Dalek. In the next episode, "

", Rose challenges the Doctor to say what he did not get to say before, to which he replies, "Does it need saying?" His half-human duplicate, however, does whisper it into Rose's ear, and the two of them kiss; Rose gets an emphatically romantic resolution to her romance storyline, as the duplicate Doctor and Rose continue to live together on a parallel Earth. Gardner commented in ''Confidential'' that although the audience cannot hear, it is obvious that he is saying "I love you". Throughout series three (2007), companion

Martha Jones Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, ''Torchwood''. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', afte ...

pines for the Doctor's affection following a kiss between them which was only used as a "genetic transfer" to distract their pursuers. She is distraught when, temporarily turned into a human in "

", the Doctor's human persona, John Smith, falls in love with nurse Joan Redfern. She admits in "

" to Smith that "

he Doctor He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''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". The Doctor 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", he refers to being "rubbish at weddings, especially my own". Martha eventually quits as the Doctor's full-time companion in the series finale "

" because she is in love with the Doctor and he seems unable or unwilling to reciprocate; she received similar commiseration from

, who is also infatuated with him, in "

". Subsequently, in the 2008 series, the Doctor's friendship with Donna Noble is strengthened, after the infatuations with Martha and Rose, by the knowledge that she has no romantic interest in him whatsoever. Davies' last clear allusion to the Doctor's romantic capacity occurs at the beginning of his last episode as showrunner, " The End of Time". The Tenth Doctor claims to have married "Good Queen Bess, and let me tell you, her nickname is no longer... (clears throat)", a reference to

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

's nickname "The Virgin Queen". The marriage, which is referred to as "a mistake", explained Queen Elizabeth's reaction to seeing the Tenth Doctor in an earlier episode, "

". Subsequent episodes have alluded to this romantic, possibly sexual relationship. This relationship, including the marriage and the "mistake" that led to it (a case of mistaken identity involving a

commander in 1562), eventually unfolds on screen in "

". In "

" he tells Jackson Lake that his companions "break ishearts". Episodes written by Steven Moffat have continued to hint at the Doctor's romantic capacity: his stories during the Russell T Davies tenure as showrunner included the admission of a sex life in "The Doctor Dances" and the romance with Madame de Pompadour in "The Girl in the Fireplace", past marriages in "Blink", and the introduction of recurring character River Song in the 2008 episodes "

"/"

", who indicates she is a lover of the Doctor. In his tenure as showrunner (2010–2017), the series continued to imply that the Doctor will have a relationship with, and perhaps marry, River Song. Additionally, Moffat has companion Amy Pond attempt to seduce the Doctor in "

", although he expresses shock at the idea, protesting that she was human. In " A Christmas Carol", the Eleventh Doctor finds himself accidentally engaged to film star

during a visit to 1950s Hollywood. The Doctor's past romantic relationship with Elizabeth I is alluded to in Moffat episodes "

" and "

", as well as in " Amy's Choice" by

Simon Nye Simon Nye (born 29 July 1958) is an English screenwriter, best known for television comedy. He wrote the hit sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'', and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film ''Flushed Away'', created an adaptation of Ric ...

. In her 2010 appearances, River continues to hint at a relationship with the Doctor in her relative past and his relative future. In "

The Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

", River suggests to the Doctor that she is married to him in his personal future. When River kisses the Doctor in "

Day of the Moon "Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 o ...

", it becomes clear that whereas this is the Doctor's first kiss with her, it is to be her last with him and that she shall soon be heading to The Library where she dies. In "

", River is seen returning from a date with the future Doctor, and repeatedly calls the present-day Doctor "my love". In "

Let's Kill Hitler "Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It was written by Steven Moffat and direct ...

", a young River Song compares herself to

Mrs. Robinson "Mrs. Robinson" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, '' Bookends'' (1968). Written specifically for the 1967 film ''The Graduate'', the song was released as a single on April 5, 1968, by Columbia Re ...

and kisses the Doctor; the first time in an attempt to kill him, the second to save his life. Later she resolves to study archaeology so that she can encounter the Doctor again. Because she loves him, she refuses to shoot him in "The Wedding of River Song", creating an alternate timeline. In this world, the Doctor marries River in a very brief ceremony witnessed by Amy and Rory, so that he may allow time to return to normal and go to his death, while secretly disclosing to River that he will fake his death. Although the alternate timeline is erased, all future episodes act as though the wedding was real. Later, when Dorium comments that River is incarcerated in the Stormcage for "all her days", the Doctor responds "Her days, yes, her ''nights''...well...that's between her and me". After this episode, the banter and gentle sexual innuendo between them becomes less teasing and more serious. Later, in "

" (2013), the Doctor kisses a holographic projection of River Song, based on the copy of her mind archived in the great Library of the 51st century. During this episode, both the Doctor and River call her his wife. He reveals that the reason he has avoided mentioning her since her death was for fear that the memory would hurt too much – as River notes to colleagues, "he hates endings". After this exchange, he bids her a final farewellbut at her requestphrasing it with the implication that they may meet again. Despite this, the Doctor's limited understanding of human romance and sexuality has been the subject of many jokes. For example, in "

", after being kissed by Amy Pond, his first response is to gasp, "But you're human!", and he later blithely mentions this embrace to her fiancé Rory in the following episode, "

The Vampires of Venice "The Vampires of Venice" is the sixth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was broadcast on 8 May 2010 on BBC One. It was written by Toby Whithouse, who previously wrote " School ...

", not realising this would upset Rory. In "The Doctor's Wife", when he tells Amy and Rory that he is redoing the TARDIS's guest room, they suggest, "Perhaps not bunk beds this time," and he does not understand why a married couple would not find bunk beds preferable to other furniture. In "A Good Man Goes to War", he is asked about Amy and Rory's sex life and refers to it as "private human stuff". In "

" (2013), it is revealed that the Doctor, in an unspecified prior incarnation to the Eleventh, engaged in a romance with a woman named Tasha Lem. Their attraction appeared to continue when the Eleventh encountered her again, even after Lem was technically killed and made into a Dalek-human hybrid. At first, the

explicitly rejected the idea of having a romantic relationship with his companion

. He implied that in his previous form, he had come to see himself as Clara's "boyfriend" in an attempt to avoid confronting his extreme age and alien nature. Initially it was reported that

told tabloids there would be "no flirting" between him and Clara, likening such a potential relationship to Papa and Nicole, but the actor himself discarded that. The episode " Deep Breath" introduces a character named Missy who identifies the Doctor as her boyfriend. Missy is later revealed to be a female incarnation of the Master. As the character of the Twelfth Doctor evolved, so did his relationship with Clara. In a spring 2015 interview, Steven Moffat indicated that the Doctor had never stopped being "besotted" with Clara, and that he "loves them (companions) more than they love him." In a media roundtable interview at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con, Capaldi went further, saying the two were romantically involved, just not in the traditional sense, "It's romantic in the old sense. Two people who are really crazy about each other..." The narrative of series nine culminated in a three-part story arc in which Clara dies and the Doctor spends the next 4.5 billion years executing a gambit to change history and save her life. Further romance for the Twelfth Doctor was depicted in the 2015 Christmas special, "

The Husbands of River Song "The Husbands of River Song" is an episode of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2015, it is the eleventh Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by S ...

", which had a romantic plot. In the special, the Twelfth Doctor meets his one-time wife, River Song, for the first (and, narratively, the last) time. Later, now as a woman, the

experienced her first on-screen same-sex romantic situation with companion Yasmin Khan. Yaz admits her feelings in " Eve of the Daleks" (2022). The Doctor confronts Yaz about them in "

Legend of the Sea Devils "Legend of the Sea Devils" is the second of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was broadcast on BBC One on 17 April 2022. The episode was written by Ella Road and Chris Chibnall, and dire ...

", saying she reciprocated Yaz's affection while refusing to become involved with another human companion who will one day die.

Other media

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

, the Seventh Doctor takes on the human guise of "Dr John Smith" and has a romance with a teacher named Joan in 1914, albeit as a means to understand the human condition and with the Doctor's own memories as a Time Lord suppressed. The relationship ended when the Doctor was restored to normal, admitting to Joan that he knows that Smith was fond of her but unable to reciprocate those feelings himself. This novel was adapted to the screen and comprised two episodes in the new programme: "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood", featuring the Tenth Doctor, with the Doctor implying that he retained Smith's feelings for Joan, although the more traumatic nature of the transformation may have impacted his feelings after he returned to normal. In the Virgin novel ''

Death and Diplomacy ''Death and Diplomacy'' is an original novel written by Dave Stone and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz and the first appearance of Jason ...

'', by

Dave Stone Dave Stone (born 12 June 1964) is a British science fiction writer. Biography Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and '' Judge Dredd''. Stone also contributed a number of c ...

, the Seventh Doctor implies that he intentionally creates an image of

asexuality Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or the lack thereof. It may also be categorized more widely, to include a broad s ...

to keep things simple. The concluding chapter of ''

The Dying Days ''The Dying Days'' is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was last of the New Adventures range to feature the Doctor and the only one of that rang ...

'', an Eighth Doctor novel by

Lance Parkin Lance Parkin is a British author. He is best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular ''Doctor Who'' (and spin-offs including the Virgin New Adventures and Faction Paradox) and as a storyliner on ''Emmerda ...

, strongly implies intimacy occurring between the Doctor and

. This encounter was later confirmed in the audio drama "Benny's Story", a chapter of the Big Finish Productions release ''

The Company of Friends ''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...

'', marking the only time to date that a classic-era Doctor has been confirmed as sleeping with one of his companions. Writer

has stated that he believes the Eighth Doctor has sex with I. M. Foreman between the events of his novels ''

'' and ''

Interference – Book Two ''Interference – Book Two: The Hour of the Geek'' is an original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, the Third Doctor, Sam, Fi ...

''. In ''Book Two'', the Doctor explains that he has become interested in romance and the idea of being close to someone in his current body, but that he is reluctant to explore these feelings with his companions because of the emotional baggage a relationship with him would bring. In various novels – especially ''

'' – it is established that Time Lords do not reproduce sexually, but emerge from genetic Looms fully grown, though the same book hints that the Doctor's birth was an exception (unlike his cousins, he has a belly button).

's novels ''

'' (1997) and '' The Infinity Doctors'' (1998) suggest that "wombborn" families have survived in secret, and that the Doctor and the Master were born to these families. In the 1996 film '' Doctor Who'', the Doctor states he is "half-human, on ismother's side", which the Master also affirms. The revived programme portrays Time Lord children, with a child version of the Doctor appearing in the 2014 episode "

". In the Big Finish Productions audio play '' Loups-Garoux'', the

reluctantly agrees to marry the

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

Ileana De Santos and although he gets out of it later, as in Cameca's case, a degree of mutual attraction is present. In the audio plays involving the Eighth Doctor, his companion Charley confesses her romantic feelings for him in ''

Zagreus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus ( grc-gre, Ζαγρεύς) was sometimes identified with a god worshipped by the followers of Orphism, the "first Dionysus", a son of Zeus and Persephone, who was dismembered by the Titans and reb ...

'', but although he admits he loves her 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 Iris Wildthyme is a fictional character created by writer Paul Magrs, who has appeared in short stories, novels and audio dramas from numerous publishers. She is best known from spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction tele ...

, created by

Paul Magrs Paul Magrs (pronounced "Mars"; born 12 November 1969) is a writer and lecturer. He was born in Jarrow, England, and now lives in Manchester with his partner, author and lecturer Jeremy Hoad. Early life Magrs was born in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, on ...

, 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. More of the Doctor's past relationships are explored in '' The Infinity Doctors'' and ''

''. The question of romance is sometimes sidestepped with plot devices in the spin-off media. In the 2001 BBC Books novel ''

'' by

, the Doctor adopts an orphaned Gallifreyan-like alien called 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 Justin Richards (born 14 September 1961) is a British writer. He has written science fiction and fantasy novels, including series set in Victorian or early-20th-century London, and also adventure stories set in the present day. He has written ...

, 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, respectively. In '' The One Doctor'', the Doctor kisses Sally-Anne Stubbins to bluff to the Sussyurat that he was not the Doctor but Banto Zane, but this kiss showed no affection.

Reception

The character has been generally well received by the public. In a 2001 poll conducted by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, the Doctor was ranked sixth on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In July 2008, the character's enduring popularity led ''

'' to dub him "Britain's favourite alien".

UGO Networks UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States. History The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Onlin ...

listed the Doctor as one of their best heroes of all time.

Notes

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Lawson, Mark (interviewer) (8 December 2005). '' Front Row'' (radio series), BBC Four. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor (Doctor Who) Fictional tricksters Television characters introduced in 1963 Time Lords Fictional characters with eidetic memory

Character biography

Early life

Family

Adventures

The Time War

Development

Physiology

Name

Alias "The Doctor"

On-screen credits

Changing faces

Actors

Personality

Accent

Clothing

Transitions

Regenerations

Multi-Doctor stories

Reprising the role

Age

Romance

Original series

Revived series

Other media

Reception

See also

Notes

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

External links