Doctor (Doctor Who)

The Doctor is the only known name of the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and also featured in a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series.

Who is The Doctor?

The Doctor is a Time Lord, an extraterrestrial from the planet Gallifrey, who travels in a time machine called the TARDIS — Time And Relative Dimension (or Dimensions) In Space — that allows him to reach any point in time and space and is dimensionally transcendental (larger on the inside than on the outside). The TARDIS originally had the ability to disguise itself according to its environment, but became "stuck" in the form of a police box after landing in London in 1963 and has remained in that shape ever since due to a malfunctioning chameleon circuit. The Doctor has since given up attempting to repair or replace the circuit as he has grown fond of the police box shape.

Related Topics:
Time Lord - Extraterrestrial - Gallifrey - Time machine - TARDIS - Time - Space - Police box - 1963 - Chameleon circuit

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For the most part, and usually because the vessel's navigation system is old and unreliable, the Doctor explores the universe at random and uses his extensive knowledge of science and advanced technology to heroically avert the crises that he encounters. The Doctor has, at various times, been accompanied by companions who have chosen to travel with him for a variety of reasons.

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Although he physically resembles a human, as a Time Lord his physiology is different. Like other members of his race, he has two hearts, a respiratory bypass system that allows him to go without breathing for periods of time, and on occasion exhibits greater strength and stamina than humans. He has also exhibited a resistance to temporal distortions and a sensitivity to changes in time. He also claimed that a pill (intended to be aspirin) could kill him (The Mind of Evil).

Related Topics:
Heart - Human - Aspirin - The Mind of Evil

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In The War Games, the Second Doctor stated that Time Lords could live forever, "barring accidents." When accidents do occur, they can regenerate into new bodies, giving them extremely long life-spans. The 1996 Doctor Who television movie stated that the Doctor was half-human, a revelation that continues to cause controversy among fans (see below).

Related Topics:
The War Games - Second Doctor - Regenerate - 1996 - ''Doctor Who'' television movie - Below

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The Doctor is considered a renegade by the Time Lords for his penchant of getting "involved" with the universe, in direct violation of official Time Lord policy. However, most of the time his actions are tolerated, especially when he has saved not just Gallifrey, but the universe, several times over. The Time Lords were also partial to sending him on missions when deniability or expendibility was needed. The Doctor's standing in Time Lord society has waxed and waned over the years, from being a hunted man to even being appointed Lord President of the High Council (an office he did not assume for very long and eventually was removed from in his absence). In the end, though, he has always seemed quite content to remain a renegade and an exile. Ultimately, the Doctor found himself, by the time of his ninth incarnation, the last known surviving Time Lord.

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The character was first portrayed by William Hartnell in 1963, who played him as an irascible, grandfatherly figure. When Hartnell left the series, the role was taken over by Patrick Troughton in 1966. To date, ten actors have played the Doctor on television, with perhaps the most enduring incarnation being the fourth, played by Tom Baker. David Tennant currently plays the Tenth Doctor starting at the end of The Parting of the Ways, which was first aired on 18 June 2005.

Related Topics:
William Hartnell - 1963 - Patrick Troughton - 1966 - Tom Baker - David Tennant - Tenth Doctor - The Parting of the Ways - 18 June - 2005

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When the series began, nothing was known of the Doctor at all, not even his name. In the very first serial, 100,000 BC, two teachers from the Coal Hill School in London, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, became intrigued by one of their students, Susan Foreman, who exhibited high intelligence and unusually advanced knowledge. Trailing her to a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, they encountered a strange old man and heard her voice coming from inside what appeared to be a police box. Pushing their way inside, the two found that the exterior was actually camouflage for the dimensionally transcendental interior of the TARDIS. The old man, whom Susan called "Grandfather" but simply termed himself "the Doctor", subsequently whisked them away on an adventure in time and space.

Related Topics:
100,000 BC - Coal Hill School - London - Barbara Wright - Ian Chesterton - Susan Foreman - Police box

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As a time traveller, the Doctor has been present at or directly involved in countless major historical events on the planet Earth and on other worlds — sometimes more than once. In the 2005 series premiere Rose, it is revealed that the Ninth Doctor was instrumental in preventing a family from boarding the Titanic prior to her fateful voyage. In The End of World the Doctor claimed to have been on board and survived the Titanics sinking to find himself "clinging to an iceberg."

Related Topics:
Earth - Rose - Titanic - The End of World

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Many historical figures on Earth have also encountered the Doctor. In City of Death it was revealed that the Doctor had met Leonardo da Vinci and William Shakespeare and that the first folio of the latter's Hamlet was transcribed by the Doctor himself. In Timelash, he met a young H. G. Wells, Albert Einstein in Time and the Rani, and Marco Polo was the subject of an adventure of the same name during the first season. Most recently, the Doctor shared an adventure with Charles Dickens (The Unquiet Dead).

Related Topics:
City of Death - Leonardo da Vinci - William Shakespeare - Hamlet - Timelash - H. G. Wells - Albert Einstein - Time and the Rani - Marco Polo - Adventure of the same name - Charles Dickens - The Unquiet Dead

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"Doctor who?"

In the first episode, Barbara addressed the Doctor as "Doctor Foreman", as the junkyard in which they find him bore the sign "I.M. Foreman". When addressed by Ian with this name in the next episode, the Time Lord responded, "Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about?" Later, when Ian realized that "Foreman" was not his name, he asked Barbara, "Who is he? Doctor who?"

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Although listed in the on-screen credits for nearly twenty years as "Doctor Who", the Doctor is never really called by that name in the series, except in that same tongue-in-cheek manner (for example, in The Five Doctors when one character referred to him as "the Doctor", another character asked, "Who?"). The only real exception was a computer in the serial, The War Machines, which commanded that "Doctor Who is required." This was later revealed as a scripting error, although it still stands in the continuity of the series. Some fans believe that the computer in question was simply misinformed — it also claimed the Doctor was human.

Related Topics:
The Five Doctors - Computer - The War Machines

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In The Gunfighters, the First Doctor used the alias Dr. Caligari. In The Highlanders the Second Doctor assumed the name of "Doctor von Wer" (a German approximation of "Doctor Who"), and signed himself as "Dr. W" in The Underwater Menace. In The Wheel in Space, his companion Jamie, reading the name off some medical equipment, told the crew of the Wheel that the Doctor's name was "John Smith". The Doctor subsequently adopted this alias several times over the course of the series, often prefixing the title "doctor" to it.

Related Topics:
The Gunfighters - First Doctor - Dr. Caligari - The Highlanders - Second Doctor - German - The Underwater Menace - The Wheel in Space - Jamie

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In The Armageddon Factor, the Time Lord Drax addressed the Fourth Doctor as "Thete", short for "Theta Sigma", apparently an Academy nickname (or perhaps an achieved grade). In the 1988 serial Remembrance of the Daleks, the Seventh Doctor was asked to sign a document, which he did using a question mark. Later in the same serial he also produced a calling card with a series of pseudo-Greek letters inscribed on it (as well as a stylised question mark). The Eighth Doctor briefly used the alias "Dr. Bowman" in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie, known informally as Enemy Within. He has also been mocked by his fellow Time Lords for adhering to such a "lowly" title as "Doctor".

Related Topics:
The Armageddon Factor - Fourth Doctor - 1988 - Remembrance of the Daleks - Seventh Doctor - Greek - Eighth Doctor - 1996 - Enemy Within

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In the early years of the spin-off comic strips, books, films and other media, the character was initially called "Doctor Who" (or just "Dr. Who") as a matter of course. This usage declined as the years went by. From the first television serial through to Logopolis (the last story of the 18th season and also of the Tom Baker era), the lead character was listed as "Doctor Who" (or sometimes "Dr. Who"). Starting from Peter Davison's first story, Castrovalva (the first story of the series' 19th season) to the end of the 26th Season, he was credited simply as "The Doctor". For the 2005 revival the credit reverted to "Doctor Who".

Related Topics:
Spin-off - Logopolis - Peter Davison - Castrovalva

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Some fans have speculated, taking off from the fact that the full name of the Time Lady Romana is Romanadvoratrelundar, that the first syllable of the Doctor's true name is "Who". It should be noted that, although it is often asserted that "Doctor Who" is not the character's name, there is nothing in the series itself that actually confirms this. In the first episode of The Mysterious Planet, the Doctor was about to give a name after the title "Doctor..." but was interrupted.

Related Topics:
Romana - The Mysterious Planet

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In the 2005 series premiere, Rose, when asked his name, the Doctor replies, "Just the Doctor." New companion Rose Tyler later finds a website devoted to the Doctor on the Internet, run by a conspiracy theorist who has been tracking the Ninth Doctor's appearances throughout history, carrying the title "DOCTOR WHO?" (see Fictional websites in Doctor Who). The BBC launched a "real" version of this website at "WHO IS DOCTOR WHO?", run by Mickey Smith, Rose's boyfriend (who took over the site following the death of its originator). In The Empty Child, for want of a better name, Rose introduces the Doctor to Jack Harkness as "Mr. Spock".

Related Topics:
Rose Tyler - Website - Internet - Fictional websites in Doctor Who - Mickey Smith - The Empty Child - Jack Harkness - Mr. Spock

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To his greatest enemies, the Daleks, the Doctor is known as the Ka Faraq Gatri, the "Bringer of Darkness" or "Destroyer of Worlds". This was first mentioned in the novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch and subsequently taken up in the spin-off media, particularly the Virgin New Adventures books and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. In The Parting of the Ways, the Doctor claims that the Daleks call him "The Oncoming Storm" — this name was used by the Draconians to refer to the Doctor in the Virgin New Adventures novel Love and War by Paul Cornell.

Related Topics:
Dalek - Remembrance of the Daleks - Ben Aaronovitch - Virgin New Adventures - Doctor Who Magazine - The Parting of the Ways - Draconians - Paul Cornell

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Quite apart from his name, why the Doctor uses that particular title has never been explained on screen. The Telos novella Frayed by Tara Samms (which takes place prior to "An Unearthly Child") has the First Doctor being given that title by the staff of a beseiged human medical facility on the planet Iwa, suggesting at the end that the Doctor liked the official title so much that he adopted it. However, this does not quite explain why the Time Lords use the same title in addressing him. The same story also has Jill, a young girl living in the facility, naming the Doctor's granddaughter Susan after Jill's mother.

Related Topics:
Telos novella - Tara Samms

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