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{{Cleanup|there's no ambiguity as to what's real or fake, unlike, say Professor Yana. John was created by a chameleon arch and in essence only lived his human life for three months.}}
{{in use}}
{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|image =John Smith.jpg|
|image =John Smith Tenth 5b.jpg
|name = John Smith
|alias =  
|alias = [[Tenth Doctor]]
|species = Human
|species=Human
|origin = [[Farringham]], [[England]]
|origin = [[Farringham]], [[England]]
|appearances = [[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'' / ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]''
|job = Teacher
|first = Human Nature (TV story)
|appearances = [[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]''
|actor = David Tennant
|actor = David Tennant
}}
|clip = The Journal of Impossible Things - Human Nature - Doctor Who - BBC
{{Dab page|John Smith}}
|clip2 = The life of John Smith - Doctor Who - Human Nature - Series 3 - BBC
'''John Smith''' was a [[human]] identity the [[Tenth Doctor]] created for himself when he used a [[Chameleon Arch]] to disguise himself from the [[Family of Blood]].
|mother = Verity Smith
|father = Sydney Smith
|partner = Joan Redfern (TV character){{!}}Joan Redfern
}}{{dab page|John Smith}}{{you may|Tenth Doctor|n1 = the Time Lord this human is based on}}
{{doctors}}
'''John Smith''' was a [[human]] identity the [[Tenth Doctor]] assumed while hiding from the [[Family of Blood]].


== Biography ==
==Creation==
According to Smith's memories, he was born circa [[1880]] to Sydney Smith, a watchmaker, and Verity Smith, a nurse. He was raised in the [[Radford Parad]]e district of [[Nottingham]], on [[Broadmarsh Street]]. The Smith family retained a maid, [[Martha Jones]], who continued to serve John after his parents' deaths.
When the Family of Blood, armed with a stolen [[Family of Blood's vortex manipulator|vortex manipulator]], came after the Tenth Doctor, he decided that it would be best if he and his companion, [[Martha Jones]], hid for a few months waiting for the Family to exhaust their limited lifespan. Since the Family of Blood could track by scent but never saw his face, he used the [[Chameleon Arch]] to change his biology and transform into a human, storing his [[Time Lord]] essence in a [[fob watch]] shaped [[biodata module]]. [[The TARDIS]] invented a life story for him, chose a setting and integrated him. This led to the Doctor living life as an ordinary schoolteacher named John Smith in [[1913]], believing himself to be human and believing his TARDIS's created memories to be real.


John received an excellent classical education (probably in a school similar to the one he taught at in 1913, as he seemed familiar with the customs) and became a schoolteacher himself. A talented artist, he studied art in "[[Gallifrey]]", presumably in [[Ireland]].
==Biography==
The events involving Smith in fact played out multiple times, with the [[Seventh Doctor]] even taking on [[John Smith (Seventh Doctor)|the role]] to avoid the [[Aubertide]]s. Overall, it played out "many times in many ways." ([[WC]]: ''[[Shadow of a Doubt (audio story)|Shadow of a Doubt]]'')


John took a new job in the autumn of [[1913]]: history teacher at the [[Farringham School for Boys]], in [[Farringham]], [[England]]. Not long after arriving, he began to have vivid dreams: that his maid [[Martha Jones|Martha]] was in fact a medical student from [[2007]] and he himself was an adventurer in time and space known only as the Doctor. Fascinated by the intensity and strangeness of his dreams, John began to keep [[A Journal of Impossible Things (Human Nature)|A Journal of Impossible Things]]. In it he recorded the adventures as the alien Doctor, insofar as he could remember his dreams. He illustrated them with rough sketches.
According to John's memories, he was born circa [[1880]] to [[Sydney Smith|Sydney]], a watchmaker, and [[Verity Smith|Verity]], a nurse. He was raised in the [[Radford Parade]] district of [[Nottingham]], on [[Broadmarsh Street]]. The Smith family retained a maid, [[Martha Jones]], who continued to serve John after his parents' deaths.


By [[November]] of [[1913]], John had begun telling others about his dreams: first his maid Martha; then the school's nurse, Matron [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]] with whom he found himself falling in love. Though in his mid-30s, John had never before been in a romantic relationship.
John received an excellent classical education and became a schoolteacher himself. A talented artist, he studied art in "[[Gallifrey]]", which he presumed was in [[Ireland]].


His courtship of Joan, however, was interrupted by an increasingly bizarre series of events about himself. It became increasingly evident to John that, deny it though he would, he was not entirely human. His dreaming-self, the Doctor, was the true self; he was, as he put it, "just a story".
In reality, John Smith didn't exist until he took a job in the autumn of [[1913]] as a history teacher at the [[Farringham School for Boys]], in [[Farringham]], [[England]]. Not long after arriving, he began to have vivid dreams of being the Doctor who travelled with his companions. Fascinated by the intensity and strangeness of his dreams, John began to keep a journal he titled ''[[A Journal of Impossible Things (Human Nature)|A Journal of Impossible Things]]''. In it he recorded the adventures of the alien Doctor that he could remember from his dreams. He illustrated them with rough sketches.


To stop the Family of Blood, Smith finally decided that he must become the Doctor again, even if it meant that he would "die". At one point Smith envisioned a possible future in which Joan and he would marry, have children and grandchildren, grow old and ultimately pass away in old age, secure in the knowledge that everyone that he loved was safe. He opened the fob watch and reverted into the Doctor, who pretended to still be him, allowing him to defeat the Family of Blood.  
By [[November]] [[1913]], John had begun telling others about his dreams: first his maid Martha; then the school's nurse, Matron [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]] with whom he found himself falling in love. Though in his mid-30s, John had never before been in a romantic relationship.


Later, Joan rejected the Doctor's offer to come with him, saying that John Smith was dead and that the Doctor just looked like him.([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood]]'')
During his brief courtship of Joan they went for walks in the village, shared a few kisses, and he invited her to a village dance. During this time, his true identity as [[the Doctor]] started to peek through. His memories didn't quite add up, and as he got to know Joan and answered her questions about his past, this became more evident. He named [[Gallifrey]] as the place where he learned to draw but wasn't quite sure where it was, assuming that it was in Ireland because he grew up there and so it must have been there as well. He saved a woman's life showing extraordinary dexterity and coordination, and tried to pass it off as luck, but the incident drew Joan's further attention and he wasn't able to convince himself or her that it was just luck and not something else.


Decades later, Joan's great-granddaughter, [[Verity Newman]] published John Smith's "A Journal of Impossible Things" as a book and told the Doctor that after John had turned back into the Doctor, she had a family and lived a happy life. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
The [[Family of Blood]] attacked Farringham during the annual dance, taking Martha and Joan hostage in an attempt to force the [[Time Lord]] inside John Smith out of hiding. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'') John froze, leaving Martha to rescue him, Joan, and herself. Escaping to the school, John then raised the alarm in the hope that the school standing together and fighting would be enough to fend off the seemingly alive [[scarecrow]]s that the Family had raised. Joan stopped him for a moment, asking about his childhood and questioning why he sounded like an encyclopædia and seemed to lack the personal history, the secrets that every person has. Desperate to hold onto himself and his newfound love, John pleaded with her, asking her how she could possibly think that he wasn't real.


== Personality ==
When [[Daughter of Mine]] posing as [[Lucy Cartwright]], killed the [[Rocastle|Headmaster]], John led the evacuation of the school. The Family then brought out [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], which they found in the woods, but in an continued attempt to cling to the only identity he ever knew, John denied ever seeing it before. When Joan reminded him that he had dreamt of it and drew pictures of it, John ran away, unwilling to admit to himself his true identity as the Doctor.
Smith was far more overtly emotional than the Doctor, whose actions often seemed cold or ruthless - the contrast between Smith before his essential 'death' and the return of the [[Tenth Doctor]] who then proceeded to essentially torture the [[Family of Blood]] should illustrate this. The Doctor's personality had hardened from the events of the [[Last Great Time War]]. As Smith, he was cut off from these painful memories, which allowed the compassion, mercy, and capacity for love that had been buried over time to rise up to the surface. He was aghast at Martha's revelation that the Doctor was indifferent to or perhaps incapable of love; terrified of [[Tim Latimer]]'s description of the Doctor's alienness; and, finally, shattered that becoming the Doctor meant that his own life would end.  


After John 'passed away', Joan Redfern held the Doctor in angry contempt for choosing to come to England in 1913, lamenting that 'if he had never chosen this place on a whim...would anyone here have died?' John was, she told the Doctor, braver than him for choosing to die to protect the people he loved, rather than hide away.  
When the Family rained fireballs down on the village, John eventually accepted that he must become the Doctor again, even though it meant his death. Holding the [[fob watch]], John envisioned a possible future in which he married Joan, had children and grandchildren, and ultimately passed away of old age, secure in the knowledge that everyone he loved was safe. Crying, he opened the biodata module and became the Doctor once more. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')


Unlike the Doctor, John was willing to take up weapons when the situation called for it - though the fact that he was fighting animated scarecrows rather than living beings may have contributed to this. However, while he raised his gun at the scarecrows, he never fired it. This hints at a disdain for arms similar to his alter-ego. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood]]'')
==Legacy==
Though the Doctor retained his memories of his time as John Smith, John was for all intents and purposes dead. The [[Tenth Doctor]] claimed that John Smith was inside him somewhere, that he was capable of "everything that John Smith is and was" and that if one looked him in the eye closely they could see him there. [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]], however, insisted that John was dead and that the Doctor simply looked like him. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')


=== Skills and abilities ===
Decades later, Joan's great-granddaughter, [[Verity Newman]] published John Smith's ''[[A Journal of Impossible Things (Human Nature)|A Journal of Impossible Things]]'' as a [[A Journal of Impossible Things (The End of Time)|book]] and told the Tenth Doctor that Joan went on to live a happy life. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
Though wholly human, Smith displayed some skills unusual for a human, such as his intuition that a [[cricket ball]], correctly thrown, would start a chain reaction of events that would save a woman and her baby from being crushed by a falling [[piano]]; perhaps this was a lingering trace of his Time Lord self. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood]]'')


== Behind the scenes ==
As the [[Twelfth Doctor]] [[Regeneration|regenerated]], he warned his [[Thirteenth Doctor|incoming successor]] to never eat [[pear]]s, ([[TV]]: ''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]'') on account of John Smith having eaten some, thereby leaving the Tenth Doctor to deal with the aftertaste once he was restored. The Twelfth Doctor did not want his "personal taste" and "quirk born of experience" squandered in this way. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Twice Upon a Time (novelisation)|Twice Upon a Time]]'')
* Smith's parents Sydney and Verity were references to [[Sydney Newman]] and [[Verity Lambert]], both essential to the making of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
 
* In contrast to the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s version of [[John Smith (Seventh Doctor)|John Smith]] in the original novel of ''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]'', who generally appeared drastically different from the Seventh Doctor in personality - such as his inability to improvise plans and his willingness to express emotions - while retaining some of the Doctor's essential core beliefs - such as his refusal to use weapons and his open-mindedness about issues such as skin colour - the Tenth Doctor's John Smith persona was more of a product of his time - willing to use weapons and occasionally bluntly dismissive of Martha Jones for her skin colour - while being relatively similar to the Tenth Doctor's basic personality in areas such as his tendency to talk a lot when excited and his willingness to express emotions.
==Psychological profile==
* In his video diary (released with the Series 3 DVD set), [[David Tennant]] remarks that the makeup used to make him look elderly (in the "alternate future" sequence) made him look uncannily like his real-life father.
===Personality===
* ''[[Radio Times]]'' credits David Tennant as 'John Smith' for ''Human Nature'', and as 'The Doctor' for ''The Family of Blood''. On-screen credits read 'The Doctor/Smith' for ''Human Nature'', and 'The Doctor' for ''The Family of Blood''.
John Smith was far more overtly emotional than the Doctor, whose actions often seemed cold or ruthless. The Doctor's personality had hardened from the events of the [[Last Great Time War]]. As John, he was cut off from these painful memories. He was aghast at [[Martha Jones|Martha]]'s revelation that the Doctor was indifferent to, or incapable of, romantic love; terrified of [[Tim Latimer]]'s description of the Doctor's alienness; and, finally, shattered that becoming the Doctor meant that his own life would end. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')
 
John was very much a man of his time, permitting [[Hutchinson (Human Nature)|one of his students]] to give a physical beating to [[Timothy Latimer|another]]. He was also occasionally bluntly dismissive of Martha for her skin colour and station. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'') John was also willing to take up weapons, instructing the boys at the school in firearm training and calling the school to arms when the [[Family of Blood]] attacked. However, when he raised his gun at the [[scarecrow]]s, he was unable to actually fire it, hinting that deep down he was more like the Doctor than he appeared to be. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')
 
John was terribly afraid of losing his identity and considered it a death. Ultimately, however, he made the choice to become the Doctor again to save the village. [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]] believed that this made him braver than the Doctor, as he chose to die rather than hide away. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')
 
===Skills and abilities===
Though wholly human, John displayed some skills unusual for a human. He was able to see a woman and her baby in danger of being crushed by a falling [[piano]] and throw a [[cricket ball]] in order to start a massive chain reaction of events to save them. This amazed both Joan and John himself, especially as he was naturally clumsy, once falling down a flight of stairs when startled. This momentary appearance of quick-thinking and quick, sure-footed movement, was implied to be his [[Time Lord]] instincts seeping through when he saw someone in imminent danger. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'')
 
He was also a fast runner, and was able to keep far ahead of Martha and Joan when running from the Family of Blood. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')
 
==Behind the scenes==
*Smith's parents Sydney and Verity were in-joke references to [[Sydney Newman]] and [[Verity Lambert]], both essential to the making of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. The names Verity and Newman were later used for [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]]'s great granddaughter [[Verity Newman]] in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]''
*In his video diary (released with the Series 3 DVD set), [[David Tennant]] remarked that the makeup used to make him look elderly in the "alternate future" sequence made him look uncannily like his real-life father.
*''[[Radio Times]]'' credits David Tennant as "John Smith" for ''Human Nature'', and as "The Doctor" for ''The Family of Blood''. On-screen credits read "The Doctor/Smith" for ''Human Nature'', and "The Doctor" for ''The Family of Blood''.


{{NameSort}}
{{NameSort}}


[[Category:Chameleon Arch identities]]
[[Category:20th century individuals]]
[[Category:20th century individuals]]
[[Category:Aliases of the Doctor]]
[[Category:Aliases of the Tenth Doctor]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor]]
[[Category:Human history teachers]]
[[Category:Human history teachers]]
[[Category:Incarnations of the Doctor]]
[[Category:Farringham staff]]
[[Category:Partial Time Lords]]
[[Category:Human artists]]
[[Category:Look alikes of the Doctor]]
[[Category:Nottingham residents]]
[[Category:Farringham residents]]

Latest revision as of 17:45, 3 November 2024

You may wish to consult John Smith for other, similarly-named pages.
You may be looking for the Time Lord this human is based on.

John Smith was a human identity the Tenth Doctor assumed while hiding from the Family of Blood.

Creation[[edit] | [edit source]]

When the Family of Blood, armed with a stolen vortex manipulator, came after the Tenth Doctor, he decided that it would be best if he and his companion, Martha Jones, hid for a few months waiting for the Family to exhaust their limited lifespan. Since the Family of Blood could track by scent but never saw his face, he used the Chameleon Arch to change his biology and transform into a human, storing his Time Lord essence in a fob watch shaped biodata module. The TARDIS invented a life story for him, chose a setting and integrated him. This led to the Doctor living life as an ordinary schoolteacher named John Smith in 1913, believing himself to be human and believing his TARDIS's created memories to be real.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

The events involving Smith in fact played out multiple times, with the Seventh Doctor even taking on the role to avoid the Aubertides. Overall, it played out "many times in many ways." (WC: Shadow of a Doubt)

According to John's memories, he was born circa 1880 to Sydney, a watchmaker, and Verity, a nurse. He was raised in the Radford Parade district of Nottingham, on Broadmarsh Street. The Smith family retained a maid, Martha Jones, who continued to serve John after his parents' deaths.

John received an excellent classical education and became a schoolteacher himself. A talented artist, he studied art in "Gallifrey", which he presumed was in Ireland.

In reality, John Smith didn't exist until he took a job in the autumn of 1913 as a history teacher at the Farringham School for Boys, in Farringham, England. Not long after arriving, he began to have vivid dreams of being the Doctor who travelled with his companions. Fascinated by the intensity and strangeness of his dreams, John began to keep a journal he titled A Journal of Impossible Things. In it he recorded the adventures of the alien Doctor that he could remember from his dreams. He illustrated them with rough sketches.

By November 1913, John had begun telling others about his dreams: first his maid Martha; then the school's nurse, Matron Joan Redfern with whom he found himself falling in love. Though in his mid-30s, John had never before been in a romantic relationship.

During his brief courtship of Joan they went for walks in the village, shared a few kisses, and he invited her to a village dance. During this time, his true identity as the Doctor started to peek through. His memories didn't quite add up, and as he got to know Joan and answered her questions about his past, this became more evident. He named Gallifrey as the place where he learned to draw but wasn't quite sure where it was, assuming that it was in Ireland because he grew up there and so it must have been there as well. He saved a woman's life showing extraordinary dexterity and coordination, and tried to pass it off as luck, but the incident drew Joan's further attention and he wasn't able to convince himself or her that it was just luck and not something else.

The Family of Blood attacked Farringham during the annual dance, taking Martha and Joan hostage in an attempt to force the Time Lord inside John Smith out of hiding. (TV: Human Nature) John froze, leaving Martha to rescue him, Joan, and herself. Escaping to the school, John then raised the alarm in the hope that the school standing together and fighting would be enough to fend off the seemingly alive scarecrows that the Family had raised. Joan stopped him for a moment, asking about his childhood and questioning why he sounded like an encyclopædia and seemed to lack the personal history, the secrets that every person has. Desperate to hold onto himself and his newfound love, John pleaded with her, asking her how she could possibly think that he wasn't real.

When Daughter of Mine posing as Lucy Cartwright, killed the Headmaster, John led the evacuation of the school. The Family then brought out the Doctor's TARDIS, which they found in the woods, but in an continued attempt to cling to the only identity he ever knew, John denied ever seeing it before. When Joan reminded him that he had dreamt of it and drew pictures of it, John ran away, unwilling to admit to himself his true identity as the Doctor.

When the Family rained fireballs down on the village, John eventually accepted that he must become the Doctor again, even though it meant his death. Holding the fob watch, John envisioned a possible future in which he married Joan, had children and grandchildren, and ultimately passed away of old age, secure in the knowledge that everyone he loved was safe. Crying, he opened the biodata module and became the Doctor once more. (TV: The Family of Blood)

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Though the Doctor retained his memories of his time as John Smith, John was for all intents and purposes dead. The Tenth Doctor claimed that John Smith was inside him somewhere, that he was capable of "everything that John Smith is and was" and that if one looked him in the eye closely they could see him there. Joan Redfern, however, insisted that John was dead and that the Doctor simply looked like him. (TV: The Family of Blood)

Decades later, Joan's great-granddaughter, Verity Newman published John Smith's A Journal of Impossible Things as a book and told the Tenth Doctor that Joan went on to live a happy life. (TV: The End of Time)

As the Twelfth Doctor regenerated, he warned his incoming successor to never eat pears, (TV: Twice Upon a Time) on account of John Smith having eaten some, thereby leaving the Tenth Doctor to deal with the aftertaste once he was restored. The Twelfth Doctor did not want his "personal taste" and "quirk born of experience" squandered in this way. (PROSE: Twice Upon a Time)

Psychological profile[[edit] | [edit source]]

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

John Smith was far more overtly emotional than the Doctor, whose actions often seemed cold or ruthless. The Doctor's personality had hardened from the events of the Last Great Time War. As John, he was cut off from these painful memories. He was aghast at Martha's revelation that the Doctor was indifferent to, or incapable of, romantic love; terrified of Tim Latimer's description of the Doctor's alienness; and, finally, shattered that becoming the Doctor meant that his own life would end. (TV: The Family of Blood)

John was very much a man of his time, permitting one of his students to give a physical beating to another. He was also occasionally bluntly dismissive of Martha for her skin colour and station. (TV: Human Nature) John was also willing to take up weapons, instructing the boys at the school in firearm training and calling the school to arms when the Family of Blood attacked. However, when he raised his gun at the scarecrows, he was unable to actually fire it, hinting that deep down he was more like the Doctor than he appeared to be. (TV: The Family of Blood)

John was terribly afraid of losing his identity and considered it a death. Ultimately, however, he made the choice to become the Doctor again to save the village. Joan Redfern believed that this made him braver than the Doctor, as he chose to die rather than hide away. (TV: The Family of Blood)

Skills and abilities[[edit] | [edit source]]

Though wholly human, John displayed some skills unusual for a human. He was able to see a woman and her baby in danger of being crushed by a falling piano and throw a cricket ball in order to start a massive chain reaction of events to save them. This amazed both Joan and John himself, especially as he was naturally clumsy, once falling down a flight of stairs when startled. This momentary appearance of quick-thinking and quick, sure-footed movement, was implied to be his Time Lord instincts seeping through when he saw someone in imminent danger. (TV: Human Nature)

He was also a fast runner, and was able to keep far ahead of Martha and Joan when running from the Family of Blood. (TV: The Family of Blood)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Smith's parents Sydney and Verity were in-joke references to Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert, both essential to the making of Doctor Who. The names Verity and Newman were later used for Joan Redfern's great granddaughter Verity Newman in The End of Time
  • In his video diary (released with the Series 3 DVD set), David Tennant remarked that the makeup used to make him look elderly in the "alternate future" sequence made him look uncannily like his real-life father.
  • Radio Times credits David Tennant as "John Smith" for Human Nature, and as "The Doctor" for The Family of Blood. On-screen credits read "The Doctor/Smith" for Human Nature, and "The Doctor" for The Family of Blood.
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