User:RC-1136/workdesk

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Welcome aboard, I'm the Doctor... or will be if this regeneration works out.The Doctor to Adric. [Castrovalva (TV story) [src]]

The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor.

Profile

The Doctor enthusiastically chatting to the Portreeve

Biography

Post-regeneration

The Doctor's fourth regeneration [1] was a problematic one, and nearly failed. Mentally, he alternated between assuming the personalities of his previous selves and reverting into states of fear and vagueness. He recovered in the TARDIS' Zero Room and after Nyssa and Tegan piloted the TARDIS to Castrovalva, where he could recover, he found himself captured by the Portreeve's men. Amnesiac, confused and vague, he regained his memory and sense of purpose and ended up once more winning against the Master. [2]

Travels

Tegan demanded that he return her to 1981 Earth, which he attempted many times without success. Along the way, Nyssa collapsed and spent the next few days recovering, the Mara possessed Tegan and they took time out to attend Lord Cranleigh's ball, where danger lurked once more. [3][4][5][6]

On 26th century Earth he discovered a plan by Cybermen to use Captain Briggs' space freighter as a giant bomb. The freighter shifted through time to the distant past, killing the dinosaurs and Earth's history proceeded as normal. However, Adric, still on the freighter, died. [7]

The Docto trying to redeem himself with the Silurians.

When Vislor Turlough, an exiled alien posing as a British schoolboy, asked to come along, the Doctor did not know that Turlough had been commissioned by the Black Guardian to kill him. Soon after, Nyssa left to help cure Lazar's Disease on the space station Terminus. After meeting the entities known as Eternals racing in yacht-like spacecraft for the prize of Enlightenment, Turlough broke free from the Black Guardian's influence, and continued to travel with the Doctor and Tegan. The Doctor met three of his previous incarnations when they were summoned to the Death Zone on Gallifrey by President Borusa, who was attempting to gain Rassilon's secret of immortality. [8]

After further adventures in which the Doctor re-encountered old foes including the Silurians and the Sea Devils, both Tegan and Turlough left the TARDIS. Tegan would find the death and violence they encountered on their travels too much to bear (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks), and Turlough returned to his home planet of Trion.

Regeneration

Ultimately, the Doctor and his last companion Peri Brown were exposed to Spectrox toxaemia on Androzani Minor. With only one dose of the antidote available, he sacrificed his own existence to save Peri, regenerating into the his sixth incarnation. [9] During his regeneration the Master tried to interfere via Kamelion's connection to the TARDIS, but the Doctor was saved by an older Nyssa who connected with him in his mindscape. [10]

Personality

This was probably the most human and vulnerable of all the Doctors, less pretentious and selfish, often reacting to situations rather than initiating them and openly expressing his hopes and fears to his companions. His young appearance was reflected in the youthfulness of his companions as well, whom he treated more like parts of a team than their usual subordinate role under previous incarnations. The death of Adric affected him and the rest of his companions deeply. Ref name="Earthshock" />

Despite his youthful body and love of cricket, he was one of the least physical Doctors, preferring to use communication and diplomacy to solve a problem. In contrast to some of his more aggressive predecessors, he preferred to gain people's trust by honestly proving himself, instead of using his vast experience as an excuse to take charge, Indeed, he often willingly participated in situations under the leadership of someone else who had the strong command presence that he lacked, However this does not mean to say that he does not take charge in moments of frustration as demonstrated during his encounter with "that skinny idiot". In an occasional reminder of his actual age, this Doctor would sport a pair of glasses when examining something (though these would later be revealed by the his future self to be vanity "brainy specs", which he wore just to make him look "a bit clever". [11]

The Doctor wearing his "brainy specs"

At the same time, this humanity made him prone to panic under pressure and become occasionally indecisive. He was unable to execute Davros in cold blood [12] and reluctantly killed Kamelion only at the android's request. [13]

Of all the Doctors, the Fifth was the one who showed the greatest abhorrence for violence and needless bloodshed as well as the pain and suffering of others. Despite this, violence and bloodshed continued to dog his footsteps, as in the massacre in Sea Base Four Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many and the number of deaths of anonymous soldiers which led to Tegan's departure. The Doctor acknowledged that he perhaps had to mend his ways. [12]

It was perhaps a combination of realizing that his lifestyle begot violence and the weighing of Adric's death on his mind that led him ultimately to sacrifice his own existence to save Peri. It is telling that this Doctor's last word before his regeneration into his sixth incarnation was "Adric." Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

Impact on later incarnations

Oh no, you mostly went hands free didn't you? Like, "Hey! I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string! And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable."The Tenth Doctor mocking the Fifth [Time Crash [src]]

Whilst it is implied that his immediate successer hated being this incarnation, His Tenth incarnation absolutely loved living this incarnation. He looked upon his fifth incarnation as a turning point in his lives. Prior to this he had a penchant for being "old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young," but it was his fifth incarnation where he truly began to enjoy himself (an ironic statement considering the darkness surrounding the death of Adric and the departures of Tegan and Nyssa). He admitted his earlier self that certain aspects of his wardrobe and personality were influenced by his fifth incarnation, "because you were my Doctor". [11] While inside the Doctor's dreamscape, Ace discovered that this incarnation in the Doctor's subconscious had come to personify the conscience of his future selves, reflecting his strong sense of compassion. [14]

Key Life Events

We do not know exactly where in the Fifth Doctor's time stream that this occured.
  • Both Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka depart the TARDIS in heartbreaking circumstances. [19] [12]
  • Peri Brown joins him, as Vislor Turlough returns to his homeworld and Kamelion is destroyed. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
  • Erimem travels with the Doctor and Peri [20] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
  • The dying Doctor manages to save Peri and regenerates. [9]

Behind the Scenes

Richard Griffiths was considered for the role of the Fifth Doctor before Peter Davison was cast.

After the famous and popular Fourth Doctor, it was decided that the next Doctor should be played by an actor who was already firmly established in the British public's mind. Peter Davison was chosen, due in no small part to his popular and critically acclaimed role as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, a BBC series based on the books of James Herriot.

Until the announcement in 2009 of 26-year-old Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Davison, age 29 when he began the role, held the record as the youngest actor to ever officially play the Doctor, beating his predecessor Tom Baker. Davison was reluctant to accept the role because of his age.

The Fifth Doctor's era was notable for a "back to basics" attitude, in which humour (and, to an extent, horror) was kept to a minimum, but more scientific accuracy was encouraged by the producer, John Nathan-Turner. It was also notable for the reintroduction of many of the Time Lord's enemies; such as the Cybermen, Omega (a founding-father of Gallifrey), the Black and White Guardians, the Sea Devils, and the Silurians, while the Master, who had been reintroduced at the end of the Baker era, became a regular adversary, appearing at least once (and often more than once) per season.

In 2007, the Fifth Doctor became the first past incarnation to appear in the 2005- series revival when he appeared in the mini-episode Time Crash.

In several DVD commentaries, Peter Davison claims the reason that he abandoned the use of his half-moon glasses was because Janet Fielding mercilessly teased him when he used them. Fielding seemed to agree with this assessment on at least the commentary for Earthshock.

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Logopolis (TV story)
  2. ↑ Castrovalva (TV story)
  3. ↑ Kinda (TV story)
  4. ↑ Black Orchid (TV story)
  5. ↑ Four to Doomsday
  6. ↑ The Visitation
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Earthshock
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Five Doctors
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Caves of Androzani
  10. ↑ Circular Time
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Time Crash
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Resurrection of the Daleks
  13. ↑ Planet of Fire
  14. ↑ Timewyrm: Revelation
  15. ↑ Time-Flight
  16. ↑ Mawdryn Undead
  17. ↑ Enlightenment (TV story)
  18. ↑ The King's Demons
  19. ↑ Terminus
  20. ↑ The Eye of the Scorpion
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