Tenth Doctor
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A Time Lord Victorious
Biography
Regeneration
When the Doctor absorbed the TARDIS' Time Vortex from his companion, Rose Tyler, the forces contained in himself began to destroy every cell in his body. He regenerated for a ninth time to save his life. The Doctor immediately dematerialised the TARDIS from its location on Satellite 5, intending to fulfill his promise to take Rose to the planet Barcelona in the year 5006. With Rose suffering an emotional crisis over the Doctor's sudden change, the Doctor instead takes pity and heads back to the Powell Estate in London on Christmas Eve 2005 after convincing her of his identity by reminding her of the very first thing he ever said to her. Before he could successfully complete the landing, he began to suffer adverse effects from the violence of his physical change and experienced manic hyperactivity, sending the TARDIS to such dangerous extremes of speed that it crash-landed. Shortly after this, his memory takes a turn for the worst and he drearily wishes Jackie and Mickey a Merry Christmas before promptly lapsing into a comatose state. He later snapped out of it briefly and then fell into it for a longer time in order to first save Rose from a killer Christmas Tree and then to beat back an invasion of planet Earth by the Sycorax on Christmas morning. During this adventure he had his hand cut off while in a sword fight with the Sycorax leader but, still retaining enough cellular energy from his regeneration, grew it back. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
Adventures with Rose
The Doctor and Rose embarked on adventures together through time and space. They came to New Earth and were summoned to the New New York Hospital by the Face of Boe. While there, he stopped the Sisters of Plenitude, who were creating Humans and infecting them with every disease. During this time, Rose was possessed by Cassandra, who was trying to extend her life, but the Doctor eventually convinced Cassandra to "end it." (DW: New Earth). Next they took a trip to 1879 Scotland. There the Doctor and Rose stopped a werewolf from biting Queen Victoria and starting The Empire of the Wolf. As a reward, the Doctor was knighted Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Rose was knighted Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. They were then banished from the British Empire, since their blasé attitude to danger unnerved the Queen. The Doctor also inadvertently inspired Queen Victoria to found the Torchwood Institute, dedicated to defending Britain from the alien threat. (DW: Tooth and Claw)
Back on 21st century Earth, the Doctor went undercover as John Smith, a physics teacher at a school which the Krillitane had infiltrated. The Doctor had a chance reunion with his past companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9. The Doctor also allowed Mickey Smith to accompany him and Rose on their travels at Sarah Jane's suggestion. (DW: School Reunion)
The Doctor, Rose and Mickey next found themselves in a 51st century ship, which was connected to 18th century France. There he met a pre-teen Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. The Doctor saved her as a child from the ship's Clockwork Droids and several more times in her life. After the droids were stopped, he offered to allow her to travel with him, but he made a mistake and returned to her after she died. (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace)
On a parallel Earth, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey witnessed the birth of that universe's Cybermen. The adventure ended with Mickey deciding to stay in the parallel universe, leaving Rose and the Doctor to continue their travels together. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)
The Doctor and Rose planned to see an Elvis concert, donning the outfits of the fifties and riding a scooter, however, they accidentally ended up in England, June 2, 1953, where The Wire was planning to steal the essences and faces of everyone watching the coronation on television. Rose fell victim to the Wire, but during the coronation the Doctor defeated the Wire, restoring the faces of its victims. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern)
The Doctor and Rose then travelled to the planet of Krop Tor, an impossible planet that orbited a black hole and inhabited by Sanctuary Base 6. The Humans of Sanctuary Base 6 had journeyed to Krop Tor to discover the source of power emanating from the planet's core, which was allowing the planet to orbit a black hole without falling in. The Doctor and a researcher from the crew of Sanctuary Base 6 named Ida Scott descended into the core of the planet to explore. There they discovered a pit, into which the Doctor went, alone. It is at this point that we first see his love for Rose, when he says to Ida before he drops into the pit, 'tell Rose I... oh she knows.' Once he'd reached the bottom, he found himself face-to-face with the Beast. The Beast had been terrorizing the explorers on the surface and possessing their servants, the Ood. The Doctor trapped the Beast by imprisoning it in the black hole and was joyfully reunited with Rose and the TARDIS. (DW: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit) . Some time later, he and Rose were in a fight with a Hoix, an event seen by Elton Pope. When Elton later offended Rose's mother, the Doctor and Rose confronted him, as well as helped him defeat the Abzorbaloff. (DW: Love & Monsters) . He and Rose then travelled to 2012 to see the London Olympics. He met a girl named Chloe Webber who had been possessed by a lone Isolus. Chloe was trapping other children from her street in drawings to stop the Isolus from feeling lonely. After briefly being trapped in a drawing himself, along with the TARDIS, the Doctor ran with the Olympic torch to the stadium, lit the Olympic flame, and then reunited with Rose. (DW: Fear Her)
Separation from Rose
When the Doctor and Rose returned to present-day London, they found that the entire planet was being visited by beings believed to be ghosts. The Doctor tracked the signal to Torchwood Tower and was subsequently taken prisoner by the Torchwood Institute. He strongly opposed their use of "ghost shifts" for a power source, as it was ripping a hole between parallel worlds which increased in size with every "ghost shift". The original tear was caused by "The Sphere", an object the Doctor identified as a Void Ship. Later, three computer technicians (who were secretly under the control of Cybermen) restarted the ghost shift. This lead to the realization that the ghosts were actually Cybermen, coming through from the parallel world where the Doctor and Rose had left Mickey. As the Cyberman invasion of Earth began, the Void Ship opened, revealing the Cult of Skaro, a group of Daleks with a Genesis Ark. The Genesis Ark was Time Lord technology which contained millions of Daleks that had been imprisoned by the Time Lords.
In order to save both dimensions from annihilation and defeat the Daleks and Cybermen, the Doctor decided to open the Void. This opening would suck anything covered in "Void stuff" into it. Realising that himself, Rose and the others were also covered in Void stuff, the Doctor sent Rose, against her will, to the parallel world, along with Mickey, Pete Tyler and her mother, where they all would be safe from the Void. However, Rose returned, refusing to leave the Doctor and knowing that in making her choice she would never see her family again. Together, the Doctor and Rose opened the Void and the Daleks and Cybermen were sucked in. The plan initially went smoothly, until Rose's lever malfunctioned, threatening to halt the process. Rose managed to secure the lever but couldn't hold on and was almost sucked into the Void, much to the Doctor's terror and despair. Rose was saved at the last second by her parallel father and taken back across to the parallel universe, separating her from the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose were able to meet one last time on Dålig Ulv Stranden in Norway; the Doctor had parked the TARDIS in orbit around a supernova for enough power to project an image through the last gap between the universes to say goodbye. The Doctor had fallen in love with Rose and vice versa, and although Rose was able to confirm her own love, The Doctor was cut off before he could express his feelings. (DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
A Noble encounter
Whilst he was grieving over Rose, a bride named Donna Noble, to the Doctor's shock, appeared inside the TARDIS during her wedding ceremony. The Doctor discovered the involvement of the ancient Racnoss and defeated them. After the Doctor's destruction of the Racnoss, and largely because of the Doctor's merciless treatment of them, Donna decided not to travel with him and left after telling the Doctor to "find someone." (DW: The Runaway Bride)
An old and best friend
Sometime after meeting Donna, the Doctor, travelling alone, landed on the Slough of the Disjointed Planets, an area of space populated by warlike races renowned for their brutal conflicts. There he encountered the dying War Keeper, the ancient controller of the population of the Disjointed Planets. In an attempt to find a worthy successor, the War Keeper scanned the Doctor's mind for the identity and location of the greatest leader of the cosmos, and choose Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The old soldier, now retired and in his late 70s, found himself transported to the Slough to receive the position, but refused to accept the role. As an alternative, the War Keeper, using the Doctor's memories, choose as an alternative Mike Yates, but accidentally summoned to the Disointed Planets another, far less capable man with the same name. Rivals of the dying War Keeper infiltrated his helpers before his death and passed onto the other Mike Yates the Keeper's control device: the Warkeeper's Crown. With the weak-minded wrong-Yates under control of the Crown, and with wrong-Yates in turn in control of the numerous forces of the Disjointed Planets, the deceased War Keeper's rivals planned to control the conflicts. The controlled wrong-Yates transported himself back to his home on Earth, along with many orcs, hawks, and other creatures. The Doctor and the Brigadier, with an army of Brigadier-clones the Doctor created with technology at the Slough, returned to the Earth to defeat the demon hordes and free the wrong-Yates from the Crown's control. (During this time, the Mike Yates whom the Doctor and the Brigadier knew of old witnessed the conflict.) With the danger passed, the Doctor and the Brigadier, still and ever the best of friends, re-lived their old glories, and said their good-byes, although the Brigadier expected to see his old friend once more. (DWM: The Warkeeper's Crown)
Martha Jones
But if Martha Jones became a legend then that's wrong, because my name isn't important. There's someone else. The man who sent me out there, the man who told me to walk the Earth. And his name is The Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops. He never stays. He never asks to be thanked. But I've seen him, I know him... I love him... And I know what he can do.
The Doctor met Martha Jones, a London medical student, and, after defeating a Plasmavore on the Moon (DW: Smith and Jones), invited her to travel with him in the TARDIS. They arrived in Shakespearean London and foiled the Carrionites and discovered the mystery of Love's Labours Won (DW: The Shakespeare Code). He then broadened Martha's trip to one to the past and one to the future after being chased out of the time. He next landed on New Earth, which he had previously visited with Rose, where he heard the final words of the Face of Boe: You are not alone. (DW: Gridlock) In 1930s New York City, the Doctor once again met and defeated the Cult of Skaro. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan)
Together they put an end to the work of mad Professor Lazarus (DW: The Lazarus Experiment) and following that helped save a spaceship from plummeting into a sun. Later, the Doctor hid from the Family of Blood, a family of aliens who wanted his Time Lord brain, by using a Chameleon Arch to transform himself mentally and physically into a Human school teacher named John Smith, hiding completely his Time Lord self so that his alter ego had no recollection of the Doctor. John Smith subsequently fell in love, much to the disappointment of Martha, with the matron of the school, Joan Redfern and would have spent the rest of his life with her. However, the Doctor was forced to retake his Time Lord body to save the Earth from destruction, and sought suitable punishment for the Family of Blood. (DW: Human Nature / The Family of Blood)
The Doctor and Martha travelled to 2006 to investigate strange disappearances at an old abandoned house. They were transported back in time to 1969 by aliens in the form of stone angels who fed off their potential energy. Using information given to him by Sally Sparrow prior to the incident, he left messages for Sally in the future to bring the TARDIS back to 1969. (DW: Blink)
The Master's return
In Cardiff, where the Doctor had gone to "refuel" the TARDIS using the Cardiff rift, Captain Jack Harkness jumped onto and physically clung to the exterior of the TARDIS, hitching a ride to the planet Malcassairo in the extremely far distant future. On Malcassairo, the Doctor found Professor Yana, actually his most fearsome nemesis: The Master. The Master had been made human by another Chameleon Arch, but when Martha questioned his old fob watch, he opened it and became the Master again. After being shot by Professor Yana's assistant Chantho and facing imminent regeneration, the Master locked himself inside the Doctor's TARDIS and despite the pleas of his enemy, hijacked the ship and escaped, leaving the Doctor, Jack and Martha to die at the hands of the Futurekind. (DW: Utopia) They were able to escape to the present when the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on Jack's broken Vortex Manipulator. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
Using the human name of Harold Saxon, the Master made himself Prime Minister of Great Britain and invited an army of Toclafane to invade the world. (DW: The Sound of Drums) The Master imprisoned the Doctor for a year, during which time he used his laser screwdriver to artificially age the Doctor 900 years, turning him into a small creature. The Master was later defeated by manipulation of his Archangel Network to the Doctor's own advantage. The Doctor displayed great powers during this period, using the psychic energy of the Earth's people (having been told by Martha to think of the Doctor at a specific moment) to restore his youthful look and manipulating it to grant him almost god-like powers. After disarming the Master, he then approached the Master and spoke the words the Master was terrified to hear: "I forgive you." The Master was shot soon afterward by his human wife, Lucy Saxon, who sought revenge for his treatment of her. Subsequently, the Doctor decided to attempt to rehabilitate the Master, planning to keep him a prisoner aboard the TARDIS. At the thought of becoming the Doctor's captive, the Master refused to regenerate and died for, supposedly, the final time in the arms of the Doctor, thus leaving the Doctor truly the last Time Lord in existence.
Following the events of the Year That Never Was, Martha left the Doctor, believing that she needed to live her own life and be with her family. Her family had been tortured at the hands of the Master and Martha felt partly responsible for their suffering. Not only that but, almost from their first encounter, Martha had fallen in love with the Doctor; however, she knew that her love was unrequited and that he only saw Rose when he looked at her. Martha explained this to the Doctor and they parted amicably. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
Shortly after Martha left, the Doctor accidentally crashed his TARDIS with that of one of his Max CapricornDoctor|earlier regenerations]]. He was able to use his memory of the event (from his Fifth regeneration's perspective) to separate the TARDISes, though he forgot to turn the shields back on and the spaceship Titanic crashed in through the walls. (DW: Time Crash)
Deciding to join the party on board, the Doctor quickly made a new friend, Astrid Peth, on board Titanic. When the ship's owner, Max Capricorn, had Titanic purposely crashed into a meteor shower, the Doctor attempted to save the passengers, but could only save Astrid by transforming her into a being of light. Following the incident, the Doctor set out on his own once again. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)
A Noble Reunion
While investigating Adipose Industries, the Doctor was reunited with Donna Noble, who finally accepted his invitation to travel with him. The Doctor was quick to rule out the possibility of a romantic involvement, giving their companionship a different dynamic to that of the ones the Doctor had previously experienced with Rose and Martha. (DW: Partners in Crime)
During their travels, the Doctor realized he was responsible for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, in order to avert world domination by the Pyroviles. (DW: The Fires of Pompeii) He also helped set free the enslaved Ood of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire in the 42nd century, (DW: Planet of the Ood) and disrupted a Sontaran invasion on Earth, during which time he was reunited with Martha Jones. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem)
Directly following this, the TARDIS transported the Doctor, Donna and Martha to the planet Messaline in the far distant future, where his DNA was stolen and replicated to produce Jenny, his biological daughter. Initially critical of the girl due to her strong predilection for violence, the Doctor came to love his daughter, and mourned her death at the hands of General Cobb. He overcame his desire for revenge, however, in order to help found a new society on the planet. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
Another important woman in the Doctor's life was introduced to him in The Library: Professor River Song, who claimed to know the Doctor from a distant point in his future. (DW: Silence in the Library) She displayed knowledge of the Doctor's real name, as she revealed prior to sacrificing herself to save the Data Ghosts trapped in the Library's core. The Doctor, inspired by her faith in him, was able to save River Song by preserving her ghost in the core's virtual reality. (DW: Forest of the Dead)
Journey's End
Shortly afterwards he and Donna visited the leisure planet Midnight
, Donna stayed at the leisure palace whilst the Doctor took a four-hour
shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. The bus was subsequently attacked by an unknown creature which possessed one of the passengers, Sky Silvestry and eventually the Doctor, with the aim of inciting mass hysteria among the other passengers. Before the creature could trick the passengers into throwing out the Doctor, Sky was dragged out into the X-Tonic sun by the bus' hostess, who realized that Sky was stealing the Doctor's voice, and the creature departed, its plans defeated. (DW: Midnight)
Next, the Doctor and Donna visited the Chinese-influenced planet of Shan Shen. When Donna went to get her fortune told, a member of the Trickster's Brigade created an alternate universe around her. In this alternate universe she met Rose Tyler, who told her two words to tell the Doctor. After Donna corrects the universe, she is able to tell the Doctor the two words: Bad Wolf. Donna asks what it means and the Doctor replies with "The end of the Universe". (DW: Turn Left)
He rushed back to Earth to check that everything was fine, but as soon as they went back to the TARDIS, the whole planet was stolen. Finding no clue as to where the Earth was, he went to the Shadow Proclamation and learned that 27 planets including Earth had been stolen. With a bit of help from Harriet Jones, Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Martha Jones, Mr Smith and Rose Tyler (The Children of Time) as well as Donna's mother and grandfather he was able to be contacted and managed to lock on to the location of the Earth. After a quick chat with his friends and Davros (who had been saved by Dalek Caan from the Last Great Time War
) he landed on Earth. While talking to Donna, Donna pointed out that Rose was behind him. He turned around and the two began to run towards each other. Then a Dalek emerged from the shadows and fired at him. It was only a glancing blow but was enough to mortally wound him. He had to be taken back into the
TARDIS where he began to regenerate. (DW: The Stolen Earth). Using his nearby severed hand, he used the regeneration to heal himself, but not to regenerate into a new form. As a result of this, a new Doctor was born from his severed hand and Donna who was accidentally made part-Time Lord, becoming the DoctorDonna. DoctorDonna disabled the planet powered Reality Bomb to stop Davros from destroying the entire universe and the three Doctor's sent the planets back to their original time and space. However, The Doctor was horrified by the actions of the new Doctor, who wiped out the last remaining members of the Dalek race. The Children of Time used the TARDIS to tow Earth back to it's original point in time and space. The Doctor said his goodbyes to Sarah Jane, Martha, Jack and Mickey before he left the new Doctor in Pete's World, hoping that Rose and the new Doctor would be able to help each other. The new Doctor was able to tell Rose that he loved her and they passionately kissed. Upon returning to our universe, he was forced to remove Donna's Time Lord abilities, as they would eventually kill her. He returned Donna to her mother and grandfather, and told them that they would have to make sure she never remembered the Doctor. (DW: Journey's End)
Es'Cartress of the Tactire, an inhabitant of Callufrax Minor, had been stuck on the Crucible and was unable to return home before the Doctors returned the planets. As such, he had to escape to the TARDIS. He then attempted to take over the Doctor's mind, but his link with the TARDIS forced them both into the Matrix. The Doctor was shown to have the stronger mind and was able to take control, killing Es'Cartress. (IDW: The Forgotten)
Final Adventures
The Two Doctors?
An unknown length of time after leaving Donna, the Doctor travelled to London, Christmas Day 1851. The Doctor met a man calling himself 'the Doctor' and at first assumed him to be his future incarnation. In reality, he was a Human man, Jackson Lake, who had the contents of an Infostamp about the Doctor imprinted on his brain. Jackson and Rosita Farisi aided the Doctor in stopping the plot of the Cybermen and their ally, Mercy Hartigan. London was saved, Lake was reunited with his son, and invited the Doctor to share Christmas dinner with his new family (an offer which was at first denied, then accepted by the Doctor). (DW: The Next Doctor)
An Easter Egg
Sometime later, the Doctor travelled to London in 2009 at Easter, investigating strange readings on a bus. While he investigated, the bus was hurtled through a portal and reappeared on San Helios. On the bus he met yet another one-off companion, Christina de Souza, and embarked on a mission with her (and UNIT on the end of a phone) to return the bus and its occupants to Earth and stop the Swarm from invading. At the end of this adventure, just before leaving in the TARDIS, the Doctor rejected Christina's offer of companionship, stating that he has lost anyone who travels with him and he'd swore never again. Carmen, a low level psychic who aided during the adventure told the Doctor these chilling words.
"Your song is ending sir, It is returning. It is returning through the dark, oh but then...He will knock four times"
When Christina (who was a jewel thief) was arrested, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to aid her escape in the bus. Finally, when the Doctor was about to be arrested for helping Christina, he entered the "police box" to "arrest himself" and left. (DW: Planet of the Dead)
Wedding Crasher
At some point when he was travelling alone the Doctor crashed Sarah Jane Smith's wedding. He knew The Trickster
, an old enemy of hers, would try and get
his revenge on her after she had foiled the Trickster's previous attempts to cause chaos. Just as he got there, she and her future husband Peter Dalton were taken by the Trickster. He was teleported to a nether realm along with Rani, Luke and Clyde, whom he had heard all about from Sarah Jane. He fought the Trickster, who hinted about his next regeneration "The gate is waiting". The TARDIS gave Clyde the power to control Artron energy by mistake, so he could have defeated the Trickster, while the Doctor informed Sarah Jane what needed to be done. Peter, Sarah Jane's fiance, sacrificed himself to destroy the Trickster, leaving Sarah Jane alone and heartbroken. When the world was put back to normal, the Doctor visited 13 Bannerman Road and let Sarah Jane and her friends look inside TARDIS, after which he said farewell. (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith)
Bowie Base One
The Doctor decides to go to the Planet Mars. There he met the crew of Bowie Base One, including Adelaide Brooke who served as his companion for a short time. He knew the crew of Bowie Base, and that one would die, as it was one of the most important events in the expansion of Humanity through the universe. He learnt that the crew died due to The Flood, which caused six of them mutate. Initially unwilling to interfere due to his belief that the event was a fixed point in time, he changed course once he remembers the deaths he has lived through and what it has left him with. He saves Adelaide, Mia and Yuri and takes them back to Earth 2059. Adelaide was angry at the Doctor's interference, and scolds him for thinking himself above obeying history's course (her death meant that her grandaughter would be inspired to go explore the stars). Adelaide then walks into her home, apparently having given up trying to defy the Doctor, but committed suicide. The Doctor's memories of the day's events change to fit in with the new timeline created. Distraught at the impossiblity of his task of changing history, he began to ponder his own end when a vision of Ood Sigma appeared before him. As he entereds the TARDIS, the Cloister Bell rings. With a defiant "No!" he activated the TARDIS. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
- For a list of Tenth Doctor stories in the order in which he experienced them, see Tenth Doctor - Timeline.
Undated/unchronicled events
- At one point the Doctor travelled with a green-skinned young alien named Majenta Pryce (from DWM: Thinktwice on). Technically, however, the Doctor was considered Pryce's assistant, rather than the other way around. He also briefly reunited with on-again, off-again companion Maxwell Edison who had previously shared adventures with the Doctor's Fifth and Eighth incarnations. (DWM: The Stockbridge Child).
- The Doctor also shared adventures with Heather McCrimmon and Wolfgang "Wolfie" Ryter (DWAM).
- There are several unchronicled periods in the Doctor's history during which his activities are unknown: between Donna Noble's initial invitation to join the TARDIS and his first meeting with Martha (DW: The Runaway Bride, Smith and Jones); and after dropping Bayldon Copper off on Earth and his reunion with Donna (DW: Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime). In addition, adventures chronicled following the memory-wipe of Donna do not occur consecutively and thus any length of time may occur between them (from DW: Journey's End onward).
- During the interval between his first meeting with Donna Noble (DW: The Runaway Bride) and the arrival of Martha Jones, the Doctor briefly travelled with an alien woman named Grayla (IDW: The Whispering Gallery).
- The Doctor tried to save Elton Pope's mother from a Elemental Shade from the Howling Halls, but is unsuccessful. (DW: Love & Monsters)
- This occurred some point before the main events of Love & Monsters, as the Doctor recognized Elton as an adult.
- An unchronicled adventure with Martha Jones involving "four things and a lizard" and requiring the use of bows and arrows occurred in the modern day, during which the Doctor encountered Sally Sparrow and she handed him a package of information relating to events that had yet to occur to him. (DW: Blink)
- Another adventure involving bows and arrows (possibly the same one?) was recalled by the Doctor during his encounter with Agatha Christie (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp).
- At some point after his encounter with Sally Sparrow, the Doctor and Martha encountered the Weeping Angels and were transported sans TARDIS to 1969, where they spent an unknown length of time following the information provided by Sparrow. Their activities during this period have not been completely detailed. (DW: Blink)
- At one point, the Doctor and Rose Tyler visited a rocky, barren planet watching giant creatures that are similar to manta rays in appearance fly past. (DW: Army of Ghosts (flashback))
- At some point, the Doctor engages in an adventure in Elizabethan England which results in him becoming an enemy of Queen Elizabeth I. (DW: The Shakespeare Code)
- This occurs at some point between DW: The Shakespeare Code and The End of Time.
- The Doctor may have met River Song and entered into a relationship of some sort with her. (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
- It is unclear whether the Doctor's relationship/companionship with River Song occurred during his tenth incarnation. It is known that she met his eleventh incarnation at some point (DW: Series 5, episode TBA).
Death
to be added
Companions
As with previous incarnations, the Tenth Doctor has travelled with a number of companions, most notably Rose Tyler, whose loss had a profound impact on him. Others have included (in order) Mickey Smith, Martha Jones (who rejoined the Doctor on at least two occasions after leaving the TARDIS), Jack Harkness (former companion to the Ninth Doctor who rejoined the Tenth on at least two occasions), Donna Noble and Majenta Pryce. He also had opportunity to share at least two adventures with Sarah Jane Smith, companion to the Third and Fourth Doctors, and he also once briefly took on Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler as an unwilling TARDIS passenger. He is known to have invited at least two individuals, Astrid Peth and Jenny, to be companions, but both died before they could join him. Others who have aided him in his adventures (even though they never travelled in the TARDIS) have included Harriet Jones, Jake Simmonds, Mrs. Moore, William Shakespeare, Tish Jones, Sally Sparrow, Agatha Christie, Jackson Lake and Rosita. He also reportedly travelled briefly with a female from the planet Gratt named Grayla, although he chose not to invite her to become a companion, a decision he later regretted.
Following the loss of Donna Noble, the Doctor made a conscious decision to no longer travel with companions. Although this attitude is hinted at in his encounter with Jackson Lake, it is later confirmed when he refuses to take Christina de Souza on as a companion, despite their compatibility, telling her "never again" will he travel with anyone. (DW: Planet of the Dead)
This has not prevented the Doctor from taking on "short-term" companions, usually for the duration of an adventure, as was the case with Lady Christina. Among others: Nikki Jupiter (NSA: Judgement of the Judoon), Jon Bowman (NSA: Prisoner of the Daleks), and even silent film legend Archie Maplin (IDW: Silver Scream).
An individual named Adelaide reportedly acted as the Doctor's companion at one point (DW: The Waters of Mars), and he reportedly also took Wilfred Mott on as a companion at one point prior to his regeneration (DW: The End of Time).
It is unclear whether River Song was ever a companion of the Doctor in his tenth incarnation. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)
Even thought there not created as companions Luke Smith, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra acted very companion lite when helping the Doctor. (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith)
Personality
Like his predecessor, this Doctor was capable of boundless enthusiasm, though in his case often at inappropriate times. While many Doctors have intentionally flouted social conventions, the Tenth seems to be genuinely surprised when he is rude or uncouth. Charismatic and manic and with boundless energy, he retained and even exceeded his last incarnation's capacity for righteous anger, especially when Rose was threatened or at risk, as when the Wire stole her face. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern) When driven by anger or righteousness, he would act without hesitation to strike down those who opposed him; for example, he toppled the regime of Harriet Jones with just six well-chosen words after she committed what the Doctor considered mass murder (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
The Doctor also showed his anger when he gave each member of the Family of Blood an eternal punishment, fulfilling their wish for immortality in a twisted way. (DW: The Family of Blood) Son Of Mine claimed that by running the Doctor wasn't showing fear but mercy. While he had resolved much of the survivor's guilt felt previously, he is beginning to feel his age and, behind the outward playfulness, he feels a deep loneliness. His keen sense of loss leads him to empathize with those who have also suffered.
There was an undeniable shadow cast over the jollity of the Doctor. He had a ruthlessness, bordering on arrogance that was almost eerie to behold. Beneath his youthful veneer, the Doctor is a very old man who has seen many terrible things; and in some matters, his patience and capability for mercy and compassion has worn out or diminished. His exuberant demeanour somewhat disappeared after the loss of Rose, and he became angrier and more sober. He was also never as open or caring towards Martha, being less inclined to hug her. However his jovial manner did return marginally towards Donna, but even then his actions still suggest that he never completely overcame his loss of Rose.
The Doctor has a very hard time accepting defeat or failure. For example, when he was unable to save Astrid he kicked a teleport, screaming "I can do anything!" (DW: Voyage of the Damned) Arguably this may be because he has seen so much destruction he feels driven to try to prevent it where possible. River Song thought that if he lost this trait the universe would become a darker place. (DW: Forest of the Dead)
He frequently gets into trouble because of his vast and loose sense of superiority (DW: Midnight) and provides his name (his chosen name, not his birth name) as a threat, which only rarely works, despite his apparent expectations (perhaps because so few species know of his existence).
The Doctor frequently ignores reproach; when companions point out he's committing horrible acts, he ignores them or changes the subject. The Doctor is willing to go to extreme lengths to keep the historic timeline from being disrupted and/or protect innocent civilizations, even to the point of having to cause deaths (DW: The Fires of Pompeii, etc.). However, as time went on, he became more hesitant to kill, choosing often to give his enemies a chance to surrender without suffering any harm. This is a change he attributes to Rose Tyler, telling her she helped him overcome a time in his life that was "full of blood and anger", eventually making him a "better man". (DW: Journey's End). However Donna claims his change is because of Martha (DW: Partners in Crime)
Upon their first meeting, Donna Noble noted that the reason the Doctor requires so many companions is too keep him from succumbing to his darker urges (DW The Runaway Bride). After losing Donna to a meta-crisis the Doctor chose to longer work with companions to avoid getting his heart broken again. This time spent alone ultimately resulted in the Doctor succumbing to those darker urges and breaking the laws of time to satisfy his ego. Dismissing his survivor's guilt, the Doctor now claimed to be the winner of his race as though The Time War was an act of survival of the fittest with the Doctor coming out on top. After saving three members of Bowie Base One the Doctor states that the laws of time will obey him now and he is a Time Lord victorious. Although the suicide committed by Adelaide Brooke after being saved by him forces the Doctor to realize the consequences of his actions, it has yet to be seen if he will continue to ignore the laws of time or not (DW: The Waters of Mars).
Habits and Quirks
The Doctor made frequent reference to twentieth century pop culture, including the Ghostbusters theme (DW: Army of Ghosts), the song "Circle of Life" from The Lion King (DW: The Christmas Invasion), and one of Kylie Minogue's songs, "Never Too Late". (DW: The Idiot's Lantern) He had also read the Harry Potter books, saying that he cried after reading the seventh book (DW: The Shakespeare Code) Even though he knows so much of pop culture he has been shown to not understand certain remarks, such as being called a "science geek". (DW:The Lazarus Experiment) He's fond of rock and roll, trying to take Rose to see concerts by both Elvis Presley (DW: The Idiot's Lantern) and Ian Dury (DW: Tooth and Claw), and dresses in the manner of an indie Brit-pop musician. He wore trainers and faux reading glasses — both deliberate homages to his fifth incarnation. (DW: Time Crash) He often remarks that exotic technology or life is "beautiful" and is genuinely enthralled by such discoveries, sometimes to the extent that he places himself or his companions in danger. When this Doctor is faced with an occurrence that dumbfounds him he says, "What?" repeatedly, increasing the confused expression on his face each time (He has said this a total of 10 times) . While attempting to explain something he'll often interrupt himself with a "Well..." and further elaborate what it was he was talking about (DW: Blink)
Until they left his life, he continued his previous incarnation's habit of mildly mocking both Mickey and Jackie, though generally in a more obviously playful fashion.
The Doctor is also fond of the phrase "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry". He has said the phrase a total of 20 times. Another favoured phrase is "Allons-y!". He also often responds "I'm always all right" even when all evidence points to the contrary (a response which the Seventh Doctor also used to deflect the same question). He has also been known to often refer to things as "brilliant", a variation on his previous incarnation's favourite exclamation, "Fantastic!". Soon after his regeneration, the Doctor discovered that his physical changes - specifically the new teeth - made it difficult for him to utter the catchphrase, though he eventually managed to do so. (DW: The Christmas Invasion - deleted scene, although his successful utterance is in the broadcast version)
The Doctor has a stated fondness for "little shops", the gift stores usually found in hospitals and other public places. (DW: New Earth, Smith and Jones, Silence in the Library)
This incarnation of the Doctor relies heavily upon his sonic screwdriver, pushing it to limits not seen in previous incarnations and even chiding his fifth incarnation for going "hands free". (DW: Time Crash) Other tools he uses frequently include psychic paper (also used by his predecessor) and, incongruously since he is not a medical doctor, a stethoscope (although the Doctor's stethoscope appears to have additional abilities; for example he used it to assist his phone in receiving a signal from the relocated Earth. (DW: The Stolen Earth)) Like previous incarnations, he appears to have the ability to carry a large and diverse number of objects in his pockets, stating once that they're bigger on the inside. (DW: The Runaway Bride) At one point he produces a wind-up mouse from a pocket. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
He had taken to carrying a GSM mobile phone with him; the number can be used to contact him anywhere in space and time. (DW: The Sontaran Strategem, The Stolen Earth) Like his previous incarnation did with Rose Tyler's "superphone", this incarnation has also taken to "upgrading" the mobile phones of his later companions in order to facilitate communication with their families and with the Doctor: both Martha Jones and Donna Noble's phones were so modified and, like Rose's mother, their close relatives were aware that they could communicate through time and space as a result. (DW: The Stolen Earth) The phone he carries is Martha Jones' superphone, given to him by her so she could contact him if need be; apparently he can be called using any standard phone. (DW: The Sontaran Strategem The Stolen Earth)
He also follows the trend of his immediate predecessors in displaying increasing skill for using the TARDIS, on several occasions even using it in the form of a standard spaceship rather than simply dematerialising it every time. (DW: The Runaway Bride, Partners in Crime) He is told by a future companion that he will one day be able to command the TARDIS by a click of his fingers and initially believes this to be nonsense, but later finds out that he does possess such abilities. (DW: Forest of the Dead)
The Doctor also had the small quirk of intending to go to one destination, but walking in the opposite direction, leading to more than a few corrections from others (example: DW: Army of Ghosts). This was similar to his Sixth incarnation's habit of declaring to go one way but then going a different way; this was more of a personal quirk than a bad sense of direction, though.
Appearance
Body
This incarnation had brown eyes. He had a mole between his shoulder blades that he noticed post-regeneration that he was initially bothered by but quickly warmed to. (DW: Children in Need Special) On several occasions, Donna Noble remarked about his slender build. (DW: Partners in Crime, et al)
Grooming and hair
He was happy that he had hair unlike his previous incarnation, whose hair was very close-cut. The Doctor seemed disappointed that his tenth incarnation was not "ginger" (red-headed), but has worn his own dark brown hair in various ways throughout the series: unstyled (DW: The Christmas Invasion), a fifties-style quiff (DW: The Idiot's Lantern), and flattened forwards (DW: The Runaway Bride). It seems to also be the first time that the blue-eyed Doctor had been regenerated with dark brown eyes.
Clothes
This Doctor had several variations of dress.
He had been seen wearing a dark brown (with blue pinstripes) suit (DW: The Christmas Invasion through Doomsday), a blue (with red pinstripes) suit (DW: Smith and Jones through Waters of Mars) and on rare occasions, a tuxedo. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, The Lazarus Experiment, Voyage of the Damned)
To go with his suits he usually wore a shirt and a tie (otherwise, open-necked/chested with a Henley shirt and T-shirt) (DW: Tooth and Claw, Blink), (DW: Planet of the Ood), a red-hued t-shirt, a brown shirt (DW: The Impossible Planet) (DW: 42) or a purple t-shirt ((DW: Midnight). Both brown and blue suits are often accompanied by a light brown overcoat (which he claims was given to him by Janis Joplin). (DW: Gridlock)
The Doctor appears to have more than one suit of each design. The Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor wore one of the blue suits after his generation, and was wearing it when the walls of the universe sealed him in Pete's World. (DW: Journey's End) Nevertheless, the Doctor has subsequently worn the blue suit on several occasions (DW: Music of the Spheres, SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, DW: The Waters of Mars)
His choice of footwear was trainers (more specifically Converse All Stars, or P.F. Flyers Center HI's), in colours ranging from cream (to go with his brown suit), black (for wearing with a tuxedo and on one occasion with his brown suit) or burgundy to go with the blue suit). Another part of the Doctor's attire was a pair of dark tortoise-shell rectangular frame glasses which he called "brainy specs". Although he has been seen to put them on numerous occasions, he once confessed that he didn't need them, they just made him look smarter. (DW: Time Crash)
Alternate timeline
- In the parallel timeline known as Donna's World, this incarnation of the Doctor was the last, as he was killed as a result of his defeating the Empress of the Racnoss without the aid of Donna Noble (who in this timeline never met the Doctor). His former companion, Rose Tyler, along with the alternate timeline version of Donna, eventually restored the original timeline. (DW: Turn Left)
Key Life Events
- The Doctor regenerates. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
- Less than a day after his regeneration, the Doctor defeats the Sycorax, growing a new right hand after his first is severed. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
- Reunion with Sarah Jane Smith and K-9. He welcomes Mickey Smith aboard the TARDIS. (DW: School Reunion)
- On a parallel Earth, meets that Earth's Cybermen. Sees off Mickey on the other Earth.(DW: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)
- Defeats the Daleks and Cybus Cybermen by sending both into the Void and is unwillingly separated from Rose, who also remains trapped on the parallel Earth. He is unable to tell Rose of his feelings for her.(DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
- Meets Donna Noble for the first time and invites her to travel with him. She rejects his offer. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
- Reunites with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart during the Warkeeper's Crown incident. (DWM:The Warkeeper's Crown)
- Meets Martha Jones, who joins him on his travels. (DW: Smith and Jones)
- Re-unites with Jack Harkness and meets the Master again, transformed into the Human Professor Yana. (DW: Utopia)
- Spends a year on Earth, prematurely aged, following the Toclafane invasion led by the Master, who had taken over as British Prime Minister. The Master (voluntarily) dies. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
- Reunited with Donna, who this time joins him on his travels. (DW: Partners in Crime)
- Causes the creation of his daughter Jenny on Messaline, but erroneously believes her to be dead when she is shot saving his life. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
- Meets River Song, a woman from his future who knows his true name and may have married him. Discovers that his abilities are evolving beyond a Time Lord's usual limits. (DW: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
- Moments after finally being reunited with Rose, is shot by a Dalek and begins a regeneration cycle, but manages to halt it by projecting the energy into his severed hand, which had found and kept in a jar for years by Captain Jack at the Torchwood Hub. This causes the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor to be born from the energy in the hand when it is in danger of being destroyed with Donna Noble and the TARDIS. Defeats Davros and his New Dalek Empire. (DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End)
- Returns Rose to her parallel Earth in the company of the Meta-Crisis Doctor and is again unable to tell her of his feelings for her. Removes Donna Noble's memories of their time together to prevent her death and leaves her behind on Earth. (DW: Journey's End)
- Defeats the Cybus Cybermen in 1851 in Victorian London. While doing so he meets Jackson Lake and Rosita Farisi. Jackson Lake had used a Cybermen stamp to try and kill one only to have the information stream into his head, causing him to believe himself a future incarnation of the Doctor. (DW: The Next Doctor)
- Is taken by bus through a wormhole to San Helios, and with Lady Christina de Souza is able to return the bus to Earth, where he rejects Christina as a companion (DW: Planet of the Dead)
- Crashes Sarah Jane Smith's wedding to Peter Dalton and defeats the Trickster; meets Luke Smith in person, as well as Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra, and is also reunited with K9. (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith)
- Arrives on Mars (November 21, 2059) and meets the crew of the first manned mission to Mars inside Bowie Base One. Despite knowing that the entire crew is meant to die and that the event is a fixed point in time, the Doctor breaks the laws of time to save the remaining three members. Adelaide Brooke commits suicide in defiance of the Doctor's maniacal actions in order to reverse some of the changes he has made to the time stream. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
- Witnesses a vision of Ood Sigma and realises that he has gone too far; begins to feel his impending death. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Behind the Scenes
Casting
David Walliams was the second choice for the role of the Tenth Doctor but he had to turn it down because he was stuck in the tight schedule of the third season of his show Little Britain. The original choice for the role of the Tenth Doctor was an unknown (and unnamed by the BBC) actor who spoke in a cockney accent, but he didn't get the role because he moved down to Australia with his wife and daughter. His name has never been revealed publicly to protect his privacy; however Tennant has stated in interviews he's been told who the original choice for the role was, knows who he is and greatly admires him, even calling that near casting decision a more perfect casting than him being cast.
Costuming
David Tennant described his costume "geek chic". According to an interview on Parkinson, David Tennant and Russell T. Davies got the idea for the Tenth Doctor's costume from an outfit Jamie Oliver had worn on Parkinson just after David had taken the role of the Doctor.
Regeneration
Russell T Davies has said in an interview that The Tenth Doctor's regeneration has been filmed, was planned out in mind since David Tennant was signed on for the role, Davies also heavily implied had Tennant not played The Tenth Doctor there would have been a different regeneration.[1]
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