Tenth Doctor

The Tenth Doctor is the latest known incarnation of the Time Lord known as the Doctor.

Profile

Biography

Regeneration

When the Doctor absorbed the Time Vortex from his companion, Rose Tyler, the forces contained in himself began to destroy every cell in his body. He regenerated to save his life. The Doctor immediately de-materialized the TARDIS from its location on Satellite 5, leaving the now-immortal Captain Jack Harkness (made so by the Bad Wolf) behind. (DW: The Parting of the Ways). (The Doctor would later say that the presence of such an un-natural being as Jack caused a form of instinctive distress. (DW: Utopia)) The Doctor piloted the ship back to Powell Estate in London on Christmas Eve and lapsed into a comatose state, but snapped out of it briefly and then for a longer time in order 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. During a trip to 1879 Scotland, he inadvertently inspired Queen Victoria to found the Torchwood Institute. (DW: Tooth and Claw). Back on 21st century Earth, the Doctor went undercover as John Smith, a physics teacher at a school which the Krillitanes had infiltrated. The Doctor had a chance reunion with his old friends Sarah Jane Smith and K-9. He also allowed Mickey Smith to accompany him at Sarah Jane's suggestion. (DW: School Reunion)

The Doctor met Reinette (also known as Madame de Pompadour) a beautiful noblewoman living in 18th century Versailles and saved her from the Clockwork Droids. They were connected by a fireplace on board the SS Madame De Pompadour. (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace)

On a parallel Earth, he witnessed the birth of that universe's Cybermen and saw off Mickey, who decided to stay on the other world. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)

Later, through a series of events, the Doctor found himself captured and taken to Torchwood Tower and kept prisoner by the Torchwood Institute who considered the Doctor their enemy. Nevertheless, he helped the Institute to fight off two opposing invasions, one by the Daleks led by the Cult of Skaro, the other by Cybermen from the world where he had left Mickey. In order to exile the Daleks and Cybermen to the Void, he also lost Rose to the parallel universe with Mickey and her mother. They met one last time on a beach in Norway, where she told him she loved him. He began to reply, getting as far as "And, I suppose... if it's my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler..." before fading away. (DW: Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday)

Life after Rose

While he was grieving over Rose, a bride named Donna Noble, to his shock, appeared inside the TARDIS during her wedding ceremony. The Doctor discovered the involvement of the ancient Racnoss. After their destruction by the Doctor, and largely because of the Doctor's ruthless treatment of them, Donna decided not to travel with him. (DW: The Runaway Bride)

The Doctor met Martha Jones, a London medical student, and, after defeating a Plasmavore on the Moon, invited her along to travel with him in the TARDIS. (DW: Smith and Jones) On New Earth, which he had previously visited with Rose, he heard the final words of the Face of Boe to him: You are not alone. (DW: Gridlock) In 1930 New York City, the Doctor once more met and defeated the Cult of Skaro. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan) Dalek Caan survived. (DW: Evolution of the Daleks)

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The Doctor in a suit.

The Doctor hid from the Family of Blood by using a Chameleon Arch to transform himself mentally and physically into a Human schoolteacher called John Smith. He fell in love with a woman, Joan Redfern and would have spent the rest of his life with her. The Doctor was forced to retake his Time Lord body, and sought suitable punishment for the Family of Blood. (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)

Return of the Master

In Cardiff, where the Doctor had gone to "re-fuel" 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 far distant future. On Malcassairo, the Doctor found Professor Yana, actually his old nemesis; The Master, turned Human by another chameleon arch. The Master escaped using the Doctor's own TARDIS. (DW: Utopia)

Using the Human name Harold Saxon, the Master made himself Prime Minister of Great Britain and invited in an army to take over the world. (DW: The Sound of Drums) The Master imprisoned the Doctor for a year, during the end of 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 the Master's Archangel Network to the Doctor's own advantage. The Doctor displayed great powers during this period, using the psychic energy to restore himself and manipulating it to grant him almost god-like powers. After disarming the Master with the telekinesis he accuries from the energy, it seems to either dissipate or the Doctor releases it. The Doctor then approaches the Master and says the words the Master has been afraid to hear him speak: "I forgive you." The Master is shot soon afterwards by his human companion Lucy shortly after the Doctor makes the decision to rehabilitate him as a prisoner aboard the TARDIS. The Master refuses to regenerate and dies one last time in the Doctor's arms, once again leaving the Doctor the last Time Lord. Shortly thereafter, Martha left him, thinking that she should go off and live her own life, though they parted amicably. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Only minutes after she departed the TARDIS, the Doctor encountered his own fifth incarnation when their TARDISes merged. (DW: Time Crash) Shortly afterwards, he made a new friend, Astrid Peth, on board an alien spacecraft, the Titanic (modeled after the Earth original) but, just managing to save her before her death, could only save her by transforming her into a being of light. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

A new partner

That's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see: what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left.The Doctor. ^{[The Fires of Pompeii [src]]}

While investigating Adipose Industries, the Doctor was reunited with Donna Noble, who finally accepted his invitation to travel with him. She was quick to rule out the possibility of a romantic involvement, making their companionship a different experience than the Doctor had 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, (DW: Planet of the Ood) and disrupted a Sontaran stratagem on Earth, during which time he was reunited with Martha Jones. DW: The Sontaran Stratagem)

One of the most important events in the Doctor's life came when the TARDIS transported he, Donna and Martha to Messaline, where his DNA was replicated to produce Jenny his daughter. Initially critical of the girl, 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 point in his future. (DW: Silence in the Library) She was the only person to know his name, as she revealed prior to sacrificing herself to save the Data Ghosts trapped in the Library's core. The Doctor, inspired by Song's faith in him, was able to save River, preserving her in the core's virtual reality. (DW: Forest of the Dead) Shortly afterwards he and Donna visited the lesiure planet Midnight. Donna stayed at the lesiure palace as the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. The bus was then attacked by an unknown creature which posseses another passenger, Sky Silvestry and eventually the Doctor. His voice is stolen but he gets it back.(DW: Midnight (TV story) Next, the Doctor and Donna visit the Chino-planet of Shan Shen. Donna goes to get her fortune told but actually creates an alternate universe where she never met the Doctor. In this alternate universe she meets Rose who tells her two words to tell the Doctor. After Donna corrects the universe and is back in the fortune teller's tent her memory of the alternate universe begins to fade. The Doctor says that one of the Trickster's Brigade caused Donna to change the universe. Donna then tells the Doctor the two words: Bad Wolf. Donna asks what it means and the Doctor replies with The end of the Universe.

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, 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). 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 empathise 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 has worn out. His usual jolly demeanor has somewhat disappeared since the departure of Rose. He was a little angrier, darker, and not as friendly towards Donna or Martha. This suggests that he never really got over Rose's leave-taking.

After meeting Agatha Christie and witnessing the events that lead to her infamous disappearance and amnesia, the Doctor theorizes that what kept her writing all of the years that followed was a desire to remember the events she had forgotten and makes a notable comparison to that desire to his compulsion to travel. This subtle remark suggests that the reason the Doctor travels is because he is trying to recapture memories that he has lost or that were taken from him.

Habits and Quirks

The Doctor made frequent reference to twentieth century pop culture, from the Ghostbusters theme (DW: Army of Ghosts) to the song "Circle of Life" from The Lion King (DW: The Christmas Invasion). He had also read the Harry Potter books, saying that he cried after reading the seventh book (DW: The Shakespeare Code). 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 (see DW: Blink for an example).

Until they left his life, he continued his previous incarnation's habit of mildly abusing 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 12 times. Another favoured phrase is "Allons-y!" which he has used 7 times to date. He also often responds "I'm always alright" when all evidence points to the contrary.

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. Other tools he uses frequently include psychic paper and, incongruously since he is not a medical doctor, a stethoscope. Like previous incarnations, he appears to have the ability to carry a large and diverse number of objects in his pockets,stating once in "The Runaway Bride" that they're similar to the TARDIS (Bigger on the inside) including at one point a wind-up mouse (DW: The Doctor's Daughter) He also follows the trend of his immediate successors in displaying increasing skill for using the TARDIS, on several occasions even using it in the form of a standard spaceship rather than simply dematerializing it every time. (DW: The Runaway Bride and 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 (probably signifying an increasinly powerful telepathic connection between the TARDIS and himself) (DW: Forest of the Dead). He has taken to carrying a GSM cell phone with him and on (DW: The Stolen Earth) it is revealed that this number can be used to contact him anywhere in space and time except the physical/temporal location of the HQ of the Shadow Proclamation.

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Key Life Events

Still in the first 15 hours of his new regeneration, the Doctor defeats the Sycorax but loses his right hand in the process; he immediately regrows the lost limb but the original hand (unknown to him at the time) is later obtained by Jack Harkness and preserved. (DW: The Christmas Invasion; TW: Everything Changes)

Meets and defeats Lady Cassandra for the first time in this incarnation. (DW: New Earth (TV story))

Meets Queen Victoria while fighting the Werewolf. Is dubbed Sir Doctor of TARDIS by the Queen, but then named an enemy of the state and technically banished from Britain. (DW: Tooth and Claw)

Reunites with Sarah Jane Smith and K-9; rewards Mickey Smith for his help by allowing him to become a companion. (DW: School Reunion)

Meets Madame de Pompadour at several times in her life and shares a romantic bond with her. Is upset at her death. (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace)

Uses some of his life energy to recharge the TARDIS, an act he estimates will ultimately reduce his lifespan by about 10 years. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen)

Encounters the Cybus Cybermen on a parallel Earth.(DW: The Age of Steel)

Sees Mickey Smith off on the same parallel Earth. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)

Unwillingly separated from Rose, who also remains trapped on a parallel Earth (aka "Pete's World"). Prevented from expressing his feelings towards her in their final meeting, this has a longstanding emotional impact on him. (DW: Doomsday)

First meeting with Donna Noble (DW: The Runaway Bride)

In Royal Hope Hospital, medical student Martha Jones joins the Doctor travels. (DW: Smith and Jones)

Changes all the cells in his body into human ones to avoid The Family, and spends several months as John Smith; in his human guise meets and falls in love with Joan Redfern. (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)

Discovers he is not the last surviving Time Lord when he discovers the Master living in the far future, disguised as a human. Also, reunites with both Jack Harkness and his severed hand. (DW: Utopia)

Is imprisoned for a year by Master on Earth until his rescue by Martha Jones. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Martha decides to leave the Doctor. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Meets his Fifth Incarnation. (DW: Time Crash)

Meets Astrid Peth on board the space ship Titanic. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

Reunites with Donna while facing Miss Foster; she asks to join him in his travels. (DW : Partners in Crime)

Reluctantly triggers the destruction of Pompeii in order to preserve the web of time and prevent an invasion of Earth. (DW: The Fires of Pompeii)

While reuniting with Martha Jones and UNIT, encounters his old enemy, the Sontarans. (DW : The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)

Causes the creation of his daughter, Jenny on the planet Messaline; believes her to be dead. (DW : The Doctor's Daughter)

Meets Agatha Christie while facing the Vespiform. (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Meets River Song, a woman from his future. (DW : Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)

Is killed in an alternate timeline while destroying the Racnoss in their base under the River Thames. It happens too fast for him to regenerate. It is possible that he drowns.(DW : Turn Left)

Reunites with Rose Tyler, as well as Captain Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey Smith, and Jackie Tyler while facing the Daleks and their creator, Davros. He also meets Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones and Luke Smith for the first time.(DW : The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)

Starts to regenerate after being shot by a Dalek. However it is unknown if he actually does, as it is possible his severed hand from this incarnation will cause difficulties in fully regenerating. This would be consistent with an earlier part of the episode, as there is a brief close up of the severed hand indicating it may have some significance. (DW : The Stolen Earth)

Behind the Scenes

The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler are drawn walking down a London street in a panel of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #6 comic book, taking place during the "No Future For You" story arc. A red phone box is seen behind them, most likely as a reference to the TARDIS.

Doctor's Companions

In addition, River Song claimed to have been a companion from the Doctor's future. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) Also, Jackie Tyler became an unwitting (and unofficial) companion of the Doctor's, impersonating her daughter Rose, during the Battle of Canary Wharf (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday)