The Twelfth Doctor was an incarnation of the Doctor that initially travelled with Clara Oswald. He emerged from the Eleventh Doctor's explosive regeneration on Trenzalore, and was the product of what his predecessor called "regeneration number thirteen".
Biography
A Chaotic Beginning
Shortly after regenerating, this Doctor voiced his surprise at having new kidneys, and his inability to fly the TARDIS, much to Clara's obvious dismay when TARDIS was apparently crashing. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
The TARDIS "was crashing everywhere" after it was thrown out of its flight in the Time Vortex, having collided with and being swallowed by a female Tyrannosaurus rex, which got brought along to the Thames in the Victorian era by accident. Upon being spat out, the Doctor exited the TARDIS, only to be in a further state of confusion that worried his old friends, the Paternoster Gang.
Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax had been drawn to the sight of the beast along with a multitude of astonished people. They saw the dinosaur choke on the TARDIS and regurgitate it in a bay by the Thames. Not entirely sure that this was indeed the TARDIS because of how extraordinary the dinosaur's appearance was, Vastra let Strax knock on its doors to check if the Doctor was inside. In a severe bout of post-regenerative trauma, the Doctor acted very wild and irrationally. He peeked out the entrance, shushed Strax, slammed the door shut momentarily, and then finally crept out of the TARDIS, trying to identify him as one of the Seven Dwarves.
The Doctor, unable to remember names or faces clearly because his mind was racing out of control, sputtered at the sight of the Paternoster Gang before being joined by a frazzled and scared Clara, trying to keep some degree of control on his livid and maddened state. The Doctor confused her for Handles, the Cyberman head that he had outlived on Trenzalore. As the Doctor tried to tell who "the green one" and "the not green one" were out of Vastra and Jenny, Jenny mistook the new incarnation for a stranger, not aware of the Doctor's regenerative abilities. Vastra had already met the Doctor in multiple incarnations, and quickly surmised he had just gone through one again.
As the Doctor's pangs of insanity progressed, he grew increasingly turbulent and unreasonable, until finally, the disarray from regenerative trauma became too much for the Doctor to bear and he started blacking out from the mental strain. He told everyone to "take five", whereupon he slowly fell forward and passed out on the embankment, sloshed in mud.
Though put to bed to stabilise, the Doctor soon came to and grabbed a piece of chalk, doodling all over the bedroom with strange equations. Hearing the dinosaur in pain, the Doctor climbed out onto the rooftop and left on horseback when he saw the T-Rex was being burned to ashes; he took off to follow a suspicious person not alarmed by the event. Coming across a mirror later, the Doctor was puzzled by his new face, knowing he had seen it before, but couldn't remember yet. Meeting back up with Clara, the Doctor infiltrated a suspicious restaurant, where he learned Clockwork Droids had been harvesting humans to repair themselves. Their leader, the Half-Face Man, sought to reach the Promised Land, but fell out of his escape pod, either jumping or having been pushed by the Doctor.
He briefly left Clara behind, using the time to redecorate the console room and settle on a new outfit. Attempting to return her to 25 December 2013, the Doctor ended up in Glasgow by mistake. However, they decided to go out for a meal after the Eleventh Doctor called Clara and encouraged her to help the new Doctor. (TV: Deep Breath)
Undated Events
At some point in his travels, he joined his previous selves in helping place Gallifrey in a pocket universe at the end of the Last Great Time War. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Personality
Though he retained a respect for humanity, the Twelfth Doctor seemed to have reverted back to insulting others for being slow, which he shares with the First Doctor . Much like the Tenth Doctor, the Twelfth had already worked out the important questions in his head, and waited for others to come to the same conclusion; however, he became increasingly annoyed with each wrong question. He took being Scottish with a smile, believing it entitled him to complain. (TV: Deep Breath)
Appearance
The Twelfth Doctor's appearance differed greatly from his predecessor’s, looking much older with short grey hair, he has a hooked nose and sharp silver eyes, with big ears.
He initially wore the Eleventh Doctor's clothes following regeneration, but due to his mental instability, Clara and the Paternoster Gang, undressed him and put him in a nightgown and slippers. Later when he had "escaped" into London, he found himself cold, so he "bought" a coat from a tramp, exchanging his predecessor's fob watch for it. Clara noted that the coat was rather smelly. Even later on, he disguised himself in as a Clockwork droid, donning a black Victorian suit with a tie.
Overall the outfit he chose for his incarnation, was a navy blue waistcoat with a white collared shirt, matching blue pants and black Doc Martins. Over the top, he sported a thigh length, dark blue Crombie jacket with red lining. (TV: Deep Breath)
Behind the scenes
- Like the War and Ninth Doctors, the Twelfth Doctor unusually debuted on television before his regeneration from his predecessor was screened.
- His first words — "Kidneys! I've got new kidneys!" — keep to the modern tradition of new Doctors commenting on their bodies. Previously, the Tenth Doctor commented on his "new teeth", (TV: The Parting of the Ways) and the Eleventh on his legs. (TV: The End of Time)