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The Ninth Doctor was the ninth incarnation of the Doctor, the brooding and melancholic survivor of the Last Great Time War. By the end of his life, he had largely emerged from the angry fog of his survivor's guilt, largely thanks to his relationship with Rose Tyler. The Ninth Doctor later regenerated after absorbing the energy of the Time Vortex.
Biography
Regeneration from Previous Incarnation
What caused the previous incarnation to regenerate is unknown. When asked about what happened to his eighth incarnation, the Tenth Doctor answered, "What happened to me? That's simple. The Time War happened." (IDW: The Forgotten)
A report on the contact Clive website shows that almost immediately after regenerating, the Doctor arrived at Totters Lane in the early 2000s, wearing his previous incarnation's clothes and muttering to a local, "They're all gone. I'm the only one left." (WEB: whoisdoctorwho.co.uk)
While visiting Rose Tyler's home in the Powell Estate, he looked in a mirror and commented on his new face, which would suggest that he has not had a chance to look in a mirror since his regeneration. (This could also suggest he hadn't looked in the mirror since the explosion at Rose's work.) (DW: Rose)
Meeting with Rose
In London, 2005, he rescued Rose Tyler from several Autons at her workplace, Henrik's. Together, they confronted the Nestene Consciousness that was controlling the Autons. Although the Doctor tried to persuade the Consciousness to leave Earth, it refused and attempted to take him prisoner. With Rose's help, however, the Ninth Doctor defeated the Nestene Consciousness and thwarted its plans of world domination. Appreciative of Rose's assistance, the Doctor subsequently invited her to travel with him on his journeys through space and time inside his TARDIS. Rose accepted and consequently became his companion. (DW: Rose)
New Companions
Apart from Rose, the Doctor briefly traveled with Adam Mitchell, a GeoComTex employee who they met at the Vault in Utah in 2012 (DW: Dalek). Initially hesitant to take Adam on board -- and doing so only at Rose's behest -- the Doctor expelled him from the TARDIS soon after, when Adam tried to use knowledge from the year 200,000 for his own gain (DW: The Long Game).
In 1941 London, they met 51st century ex-Time Agent and current conman Jack Harkness. The Doctor experienced some jealousy over Rose's interest in Jack, but rescued him before his Chula Warship exploded, taking him into the TARDIS (DW: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances). Jack and the Doctor got on well together, and owing to Jack's pansexual orientation, the Doctor played along when Jack flirted with him (DW: Boom Town). However when Jack was resurrected by Rose's use of the time vortex, which inadvertently caused him to become a "fact" and immortal, the Doctor made the decision to leave Jack behind after the defeat of the Daleks on Satellite Five due to how uncomfortable the now immortal Jack made him (DW: The Parting of the Ways, DW: Utopia).
Those who assisted him in his travels but did not travel with him in the TARDIS include Rose's on-and-off boyfriend Mickey Smith (DW: Rose onward), Jabe Ceth Ceth Jafe (DW: The End of the World), Gwyneth and Charles Dickens (DW: The Unquiet Dead), Harriet Jones (DW: Aliens of London/World War Three) and Nancy (DW: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances). He invited Lynda Moss to travel in the TARDIS with him, but she died before she got a chance (DW: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways). He also had numerous encounters with Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler, though the closest she came to sharing an adventure with him was when she assisted Rose in her efforts to reactivate the TARDIS and return to Satellite Five (DW: The Parting of the Ways).
Resolution of the Time War
In 200,100, the Doctor and Rose found that the Dalek Emperor had not died and commanded an army of Daleks derived from unwilling Humans.
The Doctor believed that he would give his life to stop them and sent the TARDIS back to 21st century Earth
with Rose aboard. Rose looked into the Heart of the TARDIS, became the god-like Bad Wolf and returned to the future to save him. Rose had absorbed the Time Vortex into herself, which would cause her death by cellular degeneration. Nevertheless, she declared the Time War over and destroyed the Dalek fleet with a wave of her hand.
The Doctor knew that that Rose would burn up if she kept so much power in her body and re-absorbed the energy into himself. The Doctor and Rose went back to the TARDIS and left Jack on the station. The Doctor suddenly spasmed in pain and realised that the regeneration process was starting. He told Rose that he would change and complimented Rose, saying she had been fantastic. He then regenerated into the Tenth Doctor. (DW: The Parting of the Ways).
- For a list of Ninth Doctor stories in the order in which he experienced them, see Ninth Doctor - Timeline.
Undated Adventures
- Clive Finch possessed several images of this incarnation at well-known historical events: one in Dallas at the moment of John F. Kennedy's assassination, in Southampton just before the launch of the Titanic, and in Indonesia on the day of Krakatoa's eruption (DW: Rose).
- The Doctor states that just prior to arriving at the Gamestation, he, Rose and Jack had just escaped from an adventure in Kyoto, Japan (DW: Bad Wolf).
- Some time after meeting Rose, the Doctor goes to the Christmas truce of World War I and begins and referees the football game there. (IDW: The Forgotten)
Personality
This incarnation was a study in contrasts. On the one hand, he shared many characteristics with his predecessors. One moment he was full of manic energy and a sharp, offbeat wit; the next he was removed and reserved, keenly aware of the divide between himself and the humans he encountered. But the Time War of which the Doctor was the sole survivor had clearly affected him deeply indeed. This was a sadder and angrier Doctor; the weight of his having seemingly destroyed both the Time Lords and the Daleks preyed upon him greatly. But consequently, this was also a Doctor who harboured a new appreciation for the wonders of the universe and who, more keenly than ever, burned with a desire to keep the universe safe from harm.
While his previous incarnations were rarely heard uttering minor curse words like "hell" and "damn," the Ninth Doctor tended to use these phrases more freely. He is also seen to be more violent; he is seen in physical contact with guards when arrested (DW: Bad Wolf). The Tenth Doctor implied that the Ninth Doctor was angrier and pained due to being "born from war" as he compared the Meta-Crisis Doctor to the Ninth. (DW: Journey's End)
Habits and Quirks
It contains several grammatical or factual errors, or otherwise offends our our Manual of Style.
The Ninth Doctor spoke with a Northern accent, which when Rose questioned, he replied that "lots of planets have a North". He was also critical of his own large ears. (DW: Rose) He had a fondness for saying "fantastic" (with emphasis on the second syllable) whenever he saw something of interest; usually something dangerous.
This Doctor nicknamed Mickey Smith "Mickey the idiot" or simply "Ricky", called Humans "stupid apes" and seemed very alien. He carried an air of mystery around him and sometimes argued with Rose. However, he did "not do domestic," as he put it, which could lead to some tension in his interactions with Jackie Tyler. He also had a fondness for bananas. Rose also pointed out that he insulted other species when he was stressed. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
This Doctor would become noticeably emotionally exhausted and would seemingly reach moments where he would break down whenever faced with pain, suffering, or death. In DW: The Doctor Dances, this problem took centre stage when the Doctor expressed his exhaustion several times. This ultimately resulted in a brief moment of relief and happiness when he realised that he could, for once, reverse all of the pain and suffering he had encountered.
The Ninth Doctor had a habit of folding his arms and frowning whenever giving a lecture or listening intently. He would also grin whenever he was quite happy or found something funny. He also had a habit of being a little overconfident with his plans, even if he doesn't think they will work.
Mysteries and Discrepancies
- We do not know if the Doctor had really just regenerated when he met Rose. It seems so when he looks in a mirror and comments on his features. However, he is seen in an old picture prior to the Titanic disaster, suggesting he has looked in a mirror for the first time after his regeneration inside Rose's home. (DW: Rose). However, it is possible that he could have already been aware of his appearance, and his remarks when looking in the mirror could simply be a lingering self-consciousness about it. A third possibility is that the photos and sketch were taken/drawn sometime after the encounter with the Nestene Consciousness, perhaps immediately before the Doctor returns at the end of the episode to tell Rose that the TARDIS is also a time machine, much like the Tenth Doctor proved to Martha the TARDIS's time travelling capabilities (accounting for the lack of a companion in the images). The Eleventh Doctor also does something similar in DW: The Vampires of Venice but we know he has been on a few adventures already.
- The Doctor eventually states he somehow ended the Last Great Time War, screaming to a captured Dalek "I made it happen!" Exactly how he did so, however, is unknown (DW: Dalek), although the Time Lords mention that he used something called "the Moment" to do it with, and the Tenth Doctor said later, when confronted with the Master and Rassilon, that he was prepared to all but wipe out the Time Lords because of their plan to destroy everything and become non-corporeal life forms. (DW: The End of Time)
Appearance
In stark contrast to the extravagant dress of most of his predecessors, the Ninth Doctor wore a plain leather jacket, mistaken in World War II for that of a German U-boat commander, (DW: The Empty Child), a red, green, navy blue, or black jumper, which Charles Dickens thought made him look like a navy, (DW: The Unquiet Dead) and dark trousers. Unlike previous Doctors, this Doctor wore his hair close-cropped.
Other Information
- Although the exact lifetime length of each of the Doctor's incarnations is ambiguous, an exception being the first incarnation, who is known to have lived for a little less than 450 years (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen), it can be surmised that the ninth incarnation of the Doctor may well be the Doctor's shortest-lived incarnation to date. He appears to be newly regenerated when he first meets Rose Tyler, or at least new enough in his body that he hasn't had a chance to examine his appearance closely. (DW: Rose) It is implied that Rose's travels with him take place over the course of less than a year as she is still referred to as being 19 years old when the Doctor believes her to have been killed on Satellite 5 (DW: Bad Wolf), only hours before his regeneration occurs.
- It is also unclear as to exactly how much time had passed for the Doctor between disappearing and reappearing at the end of Rose.
Key Life Events
- The Doctor regenerates from his previous incarnation.
- The circumstances behind this remain unknown, although it is suggested that it happened in the climax of the Time War and not very long before DW: Rose.
- Meets Steven Hudson and tells him "They're all gone" (WEB: whoisdoctorwho.co.uk).
- Rose Tyler and the Doctor meet and she accepts joining him in his travels (DW: Rose).
- Meets the Face of Boe and witnesses the destruction of the planet Earth (DW: The End of the World).
- Meets Charles Dickens and helps to defeat the Gelth. (DW: The Unquiet Dead).
- Encounters the Slitheen for the first time and saves the Earth from a new invasion with help from MP Harriet Jones. (DW: Aliens of London/World War Three)
- Meets the supposed last surviving Dalek (DW: Dalek)
- Adam Mitchell becomes a companion (DW: Dalek) but the Doctor soon evicts him for taking advantage of his privileged position. (DW: The Long Game)
- Is eaten by Reapers when Rose causes a temporal paradox. Witnesses Pete Tyler's death. (DW: Father's Day)
- Meets Captain Jack, who joins the TARDIS crew (DW: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances).
- The Doctor, Rose and Jack attempt to take Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen back to her homeworld to be punished for her crimes and accidentally allow her to cause the expansion of the Rift (DW: Boom Town).
- Re-encounters the Daleks (DW: Bad Wolf).
- As Bad Wolf, Rose resurrects Jack and destroys the Daleks. Jack ends up marooned. The Doctor regenerates into his tenth incarnation. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
Behind the scenes
- The Ninth Doctor has the distinction of being the only Doctor to date to have the same companion throughout his television appearances, without interruption, namely Rose Tyler. The closest anyone had come before was the Second Doctor, who travelled with Jamie McCrimmon in all but the first of his stories. In the case of spin-off fiction, the only Ninth Doctor story to date in which he is not depicted travelling with Rose is "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow", a short story written for the 2006 annual and of uncertain canonicity, as it was later remade as the TV episode Blink.
- The Ninth Doctor also has the distinction of being the only former Doctor to date not to be seen on screen facing another Time Lord as an opponent. All other former incarnations of the Doctor have faced, at the very least, The Master, except the First Doctor and the Second Doctor, who faced The Monk and The War Chief respectively.
- The Ninth Doctor, as of August 2009, is the only past Doctor who has not appeared in the Short Trips series of short story collections. Also, along with the Tenth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston has yet to take part as the Doctor in any of Big Finish's audio dramas, the first Doctor since Tom Baker to not participate (deceased actors notwithstanding). This also makes Eccleston the only Doctor actor since Patrick Troughton to not participate (to date) in an audio drama based upon the franchise (David Tennant has recorded for Big Finish, but not playing the Doctor, and later narrated several audio-exclusive Doctor Who stories for BBC Audio; Matt Smith has also recorded at least one Doctor Who story for BBC Audio).
- As BBC Audio did not launch its line of exclusive-to-audio Doctor Who stories until near the end of the Tennant era, and taking into account the Big Finish lines, the Ninth Doctor is the only incarnation of the Doctor for which no audio stories have, to date, been produced.
- The Ninth Doctor era, due to its short tenure, stands as the first Doctor era to be completely released to DVD in Australia, North America and the UK. The single film that made up the Eighth Doctor era is not available in North America and Australia.
- Although most other Doctors still have serials that remain to be released to DVD, the Ninth Doctor, the Tenth Doctor and the Sixth Doctor have had all their episodes released on DVD. The First and Second Doctor's serials are unlikely to ever be completely represented due to many of their serials being destroyed or lost.
- Originally, Russel T Davies approached Hugh Grant (Who previously played the non canon Twelfth Doctor) to play the Ninth Doctor but he turned down the role, thinking the show would not take off. He expressed deep regret in 2007 after seeing how successful the show had become. [1]