Tea

Tea was a drink made from the dried leaves of the tea plant, created by brewing the leaves in hot water. The Fifth Doctor once described it to Will Chandler as "a noxious infusion of oriental leaves containing a high percentage of toxic acid". Will thought it sounded vile, to which the Doctor replied "personally, I rather like it". (DW: The Awakening)

A cup of tea belonging to the Seventh Doctor. (DW: Doctor Who)

Instances

The Doctor

• The Second Doctor accepted the Brigadiers offer of tea and requested a patty cake with it. (DW: The Invasion)
• During his time with UNIT, the Third Doctor drank a lot of tea. Only the tea lady and the Brigadier could come into his lab. (DW: Terror of the Autons) He had a habit of stirring his tea with anything available, such as a silicon rod. (DW: The Three Doctors)
• The Brigadier was once confused when the Third Doctor did not put milk or sugar in his tea. In fact, he was having tea with the Master, who had temporarily stolen the Doctor's body. (ST: The Switching)
• When he first met Sarah Jane Smith, the Third Doctor told her that she could make herself useful by making tea. (DW: The Time Warrior)
• The Third Doctor had tea with four sugars during the dinosaur invasion of London. (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
• Whilst in Victorian London, the Fourth Doctor and Professor Litefoot attempted to educate Leela on the etiquette of tea. (DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
• While in the black hole domain of Brimo, the Fourth Doctor wrested part of the control away from Brimo by having one of her servants (which she had mentally created) serve him a cup of tea rather than kill him. (DWM: The Time Witch)
• The Fourth Doctor asked Romana if she knew how to make tea. As she didn't know what it was, he claimed that the Time Lords no longer taught anything useful. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
• Nyssa once gave away some tea she found in the TARDIS, unaware that it had been a gift to the Fifth Doctor from the Emperor of China. (BFA: Spare Parts)
• A potential future version of the Doctor met by his seventh incarnation had a particularly great interest in tea. (DWM: Party Animals)
• During the Shoreditch Incident, the Seventh Doctor went to a cafe within central London. He had a mug of tea and discussed many things on his mind about the nature of evil and destiny. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
• Whilst at the Pinehill Crest Hotel leading up to the attempted invasion by the Scourge, the Seventh Doctor wondered to Bernice Summerfield and Ace why tea made in a hotel room tasted worse than any other kind of tea. (BFA: The Shadow of the Scourge)
• The Seventh Doctor was particularly fond of Lapsang Souchong tea, a style which Provost-Major Beltempest also appeared to enjoy. (NA: Original Sin) He also professed to liking Earl Grey, and Arcturan tea. (NA: Lucifer Rising) He didn't like peppermint tea, but drank some because it was a gift from a friend. (ST: Notre Dame du Temps)
• The Eighth Doctor enjoyed darjeeling tea with lemon. (TN: Fallen Gods)
• When the Doctor's TARDIS was destroyed, the Eighth Doctor and Fitz sat around talking about all the tea they used to love drinking which was now gone. (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon)
• Whilst in Cardiff, the Ninth Doctor and Rose took tea with Charles Dickens at Gabriel Sneed's house, served by Gwyneth. The Doctor took his with two sugars, a preference Gwyneth learned via her "sight". (DW: The Unquiet Dead)
• The Tenth Doctor used tea in recovering from his ninth regeneration. After saving the world from a Sycorax invasion in a dressing gown, he later described himself as like the fictional character Arthur Dent, who also had a great fondness for tea. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
• The Eleventh Doctor used a Jammie Dodger biscuit to fool the Daleks, telling them that it was the TARDIS self-destruct control. He claimed that he brought the biscuit since he was promised tea. (DW: Victory of the Daleks)
• The Eleventh Doctor used a large amount of tea to save the life of Craig Owens, who had been adversely affected by a ceiling that had been altered by a Time ship's attempts to find a pilot; the Doctor claimed that it 'reversed the enzyme decay'. (DW: The Lodger)
• The Eleventh Doctor claimed that tea helped him think while on Conaway farm, so he drank a lot. (NSA: Heart of Stone)

Companions

• Barbara Wright drank tea aboard the TARDIS. (ST: 1963)
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart occasionally used tea as a means of comfort, as when he offered it to Zoe when she became worried about the Doctor's safety. (DW: The Invasion)
• Sarah Jane Smith muttered that she could "murder a cup of tea". (DW: The Time Warrior)

Others

• There was much tea (both with and without milk and sugar) in Professor Chronotis's rooms at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge. (DW: Shada, WC: Shada, BFA: Shada)
• Captain Cook offered many people tea, and was still able to drink it, even when captured by the Psychic Circus. (DW: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)
• Tibetans drank hot yak butter tea to fortify themselves against the cold of their native land. (DWM: Yonder... The Yeti)
• Alexander Christian searched the Doctor's House for tea bags following his escape from a helicopter. (NA: The Dying Days)

• The Master drank a cup of tea served by Francine Jones, only to spit it out in disgust. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

• Sarah Jane Smith and Gita Chandra shared a thermos of tea when the Chandras first moved to Bannerman Road. (SJA: The Day of the Clown)

• A Dalek (posing as a man-made machine called an Ironside) offered the Eleventh Doctor a cup of tea. (DW: Victory of the Daleks)

See also

• Coffee