Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor was the ninth incarnation of the Time Lord known as the Doctor. Due to the events of the Time War, this incarnation was afflicted with melancholy when not distracted by adventures. Rose Tyler was likely his most constant companion. Unlike most of his other lives, the adventures he shared with his companions mostly happened on or around Earth. Absolutely definitive statements about the Ninth Doctor were complicated, however, by a lack of knowledge about his precise involvement in the Last Great Time War, and the circumstances in which he regenerated from his predecessor.
During the Slitheen's attempt to destroy the Earth for profit, he gained temporary allies in Rose's mother Jackie, Rose's ex-boyfriend Mickey, and Harriet Jones. He also had a single adventure with Adam Mitchell, an employee of Henry Van Statten, at Rose's request. However, the Doctor left him behind when he tried to take advantage of future knowledge. During a trip to World War II, the Doctor gained a new companion in Captain Jack Harkness, a conman from the 51st century, whom he left behind after the Battle of the Game Station.
After absorbing the time vortex energy from Rose to save her from its deadly after-effects, the Doctor suffered damage at a cellular level, forcing him to regenerate into his next incarnation.
Biography
Foreshadowing
When the Eighth Doctor looked into the Tomorrow Windows, he saw the Ninth Doctor as what he might look like after his next regeneration. (EDA: The Tomorrow Windows)
Post-Regeneration
The "contact Clive" website showed that almost immediately after regenerating, the Doctor arrived at Totters Lane in the early 21st century wearing his previous incarnation's clothes. He muttered to a local, "They're all gone. I'm the only one left". After trading most of his clothing at an Oxfam in Sheffield, the Doctor dumped his other selves' items in a tip. (WEB: whoisdoctorwho.co.uk)
Early adventures
The new Doctor had some adventures on his own, such as meeting Sally Sparrow. (NSA: The Eyeless, DWAN: What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow)
Clive Finch had several images of this incarnation at historical events. The Ninth Doctor appeared in Dallas at the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, in Southampton just before the voyage of the RMS Titanic in April 1912 and in Indonesia on the day of Krakatoa's eruption in August 1883. (DW: Rose)
Travels with Rose
In 2005 London, the Doctor rescued Rose Tyler from Autons at her workplace, Henrik's, blowing up the building. They defeated the Nestene Consciousness controlling the Autons, who had come to earth to feed on pollution. The Doctor tried to persuade the Consciousness to leave Earth, but it refused and took him prisoner. Rose rescued him and destroyed the Consciousness with the Doctor's anti-plastic. The Doctor invited her to travel with him on his journeys through space and time in his TARDIS. Rose accepted. (DW: Rose)
For her first trip time-travelling, the Doctor took Rose to the distant future, when the Earth was destroyed by the sun. The Doctor saved the other sightseers from Lady Cassandra's plot to burn them alive for insurance money. He let her frame of skin dry out and explode as punishment when he foiled her plan, (DW: The End of the World) though Cassandra's brainmeat survived. (DW: New Earth) He told Rose of the Last Great Time War, and how he was the last of the Time Lords. (DW: The End of the World)
He took Rose to Cardiff in 1869, where they met Charles Dickens. He found ethereal beings known as Gelth, victims of war who wished to inhabit corpses to gain new bodies. The Doctor used the psychic Gwyneth to speak to them through the Rift to help them, but the Gelth needed many bodies and planned to kill humans to supply their wants. Thanks to Gwyneth's sacrifice, the Gelth were trapped in the Rift. (DW: The Unquiet Dead)
The Doctor tried to take Rose to her own time, but arrived a year late. To his surprise, a spaceship crashed into the Thames and alerted the world to the presence of aliens. He found the spaceship belonged the Slitheen, who planned to reduce Earth to radioactive waste to sell as cheap fuel on the intergalactic market. At the cost of Downing Street, the Doctor blew up the Slitheen. He invited Mickey to join Rose and him in their travels, but was refused. The Doctor gave him a computer virus to wipe out all mentions of him on the internet. (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three)
A healing heart
Tracking a distress signal, the Doctor went to the Vault in Utah in 2012. He found a lone Dalek had survived the Time War and was being kept amongst other alien artefacts by Henry van Statten. To the Doctor's shock, the Dalek's personality changed after absorbing Rose's DNA and residual time vortex radiation. After the Dalek had committed suicide to prevent itself from changing completely, the Doctor took along one of the Vault's employees, Adam Mitchell, at Rose's request. Van Statten had his memory wiped by his employees. (DW: Dalek)
The Doctor took them to the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire to see the human race at its zenith. He found it no better than 21st century Earth. Alien species had not been visiting for some time. The Doctor found that a Jagrafess called Max had been controlling the human race from Satellite Five by manipulating information. Thanks to one of the workers who learned of the truth, the satellite's heat was rerouted, sending heat to Max's control room. The Doctor returned Adam home after he tried to use knowledge of the future for his own gain. (DW: The Long Game)
At Rose's request, the Doctor took her to when her father died so she could be there for him. However, she saved her father from being hit by the car that would have killed him. Rose's actions had caused the TARDIS' to be thrown off into the vortex. After being attacked by a creature from outside time, the Doctor started working on a way to repair the damage to the universe while leaving Pete alive. However, after Rose touched her infant self, the Doctor sacrificed himself to the creature brought by the paradox, leaving Pete to sacrifice himself next by getting hit by the car that killed him. (DW: Father's Day)
New friend, old enemy
The Doctor tracked a Chula ambulance to 1941 London and met the conman Jack Harkness, a 51st century ex-Time Agent who mistook them for members of the Time Agency. The Doctor soon learned that a child in a gasmask had been killed and was half-way resurrected by the nanogenes inside the ambulance. The nanogenes had not seen a human before. They took the gasmask for the child's face and fused it to him, spreading to other people who touched him, also transforming them into gasmask zombies. The Doctor fixed the nanogenes' mistakes by comparing the DNA of the child and his mother Nancy, restoring the infected zombies to normal. The Doctor rescued Jack from his ship just before it exploded, taking him into the TARDIS. (DW: The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances)
While on a refuelling trip in Cardiff, the Doctor and his companions captured Blon Fel-Fotch, the sole survivor of the Slitheen they had defeated earlier. Though Blon tried fleeing, the Doctor reversed her teleportation device several times until she gave up and was taken prisoner to be returned to Raxacoricofallapatorius for trial. The Doctor confiscated her extrapolator and dined with her as her last request. After Blon was turned into an egg by the heart of the TARDIS, which granted her wish for a fresh start and ended her backup plot to escape Earth, the Doctor decided to drop her off in the hatchery on her homeworld. (DW: Boom Town)
The Battle of the Game Station
After leaving Raxacoricofallapatorius, the Doctor, Rose and Jack had an adventure in Kyoto, Japan. After that, they were teleported to Satellite 5 a hundred years after their last visit, only to be put in deadly versions of TV game shows. After escaping his game, the Doctor found the TARDIS in the control room. The station was broadcasting a secondary signal into space and the games' losers were not killed, but teleported to the signal's target. The Doctor learned a large Dalek fleet had survived the war and were now headed to the station to confront him. (DW: Bad Wolf)
The Emperor had been converting the losers into Daleks for its army. The Doctor decided his fight against the Daleks was suicidal and sent Rose back to the 21st century in the TARDIS while Jack and he prepared for the inevitable extermination. He built a device that would "fry the brain stems of every living thing within a thousand miles of the satellite", but was not able to perfect it to work only on Daleks.
Rose opened the heart of the TARDIS and looked upon it. She became the powerful Bad Wolf entity. She returned to the future to save the Doctor. Rose had absorbed the Time Vortex into herself. She declared the Time War to be over and destroyed the Dalek fleet and with a wave of her hand, scattering their atoms into dust. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
Death
The Doctor knew that Rose would burn up if she kept so much power in her body. He kissed her, drawing the Time Vortex from her body and into his. They returned to the TARDIS, leaving behind Jack, whom Rose had converted into an immortal fixed point in time. The Doctor, who likewise could not survive the energies of the heart of the TARDIS, regenerated. (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's website also documented sightings of Rose Tyler in several of the Ninth Doctor's adventures. These included the Ninth Doctor and Rose visiting a five thousand year old Megalithic tomb in Newgrange. (WEB: Who is Doctor Who?)
- Some time after meeting Rose, the Ninth Doctor visited the Christmas truce of World War I. He later spoke of a football game there. (IDW: The Forgotten)
- The Ninth Doctor attended the funeral of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. (ST: The Gift)
- A man fitting the Ninth Doctor's description tended to Honoré Lechasseur's injuries after a bunker exploded in 1951. He disappeared without a trace. (THN: The Albino's Dancer)
Another man fitting his description delivered letters from his fifth incarnation to Clarrie and his former companions Peri Brown and Erimem at the Kingmaker inn in 1483. (BFA: The Kingmaker)
Psychological profile
Personality
This incarnation of the Doctor was deeply affected by his actions in the Last Great Time War. He hid his sorrow with a facade of manic energy and a sharp, offbeat wit. Nevertheless the weight of destroying the Time Lords and the Daleks preyed upon him, creating an emotional incarnation of great sorrow and anger. Consequently, it also created an incarnation with 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. Despite this, this incarnation of the Doctor was more adept at noticing the flaws of humanity than any of his predecessors.
When asked by the Emperor of the Daleks whether he was a coward or a killer the Doctor struggled with the decision to destroy the Daleks and the Earth or simply allow the Daleks to kill him and take over the universe. In the end he couldn't bring himself to destroy the Earth even to rid the universe of the Daleks, and proclaimed himself a coward. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
While his previous incarnations were rarely heard uttering minor curse words like "hell" and "damn," the ninth incarnation tended to use these phrases more freely, along with "Oi!" when trying to get someone's attention. He was also more violent, physically coming into contact with guards when arrested although it should be noted he thought Rose had been murdered which probably influenced his actions. (DW: Bad Wolf) The tenth incarnation implied that the ninth incarnation was angrier and pained due to being "born from war" when he compared the Meta-Crisis Doctor to the ninth incarnation. (DW: Journey's End)
At times the ninth incarnation was sadistic, torturing a helpless Dalek even when the Dalek pleaded for him to "have pity". The Doctor's hatred for the Daleks was strong, and the one he tortured claimed the Doctor would make a good Dalek himself. (DW: Dalek)
The Doctor cared very deeply about Rose and was willing to let a lethal Dalek loose on Earth to keep her safe. (DW: Dalek) He was also reluctant to use a missile to destroy the Slitheen because he feared he would kill Rose too. (DW: World War Three) When the Daleks invaded Satellite Five, the Doctor lied to Rose about being able to use the TARDIS to stop them and sent her back home to protect her. He deliberately absorbed the Time Vortex energy in her to save her life - knowing full well that he would have to regenerate. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
Habits and quirks
The ninth incarnation spoke with a distinctive Northern English accent. When Rose questioned this, he replied that "lots of planets have a North." He was 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 or especially dangerous. (DW: The End of the World, The Unquiet Dead, Dalek)
This incarnation called Mickey Smith "Mickey the idiot", or "Ricky". He called humans "stupid apes", seeing himself above them, often calling them this when angered by their actions. He rarely spoke of his past to others. He did not "do domestic", as he put it, which led to tension in his interactions with Jackie Tyler. (DW: World War Three) He had a fondness for bananas, which continued to his next incarnation. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
He often made dry jokes to those around him to diffuse tension, but usually ended up failing; on one occasion, it was a cynical joke. (DW: Rose, The Unquiet Dead, Aliens of London, World War Three, The Long Game, The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, Boom Town, The Parting of the Ways)
He often gave speeches about things or lectured those he wished to scold. (DW: Rose, The Unquiet Dead, Aliens of London, Dalek, The Long Game, Father's Day, The Empty Child], The Doctor Dances, Boom Town, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways)
Despite being bad at card tricks, he was a good pickpocket; he swapped Jack's sonic blaster with a banana. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
This incarnation was sometimes exhausted emotionally. He would break down when faced with pain, suffering, or death. This once resulted in a brief moment of relief when he realised that he could, for once, reverse all of the pain and suffering he had encountered, whooping, "Just this once - everybody lives!!" (DW: The Doctor Dances)
The Ninth Doctor had a habit of folding his arms and frowning when lecturing or listening intently. He would also grin when happy or when he found something funny. He was overconfident about his plans, even if he didn't think they would work. (DW: Rose et al)
This incarnation enjoyed, and was particularly skilled at, videogames. (NSA: Winner Takes All)
Appearance
In stark contrast to the extravagant dress of most of his predecessors, the ninth incarnation wore a plain leather jacket, mistaken in World War II for that of a German U-boat commander. (DW: The Empty Child) He would either wear a plain red, green, navy blue, or black jumper, which Charles Dickens thought made him look like a navvy (DW: The Unquiet Dead), dark trousers and a black, strapped wristwatch in contrast to his previous incarnations, who preferred fob watches.
At one time, he was photographed wearing clothes reminiscent of those worn by his eighth incarnation. (DW: Rose) This photograph might have been taken shortly after his regeneration, before he had gotten around to picking his new outfit.
During an adventure in World War I, the Doctor wore a military trenchcoat to fit in with the British soldiers. (IDW: The Forgotten)
He wore his hair close-cropped, unlike many of his previous incarnations who had had longer hair. He had large ears and he considered his nose large as well. He claimed they enhanced their respective senses. (DW: The Empty Child)
Behind the scenes
- The Ninth Doctor is the only incarnation to date to have the same companion throughout his television appearances (Rose Tyler). In spin-off fiction, the only ninth incarnation story to date where he is not depicted travelling with Rose is the 2006 annual short story What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow.
- The ninth incarnation is also one of the only two incarnations to date not to be seen on screen facing another Time Lord as an opponent or having met Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The eleventh incarnation is also yet to face a Time Lord as an enemy or meet Lethbridge-Stewart, though due to Nicholas Courtney's passing in 2011 and the Brigadier's death mentioned in DW: The Wedding of River Song the latter will not occur.
- Along with the Eleventh Doctor, the Ninth Doctor is one of only two incarnations of the Doctor to have not been depicted encountering Davros since the character's introduction in DW: Genesis of the Daleks in 1975.
- The ninth incarnation is the first past incarnation who has not appeared in the Short Trips series of short story collections along with the tenth and eleventh incarnations. Also, Christopher Eccleston, followed by David Tennant and Matt Smith, has yet to take part as the Doctor in any of Big Finish's audio dramas. This is due to licencing agreements between Big Finish Productions and the BBC that allow Big Finish only to cover the "classic" Doctors (First Doctor to Eighth). This also makes Eccleston the only Doctor actor since Patrick Troughton to not participate in an audio story based upon the franchise.
- The ninth incarnation's era, due to its short length, stands as the first incarnation's era to be completely released to DVD in Australia, North America and the UK. The single film that made up the eighth incarnation's era was not available in North America and Australia at the point when Series One was released.
- Originally, Russell T Davies approached Hugh Grant, who previously played the Doctor's alternate twelfth incarnation, to play the Ninth Doctor. 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]
- The non-narrative source The Brilliant Book 2011 stated that in 1944, the Ninth Doctor took Winston Churchill on a trip to Ancient Rome, where they encountered a creature disguised as one of Emperor Tiberius's reclining benches. Winston then realised why the Second Doctor had taught him how to address a table in Latin back in 1882.
