Fifth Doctor
...the nice one; such charm, such innocence, such naiveté, such a fool!
The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor.
Biography
The Fourth Doctor's fourth regeneration into the Fifth Doctor (DW: Logopolis) was a problematic one, and nearly failed. Mentally, he alternated between assuming the personalities of his previous selves and reverting into states of fear and vagueness. He recovered in the TARDIS' Zero Room and after Nyssa and Tegan piloted the TARDIS to Castrovalva, where he could recover, he found himself captured by the Portreeve's men.
Amnesiac, confused and vague, he regained his memory and sense of purpose and ended up once more winning against the Master. (DW: Castrovalva) Tegan demanded that he return her to 1981 Earth, which he attempted many times withuot success. (DW: Four to Doomsday, The Visitation) Along the way, Nyssa collapsed (DW: Four to Doomsday) and spent the next few days recovering, the Mara possessed Tegan (DW: Kinda) and they took time out to attend George Cranleigh's ball, where danger lurked once more. (DW: Black Orchid)
On 26th century Earth he discovered a plan by Cybermen to use a space freighter as a giant bomb. The freighter shifted through time to the distant past, killing the dinosaurs and Earth's history proceeded as normal. However, Adric, still on the freighter, died. (DW: Earthshock)
When Vislor Turlough, an exiled alien posing as a British schoolboy, asked to come along, the Doctor did not know that Turlough had been commissioned by the Black Guardian to kill him. Soon after, Nyssa left to help cure Lazar's Disease on the space station Terminus. After meeting the entities known as Eternals racing in yacht-like spacecraft for the prize of Enlightenment, Turlough broke free from the Black Guardian's influence, and continued to travel with the Doctor and Tegan. The Doctor met three of his previous incarnations when they were summoned to the Death Zone on Gallifrey by President Borusa, who was attempting to gain Rassilon's secret of immortality.
After further adventures in which the Doctor re-encountered old foes including the Silurians and the Sea Devils, both Tegan and Turlough left the TARDIS. Tegan would find the death and violence they encountered on their travels too much to bear (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks), and Turlough returned to his home planet of Trion.
Ultimately, the Fifth Doctor and his last companion Peri Brown were exposed to toxic levels of the drug spectrox on Androzani Minor. With only one dose of the antidote available, he sacrificed his own existence to save Peri, regenerating into the Sixth Doctor.
Personality
The Fifth Doctor was probably the most human and vulnerable of all the Doctors, less pretentious and selfish, often reacting to situations rather than initiating them and openly expressing his hopes and fears to his companions. His young appearance was reflected in the youthfulness of his companions as well; whom he treated more like parts of a team than their usual subordinate role under previous incarnations. The death of Adric affected him and the rest of his companions deeply.
Despite his youthful body and love of cricket, he was one of the least physical Doctors, preferring to use communication and diplomacy to solve a problem. In contrast to some of his more aggressive predecessors, he preferred to gain people's trust by honestly proving himself, instead of using his vast experience as an excuse to take charge. Indeed, he often willingly participated in situations under the leadership of someone else who had the strong command presence that he lacked. In an occasional reminder of his actual age, the Fifth Doctor would sport a pair of glasses when examining something (though these would later be revealed by the Tenth Doctor to be vanity "brainy specs", which he wore just to make him look "a bit clever". (Time Crash)]]).
At the same time, this humanity made him prone to panic under pressure and occasionally indecisive. He was unable to execute Davros in cold blood in Resurrection of the Daleks, and reluctantly killed Kamelion at the end of Planet of Fire only at the android's request.
Of all the Doctors, the Fifth was the one who showed the greatest abhorrence for violence and needless bloodshed as well as the pain and suffering of others. Despite this, violence and bloodshed continued to dog his footsteps, as in the massacre at the end of Warriors of the Deep and the exceptionally high body count of Resurrection of the Daleks which led to Tegan's departure. At the end of that story, the Fifth Doctor acknowledged that he perhaps had to mend his ways
It was perhaps a combination of realising that his lifestyle begat violence and the weighing of Adric's death on his mind that led him ultimately to sacrifice his own existence to save Peri. It is telling that the Fifth Doctor's last word before his regeneration into his sixth incarnation was "Adric."
Key Life Events
- The Doctor regenerates. (DW: Logopolis)
- For the first time, the Doctor's regeneration begins to fail, causing him to regress into his former personalities. (DW: Castrovalva)
- Adric dies. (DW: Earthshock)
- The Doctor re-unites with the Brigadier and gains a new companion, Vislor Turlough. (DW: Mawdryn Undead).
- Once more, the Doctor meets the White and Black Guardians. (DW: Enlightenment)
- Obtains a new robotic companion, Kamelion. (DW: The King's Demons)
- The Doctor re-unites with his grand daughter, Susan Foreman, Sarah Jane Smith, the Brigadier, meets his past selves and battles old enemies. Flavia declares him, once again Lord President but he choses to rule in absentia and appoints Flavia his second in command. (DW: The Five Doctors).
- Meets his Tenth Incarnation. (DW: Time Crash))
- We do not know exactly where in the Fifth Doctor's time stream that this occured, although the Tenth Doctor mentions Nyssa, Tegan, Mara, Cybermen, Time Lords with funny hats, and the Master, so, presumably, it happens somewhere between Earthshock and snakedance.
- Meets Angela Wisher and saves a generation from the Cuddlesomes. (BFA: Cuddlesome)
- Both Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka depart the TARDIS in heartbreaking circumstances. (DW: Terminus and Resurrection of the Daleks, respectively)
- Peri Brown joins him, as Vislor Turlough returns to his homeworld and Kamelion is destroyed. (DW: Planet of Fire)
- Almost dies, permanently, during his regeneration into the Sixth Doctor due to interference from The Master via Kamelion's connection to the TARDIS, but is saved by Nyssa who connects with him in his mindscape. (BFA: Circular Time)
- The dying Doctor manages to save Peri and regenerates. (DW: The Caves of Androzani)
Behind the Scenes
After the famous and popular Fourth Doctor, it was decided that the next Doctor should be played by an actor who was already firmly established in the British public's mind. Peter Davison was chosen, due in no small part to his popular and critically acclaimed role as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, a BBC series based on the books of James Herriot.
The Fifth Doctor's era was notable for a "back to basics" attitude, in which humour (and, to an extent, horror) was kept to a minimum, but more scientific accuracy was encouraged by the producer, John Nathan-Turner. It was also notable for the reintroduction of many of the Time Lord's enemies; such as the Cybermen, Omega (a founding-father of Gallifrey), the Black and White Guardians, the Sea Devils, and the Silurians, while the Master, who had been reintroduced at the end of the Baker era, became a regular adversary, appearing at least once (and often more than once) per season.
