Ninth Doctor
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 this incarnation, he had largely emerged from the angry fog of his survivor's guilt, largely thanks to his relationship with Rose Tyler. The Doctor later regenerated after absorbing the energy of the Time Vortex.
Biography
Regeneration from Previous Incarnation
What caused the previous incarnation to regenerate was unknown. When asked about what happened to his eighth incarnation, the Doctor answered, "What happened to me? That's simple. The Time War happened". (IDW: The Forgotten)
A report on the contact Clive website showed 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)
After trading most of his previous incarnation's clothing at an Oxfam in Sheffield, the Doctor later dumped several items belonging to his other selves in a local tip. (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 suggests that he had not had a chance to look in a mirror since his regeneration. (DW: Rose)
Meeting with Rose
In London, 2005, the Doctor 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, he 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)
Early adventures with Rose
The Doctor took Rose to the day when Earth was destroyed by the sun. (DW: The End of the World) He then took Rose to meet Charles Dickens where they fought the Gelth. (DW: The Unquiet Dead)
The Doctor then took Rose to her own time period, where he arrived one year later than he intended and was almost arrested by the police for kidnapping. While on Earth he stopped the Slitheen from destroying the Earth. (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three)
New Companions
Other than 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 omnisexual orientation, the Doctor chose neither to encourage nor discourage Jack, though he himself did little more than playfully tease Jack. (DW: Boom Town) However, when Jack was resurrected by Rose's use of the time vortex, which inadvertently caused him to become a "fixed point in time" and immortal, the Doctor made the decision to leave Jack behind. He abandoned him on Satellite Five after the defeat of the Daleks due to how uncomfortable the then immortal Jack made him. (DW: The Parting of the Ways, Utopia)
The Doctor 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, therefore he kissed her, drawing the Time Vortex from her body and 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 and noting that he had as well. He then regenerated into his tenth incarnation. (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. The Doctor appeared 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)
- Clive Finch's website also documented sightings during various adventures the Doctor had. These sightings showed the Doctor travelling with Rose visiting a 5000 year old Megalithic tomb in Newgrange among various other places, some without her. (WEB: Who is Doctor Who?)
- The Doctor stated that just prior to arriving at the Game Station, he, Rose and Jack had just escaped from an adventure in Kyoto, Japan. (DW: Bad Wolf)
- Some time after meeting Rose, the Doctor visited the Christmas truce of World War I and refereed the football game there. (IDW: The Forgotten)
- The Doctor delivered a letter intended for his fifth self in 16th century England. (BFA: The Kingmaker)
Psychological profile
Personality
This incarnation was a study in contrasts but shared many characteristics with his predecessors. One moment he was full of manic energy and a sharp, offbeat wit, then the next he was removed and reserved, keenly aware of the divide between himself and the Humans he encountered. The Time War, of which he thought himself to be the sole survivor, had clearly affected him deeply. The weight of his having seemingly destroyed both the Time Lords and the Daleks preyed upon him greatly created a more emotional incarnation, who would easily be saddened, and become angry just as suddenly. Consequently, it also created an incarnation 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. Despite this, this incarnation of the Doctor was more adept at noticing the negatives of Humanity than any of his predecessors.
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. He was also seen to be more violent, physically coming into contact with guards when arrested. (DW: Bad Wolf) The tenth incarnation implied that the ninth incarnation was angrier and pained due to being "born from war", as he compared the Meta-Crisis Doctor to the ninth incarnation. (DW: Journey's End)
Habits and Quirks
The ninth incarnation spoke with a distinctive Northern accent. When Rose questioned this, 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 and especially something dangerous.
This incarnation nicknamed Mickey Smith "Mickey the idiot", or simply "Ricky". He also called Humans "stupid apes" and seemed very alien. He carried an air of mystery around him, and rarely spoke of his past to others. 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. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
This incarnation would become noticeably emotionally exhausted and would seemingly reach moments where he would break down whenever faced with pain, suffering, or death. This problem took centre stage when the Doctor expressed his emotional exhaustion several times and 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. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
The ninth incarnation 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 and also had a habit of being a little overconfident with his plans, even if he didn't think they would work. (DW: Rose et al)
Mysteries and Discrepancies
- It is unknown if the Doctor had recently regenerated when he met Rose. It seemed so when he looked in a mirror and commented on his features. However, he was seen in an old picture prior to the Titanic disaster, suggesting he had 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 his first entrance into Rose's home.
- The eleventh incarnation also did something similar, even though he had been on several adventures before, so it is entirely plausible that the ninth incarnation had simply not looked in a mirror. (DW: The Vampires of Venice)
- The Doctor eventually stated he 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 mentioned that he was in possession of something called "The Moment". The tenth incarnation later revealed, 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)
- It was unknown whether "the Moment" refers to a time or a device used to end the war.
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 navy, (DW: The Unquiet Dead) dark trousers and a black, strapped wristwatch, unlike his previous incarnations, who wore fobwatches.
At one time, he was photographed wearing clothes reminiscent of those his eighth incarnation wore. (DW: Rose)
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, much unlike many his previous incarnations who had had longer hair. He had two large ears and he considered his nose large as well. He said his nose had special powers, and Nancy jokingly asked if his ears had special powers as well, to which he sarcastically asked what she meant. (DW: The Empty Child)
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 have been the Doctor's shortest-lived incarnation to date. He appeared to be newly regenerated when he first met Rose Tyler, or at least new enough in his body that he had not had a chance to examine his appearance closely. (DW: Rose) It was implied that Rose's travels with him took place over the course of less than a year as she was still referred to as being 19 years old when the Doctor believed her to have been killed on Satellite 5, only hours before his regeneration occurred. (DW: Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways)
- It is also unclear as to exactly how much time had passed for the Doctor between disappearing and reappearing at the end of Rose.
Behind the scenes
- The ninth incarnation has the distinction of being the only incarnation 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 incarnation 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 incarnation also has the distinction of being the only incarnation to date not to be seen on screen facing another Time Lord as an opponent. All other incarnations of the Doctor have faced, at the very least, The Master, except the first and the second incarnations, who faced the Monk and the War Chief respectively. The eleventh incarnation is also yet to face a Time Lord or Lady as an enemy, though his tenure is not complete yet.
- The ninth Doctor also is to date one of only two incarnations who has not met Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, the other being the Eleventh Doctor, although his tenure is still ongoing.
- 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 incarnation. Also, Christopher Eccleston, followed by David Tennant, have 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 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 two Doctor Who stories for BBC Audio, BBCR The Runaway Train and The Ring of Steel.
- Baker, however, has been confirmed to be recording for the Big Finish audio dramas.
- 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 incarnation is the only incarnation of the Doctor for which no audio stories have, to date, been produced.
- The ninth incarnation's era, due to its short tenure, 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 is not available in North America and Australia.
- Although most other incarnations still have serials that remain to be released to DVD, the ninth, the tenth and the sixth incarnations have had all their episodes released on DVD. The first and second incarnation's serials are unlikely to ever be completely represented due to many of their serials being destroyed or lost.
- Originally, Russell T Davies approached Hugh Grant, who previously played the Doctor's alternate twelfth incarnation, to play the ninth Doctor, however 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]
References
External Links
- Ninth Doctor's opening titles theme music
- List of Doctor sightings
- Reported sightings of Doctor Who?
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