The Doctor (fictional character)

"The Doctor" - originally known as "Dr. Who" and "Doctor Who" - was the eponymous, fictional depiction of the Doctor in the BBC television series Doctor Who. Their species was depicted as a Time Lord. (PROSE: A Letter from the Doctor 464, The Terror of the Umpty Ums) However, by some accounts, the real Doctor himself starred in the television series. (COMIC: TV Terrors, PROSE: Extracts from the Doctor's 500 Year Diary)

"The Doctor", however, was not the only fictional depiction of his namesake in Earth's popular culture, with similar characters such as Doctor Who (PROSE: Salvation) and Dr. Who existing in theatrical motion pictures. Coincidentally, both of these seperate characters were portrayed by veteran actor Peter Cushing. (PROSE: Salvation, A Visit to the Cinema, The Day of the Doctor, et al.) Accordng to Penelope Creighton-Ward, Peter Cushing's portrayal of Dr. Who was in lieu of William Hartnell's portrayal from the series, as he wasn't able to return due to a busy schedule. (COMIC: Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!) Other notably similar characters included Professor X, (PROSE: No Future, et al.) Doctor X, (PROSE: In Search of Doctor X, et al.) and The Time Surgeon. (COMIC: Invasion of the Mindmorphs)

The Doctor was portrayed by many English actors, including William Hartnell, (COMIC: Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!) Tom Baker, (PROSE: Bafflement and Devotion, The Story of Fester Cat) Paul McGann, (PROSE: Hospitality) Matt Smith, (TV: The Doctor Appears, The Doctor Drops In) and Peter Capaldi. (PROSE: A Letter from the Doctor 464)

Name
Whilst originally referred to as "Dr. Who" and "Doctor Who" interchangably, (COMIC: TV Terrors, Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!, PROSE: Hospitality, The Story of Fester Cat, et al.) with the name even being used on certain merchandise, (PROSE: Party Like it's 1979) the character was more commonly referred to as the Doctor. (WC: The Zygon Isolation, TV: The Doctor Appears, et al.) Despite this, the version of the Doctor that existed inside David Karpagnon's imagination claimed that she was not allowed to refer to herself as "Doctor Who". David also knew some of the Doctor's aliases, such as "the Ka Faraq Gatri", "the Oncoming Storm", "the Bringer of Darkness", and "the Imp of the Pandorica", and "the Final Victor of the Time War". (PROSE: The Terror of the Umpty Ums)

Production history
In the early 1960s, Winston Churchill contacted a friend of his, Mr Newman, to propose the idea of a television series based off Churchill's old friend, the Doctor. (PROSE: Stop, Thief!)

In the late 1990s, an older man and a boy commented at a film studio in London that Paul McGann was sexy and that they wanted to shag him. (PROSE: Hospitality)

In 2008, Paul Magrs worked on several scripts for Doctor Who CDs, which, once completed, would require Paul to travel to London and help with the production, where he got to meet Tom Baker. (PROSE: The Story of Fester Cat)

Peter Capaldi was cast as the Twelfth Doctor in 2013, where he attended a meeting with Steven Moffat. Capaldi prepared for this meeting by reading issues of DWM. Later, he wrote a letter to the readers of DWM, writing about his more than positive opinions of the magazine. (PROSE: A Letter from the Doctor 464, A Letter from the Doctor 500, TV: In the Forest of the Night, et al.)

As a fictional character
After seeing Dr. Who's adventures on television, Monica, Buttons, and Cuthbert arrived at the studio to attempt to recieve his autograph, but their plan went awry when the guard chases them into Dr. Who's TARDIS. (COMIC: TV Terrors)

In 1974, a serial of the series aired, portraying the regeneration of Third Doctor into his next incarnation, the Fourth Doctor.

Prior to 1981, the character of the Fourth Doctor regenerated into the Fifth Doctor, who was set to return in the upcoming season. (PROSE: Fanboys)

In the late 1990s, an unspecified incarnation of the character was portrayed by Paul McGann in the Doctor Who TV movie. (PROSE: Hospitality)

At some point, the Doctor changed into a woman. By this time she was known to many as the greatest warrior in the universe and had earned the titles "the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, the Imp of the Pandorica and the final victor of the Time War. She had also fought Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Sontarans, and Slitheen.

David Karpagnon, an orphan with dissociative personality disorder, watched the show around this time. A version of the Doctor inside his head managed to convince him that he was not a DeathBorg 400 but a resident of a children's home that he was otherwise going to destroy. (PROSE: The Terror of the Umpty Ums)

Meta-fiction universes
Whilst existing in the Doctor's universe, fictional depictions of the Doctor were also common in "meta-fiction universes". (COMIC: TV Action!, The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who, AUDIO: Deadline, PROSE: All Our Christmases, The Thief of Sherwood)

Other information
Justin Richards wrote fictional stories about the Doctor, (PROSE: Summer Falls and Other Stories) as did Paul Magrs, (PROSE: Bafflement and Devotion, The Story of Fester Cat, et al.) among others.

Behind the scenes
to be added

Information from invalid sources
Three fans once mused about the meaning of the Twelfth Doctor's expression after he pushed the Half-Face Man in the episode Deep Breath. (NOTVALID: The Daft Dimension 484)