Third Doctor

The Third Doctor, who was exiled by the Time Lords to Earth in the 20th century for a significant period of his life, was a distinguished man of high class and gadgetry, often tinkering away and privy with machines. He also liked to share his wisdom with those who had open minds, but his patience would quickly dissolve if something annoyed him. Those who got on his good side soon found him to be a friendly fellow, while those who were against him soon found that this gentleman could actually get physical and hold his own in a fight.

The technological limits of the time period, and the constraints of his exile, often made him frustrated and bitter. However, he retained his endearing compassion toward his human companions, and he finally began to gain some mastery over his TARDIS as he dissected its inner-workings while it was rendered inoperable as the exile gave him the opportunity to learn more about his ship than he ever had before since he was no longer constantly on the move from his people. At the same time, he continued trying to regain his freedom.

This incarnation of the Doctor worked for UNIT as their scientific advisor, and remained in their service after his exile was ended. Unlike his earlier incarnations, he was quite willing to engage others physically, and cut a more dashing figure.

His foremost enemy was a fellow Time Lord,. Although appalled by the disregard for life inherent in the Master's schemes, the Doctor treated their relationship as somewhat of a friendly rivalry, even enjoying their battle of wits. The Master reflected an equally casual attitude back at him. The Doctor also held out hope that he could rehabilitate the Master, whom he had once considered a friend. Though the Master sometimes teamed up with the Doctor to deal with foes who threatened them, he always bent to dark and malicious desires, which kept their mutual antagonism alive. Indeed, when they did work together, they showed a mutual respect of each other's abilities. More than once, the Master did offer the Doctor the opportunity to share his power, but the Doctor always refused.

In the field, the Doctor was aided by Sergeant John Benton, Captain Mike Yates, and Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor often took exception to the Brigadier's military approach, just as the Brigadier was frequently irritated by the Doctor's air of superiority and seeming disregard for authority. Despite this, the two men ultimately developed an easy mutual trust and strong friendship.

He was initially assisted in the laboratory by Dr Elizabeth Shaw. A capable scientist in her own right, she eventually left to pursue her own work, and the Doctor was given a new assistant, Jo Grant. She was bubblier and had less scientific training, but the Doctor found her a most useful companion in his adventures during and after his exile. They developed a great fondness for each other. Jo left UNIT to marry scientist Clifford Jones.

Eventually thereafter, the Doctor was joined by inquisitive newswoman Sarah Jane Smith. Her journalistic skills and curiosity proved both useful and occasionally hazardous in their travels together.

The Doctor eventually regenerated into a younger body after being exposed to large amounts of radiation during his efforts to stop the Eight Legs of Metebelis III, the price of correcting a mistake he had made in the past.

Alternate timelines
In an alternate timeline created by the Discordia, the Doctor had a passionate romantic relationship with River Song that began in his first incarnation, having married her by his fourth incarnation. Without the Brigadier's knowledge, the Doctor and River would meet up to practice one-legged Venusian aikido while blindfolded on a tightrope. (AUDIO: Someone I Once Knew)

In an alternate timeline created by using the Chronovore Artemis, (PROSE: No Future) the Third Doctor was killed by Morka during his confrontation with the Silurians, resulting in humanity being decimated as the Silurians attempted to return Earth to its original state. (PROSE: Blood Heat)

When the Cybermen allied with Rassilon to take over history, the Third Doctor encountered a time distortion during a battle with that ended with his nemesis being cyber-converted. (COMIC: Prologue: The Third Doctor)

In one possible timeline envisioned by the Nexus, the Third Doctor decided to remain on Earth after his exile, settling down an old house with a garden. When the Ice Warriors invaded in 2010, the Doctor surrendered on Earth's behalf, with the Ice Warriors ruling the Earth Empire peacefully, assisting the humans and Silurians in combating the Rutan Hosts and the Daleks, but largely leaving them to their own devices, with Earth eventually becoming a nature reserve that shunned war. The Third Doctor was able to live for a thousand years on Earth without regenerating, though became wheelchair bound, and was aware that he was only a "copy" of the Doctor. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin)

In an alternative timeline where his exile never ended, the Doctor remained in Britain for forty years, forming a working relationship with PM Melanie Bush for over twenty years. However, he eventually betrayed the United Kingdom when it was invaded by the Cybermen in 2010 as he felt that Britain's best efforts against the Cybermen were destined to be useless. The Cybermen partly converted the Doctor and restored his ability to travel in time. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel)

Other references
Travelling through the caves of the Death Zone to save Borusa from the Dark Tower, the War Doctor and Cinder found various cave paintings which the Doctor speculated were depictions of himself throughout his lives, some of which he failed to recognise. One of the paintings depicted a figure "with bouffant white hair and a cape being chased by a silver robot". (PROSE: Engines of War)

Mysteries and discrepancies

 * The Doctor implied on two occasions that he was thousands of years old. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Mind of Evil)
 * See separate article.

Unofficial return
Pertwee's last performance as the Doctor was for the fan film Devious, where he filmed a regeneration scene to transition between the film's midpoint Doctor and the "real" Third Doctor. Pertwee passed away a year later. The stock audio for the film was later used at the end of Zagreus, and parts of the film (including the regeneration scene) were included on the DVD release of The War Games. This wikia deems the film to be a fan project despite its partial official release, and thus invalid for in-universe writing.

Casting
Ron Moody was approached by the producers after his success in "Oliver" but he turned down the role. He stated in interviews that turning down the role of the Third Doctor was the worst thing he ever did professionally.

Whilst Pertwee himself did record a couple of BBC Radio dramas, the role of the Third Doctor in the Big Finish plays has been played primarily by Tim Treloar, as Pertwee had died three years prior to the company's first Who audio, although a clip of Pertwee from Devious was used posthumously in the 40th anniversary play Zagreus. Unlike those who play the roles of the Second and First Doctors in Big Finish, Treloar was not associated with Pertwee during his time on the show.

Other matters

 * "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" was often thought to be this incarnation's most commonly-used quote. He in fact only says it fully on television in The Sea Devils and The Five Doctors. There are several other occasions, as in The Dæmons, where he mentions simply "reversing the polarity".
 * Katy Manning has accepted responsibility for the Third Doctor's increasingly-bouffant hairstyle. She claimed that she teased Pertwee about a tiny bald spot on the back of his head until he became self-conscious about it. When she suggested he just put rollers in to make his hair "bigger" — and thereby cover the bald spot — he seized on the idea with alacrity. (DCOM: Planet of the Daleks)

"A green and scarlet cobra was squirming itself into a question mark on my forearm. In the middle was a small letter C, which I could only assume stood for Carlotta. On the other hand perhaps the choice of subject had been taken from a child's spelling book and the C stood for cobra."
 * The tattoo this incarnation sports, visible on screen like in Spearhead from Space, was Pertwee's own. It can be seen more clearly in the film A Yank in Ermine (1955) and its promotional images. It is left over from Pertwee's days in the navy:

- Moon Boots and Dinner Suits, by Jon Pertwee


 * The Third Doctor is unique in having first appeared in the title sequence before appearing in any actual scenes on the show.


 * The Third Doctor's wardrobe was more colourful and ornate than any of those of his previous incarnations partially because, in real life, the BBC was experimenting with various combinations of colours during Jon Pertwee's tenure in the role to determine which ones would photograph best.