Theory:Timeline - The Doctor's age

This page lists the age of the Doctor over the course of the franchise. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline.

"The thing I keep banging on about is that he doesn't know what age he is. He's lying. How could he know, unless he's marking it on a wall? He could be 8,000 years old, he could be a million. He has no clue. The calendar will give him no clues."

- Steven Moffat, SFX, May 2010

Early life

 * ? (PROSE: Lungbarrow, TV: The Brain of Morbius, The Timeless Children)
 * The Doctor, either as The Other or as other incarnations before his first, has numerous adventures and many lives. They are originally known as the Timeless Child. At some point, the Time Lords wipe the memory of this person and reverts them into a child, leading to their "first" life.

First Doctor

 * 8: TV: The Sound of Drums
 * The Tenth Doctor recounts being taken to look into the Untempered Schism at the age of 8.


 * 45: PROSE: Shroud of Sorrow
 * The Doctor left primary school at the age of 45.


 * 90: TV: The Stolen Earth
 * The Tenth Doctor recounts going to the Medusa Cascade at the age of age 90, and claims he was "just a kid".


 * 236: TV: The Pirate Planet, The Name of the Doctor
 * Romana I informs the Fourth Doctor that he has been operating the TARDIS for 523 years, and she claims the Doctor is 759, not 756.


 * 296: PROSE: Byzantium!
 * The Doctor claimed to have been travelling in the TARDIS for 60 years, putting his age at (roughly) 296.


 * +25: COMIC: Nostalgia Corner
 * The Doctor has been trying to get John and Gillian home for 25 years.


 * 700+: PROSE: The Mutation of Time
 * "I’m not of your race! I’m already over seven hundred years old."


 * 450: TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen, PROSE: Iceberg
 * The First Doctor regenerated at 450 years old.

Second Doctor

 * 986+: PROSE: The Power of the Daleks
 * The Doctor claims that it has been over 750 years since his departure from Gallifrey.


 * ~450:	TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen
 * The Second Doctor supposes he's about 450 years old in "Earth terms."


 * ~500: COMIC: The Brotherhood
 * The Doctor puts his age at a "tender" 500 years.

Third Doctor

 * 1000s?: TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians
 * The Third Doctor claims his life covers several thousand years. (Later stories would not support this claim.)


 * 1000s?: TV: The Mind of Evil
 * The Doctor claims to have been a scientist for several thousand years. (Later stories would not support this claim.)

Fourth Doctor

 * ~750:	TV: Pyramids of Mars
 * The Fourth Doctor claims to have lived for "something like" 750 years.


 * 748: PROSE: A Device of Death
 * The Doctor claims that he is 748 years old.


 * 749: TV: The Brain of Morbius
 * The Doctor claims to be only 749 years old.


 * 150+: COMIC: Hubert's Folly
 * The Doctor notes that he is "much more" than even 150 years old.


 * 749: TV: The Seeds of Doom
 * The Doctor claims to be only 749 years old, and used to be even younger.


 * 750: TV: The Robots of Death
 * The Doctor claims to be 750 years old.


 * 756 or 759: TV: The Ribos Operation
 * The Doctor claims to be 756 years old. Romana I insists he is 759.


 * <760: TV: The Power of Kroll
 * The Doctor claims to be nearly 760 years old.


 * 760: AUDIO: The Justice of Jalxar
 * The Doctor tells Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot that he is 760 years old.


 * 700+: AUDIO: The Labyrinth of Buda Castle
 * The Doctor tells Celia Soames that he is over 700 years old.


 * 760: PROSE: Shada
 * The Doctor is identified as 760 years old.


 * 730: COMIC: Doctor Who and the Star Beast
 * The Doctor claims to be 730 years old.


 * 743 or 730 (+4 years): COMIC: Doctor Who and the Time Witch
 * After being aged four years due to the chrono-compensator, he decided he would still think himself as 743 or 730, and admitted he couldn't remember.


 * +5 years: AUDIO: The Haunting of Malkin Place
 * The Fourth Doctor spends around 5 years on Earth, after being stranded in 1917 with Romana and his TARDIS in 1922.


 * 813: PROSE: Cold Fusion
 * The Doctor claims to be 813 years old at the time of his regeneration.

Fifth Doctor

 * 813: PROSE: Cold Fusion
 * The Doctor claims to be 813 years old.


 * ~800: PROSE: Saturn
 * While traveling alone with Nyssa, the Doctor claims to be "about 800" years old.


 * ~900: AUDIO: Omega
 * The Doctor claims to be "pushing 900" years old.

Sixth Doctor

 * +80 years: PROSE: Teach Yourself Ballroom Dancing
 * Some 80 years pass between the Doctor's first and second meetings with Becky.


 * 900: TV: Revelation of the Daleks
 * The Doctor claims to be 900 years old.


 * 900: TV: The Mysterious Planet
 * The Doctor claims to be 900 years old, and in the prime of his life.


 * 900+: AUDIO: Absolute Power
 * The Doctor claims to be over 900 years old.


 * ~900: AUDIO: The Middle
 * Flip Jackson says that the Doctor is around 900, but she is not sure on his exact age.


 * ~900: AUDIO: The One Doctor
 * The Doctor has blown out the candles on his 900th birthday cake.


 * 900: AUDIO: The Juggernauts
 * Melanie Bush claims that the Doctor is approximately 900 years old.


 * 953: TV: Time and the Rani
 * The Seventh Doctor claims to be 953 years old immediately after regeneration.

Seventh Doctor

 * 953: TV: Time and the Rani
 * Shortly after his regeneration, the Doctor claims to be 953 years old, and is the same age as the Rani.


 * 943: PROSE: Lucifer Rising
 * While travelling with Ace and Bernice Summerfield, the Doctor claims to be 943.


 * 1000: PROSE: Set Piece
 * The Doctor celebrated his 1,000th birthday while travelling with Ace and Bernice Summerfield.


 * ~1003: PROSE: The Room with No Doors
 * The Doctor estimates that he is at least 1003 years old.


 * 900: AUDIO: Mask of Tragedy
 * The Doctor notes that he has lived for 900 years.


 * ~1000 or ~1200: AUDIO: Project: Lazarus
 * The Doctor claims "a century or three" has passed since his previous incarnation encountered the Forge.


 * 1,000,000s?: AUDIO: Frozen Time
 * The scientists estimate, and the Doctor later confirms, that his body was preserved in the Antarctic ice for millions of years.


 * ~1009: PROSE: Vampire Science
 * The Eighth Doctor estimates his previous incarnation regenerated at 1009 years old.

Eighth Doctor

 * 1200: PROSE: The Dying Days
 * The Doctor believes himself to be 1200. The inconsistency with Vampire Science can be explained by his confusion with his age.


 * "3" (~1012): PROSE: Vampire Science
 * Three years after regeneration, the Eighth Doctor calculates his age to be 1012. He was unsure and might have lost count, and started his age over at his recent regeneration, giving his age as "three" when asked.


 * 1018: PROSE: Autumn Mist
 * The Doctor claims to be 1018 years old.


 * 1129+: PROSE: The Ancestor Cell to Escape Velocity
 * The Doctor is trapped on Earth for for 111+ years from at least 1890 to 2001, making him at least 1129 years old.


 * ~950: AUDIO: Neverland
 * While travelling with Charley Pollard, the Doctor claims to be "950 something" years old.


 * 1000+: AUDIO: The Twilight Kingdom 
 * The Doctor claims to have over 1000 years worth of life experience.


 * +600 years: AUDIO: Orbis
 * While travelling with Lucie Miller, the Doctor spends 600 years on the planet Orbis.
 * "And to be honest, I lost track of how old I really was eons ago. I tend to round it down a bit, making a few adjustments for variations in year length across the cosmos. I could be four hundred years old, seven hundred, nine hundred, or in some parts of a particularly obscure galaxy I'd be just, er, two. "

War Doctor

 * +400 years: PROSE: Engines of War
 * In terms of linear time, the Time War had lasted for 400 years. If the War Doctor lived through all of it, he would have added 400 years to his total age, which he had lost track of in his previous incarnation.


 * ~800: TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * The Eleventh Doctor claims to be "1200 something" years old, and the War Doctor claims to be 400 years younger than him.

Ninth Doctor

 * 900: TV: Aliens of London
 * The Doctor claims that he is 900 years old.


 * +28 years: AUDIO: The Other Side
 * The Doctor spends 28 years on Earth from 1894 to 1922 to return to Rose.


 * 900?: TV: The Empty Child
 * The Doctor claims to have had 900 years of phone box travel, which would exclude years spent before he traveled in the TARDIS.

Tenth Doctor

 * 900: PROSE: The Hero Factor
 * The Doctor's age is given as 900.


 * +33 months: TV: The Infinite Quest
 * The Doctor spends nearly 3 years searching for Martha Jones.


 * +1 year: TV: Last of the Time Lords
 * The Doctor spends 1 year imprisoned by the Master aboard the Valiant.


 * 903: TV: Voyage of the Damned
 * The Doctor claims that he is 903 years old.


 * 904: PROSE: Number 1, Gallows Gate Road
 * The Doctor claims that he is 904 years old.


 * +700 years?: AUDIO: Time Reaver
 * Although actually taking ten minutes, to the Doctor it seemed like seven centuries when he was shot with time reaver guns.


 * 903: AUDIO: The Nemonite Invasion
 * The Doctor claims that he is 903 years old.


 * 900+: COMIC: The Arts in Space
 * The Doctor states that he is over 900 years old.


 * 904 / 900: TV: The Day of the Doctor / PROSE: The Day of the Doctor
 * According to conflicting accounts, the Doctor claims that he is 904 or 900 years old.


 * 900: TV: Dreamland
 * The Doctor claims to be 900 years old.


 * 906: TV: The End of Time
 * The Doctor claims that he is 906 years old.


 * 907: TV: The End of Time, Flesh and Stone
 * The Doctor claims that he is 907 years old fairly soon after regeneration despite claiming to be 906 before regenerating. It is not known how long the Tenth Doctor spent holding off his regeneration, but it was long enough to visit all of his companions. (TV: Death of the Doctor)

Eleventh Doctor

 * ???: PROSE: Nothing O'Clock
 * The Doctor admits to himself that he has long since abandoned trying to keep track of his age in any way that mattered to anybody but him.


 * 907: TV: Flesh and Stone
 * The Doctor claims that he is 907 years old


 * 907: TV: Amy's Choice
 * The Doctor claims that he is 907 years old.


 * 908: COMIC: The Cleverest King
 * The Doctor claims that he is 908 years old.


 * 908: TV: The Impossible Astronaut
 * Amy says the Doctor was claiming that he was 908 years old last time she saw him.


 * 909: TV: The Impossible Astronaut
 * The Doctor claims that he is 909 years old.


 * 910: COMIC: The Tomb of Shemura
 * The Doctor claims that he is 910 years old.


 * ~900: TV: The Doctor's Wife
 * In the body of Idris, the TARDIS claims to have been with the Doctor for 700 years (despite earlier stories suggesting otherwise), and the Doctor stole her/she stole him in his 200s.


 * ~1008: TV: Night Terrors
 * The Doctor claims to have loved bedtime stories about a thousand years ago, when he was George's age of 8 years old.


 * 1103: TV: The Impossible Astronaut
 * Just before his "death" at Lake Silencio, the Doctor claims that he is 1103 years old.


 * 1200: TV: A Town Called Mercy
 * The Doctor claims that he is 1200 years old, and has matured.


 * 1000: TV: The Bells of Saint John
 * The Doctor claims that he is 1000 years old, but doesn't know how to fly a plane.


 * 1000: TV: The Rings of Akhaten
 * Clara recalls the Doctor telling her that he is 1000 years old.


 * ~1100: TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
 * The Doctor claims to have piloted the TARDIS for 900 years, and was over 200 when he "borrowed" her.


 * ~1200?: TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * The Eleventh Doctor claims to be "1200 something" years old, but admits he loses track and doesn't remember if he's lying.


 * ~1500: PROSE: An Apple a Day...
 * During the Siege of Trenzalore, the Doctor claims to be nearly 1500, but he could be a few hundred years off either way.


 * ~1500: TV: The Time of the Doctor
 * The Doctor claims to have spent 300 years on Trenzalore before the TARDIS returned to him.


 * 1950: PROSE: The Dreaming
 * By the time the Mara began attacking the residents of Trenzalore, the Doctor had been there for 750 years, making him 1950.


 * 2000+: TV: The Time of the Doctor, Deep Breath, PROSE: Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor's Last Stand
 * Right after regeneration, the Twelfth Doctor claims to be over 2000 years old, meaning the Eleventh Doctor spent over 800 years on Trenzalore. (Tales of Trenzalore says he spent 900 years on the planet.)

Twelfth Doctor

 * 2000+: TV: Deep Breath
 * The Doctor claims to be over 2000 years old.


 * 1000+ / 2000+: PROSE: The Blood Cell
 * The Doctor claims that he is in his early 1000s. Clara says that he is over 2000 years old.


 * 2000+: TV: Death in Heaven
 * Though she reasons that the Doctor has forgotten, Missy claims to remember that it is his birthday.


 * 2000+: PROSE: Big Bang Generation
 * The Doctor claims to be over 2000 years old.


 * +139 years: TV: Before the Flood
 * The Doctor is in stasis for 139 years from 1980 to 2119. However, he doesn't age physically or mentally during this time.


 * 2000+: TV: The Zygon Inversion
 * The Doctor claims to be over 2000 years old, old enough to be humanity's Messiah.


 * 4,500,000,000?: TV: Heaven Sent, Hell Bent
 * Ohila says the Doctor was in his confession dial for 4.5 billion years. Despite the Doctor creating a new copy of himself for each cycle, at one point he claims: "I can remember it all. Every time."

"Well technically, it shouldn't be possible that he remembers. Each time he burns himself up to power the teleport, he prints a new version of the man he was, with only the memories he had on arrival. So what does he mean, when he says he remembers, when he clearly can't? Well first, memory is a funny thing - we manufacture memories all the time. . . . So in that moment when the Doctor figures out the only way to break through the wall is to keep making new versions of himself, and puts it together with the fact that seven thousands years have passed without time travel, and realises that - oh dear God - he's been doing that very thing for a long time, it feels like he remembers.

That's one explanation. Personally, I think there's more to it. Remember, he's trapped inside his own confession dial. The castle chambers, and the monster slouching towards him, are composed of his own worst nightmares, and his nightmares are composed of his worst memories. In a world designed to suck your bad dreams from your mind and feed them back to you, isn't it possible that his worst day - the one he's living right now, again and again - is hanging in the air around him? He's trapped in the Wi-Fi of his bad dreams, and he can't shut them out.

So, yes, I suppose he has 4.5 billion years' worth of memories in his head. But loads of the details are identical, so for the Doctor's sake, let's assume that a lot of data compression is possible!"

- Steven Moffat, DWM 495 (abridged quote), February 2016


 * ?: COMIC: Robo Rampage
 * The Doctor admits to Osgood that he has lost track of how old he is.


 * 4,000,000,000?: COMIC: Doorway to Hell
 * The Doctor claims to be 4 billion years old.


 * 2000+: COMIC: Invasion of the Mindmorphs
 * The Doctor claims to be "only two thousand and... something."


 * +24 years: The Husbands of River Song, Extremis
 * The Doctor and River Song spend their last night together on Darillium.


 * +50 or 70 years: TV: The Pilot
 * Bill finds that the Doctor has been at St Luke's University for 50 or even 70 years.


 * 2000+: TV: Smile
 * The Doctor claims to be over 2000 years old, and doesn't always want to take the stairs.


 * 2000: TV: Thin Ice
 * The Doctor claims to be 2000 years old.


 * 2000: TV: Extremis
 * The Doctor claims to be 2000 years old, at his last count.


 * 2000: PROSE: I Am the Doctor
 * Nardole notes that the Doctor is 2000 years old.


 * +100 years: COMIC: A Confusion of Angels
 * The Doctor spends 100 year on the planet Sto after being sent back in time by a Weeping Angel.


 * ~1950: TV: Twice Upon a Time
 * Encountering the First Doctor shortly before their respective regenerations, the Doctor comments that 1500 years of "rock and roll" have passed in the interim.

Thirteenth Doctor

 * ~1950: TV: Twice Upon a Time
 * The Thirteenth Doctor emerges from regeneration at least 1500 years following the Second Doctor.

The Doctor (Introduction to the Night)

 * 700: NOTVALID: Introduction to the Night
 * The Doctor claims to be 700 years old.

Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)

 * 800+: PROSE Who's After Your Cash
 * The Doctor claims to be over 800 years old.

Non-narrative material

 * 650: "Dr. Who" General Notes on Background and Approach for an Exciting Adventure - Science Fiction Drama Series for Childrens Saturday Viewing (1963)
 * "Dr. Who is about 650 years old."


 * 900: Enter the New Dr Who (1966)
 * "For according to the plot, the 900-year-old Dr. Who is supposed to have become several centuries younger."


 * 900: The Phoenix in the TARDIS (1967)
 * "At the end of nine hundred years, a strange psychological storm rejuvenated his form, changing his character in many ways."


 * 900: Dr Who turns his back on Space (1969)
 * "William Hartnell, 59, was the first 900 - year - old doctor. Viewers saw him going through a metamorphosis and emerging a few centuries younger - as Mr Troughton."


 * 900: End of time for Dr Who (1969)
 * "When Mr. Troughton took over from William Hartnell, the original Dr Who, viewers saw the 900 year-old doctor going through a metamorphosis and appearing a few centuries younger."


 * 900: The original Dr. Who dies at 67 (1975)
 * "William Hartnell [...] created the '900-year-old' foe of the Daleks for the children Saturday serial in 1963."


 * 925: The Weakest Link: Doctor Who Special (2007)
 * In-character as the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant gives his age as 925.

Age By Incarnation
Based on evidence and the Doctor's claims, these are estimates on how many years the Doctor spent in each incarnation. These are based only on times where the Doctor aged mentally and physically. In other words, periods of time where the Doctor was in stasis (AUDIO: Frozen Time, Time Reaver, TV: Before the Flood, et al.) and other unusual circumstances (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Time Witch, TV: Heaven Sent, et al.) will not be counted.


 * 1: ~450 years
 * 2: ~50 years
 * 3: ~250 years
 * 4: ~65 years
 * 5: ~85 years
 * 6: ~55 years
 * 7: ~245 years
 * 8: ~720+ years
 * War: ~400-800 years
 * 9: ~130 years
 * 10: ~6 years
 * 11: ~1200 years
 * 12: ~174-194 years


 * Based solely on this information, this makes the Doctor's total age ~3830 to ~4250 years.