Talk:The Doctor

Erasing ALL knowledge of The Doctor? I don't think so
According to this entry, The Doctor "erased knowledge of him on 21st century Earth...and later did so himself throughout all of time and space."

Clara Oswin Oswald erased all knowledge of the Doctor from the Dalek database in Asylum of the Daleks (TV story) but I don't recall at any point that The Doctor in The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story) erased all knowledge of himself EVERYWHERE. If that was true then every single one of his companions (including River Song) would have no memory of him which seems, from a simple storyline perspective, highly unlikely. Look at The Snowmen (TV story), he had allies there who knew all about The Doctor. 63.143.217.227talk to me 21:12, April 12, 2013 (UTC)
 * River Song said he's been erasing himself from every database in existence, actually. And every database is not everyone's memory, dude.
 * I'll bet he didn't bother to hit up the UNIT databases - we see that they still know of him in The Power of Three, plus, plenty of personal knowledge about him in that group.--ComicBookGoddess ☎  21:30, April 12, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think 63's issue is not what River said or didn't say, but rather what the article says, that is, "The Doctor had ordered Mickey Smith to erase knowledge of him on 21st century Earth, and later did so himself throughout all of time and space." The article doesn't use the word "database", it uses "knowledge", and that's what 63 is trying to point out. Shambala108 ☎  21:44, April 12, 2013 (UTC)
 * That's certainly a reasonable distinction.--ComicBookGoddess ☎  06:13, April 15, 2013 (UTC)

Amount of incarnations
So, I'm confused. does the doctor get 13 regenerations,and therefore 14 lives, or 12 regenerations, and therefore 13 lives?
 * (Added headline to avoid confusion). He can regenerate twelve times and can therefore have thirteen lives (although Moffat will probably come up with some clever trick). --CGW ☎  20:10, May 19, 2013 (UTC)

Dialogue on screen has always made it clear, he gets 13 "incarnations" not 13 regenerations, therefore he can only regenerate 12 times (under normal conditions). This was confirmed in several episodes but off the top of my head "Deadly Assassin" (it was confirmed the Master had failed to rejuvenate into his final form) "The Ultimate Foe" (it is confirmed the Valeyard is an extension of the Doctor's penultimate rejuvenation being created as an off shoot of his 12th).

The question "how many regenerations does the Doctor have left?" however is much less straight forward for many reasons:

1. We do not know how many incarnations existed between the on screen 8th and 9th, while Eccleston is officially the 9th actor, it isn't clear whether he actually is the 9th doctor. However the prophecy quoted by the Silence seems to confirm Smith is the 11th Doctor.

2. We do not know what effect River sacrificing her rejuvenations had on the Doctor. We know from Trial of a Time Lord and Doctor Who, that regenerations are transferable, and from the Five Doctors they are renewable as the Time Lords promised The Master a new Regeneration Cycle.

3. It has long been stated The Master had used up all his regenerations prior to the Time War, yet he was seen (upon his return) regenerating twice. It is conceivable therefore that other Time Lords conscripted to fight in the Time War were given new regenerations too, including The Doctor. --Pittstop ☎  09:06, August 6, 2013 (UTC)

John Hurt's Doctor
Where should Hurt's Doctor be added on this page? 75.141.237.237talk to me 20:55, May 19, 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't the War Doctor have his photo added to the main rotating profile image. He might not use the title, but he is still the character depicted in the profile page. 92.232.180.244talk to me 11:39, January 12, 2014 (UTC)


 * Agreed on this, but there might be a deliberate wait on the update because of the Twelfth Doctor's concurrent introduction- his debut in costume in August will no doubt insinuate a change to the slideshow. Two birds with one stone, I suppose, but just in case this is going unchecked, I've raised the issue directly on the talk page of Docpic. --Thunderush ☎  18:41, March 18, 2014 (UTC)

Longest serving Doctor: most television stories?
While I know the Fourth Doctor has had the most individual episodes, I don't believe he has had the most individual television stories, at least, not anymore. I'm pretty sure the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors have had more individual stories than Baker's Doctor has. But my question is, should I count prequels and other mini episodes when totalling them? And should two parters be considered a single story? Memnarc ☎  22:35, May 19, 2013 (UTC)

Can someone please explain why at 7 years on screen Tom Baker is no longer mentioned in the longest serving section. Ignoring Time Crash, no other actor has played the Doctor on screen that long, therefore Tom Baker IS the longest serving Doctor in terms of time spent in the role, on screen on the main show (excluding wider media).

From bookended rejuvenation episodes, not even Sylvester Mccoy beats seven years.

--Pittstop ☎  08:19, August 6, 2013 (UTC)


 * From bookended rejuvenation? You mean from Rani part one through the television movie? Because I'm pretty sure that's slightly under nine years, rather than the 6 years, 9 months from Spiders part 6 through Logopolis part 4...


 * Whether mini-episodes count as television all depends on the mini-episode. Anything "A Prequel" in their name or are "watch the prequel now" sort of deals, aren't television; they're either web or iTunes.


 * For me personally, I'd count two-parters as a single story. I believe that per Planet of the Dead being celebrated as number 200, that means that Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords are technically officially one whole story. I personally count them as such, as well as A Good Man Goes to War and Let's Kill Hitler, while Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End are a one-parter (not "standalone" per se, but one part) and a two-parter respectively. Episodes ARE counted in a different way to the older show's serials, especially considering series 7's lack of multi-parters (though obviously absolutely no-one's counting, say, The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People / A Good Man Goes to War / Let's Kill Hitler, or the first half of Martha's season as a long single parter). -- Tybort (talk page) 08:43, August 6, 2013 (UTC)

I see, however, I still think it is worth noting that Tom Baker held the record for the longest serving Doctor first--Pittstop ☎  09:07, August 6, 2013 (UTC)

Well, I totalled them all up and, at least at this point, not including minisodes, prequels or animations, the Tenth Doctor has appeared in 36 television stories (if you count Turn Left as separate from Stolen Earth and Journey's End, which the site does). Interestingly, the Eleventh Doctor has appeared in either 37 stories (if you consider A Good Man Goes to War and Let's Kill Hitler as being separate stories) or 36 (if you don't). The totals with minisodes (not prequels, since they didn't air on TV) are 39 for Ten (or 41 if you include the animated episodes) and 41/40 for Eleven. These totals will probably be subject to change by year's end though. Memnarc ☎  00:40, November 17, 2013 (UTC)

"Favoured Incarnations"
In the section on which incarnations liked or disliked previous versions, there is no mention of the meetings between the first, second and third, in which it is fairly obvious the first dislikes both since he refers to them as "a dandy and a clown". The second and third bicker constantly in their 2 televised meetings, suggesting they tolerate but dislike one another. Nor is there any mention of how the first, second and third seemed to all approve of the fifth during their meeting in "the Five Doctors". Nor is there any mention of the sixth and second's meeting in "the Two Doctors", dialogue in that episode implied the two appreciated each other. --Pittstop ☎  13:30, June 4, 2013 (UTC)

What's up with the infoboxes
Why are they like that? Something's messed up.174.116.106.68talk to me 17:38, September 30, 2013 (UTC)
 * It's not the infoboxes. It's the entire site, but it just affects the infoboxes more than other items. It's either something that's being worked on or a bug that needs to be fixed. Shambala108  ☎  18:06, September 30, 2013 (UTC)

Paragraph on regeneration

 * The exact circumstances surrounding the Doctor's regenerations were known with the exception of his eighth. (TV: The Tenth Planet, et. al.) Although vague at times as to how many incarnations he had in his lifetime, an incident during the Doctor's fifth incarnation clarified the point. When asked by the First Doctor what regeneration he was up to, the Fifth Doctor answered, "Fourth," leading his first incarnation to exclaim, "Good heavens, so there are five of me now!" (TV: The Five Doctors) Similarly, while he was Craig Owens' lodger in Aickman Road, the Eleventh Doctor explicitly called himself the eleventh. (TV: The Lodger) Clara also directly identified this incarnation of the Doctor as the eleventh. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)

I understand over on Talk:The Doctor (The Name of the Doctor) there's contention over whether what we see in Night of the Doctor is a reveal of what the eighth regeneration is, or deliberate sleight-of-hand from Moffat, who has been proven to lie when promoting episodes (on top, the in-narrative evidence of regeneration being just off screen). That said, while I still think it's accurate to say Nine is Nine, Ten is Ten and Eleven is Eleven no matter whether Eighth is followed by Nine or "War Doctor", (the "War Doctor" guy doesn't actually go by "Doctor", so Nine is still the ninth incarnation known as "Doctor"), from what we supposedly see in Night, Nine is not the eighth regeneration and Eleven is not the tenth regeneration. Supposedly. I feel that the easiest solution for this paragraph specifically is to leave it out, and THEN amend it once the full feature-length special clarifies things. -- Tybort (talk page) 17:22, November 15, 2013 (UTC)

So now that the 50th is over, the way I understand the doctor count. Someone please correct me If im wrong: 1st Doctor=1st Incarnation=William Hartnell 2nd Doctor=2nd Incarnation=Patrick Troughton 3rd Doctor=3rd Incarnation=Jon Pertwee 4th Doctor=4th Incarnation=Tom Baker 5th Doctor=5th Incarnation=Peter Davison 6th Doctor=6th Incarnation=Colin Baker 7th Doctor=7th Incarnation=Sylvester McCoy 8th Doctor=8th Incarnation=Paul McGann War Doctor=9th Incarnation=John Hurt 9th Doctor=10th Incarnation=Christopher Eccleston 10th Doctor=11th Incarnation=David Tennet 11th Doctor=12th Incarnation=Matt Smith 12th Doctor=13th Incarnation=Peter Capaldi If this is correct, then I think we can assume 2 things: One, when Matt Smith regenerates into Peter Capaldi the Valeyard, according to lore, will be created. Two, that unless the writers get clever, Peter Capaldi will play the final incarnation of the doctor. 71.60.37.160talk to me 08:01, November 25, 2013 (UTC)

The War Doctor
I notice that The war Doctor, as portrayed by John Hurt, has not been added to the slide-show-scroller of the Doctor's incarnations in the infobox. Is there any particular reason for this? - MrSiriusBlack ☎  10:19, December 19, 2013 (UTC)

New regenerations

 * The Time Of The Doctor SPOILER ALERT

According to what the Doctor said, he has been granted new regeneration cycle. I believe the cycle defines whole set of 12 regenerations. This was great way, since the Master was given additional regenerations from Time Lords before, proving it is not directly biological limit, rather than that, it is in control of Time Lords.

Since War Doctor and Tenth's midlife "meta-crysis" regeneration now canonically count, 11th Doctor marks the end of previous cycle and this new cycle might get us up to 23rd Doctor, hopefully for another few decades. --TakeruDavis ☎  01:30, December 26, 2013 (UTC)

Story count inaccuracy
"Despite having played the Doctor for less time and in fewer episodes than Tom Baker, Matt Smith holds the record for the most appearances in live-action television stories, with a total of 38, narrowly beating out David Tennant. If minisodes are counted, this total increases to 42." This isn't very true, is it? Tom Baker appeared in 41 stories (not including Shada), and Matt Smith appeared in 39. That's two more to Baker. He also doesn't narrowly beat David Tennant, who only appeared in 36 "stories". This implies Tennant is a lot higher than he actually is - he is five places below Baker. This whole "record" Smith supposedly holds isn't true in the slightest. 86.139.19.168talk to me 00:34, January 26, 2014 (UTC)

Duration of Seven and Eight's lifespans

 * Matt Smith's Doctor is also the longest-lived Doctor onscreen, spending at least 1500 years of his life in this incarnation (600 during his regular run and 900 during his exile on Trenzalore). The Seventh and Eighth Doctors spent even larger periods of time in spin-off media (AUDIO: Frozen Time, Orbis)

Corrected the seemingly erroneous "1500" bit already, but both of the figures for Seven and Eight seem wrong. For one, Seven was in some sort of cryogenic coma as I recall, while Eight (at least according to the page of Orbis) only spent 600 years on the planet Orbis. -- Tybort (talk page) 21:46, February 8, 2014 (UTC)

Uh...something's wrong with the 'Docpic'
The infobox slideshow (or 'Docpic') seems to have completely messed itself up. It mashes all Doctors and shows Twelve's eyes at every transition. Is this deliberate, or is it just me, or...? OfficialBBC ☎  16:03, May 11, 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm having a slightly different issue (only seeing Twelve's eyes and all of One) but I know this template is being worked on, so give it a couple of days and if it's still acting wonky, we can bring it to the attention of the admin who's working on it. Shambala108 ☎  16:06, May 11, 2014 (UTC)