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212-540: The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor , the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who . He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doctor, the character has also appeared in other Doctor Who spin-offs . Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old alien Time Lord from

424-508: A Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series . In addition, Capaldi was announced as a BAFTA Scotland Awards nomination as Best Actor on Television. Mulkern of Radio Times praised Sarah Dollard's writing of the Doctor in " Thin Ice ", noting how she "examines his moral code; the ideals he aspires to and the crimes and misdemeanors he's prepared to indulge". The Doctor and The Master's interactions in " Extremis "

636-586: A scientist or an engineer . However, he does occasionally show medical knowledge and has stated on separate occasions that he studied under Joseph Lister and Joseph Bell . In The Moonbase (1967), the Second Doctor mentions that he studied for a medical degree in Glasgow during the 19th century. The Fourth Doctor was awarded an honorary degree from St. Cedd's College, Cambridge, in 1960. He has been mocked by his fellow Time Lords for adhering to such

848-623: A "constant supply of debris raining down". Scenes set at the Temple of Sibyl were filmed at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff on 18 and 19 September 2007. Two of the cast members of "The Fires of Pompeii" were later cast in starring roles for Doctor Who . Karen Gillan returned in the fifth series to play Amy Pond , full-time companion of Matt Smith 's Eleventh Doctor . Casting director Andy Pryor suggested her to new executive producer Steven Moffat based on her performance in this episode as one of

1060-608: A "doctor of time travel". The revived programme establishes that Time Lords invent their own names. In " The Sound of Drums " (2007), the Tenth Doctor remarks to the Master that they both chose their names, with the Master calling him sanctimonious for identifying himself as "the man who makes people better". The Eleventh Doctor , in " The Name of the Doctor ", elaborates that the name is a promise to be: "Never cruel or cowardly. Never giving up and never giving in." This statement

1272-631: A "lowly" title as "Doctor", although in The Armageddon Factor (1979), Drax congratulates him on achieving his doctorate, indicating it was at least a somewhat respectable title. In " The Girl in the Fireplace " (2006), he draws an analogy between the title and Madame de Pompadour 's. In The Mutants (1972), an official asks the Third Doctor if he is, in fact, a doctor, to which the Doctor replies "I am, yes"; when asked what he

1484-463: A "perigosto stick" belonging to his teacher, Borusa. Feeling that too much of the Doctor's backstory had been revealed by the Seventh Doctor 's era, writers Andrew Cartmel , Ben Aaronovitch and Marc Platt developed a new direction for the series. Cartmel wished to restore the character's "awe, mystery and strength" and make him "once again more than a mere chump of a Time Lord" – an idea

1696-682: A "time splinter" of future companion Clara Oswald using the name Oswin wipes all knowledge of the Doctor from the Daleks' collective memory. This knowledge is regained when the Daleks conquer the Church of the Silence in " The Time of the Doctor " (2013). The Doctor is not present on Solomon's database in " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship " and holds a conversation about his newfound anonymity in " The Angels Take Manhattan " with River Song. In " Nightmare in Silver ",

1908-482: A "total adrenaline junkie" and, according to Moffat, "much fiercer, madder [and] less reliable". "He's not as immediately approachable and he's not necessarily looking for your approval, when he says 'Wait here, I'll be back', you're not absolutely convinced... what he's not doing is reassuring you very much." Moffat also described the Twelfth Doctor as having attention deficit disorder ; this was also implied by

2120-412: A 24-year long date together as their final encounter. The Doctor next appears in the first episode of Doctor Who spin-off Class , appointing two alien refugees and a group of teenagers with protecting the pupils and faculty of Coal Hill Academy from alien threats. He returns in 2016 Christmas special " The Return of Doctor Mysterio ", alongside new companion (and the first full-time alien companion of

2332-471: A PhD in cheesemaking (" The God Complex "). In the first episode, the Doctor's granddaughter Susan goes by the surname "Foreman", and the junkyard in which Barbara and Ian find him bears the sign "I.M. Foreman". When addressed by Ian with this name, the Doctor responds, "Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about?" Ian realises that "Foreman" is not the Doctor's name, when Barbara addresses the Doctor as "Doctor Foreman"; Ian asks Barbara, "That's not his name. Who

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2544-541: A Time Lord lady named Patience who was the widow of Omega , one of the founding-fathers of Gallifreyan society who fell into an anti-matter universe. Patience later met and married the Doctor and together they had thirteen children. Once their first-born son announced the arrival of a baby, the family was targeted by the Lord President, as the child was to be conceived naturally and only the Loom-born could inherit

2756-600: A clandestine Time Lord organisation known as the Division. After an unknown amount of regenerations, Tecteun's child began calling themself "Doctor". The Fugitive Doctor , true to her title, was on the run from the Division in a TARDIS disguised as a police box. The details of their life were also redacted from the Matrix – only snippets remaining, masked as the story of the Irish Garda Brendan. The true origins of

2968-440: A confused Doctor is reminded of Caecilius when he examines his face in a mirror. In " The Girl Who Died ", it is explained that the Doctor chose Caecilius' face to remind himself that he is the Doctor, and that he can always save people. While not explained in the episode, Moffat later said that he also shares a face with John Frobisher as Frobisher is Caecilius's descendant, and represents the end of Caecilius's bloodline, referencing

3180-484: A crimson lining, dark blue trousers, a long collared white shirt buttoned to the top, a black cardigan or waistcoat , and brogue boots . His shirt varies from episode to episode, with a navy shirt, a dark purple shirt and a black shirt with white polka dots appearing, as well as a black holey jumper, all being worn under his coat in his first series. He also wears a hoodie over his jumper as of series nine, over his T-shirt all being worn under his coat. In " Time Heist ",

3392-460: A curse renders Gallifrey sterile, the Other devises biotechnological looms to "weave" new Time Lords; his granddaughter Susan is Gallifrey's last natural child. To escape a civil war with Rassilon, the Other throws himself into the loom system, where he is disintegrated and later woven into the Doctor. The Timeless Child reveal partly took inspiration from this. The Doctor's adoptive mother Tecteun

3604-418: A day, inevitably, when you'll be saying goodbye." On 30 January 2017, Capaldi confirmed that the tenth series would be his last. Regarding his decision to leave, Capaldi stated that despite his tremendous love for the show, he was unsure if he would be able to deliver at his best performance if he remained in the role for too long. The Twelfth Doctor's general outfit consists of a navy blue Crombie coat with

3816-431: A demon in the 13th century, the residents of a convent called the Doctor the "sainted physician". This was proposed by Moffat on Usenet 16 years before "A Good Man Goes to War": Here's a particularly stupid theory. If we take "The Doctor" to be the Doctor's name — even if it is in the form of a title no doubt meaning something deep and Gallifreyan — perhaps our earthly use of the word "doctor" meaning healer or wise man

4028-468: A face with a man he was persuaded to save in Pompeii , despite his initial reluctance to alter the timeline. He surmises that he subconsciously chose this face as a reminder that his job is to save lives. He is inspired to resurrect Viking girl Ashildr ( Maisie Williams ) with alien technology; he learns in " The Woman Who Lived " that she has become immortal and watches over his past companions. In " Face

4240-528: A fixed number of twelve regenerations, meaning that every Time Lord had a total of thirteen incarnations including the original. The plot of " The Time of the Doctor " involves the Doctor receiving a new cycle of regenerations from the Time Lords before his expected demise, triggering the regeneration into the Twelfth Doctor , played by Peter Capaldi . The origins of the programme were explored in

4452-579: A former classmate of his named Drax. Drax calls the Doctor "Theta Sigma", or "Thete" for short, an alias which is clarified as being the Doctor's nickname at the Prydon Academy on Gallifrey in The Happiness Patrol and is mentioned again in the 2010 episode " The Pandorica Opens ". In the 2015 episode " The Zygon Inversion ", The Doctor tells Osgood that his first name is "Basil". Doctor Who spin-off media have suggested that

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4664-406: A glance into the eyes to put the subject under a trance. The Doctor can read an entire book cover to cover in a second by thumb-flipping the pages before his eyes ( City of Death , " Rose ", " The Time of Angels "). Though medical skills he shows early in the programme are rudimentary, by Remembrance of the Daleks he can perform sophisticated medical diagnoses merely by touching someone's ear. He

4876-557: A guest appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off series Class , appearing in the show's first episode . Matt Smith , who played the Eleventh Doctor , publicly announced his departure from Doctor Who on 1 June 2013, triggering extensive media speculation on the subject of his successor. On 3 August 2013, bookmakers William Hill suspended betting when Capaldi became the five to six favourite to be cast. Capaldi's casting

5088-481: A hero or even being liked by the people who he is trying to save. Unlike his previous two incarnations who cared about humans and tried to understand them, Capaldi has confirmed that, this incarnation "doesn't quite understand human beings or really care very much about their approval." Clara is put on the back-foot by him post-regeneration initially not seeing through his 'Tough Exterior'. Jenna Coleman says of this Doctor, "He's more removed, you can't quite access him in

5300-468: A joke. Due to the retroactive creation of a numberless War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor's aborted regeneration in " The Stolen Earth "/" Journey's End ", the Eleventh Doctor was the final incarnation in his natural cycle. The Time Lords used a crack in the universe to give him a new cycle consisting of an unknown number of regenerations in " The Time of the Doctor ", triggering the regeneration into

5512-589: A large dose of alien". Catherine Gee of The Telegraph credited Capaldi's acting in " The Woman Who Lived " noting "he has grown into the role utterly and completely. He embodies the weight of the Doctor's responsibility". His performance in " The Zygon Inversion " was heavily praised by with Dan Martin of The Guardian , stating "this Doctor has never been written better, Capaldi has never channelled Tom Baker more". Most prominently Capaldi's performance in " Heaven Sent " received universal acclaim, with Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times noting that "Peter Capaldi's one-man show

5724-522: A last resort. According to the alien villain Chedaki in the episode The Android Invasion , "his entire history is one of opposition to conquest". As a time traveller, the Doctor has been present at, or directly involved in, countless major historical events on the planet Earth and elsewhere – sometimes more than once. In the 2005 series premiere, " Rose ", it is revealed that the Ninth Doctor

5936-458: A later interview, Baker expressed that Capaldi initially had "a rough deal" as fans weren't very kind towards his incarnation, as they had been conditioned towards "eye candy" in the form of "dashing role model[s]" popularised by David Tennant . Den of Geek ' Simon Brew lauded Capaldi in " Before the Flood " noting "his performance continues to mix grumpiness, friendliness, intelligence and

6148-668: A local merchant has sold the TARDIS to sculptor Lobus Caecilius. The Doctor and Donna go to Caecilius' house to retrieve it. Unknown to them, they have been followed by a soothsayer who reports to the Sibylline Sisterhood that the prophesied man in the blue box has arrived, and the Sisters fear the prediction that his arrival brings fire and death. However, the High Priestess assures them that Pompeii will soon enter

6360-432: A mysterious vault beneath the university. Bored after decades of confinement on Earth, he takes on Bill Potts ( Pearl Mackie ) as his new companion, despite Nardole's reminders about his oath. In " Extremis ", the show reveals that Nardole came to assist the Doctor on orders given by River before she died, and that the mysterious vault contains Missy, whom the Doctor swore to watch over for a thousand years. Over " The Lie of

6572-505: A new body. It is stated in The Deadly Assassin that Time Lords can only regenerate a total of twelve times, giving a theoretical final total of thirteen incarnations. However, The Doctor has a natural ability to regenerate an infinite number of times. It is possible to exceed this limit: in "The Five Doctors" the Time Lords offer the Master, who is inhabiting a Trakenite body after exhausting his original twelve regenerations,

Twelfth Doctor - Misplaced Pages Continue

6784-399: A new golden age. At the house, the Doctor and Donna meet the local augur , Lucius Petrus Dextrus, who has arrived to collect a sculpture he commissioned. The Doctor is intrigued by the sculpture, which resembles a segment of an oversized circuit board . The Doctor wishes to learn more about the sculptures and enlists Caecilius' son Quintus to help him break into Lucius Petrus' house. Inside,

6996-514: A new one at that time. He wrote it before knowing who would be cast. Capaldi filmed his appearance on 3 October 2013, long after principal photography for the special had ended, and the same day he filmed his debut scene for "The Time of the Doctor". Capaldi kept his native Scottish accent for the role. Speaking on his decision, he said he did it so he could feel closer to the character. A handful of tweets were reported in September 2014 in which it

7208-537: A new regeneration cycle as a reward for his help and cooperation, and at some point, during the Time War they resurrected him, with his new body having at least one regeneration of its own. Regeneration is apparently optional, as in " Last of the Time Lords " the Master refuses to regenerate despite the Tenth Doctor's pleading. In addition, there are ways of killing a Time Lord that do not permit regeneration; for example, more than once it has been implied that stopping both

7420-598: A new regeneration cycle from the Time Lords, who remain hidden in a pocket universe . In the series 8 premiere " Deep Breath " (2014), the Doctor arrives in Victorian London, where he recovers from the stress of his regeneration, initially under the care of the Paternoster Gang . After uncovering potential alien presence in London, the Doctor goes on the run as a homeless person for some time. While on

7632-448: A reminder that his job is to save lives. Capaldi also played John Frobisher throughout Children of Earth , the third series in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood , although no similar connection has been made on-screen to this character. Tracey Childs and Phil Davis have also performed on Doctor Who audio productions for Big Finish . Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to

7844-546: A strange old man and hear Susan's voice coming from inside what appears to be a police box. Pushing their way inside, the two find that the exterior is camouflage for the dimensionally transcendental interior of the TARDIS . The old man, whom Susan calls "Grandfather", kidnaps Barbara and Ian to prevent them from telling anyone about the existence of the TARDIS, taking them on an adventure in time and space. The first Doctor, says cultural scholar John Paul Green, "explicitly positioned

8056-490: A super-human level of stamina and the ability to absorb, withstand and expel large amounts of certain types of radiation (the Tenth Doctor stated they used to play with Röntgen bricks in the nursery, after absorbing the radiation from an x-ray of significantly magnified power). This ability would seem to have limitations which have yet to be fully explained, as the Doctor is harmed by radiation in The Daleks , Planet of

8268-529: A supernatural physiology – one not belonging to any other life form or species – and an immense intelligence. She adopted the child and studied her, successfully grafting her regeneration capacity (and possibly other traits) into her own species, the Shobogans, and herself. This species, who would eventually become the Time Lords, was restricted to a limit of twelve regenerations by a later incarnation of Tecteun. Tecteun and their child were eventually inducted into

8480-461: A tremendous ability with throwaway humour and a lot of it is around the fact that sometimes he is terribly rude. I think kids will think he is the rude Doctor [...] You might want to cuddle him but he really will resist." Capaldi stated that part of the Doctor's personality would share "a certain acid wit" of Malcolm Tucker , "specifically the attitude, the wisecracks and the energy...he can be edgy, volatile and dangerous". Capaldi has stated that all of

8692-411: A weapon from Clara, to spare his companion the burden of killing Missy herself. As the Doctor hesitates, a cyberconverted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart , retaining his humanity, appears to disintegrate Missy with a laser blast. After a traumatic ordeal, the Doctor and Clara part ways, seemingly for good, before they are reunited by a shared dream in " Last Christmas " and agree to continue adventuring. In

Twelfth Doctor - Misplaced Pages Continue

8904-476: A wearable version of his sonic screwdriver ), a T-shirt and plaid baggy trousers along with the hoodie and Crombie coat. In " Face the Raven ", the Twelfth Doctor sports a crimson velvet variant of his Crombie coat. After briefly ditching it in " Hell Bent ", Clara comments that it made him look more 'doctory'. At the end of the episode, he dons the crimson coat in honour of her, and is given a new sonic screwdriver by

9116-412: A well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about

9328-479: Is a fixed point in time and must always happen. The Doctor and Donna get into an escape pod and together press a lever which overloads the converter and triggers the eruption, killing the Pyroviles and launching the pod clear of the blast. The Doctor and Donna run for the TARDIS, leaving Caecilius and his family behind in their home. However, Donna tearfully begs the Doctor to go back and at least save one person from

9540-515: Is a reference to a scene in the film Spartacus , where all the slaves shield Spartacus by each shouting "I'm Spartacus!" The characters of Caecilius, his wife Metella and their son Quintus refer to a family featured in the Cambridge Latin Course textbooks, who in turn were based on a real citizen of Pompeii and his family. At one point, Donna says "No way!", to which the Doctor responds, "Yes way! Appian Way!", referring to

9752-408: Is a self-selected alias. In episodes specifically under showrunner Steven Moffat , the story arcs surrounding events in the Doctor's future implied serious consequences in the event of the Doctor's true name being spoken, with the nature of these finally revealed in " The Time of the Doctor ". Spin-off media offer the explanation that the Doctor's true name is unpronounceable by humans. In " The Name of

9964-410: Is an excellent cricket player ( Black Orchid ) and in " The Lodger " he proves to be a prodigiously talented footballer despite unfamiliarity with some of the game's basic rules. Though reluctant to engage in combat against living opponents, this is not for lack of skill; the Doctor is conversant with both real and fictitious styles of unarmed combat (most obviously the "Venusian Aikido" practised by

10176-422: Is an instant classic". Jeffery of Digital Spy praised the final moments between the Doctor and River Song in " The Husbands of River Song ", writing "combined with Capaldi and Kingston's sensitive work [...] you feel a weight of history between these two people who've never shared a screen before". In June 2016, Peter Capaldi was shortlisted for a national TV Choice Award for Best Actor. He had also been submitted for

10388-404: Is direct result of the Doctor's multiple interventions in our history as a healer and wise man. In other words, we got it from him. This is a very silly idea and I'm consequently rather proud of it. The anonymity of the Doctor is the theme of series 7 of the revived programme. After faking his death, the Doctor erases himself from the various databases of the universe. In " Asylum of the Daleks ",

10600-444: Is he? Doctor who?" In an ultimately unused idea from documents written at the programme's inception, Barbara and Ian would have subsequently referred to the Doctor as "Doctor Who", given their not knowing his name. Throughout both the classic and revived programme, a running joke is that when the Doctor is introduced as just the Doctor, characters reply "Doctor who?" Another variation is "Doctor what?" The story arc running throughout

10812-468: Is her hero but she would be very reluctant to tell him that. It's a doctor-and-companion love, and there's nothing else like it really." "They're kind of freed of their issues and in a wonderful place together. Previously she was trying to keep him under control yet now the two of them are going 'Come on, lets jump, lets do it', egging each other on really, and being more and more reckless," she teased. Capaldi stated "It's sort of an utterly platonic bond, which

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11024-457: Is known of the Doctor: not even his name, the actual form of which remains a mystery. In the first serial, An Unearthly Child , two teachers from Coal Hill School in London, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton , become intrigued by one of their pupils, Susan Foreman , who exhibits high intelligence and unusually advanced knowledge. Trailing her to a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, they encounter

11236-576: Is later revealed to be a dissident Time Lady, who opposed the Time Lord High Council's plan to escape the Time War. When she reveals her face to the Doctor, his reaction indicates that he recognises her. Julie Gardner, in the episode's commentary, states that while some have speculated that the Time Lady is the Doctor's mother, neither she nor Russell T. Davies is willing to comment on her identity. When later asked by Wilfred who she was,

11448-606: Is more "enigmatic, mysterious, complex, worn, and unmannered" when compared to his immediate two predecessors. Steven Moffat has joked that he's "more Scottish than last time." In Series 9 , Capaldi described his character as a 'thrill-seeker' who is confronting danger where he soon realises that he is 'one of the luckiest creatures in all of time and space' and that 'life is short even at two-thousand years'. According to Coleman regarding Clara's bond with The Doctor inquiring if she had feelings for him she stated "She's totally in love with him, always has been. It's its own kind of love. He

11660-521: Is no longer [the Virgin Queen]...". The joke continues in " The Beast Below ", featuring future British monarch Queen Elizabeth X or Liz Ten, and the marriage is finally shown in "The Day of the Doctor" during an adventure with Zygons . In the 2010 Christmas special, " A Christmas Carol ", the Eleventh Doctor accidentally marries Marilyn Monroe but later questions the authenticity of the chapel in which they were married. Steven Moffat did not consider

11872-435: Is only honorary; the Tenth Doctor, however, considers the name to be his legitimate academic rank in " The Waters of Mars " (2009), describing his "name, rank and intention" as "The Doctor; doctor; fun." In an interview with The Age in 2003, Tom Baker mentioned that the Doctor is called so because he is "a doctor of time and relative dimension in space". Apart from being called a doctor of the TARDIS, he has been described as

12084-545: Is qualified in, the Doctor replies, "Practically everything." The Fourth Doctor states that his companion, Harry Sullivan , is a doctor of medicine, while he is "a doctor of many things" ( Revenge of the Cybermen , 1975). The Fifth Doctor claims to be a doctor "of everything" in Four to Doomsday (1982), and a message to the same effect is related from the Tenth Doctor in " Utopia " (2007). In " The Tsuranga Conundrum " (2018),

12296-609: Is quite unusual. The problem is the Doctor knows a lot more than he ever says. He knows Clara's fate. He knows the fate of all his companions before they do." Ultimately it has been confirmed by both Capaldi and Coleman that the Doctor and Clara's relationship is romantic in nature. For Series 10 , Capaldi described his character as more "closed off" and "suspicious" than the previous season, he elaborated "If you've been following this Doctor, you've seen him go through all those different colours and all those different places, and as for where he goes now, I don't know, but he's been put through

12508-625: Is repeated in the next episode, " The Day of the Doctor ", by the War Doctor , the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor collectively. By contrast, the Eleventh Doctor had earlier spoke of the War Doctor as being the man who broke that promise, being the one to fight in the Time War before learning the actual fate of the Time Lords. Since contradicted by the television series, the 2003 Telos novella Frayed by Tara Samms , set prior to

12720-582: Is said that the Doctor was fifty years before the Meddling Monk . In Time and the Rani , the Doctor claims to have attended university alongside the Rani , specialising in thermodynamics. At the academy, he met his childhood friend the Master and the pair grew up together. In " The End of Time ", the Master recollects their childhood together where they would run all day across his father's field, described as 'pastures of red grass stretching far across

12932-458: Is the Twelfth Doctor's first appearance alongside his roguish time-travelling wife River Song ( Alex Kingston ). After an emotionally wrought adventure, the Doctor and River finally confess the full extent of their feelings for each another, and he ends up fulfilling the history River told his earlier incarnation in " Silence in the Library " (2008): giving her his sonic screwdriver and spending

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13144-504: Is used in the title of the serial Doctor Who and the Silurians , but this was a captioning error rather than an in-story mention. The only other time this occurs is in the title of episode five of The Chase , which is titled "The Death of Doctor Who". In " World Enough and Time " (2017), the Doctor's old friend and archenemy the Master (as Missy ) insists that the Doctor's real name is in fact Doctor Who and that he chose it himself;

13356-457: Is waiting for him at the end of the universe". His acting in " The Caretaker " was praised by Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy , noting "Capaldi's is the most complex and variable take on the Time Lord we've seen since Eccleston". In January 2015, Capaldi became the first actor to portray the Doctor to not be shortlisted for a National Television Award since the series revival in 2005. Ahead of

13568-529: The Appian Way , an early and strategically important Roman road, that connected Rome to Brindisi. While telling the Doctor that he had sold the TARDIS, a stallholder (performed with a cockney accent) comments that he "got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly", referencing the London market trader term popularised as Del Boy 's catchphrase in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses . The Doctor's line, "You must excuse my friend, she's from Barcelona" refers to

13780-604: The British Academy Television Awards that year, Paul Flynn of The Telegraph noted that Capaldi's portrayal of the Doctor had the effect of "significantly reducing Doctor Who ' s glamour quotient". Later, Capaldi received a TV Choice Awards nomination for Best Actor. He was also nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Award in the Best Actor category for his acting in " Dark Water ". Steven Moffat praised his leading man, stating "we could argue for

13992-543: The Christmas armistice of 1914, both decide to move on to their next forms. Alone in his TARDIS, the Twelfth Doctor speaks words of advice directed to his successor before regenerating into the Thirteenth Doctor ( Jodie Whittaker ). New Series Adventures released novels starring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald in September 2014: Silhouette , The Crawling Terror , and The Blood Cell . The next wave

14204-504: The Doctor ( David Tennant ) and his new companion Donna Noble ( Catherine Tate ) on a trip to Pompeii , where they uncover an alien invasion . Their clashing worldviews present an ethical dilemma for the Doctor. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecittà studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took its cast abroad for filming since its revival. The production of

14416-620: The Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Adventuress of Henrietta Street , the Doctor's second heart was surgically removed, resulting in the loss of his abilities to metabolise drugs and go without air; these are restored when he begins to grow a new heart after his old one 'dies' ( Camera Obscura ). In his final serial , the Second Doctor states that Time Lords can live forever, "barring accidents". When "accidents" do occur, Time Lords can usually regenerate into

14628-401: The Eleventh Doctor ( Matt Smith ), he is followed by the Thirteenth Doctor ( Jodie Whittaker ). This incarnation's companions include school teacher Clara Oswald ( Jenna Coleman ), who had travelled with his previous incarnation , for his first two series; and for his final series, canteen assistant and student Bill Potts ( Pearl Mackie ) and alien Nardole ( Matt Lucas ). He also made

14840-526: The First Doctor serial " The Romans " (1965), in which the Doctor accidentally sets fire to a map, leading to the Great Fire of Rome . James Moran "specifically wanted to put it in, just for a fun continuity thing" and "because [the reference] works as a joke even if you don't know what the Doctor's referring to". The Doctor identifies himself as "Spartacus", to which Donna replies "So am I." This

15052-510: The Thirteenth Doctor states that she is a doctor of "medicine, science, engineering, candyfloss, Lego, philosophy, music, problems, people, hope. Mostly hope." While talking with Harry in Robot (1974–1975), the Doctor says, "You may be a doctor, but I'm the Doctor. The definite article, you might say." In The Ark in Space (1975), aired later that year, the Doctor mentions that his doctorate

15264-514: The Time War . At first, Time Lords in Gallifrey's war room spot twelve blue TARDISes approaching and encircling the planet. This count is then corrected to thirteen, and Capaldi's hands, eyes, and forehead are fleetingly shown. He then makes his full debut at the end of the next episode, " The Time of the Doctor ", after the Eleventh Doctor ( Matt Smith ), about to die from old age, is given

15476-495: The Zygons ". Throughout the revival, the Doctor routinely attempts to change the topic when questioned about being a parent or his family life, as in " Fear Her ", " The Beast Below " and " A Good Man Goes to War ". In " The Empty Child ", a hospital doctor named Dr. Constantine says to him, "Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither. But I'm still a doctor." The Ninth Doctor 's reply is, "Yeah. I know

15688-546: The collective consciousness of the Cybermen informs the Doctor that he could be reconstructed from the "hole" — the missing records — that he has left behind, a mistake which the Doctor intends to rectify. Few individuals are said to know the Doctor's true name. River Song whispered something to the Tenth Doctor to make him trust her during " Silence in the Library "/" Forest of the Dead ", confirmed to have been his name towards

15900-418: The series 9 premiere " The Magician's Apprentice "/" The Witch's Familiar " (2015), the Doctor, along with Clara and Missy, who survived her apparent disintegration, are summoned to the planet Skaro by The Doctor's nemesis Davros ( Julian Bleach ), the creator of the evil Dalek race, who is dying. Davros plays on the Doctor's sympathies to trick him into revitalising a dying Dalek empire, siphoning some of

16112-484: The "Medusa Cascade", which executive producer Russell T Davies stated in Doctor Who Magazine would "come back to haunt us" later in the series. Moran also added continuity links independent of the story arc: as a "fun continuity thing", the script includes a scene in which the Doctor admits partial responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome , as depicted at the end of the 1965 serial The Romans ; and

16324-485: The 2009 serial of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood . Moffat has stated that he plans on explaining over time why there are three characters in the Doctor Who universe with the same appearance; his predecessor Russell T Davies had once explained to him a theory for the first two, and upon Capaldi's casting assured Moffat that the explanation would still work. This situation was alluded to in " Deep Breath ", when

16536-418: The 50th anniversary special " The Day of the Doctor ". The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors explained that Hurt's regeneration was not the Doctor because his actions during the Time War were a betrayal of the promise that name symbolized. "The Day of the Doctor" revisited the last day of the Time War after "The End of Time" and revealed that the interference of the future Doctors and future companion Clara Oswald caused

16748-524: The BBC's request in order to promote the studios, despite the show's small budget. Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004, but the episode was the first such occasion. Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy. Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production. Moving to Rome caused problems for

16960-618: The Big Finish spin-off audio series Gallifrey and Bernice Summerfield . In the novel Father Time , the Eighth Doctor, during his hundred-year exile on Earth, found an orphaned Time Lord girl named Miranda whom he adopted and raised until she was 16. In the novel Sometime Never... , she returned to the Doctor with her daughter Zezanne. She was also the central character in a three-issue comic book series published by Comeuppance Comics in 2003. Author Lance Parkin, who devised

17172-464: The Cybermen . The Doctor's standing in Time Lord society has waxed and waned over the years, from being a hunted man who was eventually punished with a forced regeneration and an exile sentence on Earth, to being appointed Lord President of the High Council. He does not assume the office for very long, fleeing Gallifrey after his appointment rather than accepting the limitations on his freedom that

17384-425: The Daleks , Susan and her husband David adopt three children whom they name David Campbell Jr, Ian and Barbara; named after David himself, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright , respectively. Irving Braxiatel , a character first introduced in the novel Theatre of War , was initially hinted at, and later confirmed to be, the Doctor's biological older brother. He has since become a recurring character, especially within

17596-629: The Doctor ", released as a prelude to the 50th anniversary special, featured Paul McGann reprising his role as the Eighth Doctor and was set during the Last Great Time War, albeit much earlier than during "The End of Time". The mini-episode presented him as a conscientious objector to the war who regenerated under controlled circumstances into the War Doctor ( John Hurt ), a previously unseen incarnation created retroactively by Steven Moffat , Davies' successor as head writer, for

17808-405: The Doctor ", the Eleventh Doctor tells companion Clara Oswald that the name "Doctor" is essentially a promise he made. The promise itself is revealed in " The Day of the Doctor ": "Never cruel nor cowardly. Never give up. Never give in." The episode " The Timeless Children " revised the Doctor's origins, revealing a scientist and space explorer named Tecteun who found a lone, mysterious child with

18020-410: The Doctor as grandfather to his companion Susan". He wore long white hair and Edwardian costume, reflecting, Green says, a "definite sense of Englishness". When Hartnell left the programme after three years due to ill health, the role was handed over to character actor Patrick Troughton . As of 25 December 2018 , official television productions have depicted fourteen distinct incarnations of

18232-562: The Doctor as one of 45 cousins grown from his house's genetic loom as an adult. By contrast, the TV programme has shown Time Lords as children and stated that Time Lords can have sexual relationships. The Doctor is assumed to be or to have been married to Susan's grandmother, including by head writer Steven Moffat . In " Blink ", the Doctor mentioned that he was rubbish at his own wedding. In The Virgin New Adventures novel Cold Fusion ,

18444-492: The Doctor can be". Wilkins from Inverse stated that the Twelfth Doctor "who began his existence so prickly and aloof would end it as the champion of kindness" was testament to how much the Doctor had grown. He felt Capaldi played this Doctor's kindness as "the most urgently honest expression of himself, and in doing so made his Doctor vulnerable and open in a way none of his predecessors ever really attempted". The Doctor (Doctor Who) A number of other actors have played

18656-549: The Doctor deduces that the circuits will make an energy converter, but he is caught by Lucius Petrus, who beckons a large stone creature to attack and kill them. The stone creature appears in Caecilius' house and attacks them, but Quintus douses the creature in water and kills it. In the confusion, the Sisterhood kidnap Donna, and the Doctor sets off to rescue her. The Doctor discovers that the Sisterhood are being controlled by

18868-547: The Doctor describes an academy initiation where, at the age of eight, Gallifreyan children were taken from their families and made to look into the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality, to view the Time Vortex. According to the Doctor, when regarding the effects of the initiation on participants: "Some would be inspired, some would run away and some would go mad (as he suggests happened to his nemesis,

19080-459: The Doctor describes his costume as "hoping for minimalism, but I think I came up with magician." The look was created by Doctor Who costume designer Howard Burden. His design was described as "No frills, no scarfs, no messing, just 100% rebel Time Lord." Capaldi said that the costume took a long time to find. The reason he settled on his final costume was because, "I think it's quite a hard look. I always wanted him to be in black – I always just saw

19292-400: The Doctor evades answering the question, making their connection unclear. In Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale – The Final Chapter , Russell T Davies states that the character was conceived as the Doctor's mother, but her identity was left ambiguous to allow viewers to make up their own minds. In spin-off media, several individuals related to the Doctor have made appearances, and do not appear in

19504-487: The Doctor had been travelling with her for 700 years, which indicates that he would have been 200 years old when he first borrowed her. In " Twice Upon a Time ", it is revealed that the Doctor also left to investigate the mystery of why good prevails in a universe where evil would seem to have so many advantages. It would be after his encounter with the Twelfth Doctor that the First Doctor realised that his actions made

19716-422: The Doctor has to undergo some dramas by himself. So I think he becomes slightly worried that he's swept someone else up into his adventures without quite preparing them." The Twelfth Doctor makes a first, uncredited appearance in the programme's fiftieth anniversary special, " The Day of the Doctor " (2013), when thirteen incarnations of the Doctor unite to save his home planet of Gallifrey from destruction during

19928-419: The Doctor in dark colours. Not tweed," in reference to his immediate predecessor's original costume. "Matt's a really young cool guy – he can wear anything, but I wanted to strip it back and be very stark." Moffat described the look as "A stick-insect sort of thing". He also said that Clara calls him "a grey-haired stick-insect at one point". Capaldi also stated that he chose the Twelfth Doctor's costume so fans of

20140-433: The Doctor in the seventh series, particularly in " The Angels Take Manhattan ", confirmed that they were married; in "The Name of the Doctor", the Doctor refers to her as his "wife" after seeing a grave stone with her name on it, after initially answering "yes" when Clara asks if she was an "ex". In " The End of Time ", the Tenth Doctor mentions marrying Queen Elizabeth I and implies that they had sex, stating: "her nickname

20352-473: The Doctor leaving Caecilius's family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joanie "Nan" Taylor , but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers." Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change

20564-472: The Doctor recurring nightmares, which the confession dial in " Heaven Sent " would later visualise to torment him. In " Listen ", it is ambiguously revealed the Doctor as a child often slept alone in a barn in the Drylands (a desert region outside the city capital), was withdrawn from other children, and was cared for by guardian figures who privately doubted the child's ability as an eventual Time Lord. Through

20776-482: The Doctor reveals that he is able to perceive the fabric of time, discerning "fixed points" and "points in flux" – moments when history must remain as it was originally versus moments when he can change or influence the original course of events, as well as all past, present and possible future events. However, in " Kill the Moon ", the Twelfth Doctor claims that there are "grey areas", points in time for which he cannot see

20988-417: The Doctor tries to reassure his companion that Missy is joking, although later in the episode he self-identifies by that name. In " Twice Upon a Time ", before regeneration the Twelfth Doctor states that no one would ever understand his name except for children, saying: "If their hearts are in the right place and the stars are too, children can hear your name." Peter Capaldi offered his own theory regarding

21200-591: The Doctor uses the TARDIS to time travel to Central London in the year 2025, where the Daleks have taken over the world and the Doctor has to alter fate with the power of time travel. He also lent his voice to the character in the CBBC online game, The Doctor and the Dalek and in the Doctor Who Game Maker on the official Doctor Who site. Peter Capaldi has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of

21412-524: The Doctor when he was depressed. He is later reunited with this former mentor, now on Earth posing as the abbot K'anpo Rimpoche, in Planet of the Spiders . In " The Girl in the Fireplace ", according to Madame de Pompadour who psychically linked with the Doctor's memories, the Doctor experienced a very lonely childhood. An elderly woman on Gallifrey died and was shrouded in veils and surrounded by flies, giving

21624-401: The Doctor's regeneration energy to do so. The Doctor also enlivens a mass of dying Daleks consigned to the sewers of Skaro, who begin to tear the city apart, and he makes his escape with Clara, but not before visiting Davros as a young boy on the battlefields of Skaro, and instilling in him a lesson about the virtues of mercy. In " The Girl Who Died ," the Doctor finally remembers that he shares

21836-520: The Doctor's "eternal battle with doom and destiny." Capaldi's casting marks the second time an actor has previously appeared in the series and then been cast as an incarnation of the Doctor, the first being Colin Baker . Capaldi briefly appears in the 50th anniversary special. Moffat stated that it was his "plan from the start" that all the Doctors would fly in to save Gallifrey, and he knew there would be

22048-578: The Doctor's expulsion from the academy, condemned to five hundred years in Records and Traffic Control. In The Quantum Archangel , it is revealed the Doctor studied cosmic science alongside the Master, taught by Cardinal Sendok. In the Virgin Missing Adventures novel Goth Opera , it is said the Doctor was a frequent prankster while at the academy, introducing cats into Gallifrey's ecosystem with his friend Ruath and electrifying

22260-498: The Doctor's hearts simultaneously would accomplish this (as demonstrated in the Eleventh Doctor story " The Impossible Astronaut "). The Chancellery Guard (Gallifrey's equivalent of a police force) are armed with stasers, weapons capable of suppressing regeneration. In Death of the Doctor , a serial from spin-off programme The Sarah Jane Adventures , the Eleventh Doctor flippantly responds to Clyde Langer that he can regenerate "507" times; writer Russell T. Davies intended this line as

22472-461: The Doctor's real name, commenting: "I don't think human beings could even really say his name. But I think we might be able to hear it, at a certain frequency. If the stars are in the right place, and your heart's in the right place, you'll hear it." On occasion, the Doctor uses other aliases, such as "John Smith". In the Fourth Doctor serial The Armageddon Factor , the Doctor runs into

22684-431: The Doctor's surname as she believed was the intent of the dialogue. The 2011 mid-series finale " A Good Man Goes to War ", also written by Moffat, suggested through the character of River Song that the Doctor's travels had influenced the etymology of the word "doctor", perverting its meaning on some worlds from "wise man" or "healer" to "great warrior". In " The End of Time " (2009–2010) it is mentioned that after he smote

22896-428: The Doctor. The longest-lasting on-screen incarnation is the Fourth Doctor , played by Tom Baker for seven years. Within the narrative, these changes were explained as regeneration , a biological process which heals a Time Lord when their incarnation is about to die. Consequently, the Time Lord is given a wholly new body. In The Deadly Assassin , the concept of a regeneration limit is introduced, giving Time Lords

23108-478: The Doctor. Following the broadcast of " Deep Breath ", Euan Ferguson of The Guardian called his performance "wise and thoughtful", while Michael Hogan of The Telegraph felt that Capaldi's portrayal "crackled with fierce intelligence and nervous energy". Capaldi's performance in " Listen " was praised with Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club , stating "Capaldi turns in a suitably fearless performance, reaching his obsessive crescendo as he prepares to meet whatever

23320-544: The Eleventh Doctor, but that he dismissed the idea, thinking he was not right for the part at the time. Ben Stephenson , the BBC's drama commissioner, said that Capaldi was suggested months before the August revelation and that a secret audition was held at Moffat's home. Capaldi prepared for the audition by downloading old Doctor Who scripts from the Internet and practising in front of a mirror. He discovered he had been given

23532-509: The Homeworld/Gallifrey abandon their names to symbolise how they are leaving their culture. Similarly, the novel Lungbarrow reveals that the Doctor's name has been struck from the records of his family and therefore cannot be spoken. Quite apart from his name, why the Doctor uses the title "The Doctor" has never been fully explained on screen. The Doctor, at first, said that he was not a physician , often describing himself as

23744-488: The Land ", " Empress of Mars " and " The Eaters of Light ", the Doctor becomes more convinced that Missy has reformed her ways, and so in " World Enough and Time ", he sends her to react to a distress call on a colony ship trapped in the gravity of a black hole . His plan goes horribly wrong when Bill is shot and converted into a Cyberman by medics in the lower floors of the ship, where due to time dilation many years go by. In

23956-569: The Legacy of Rassilon; as a result, the Doctor's children were systemically culled. The Doctor managed to help Patience escape through the use of the Machine, a prototype TARDIS, after assuring that her daughter-in-law had given birth to a girl named Susan and promised that he would keep the child safely away from Gallifrey. In " The Wedding of River Song ", the Doctor marries recurring companion and love interest River Song . Comments by both River and

24168-487: The Master )." When asked to which group he belonged, he replied, "Oh, the ones that ran away. I never stopped!" The Doctor was taught by future Lord President Borusa and Azmael , where he met Drax , with whom he attended a Tech course as part of the class of '92. In the Armageddon Factor , it is revealed that the Doctor scraped through the academy with 51% on his second attempt. In The Time Meddler , it

24380-404: The Pyroviles, stony creatures whose home planet of Pyrovilia was lost. The Doctor escapes with Donna into a tunnel that leads into the heart of Mount Vesuvius . The Doctor discovers that the volcano is being used by the Pyroviles to convert the human race and conquer Earth. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and tells Donna that the volcanic eruption

24592-414: The Raven ", Clara dies while trying to outsmart Ashildr, who stages an elaborate ploy to trap the Doctor, which he learns in " Heaven Sent " was on behalf of the Time Lords. Emerging from the trap on his home planet of Gallifrey, he sends a warning to his people of his return. In " Hell Bent ", the Doctor deposes Time Lord President Rassilon ( Donald Sumpter ) and uses Time Lord technology to save Clara from

24804-486: The Seventh Doctor replies that he does not know. In the 1996 television movie , the Eighth Doctor remarks that he is half-human on his mother's side, and recalls watching a meteor storm with his father on Gallifrey. The revived series never addresses a human mother again and at times even contradicted this remark: The half-human clone of the Tenth Doctor is initially disgusted to be half-human ("Journey's End") and

25016-516: The Spiders and " The End of Time ". The Doctor has withstood, with minimal damage, exposure to electricity deadly enough to kill a human ( Terror of the Zygons , Genesis of the Daleks , " Aliens of London ", " The Christmas Invasion ", " The Idiot's Lantern ", " Evolution of the Daleks " and spin-off audio Spare Parts ). Certain stories imply that the Time Lord is resistant to cold temperatures (" 42 "). To counter extreme trauma, such as exposure to

25228-471: The TARDIS. In the ending segment of " The Husbands of River Song ", the Doctor again dons the same tuxedo and period dress worn in "Mummy on the Orient Express". In Capaldi's final season, the most variations were seen on the Doctor's costume. In the first episode of the season, Capaldi donned a new black velvet frock coat with blue lining and peak lapels. This coat appeared several times throughout

25440-526: The Third, Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors), has won several sword fights against skilled opponents, and is able to make extremely difficult shots with firearms and, in The Face of Evil , with a crossbow. Thanks to exposure to many of history's greatest experts, including those from the future, the Doctor is a talented boxer, musician, organist, scientist and singer (able to shatter windows with his voice), and has

25652-499: The Thirteenth Doctor is questioned how she copes with the loss of her family, she states that she carries the memories of them with her and thus makes them a part of who she is, saying "even though they're gone from the world ... they're never gone from me." In " The End of Time ", a mysterious individual, referred to in the episode credits as "The Woman", appears unexpectedly to Wilfred Mott throughout both episodes. She

25864-399: The Time Lords remained hidden from themselves and from the Doctor. The First Doctor's subsequent childhood on Gallifrey has been little described in the series. In " Hell Bent " the Doctor recalled his origins as a high-born Gallifreyan. In The Time Monster , the Doctor says he grew up in a house on a mountainside and talks about a hermit who lived under a tree behind the house and inspired

26076-426: The Twelfth Doctor ( Peter Capaldi ). The Twelfth Doctor later claims to be uncertain he "won't keep regenerating forever" ("Kill the Moon"), and even Rassilon, the president of the Time Lords, expresses uncertainty about how many regenerations the Doctor has available to him. Other skills include his mental communication with other Time Lords, in some cases over a galaxy's distance. His skill with hypnosis requires only

26288-646: The Twelfth Doctor made his first Big Finish appearance in The Astrea Conspiracy , narrated by Neve McIntosh . The Twelfth Doctor has since appeared in more Short Trips stories and the anthology series The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles narrated by Jacob Dudman . Capaldi voices the Lego counterpart of the Twelfth Doctor in the video game, Lego Dimensions , alongside Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez as Clara and Missy respectively. He also got his own level called “The Dalek Extermination of Earth”, where

26500-454: The Twelfth Doctor rejects that he could be a hybrid of human and Time Lord ("Hell Bent"). The Doctor mentions having had a brother in " Smith and Jones ", and sisters in " Arachnids in the UK ". In " It Takes You Away ", the Thirteenth Doctor claims that she had seven grandmothers. Later in the same scene, she mentions that her favourite grandmother, Granny 5, alleged Granny 2 was "a secret agent for

26712-425: The War Doctor to change his plan at the last moment. Ultimately, Gallifrey was hidden in a parallel dimension and the Daleks destroyed themselves in the ensuing crossfire; to all observers, it appeared as though the two races had been annihilated together. The unsynchronized timestreams caused the War Doctor to forget the specifics of his actions at this time. The Doctor remembered committing the apparent genocide during

26924-500: The Wasp " (2008) he was able to sense the changes in his body's enzymes (i.e. cyanide poisoning) and expel the cyanide from his body by ingesting a concoction of ginger beer , protein foods and salts. The Doctor has shown a resistance to temporal effects and has demonstrated telepathic ability, both the ability to mentally connect to other incarnations of themselves they have encountered (" The Five Doctors "), and an ability to enter into

27136-678: The actor's performance, writing "If you needed a reminder of just how much he's going to be missed when he finally departs Doctor Who at the end of the year, his outstanding work here was precisely that". Critics heavily praised Peter Capaldi's final performance in " Twice Upon a Time " and the characterisation of the Twelfth Doctor over three series. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian said it was hard to say goodbye to this "brilliant Doctor", who has been "warm, wise, kind, funny and human". Mulkern named Capaldi his ideal kind of Doctor: "senior, crusty, steely, funny but with anguish burning through those wizened eyes". Caroline Siede for The A.V. Club stated that

27348-451: The alias "Dr. Bowman" in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie . The Fires of Pompeii " The Fires of Pompeii " is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who . It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. Set shortly before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 , this episode depicts alien time traveller

27560-435: The beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rending scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus's and Metella's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout". Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal also gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined

27772-433: The beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. Scott Matthewman, The Stage Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The consolidated figure was 9.04 million. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent

27984-423: The character himself in the theatrical short " The Doctor's Meditation " in which he states that Clara believes he has the condition. Mark Gatiss said that Capaldi's Doctor was "sort of Tom Baker , Jon Pertwee and even Christopher Eccleston style...it's someone who's not immediately going to be your best friend and can be quite abrupt and rude." Moffat added to this analysis of the character by saying, "He has

28196-500: The character in stage and audio plays, as well as in various film and television productions. The Doctor has also been featured in films and a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips. Ncuti Gatwa has portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor since " The Giggle " (2023). Within the fictional narrative, the Doctor is a Time Lord who travels through time and space in a dimensionally transcendental – "bigger on

28408-429: The character of Dr Who first begins appearing in existing documentation from May of that year. It is possible that series co-creator Donald Wilson may have named the character; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have come up with the series' title, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. The character was first portrayed by William Hartnell in 1963. At the programme's beginning, nothing at all

28620-412: The character of Miranda, has hinted that her real father is a future incarnation of the Doctor which, if so, would make Zezanne the Doctor's biological granddaughter as well. The Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow presents an alternative take on the Doctor's origins, suggesting that Time Lords are "loomed" in large batches of "cousins" and not produced via sexual reproduction. Lungbarrow portrays

28832-480: The character uses "the Doctor" because his actual name is impossible for humans to pronounce. For instance, the novel Vanderdeken's Children relates that the Doctor has already told Sam his real name, which is entirely alien and virtually unpronounceable. This is repeated by companion Peri Brown in the radio serial Slipback . The Faction Paradox encyclopaedia The Book of the War states that all renegades from

29044-492: The character's name, most frequently in the spin-off material of the 1960s and 1970s, but occasionally also in the TV series itself. For example, in The Gunfighters the Doctor assumes the name of Doctor Caligari and subsequently responds to the question "Doctor who?" with "yes, quite right." In the serial The War Machines , the computer WOTAN commands that "Doctor Who is required", and his human agents also use

29256-541: The character. Moffat felt that an older actor would work best following the youngest actor, as it would both provide a change and lessen comparisons. He commented, "I can absolutely believe that the strange old-young Matt Smith will turn into the strange young-old Peter Capaldi." Capaldi had previously appeared playing other roles in the Doctor Who franchise. He portrayed Lobus Caecilius in the 2008 episode " The Fires of Pompeii " and John Frobisher in Children of Earth ,

29468-472: The characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought

29680-453: The course of the series, he and Clara have some ups and downs in their friendship caused both by the Doctor's callousness and because Clara wishes to keep her continued travelling a secret from her boyfriend, Danny Pink ( Samuel Anderson ); she is not able to resolve the situation before Danny dies in a road accident in the first part of the series finale, " Dark Water "/" Death in Heaven ". In

29892-473: The dialogue, it is suggested that several Gallifreyan children were pressured into joining the army, a path which did not sit right with the Doctor's pacifist beliefs, and as a result he wished to enroll into the Time Lord Academy instead. The classic series refers to his time at the academy and his affiliation with the notoriously devious Prydonian chapter of Time Lords. In " The Sound of Drums ",

30104-543: The difference in the balance between good and evil, with the Twelfth Doctor stating "The universe generally fails to be a fairy tale, but that's where we come in." In other media, more has been revealed of the Doctor's early life. In the Past Doctor Adventures novel Divided Loyalties , the Doctor recalls his Academy years in a dream induced by the Celestial Toymaker. According to this, he

30316-491: The docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who , which starred David Bradley as William Hartnell . Although Time Lords resemble humans, their physiology differs in key respects. Like other members of their race, the Doctor has two hearts (binary vascular system), a "respiratory bypass system" that allows the Doctor to go without air, an internal body temperature of 15–16 °C (60 °F) and occasionally exhibits

30528-416: The end of "Forest of the Dead". The events of " The Time of the Doctor " make it clear that his people, the Time Lords, know his true name, despite calling him by his chosen alias as "the Doctor" even in formal settings such as court. Despite the common belief amongst some areas of the fanbase that the Doctor should never be referred to by the name of the series, "Doctor Who" is actually fairly often used as

30740-402: The episode gave Capaldi a "beautiful final showcase that demonstrates just how much he's grown into the role". Vulture ' s Ruediger regarded the Twelfth Doctor as "the pinnacle" of Doctor Who and the only incarnation who grew as a character, stating "it's been done and accomplished so successfully, it will be difficult for the show to turn back. Peter Capaldi raised the bar for who and what

30952-430: The episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and by problems for the production team crossing into Europe. Critical reception of the episode was generally mixed. The premise—the moral dilemma the Doctor faces, and Donna's insistence that he save a family from Pompeii—was widely praised, while the writing, particularly of the supporting characters, was criticised. "The Fires of Pompeii" marks

31164-466: The episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times. The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians. Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming. Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix , such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus , and Spartacus ;

31376-431: The events of past serials such as Genesis of the Daleks have been retroactively attributed to the Time War. It was never shown on-screen until " The End of Time ", which was both Davies' last story as head writer and producer and David Tennant 's last regular story as the Tenth Doctor. This episode featured brief views of Gallifrey and the Time Lords on the last day of the Time War. The 2013 mini-episode " The Night of

31588-517: The family created by Moran. At the end of Book I of the Cambridge Latin Course, Caecilius and Metella perish in Pompeii on the day of the eruption, but Quintus survives. This episode creates an alternate ending to their story, where they are all rescued by the Doctor and move to Rome. The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse themselves from

31800-459: The feeling." In " The Doctor's Daughter ", when discussing the topic of parenthood, the Tenth Doctor confirms that he had at one point been a father and that he lost his children "a long time ago", saying "When they died that part of me died with them"; the nature of their deaths, however, has never been explained, as it is suggested that whatever happened to his family is very painful for the Doctor to talk about. In " The Woman Who Fell to Earth " when

32012-476: The finale, he meets Missy ( Michelle Gomez ), the latest incarnation of his nemesis, the Master , who reveals that she conspired to bring him and Clara together and has begun converting the Earth's dead into Cybermen ; her plan is to compromise the Doctor's morality with the offer of an army with which to rule the universe. Missy's scheme is foiled, but not before many have died and Earth is in chaos. The Doctor takes

32224-466: The first appearance on Doctor Who by both Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi . Both would later take starring roles on the show: Gillan was cast as the Doctor's new companion Amy Pond starting with the next series, and Capaldi appeared as the Twelfth Doctor beginning in 2013. The Tenth Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii the day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 . They later discover

32436-478: The first new series of Doctor Who , after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day . That episode's position was given to " Boom Town " and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran , who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode " Sleeper "; Moran was requested to write the episode as a consequence of the latter. Moran had difficulty writing

32648-461: The frequent apologetic catchphrase of Basil Fawlty from the sitcom Fawlty Towers . How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? James Moran Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in

32860-442: The inside" – time machine : the TARDIS . This time machine, whose name is an acronym for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space , takes the exterior form of a 1963 police telephone call box and retains the appearance throughout the programme. Human companions accompany the Doctor through their adventures and serve as audience surrogate characters to ask questions which allow the Doctor to provide relevant exposition. "Doctor"

33072-469: The lives of his ninth, tenth and eleventh incarnations up until the time of the Eleventh Doctor's present. The character of the Doctor was created by BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman . The first format document for the programme that was to become Doctor Who – then provisionally titled The Troubleshooters – was written in March 1963 by C. E. Webber , a staff writer who had been brought in to help develop

33284-415: The marriages to Elizabeth I and Marilyn Monroe to count when questioned on how many wives the Doctor had had, remarking that he was married to Susan's grandmother and River Song. An adventurous scientist, the Doctor usually solves problems with his wits rather than with force. With the exception of his sonic screwdriver (which cannot kill, wound or maim), the Doctor detests weapons and uses violence only as

33496-517: The media dubbed the " Cartmel Masterplan ". Under Cartmel, the show foreshadowed this concept; however, its 1989 cancellation meant that it was never realised onscreen. The proposed backstory was fully explored in Platt's 1997 novel Lungbarrow , where the Doctor is revealed as " the Other ", a mysterious figure in Gallifreyan lore who co-founded Time Lord society with Rassilon and Omega . After

33708-471: The memories of other individuals (" The Girl in the Fireplace "). The Doctor can apparently reverse this process, sharing their memory with another, as shown in " The Lodger ". Some humans can enter the Doctor's memories after the Doctor enters theirs, as demonstrated by Madame de Pompadour (much to the Doctor's surprise) in "The Girl in the Fireplace", when she explains, "A door, once opened, may be stepped through in either direction." In " The Fires of Pompeii ",

33920-408: The mill." Capaldi expressed in terms of his character "Because in some ways he's much more amenable, but in other ways he's even darker. So I think that makes for a very interesting character." Upon discussing the interaction between The Doctor and his latest companion Bill Potts , Capaldi elaborated "It's a kind of teacher-pupil relationship, but it becomes more complex than that and I think ultimately

34132-729: The moments before her death, and then proceeds to run away with her to the end of time in the hopes of cheating death permanently. He is then persuaded by Ashildr that he and Clara are a dangerous influence on each other, and perhaps together constitute the "Hybrid of two great warrior races" which is prophesied to destroy Gallifrey. The Doctor attempts to wipe Clara's memories of him using a device, but she alters it so that it affects his memories of her instead; she leaves him behind on Earth with his TARDIS to start adventuring again. She departs in her own stolen TARDIS, alongside Ashildr, promising to one day return to Gallifrey and accept her death. The Christmas special " The Husbands of River Song " (2015)

34344-604: The moon and the President's wife; however, this was revealed to have been a lie spread about by the Shobogans when in reality it was the President's daughter and he lost the moon. This event had a massive impact on the Doctor, who theorized that he himself was possibly the Hybrid. This is one reason the Doctor has stated as to why he decided to leave Gallifrey – out of fear. He has given convoluted and contradictory reasons as to why he left, for many reasons such as because his life path

34556-408: The most emotional Doctor." Capaldi received overwhelming praise for his performance in " The Doctor Falls ", with Radio Times ' s Mulkern noting the episode as a story dedicated to the character and how he "stands tall". Digital Spy ' s Jeffery praised Capaldi's "Where I stand is where I fall" speech, noting it as possibly the actor's finest moment to date. Brew of Den of Geek heavily praised

34768-696: The name of "Doctor von Wer" (a German approximation of "Doctor Who"), and signs himself as "Dr. W" in The Underwater Menace . He similarly poses as "the Great Wizard Quiquaequod" in The Dæmons ( qui , quae and quod being, respectively, the masculine, feminine and neuter Latin translation of the nominative form of who ). The Master also utilised Latin translation in the same serial, posing as "Mr Magister". The Eighth Doctor 's companion Grace briefly refers to him by

34980-411: The name. The Third Doctor 's car, dubbed "Bessie", carried the plate WHO 1, the only ongoing reference to the "Doctor Who" enigma in the original programme. The Third Doctor later drove an outlandish vehicle called the "Whomobile" in publicity materials, but it is never referred to as such in the programme, being simply known as "the Doctor's car" (or "my car", as the Doctor puts it). The name "Doctor Who"

35192-521: The outcome. Like many other alien species in the programme, the Doctor is able to sense when their own species is within proximity through an inherent telepathic connection. The Doctor exhibits some weaknesses uncommon to humans. For example, according to The Mind of Evil (1971), a tablet of aspirin could kill him. In " Cold Blood ", a process meant to decontaminate him of bacteria from the surface of Earth causes him intense pain, and he says it could have killed him if allowed to proceed to completion. In

35404-475: The part during filming for Adrian Hodges ' The Musketeers in Prague ; after missing a call from his agent, Capaldi rang back to be greeted with "Hello, Doctor!" At 55 years old when originally cast, Capaldi was only a few months younger than William Hartnell (the First Doctor ) was when he was cast in the role, making Capaldi the oldest actor since Hartnell to star as the Doctor and the third oldest to portray

35616-420: The past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS's translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic , saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from

35828-543: The planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in the TARDIS , frequently with companions . When they are about to die, the Doctor regenerates ; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes. Capaldi's portrayal of the Doctor starts out as a spiky, brusque, contemplative, and pragmatic character who conceals his emotions in the course of making tough and sometimes ruthless decisions. Over time, he becomes kinder, compassionate, and more openly showcases his selflessness. Preceded in regeneration by

36040-521: The poisonous fungus in The Seeds of Death and after being shot in Spearhead from Space , the Doctor can go into a self-induced coma until they recover. The Doctor's hypersensitive body and senses enable them to detect anomalies humans cannot, such as identifying alien species, blood type or chemical composition by taste and determining location or time period by sniffing the air. In " The Unicorn and

36252-405: The previous actors who had played the Doctor were channelled in his portrayal and that his particular influences were Hartnell, Pertwee and Peter Davison . He has been described as an "older, fiercer, trickier Doctor". In spite of his darker personality, Capaldi has said that the Doctor is still, "funny, joyful, passionate, emphatic, and fearless." While Jenna Coleman added that this time, the Doctor

36464-507: The production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais . The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with

36676-400: The programme's first episode in 1963, presents the alternative explanation that the Doctor was given that name by medical staff on a foreign planet and liked it. To make up for his lack of a practical name, the Doctor often relies upon convenient pseudonyms. In The Gunfighters (1966), the First Doctor uses the alias Dr. Caligari . In The Highlanders (1966–67), the Second Doctor assumes

36888-490: The project. Webber's document contained a main character described as "The maturer man, 35–40, with some 'character twist'." Newman was not keen on this idea and – along with several other changes to Webber's initial format – created an alternative lead character named Dr Who, a crotchety older man piloting a stolen time machine, on the run from his own far-future world. No written record of Newman's conveyance of these ideas – believed to have taken place in April 1963 – exists, and

37100-496: The rest of our lives about who's the best Doctor — but for me, the best single performance in the role is settled forever. You can only ask a solo of a virtuoso, so thank God and Scotland for Peter Capaldi". Capaldi's predecessor, Matt Smith , applauded him as having "reinvented" Doctor Who . Colin Baker praised the 12th Doctor noting "[Capaldi's Doctor] is grumpy and curmudgeonly and intolerant, and gosh – I should be playing it now [...] I love his style, and I love his character". In

37312-588: The revived series) Nardole ( Matt Lucas ), an employee of River Song's introduced in the previous episode. Together, they save New York from being destroyed by aliens with ambitions of world domination. In the series 10 premiere " The Pilot " (2017), it was revealed that the Doctor has spent decades working as a professor in St Luke's University in Bristol , giving lectures on time and life, assisted by Nardole. The Doctor has taken an oath to stay on Earth and guard

37524-423: The role or leave alongside Moffat. A month before this, Capaldi stated "This could be my final year; it's terrifying, I love Doctor Who but it can be an insular world and I do want to do other things. There will come a time when this is over, but I knew that when I started. I was thinking about my regeneration scene from the outset, that's my terrible melancholic nature, when you accept the job you know there'll come

37736-432: The role would place on him (" The Five Doctors "), and is eventually deposed in absentia ( The Trial of a Time Lord ). By the time of his twelfth incarnation, he is regarded by many Gallifreyans as a war hero, "the man who won the Time War" (" Hell Bent "). In the first series of the 2005 revival, writer Russell T Davies introduced the concept of the Time War to streamline the Doctor's backstory for new viewers of

37948-412: The run, he believes he has seen his new face before, though does not recall from where. He and Clara ( Jenna Coleman ) are reunited by a third party, and realise that this third party has been conspiring to bring the two of them together for some time. The Doctor helps Clara overcome her reservations about his new personality and older physical appearance, and they begin travelling together once more. Over

38160-524: The sale of the TARDIS as modern art refers to the 1979 serial City of Death , which includes a scene in which the TARDIS is appraised in a similar fashion. Additionally, Lucius Petrus, while under prophetic influence, informs Donna that "there is something on your back"—a foreshadowing of the story development in the season's later episode " Turn Left ". The episode was filmed at the Cinecittà studios in Rome in September 2007. The filming reused some of

38372-461: The same way", in comparison to his more friendly and accessible predecessor. Initially it was reported that Capaldi specifically requested that the Doctor will not flirt with his companion the way his previous incarnation did, but the actor stated that he said no such thing and that it was inflated by the media. Steven Moffat has teased that Capaldi's Doctor may perhaps be more in love with Clara than he'd like to believe. He has also been described as

38584-468: The season. The navy crombie coat returned (" Oxygen ") as well as the red velvet crombie. Another addition to the Doctor's wardrobe occurs mid season with the introduction of a grey distressed linen frock coat. The final look that Capaldi had for his tenure as the Doctor was a navy velvet coat with red lining. First and foremost, he's not human. So I think he struggles to create a version of himself that humans find easy to be around. He's always trying to save

38796-445: The series finale, " The Doctor Falls ", the Doctor faces an army of Cybermen and struggles to convince Missy to side with him; she is influenced by her past incarnation ( John Simm ), also on board the ship. Badly injured by the Cybermen's attacks, the Doctor sends Nardole away to evacuate humans from the ship before destroying an entire level of it. Appearing to have died, he is taken to the TARDIS by Bill, who has been restored to life by

39008-772: The sets from the show Rome . Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy. This was the first time the larger part of an episode was filmed abroad and the first time the cast had filmed abroad since 1996; the television movie was filmed in Vancouver and pick-up shots had previously been made in New York City for " Daleks in Manhattan ". Cinecittà had accepted

39220-509: The show who enjoy cosplay could easily emulate it without going to great expense. Writing for Radio Times , fashion columnist Anna Fielding described it as "a classic early skinhead look" and linked it to Capaldi's history as a punk musician. Capaldi's costume has varied in some episodes. In " Mummy on the Orient Express " he dons a period-appropriate tuxedo and a black cravat . In " The Magician's Apprentice ", he wears Ray-Ban sunglasses (later revealed in " The Witch's Familiar " to be

39432-488: The show. It was a war across all of time and space which ended when the Doctor presumably destroyed both the Time Lords and the Daleks . The Doctor's remorse for his actions in his Ninth , Tenth and Eleventh incarnations is a key part of his characterisation throughout the revival. The Time War happened between the 1996 television movie and 2005 opening episode " Rose " according to the show's internal chronology, although

39644-564: The show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile were complimented, as were the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder ( Phil Cornwell ) saying " lovely jubbly ". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and

39856-467: The significance of the Doctor's name in his episodes since 2006's " The Girl in the Fireplace ", in which historical figure Madame de Pompadour reads the Doctor's mind and remarks, "Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" According to the in-vision commentary on the DVD release, David Tennant had to inform actress Sophia Myles (who played Madame de Pompadour) that she was not, in fact, revealing

40068-513: The sinking when tracking an alien entity in the novel The Left-Handed Hummingbird . The Doctor has also encountered many of Earth's historical figures. It is his tendency for becoming "involved" with the universe – in direct violation of official Time Lord policy – that has caused the Doctor to be labelled a renegade by the Time Lords as stated in The War Games . However, the Doctor's actions are largely tolerated as he saved Gallifrey and

40280-688: The situation. Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption. Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate 's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions. The series' story arc was hinted at by the Doctor's invocation of the Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code previously invoked in " Rose ", " The Christmas Invasion ", " Fear Her " and " Partners in Crime ", and referencing

40492-485: The slopes of Mount Perdition' and the boys would call up at the sky. In " World Enough and Time ", the Doctor claims that they both made a special pact where together they would visit every star in the universe; however, the Master was 'too busy burning them'. In " Hell Bent ", one day at the academy, the Doctor found himself lost inside the Cloisters (an area located deep beneath the citadel) and spent four days inside. He

40704-571: The soothsayers. Peter Capaldi was cast as the Twelfth Doctor in 2013, and made his first appearance in the 2013 Christmas special " The Time of the Doctor " (with an uncredited cameo appearance in the anniversary special " The Day of the Doctor "). Capaldi's Doctor addresses this in the episode " The Girl Who Died ," when the Doctor finally remembers that he shares a face with a man he was persuaded to save in Pompeii, despite his initial reluctance to alter that timeline. He surmises that he subconsciously chose this face for his current regeneration as

40916-469: The television series, such as his grandchildren John and Gillian , who appeared alongside the First and Second Doctors in comics and annuals. Two different, conflicting accounts exist on the descendants of Susan after leaving the Doctor. In the audio play " An Earthly Child ", it is revealed that Susan has had a half-human child, Alex Campbell, the Doctor's great-grandson. Alternatively, in the novel Legacy of

41128-421: The tenure of the Eleventh Doctor involved the oldest question in the universe, revealed in " The Wedding of River Song " to be "Doctor who?", giving the phrase in-universe significance. In " The Name of the Doctor ", the Doctor's real name was revealed to be the password used to enter the Doctor's tomb following his death on the planet Trenzalore. The story arc was resolved in " The Time of the Doctor ", wherein it

41340-516: The timeless child. Other than Tecteun and Susan Foreman , his granddaughter with whom he travelled during the first two seasons and who has been mentioned occasionally since, references to the Doctor's other families (adopted or not) are rare in the programme. In The Tomb of the Cybermen , when asked about his family, the Second Doctor says his memories of them are alive when he wants them to be; otherwise they sleep in his mind and he forgets. In The Curse of Fenric , when asked if he has family,

41552-473: The timely intervention of her love interest, Heather ( Stephanie Hyam ). The Doctor wakes up alone, and vows not to regenerate. Clinging onto his life, he wanders out of his TARDIS and encounters his first incarnation ( David Bradley ) who is facing similar reservations about his pending regeneration . In the Christmas special " Twice Upon A Time ", the two Doctors reflect on their lives and, after witnessing

41764-493: The universe several times. The Time Lords are partial to sending him on missions when deniability or expendability is needed, implied to have begun after his capture during The War Games and witnessed further in later stories, the Time Lords directing the Doctor and/or the TARDIS to specific locations in Colony in Space , The Curse of Peladon , The Mutants , Genesis of the Daleks , The Brain of Morbius and Attack of

41976-434: The universe, so if he upsets someone, that has to come with the territory. But then later on, he probably gets a bit worried and wishes he could go back and say, "I'm sorry I upset you." I like when he's strange. —Peter Capaldi The Twelfth Doctor is, according to Capaldi, "more alien than he's been in a while." Whilst still defining himself as someone who "saves people," the Twelfth Doctor cares little about being seen as

42188-456: The use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film . Moran drew the name Caecilius from that of the main character in Book I of the Cambridge Latin Course , who is in turn based on the banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus , and he based the ancillary characters of Metella ( Tracey Childs ) and Quintus on Caecilius's family in the same course; the character of Evelina was the only member of

42400-508: The volcano. The Doctor relents and goes back for Caecilius and his family, leaving them on a hill to watch the destruction. He comments to Donna that she was right – he does need someone to stop him. The Doctor also uses the phrase "Volcano Day", which he and Captain Jack Harkness both previously used in the Ninth Doctor episode " The Doctor Dances " (2005). The Doctor claims that "that fire" had nothing to do with him, referring to

42612-746: Was a member of an organisation called the Deca, ten brilliant Academy students campaigning for increased Time Lord intervention, alongside Mortimus (the Meddling Monk) , Ushas (the Rani) , Koschei (the Master) , Magnus (the War Chief) , Drax , a spy named Vansell, Millennia, Rallon and Jelpax. With this group, he learns about the Celestial Toymaker and travels to his realm in a type 18 TARDIS with Deca members Rallon and Millennia, who are killed. This leads to

42824-524: Was a native to Gallifrey and an explorer of the Shobogans. She adopted the Doctor when she was the timeless child. She led the Division after the destruction of Gallifrey by the Spy Master. She was involved in the creation of the Flux and was the one to release Swarm from imprisonment as part of the Division's plan to destroy the universe. She was disintegrated by Swarm shortly after briefly confronting the Thirteenth Doctor after she found out her true origins as

43036-414: Was an early favourite following the announcement of Matt Smith's departure, said that he had been approached with a view to assessing whether he would be interested in playing the Doctor, with his name remaining as a potential contender until just before the live BBC broadcast. Doctor Who head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said that Capaldi "briefly flicked through [his] mind" while casting

43248-405: Was claimed that some viewers struggled to understand Capaldi. A speech coach and linguistics expert both suggested that any problems with understanding Capaldi had more to do with delivery than accent. Upon the announcement that Steven Moffat would leave the show in December 2017 and be replaced by new showrunner Chris Chibnall , this decision led to speculation over whether Capaldi would remain in

43460-445: Was complimented by The A.V. Club ' s Wilkins as recalling "a more emotionally complex version of the repartee that Jon Pertwee's Doctor and Roger Delgado 's Master had during their many encounters". After the broadcast of " World Enough and Time ", Steven Moffat paid a special tribute to Capaldi, saying "Peter only has to think at the screen and you know what he's thinking [...] Despite trying to fight his emotions, he has given us

43672-421: Was contacted by a Wraith who told him about the prophecy of a legendary creature known as 'the Hybrid', prophesied to have been crossbred from two warrior races that would stand in the ruins of Gallifrey, unravel the Web of Time and burn a billion hearts to heal its own. The Wraiths then revealed to him the secret passage leading to another side of the city. The last anyone heard from him was that he apparently stole

43884-422: Was instrumental in preventing a family from boarding the Titanic prior to her fateful voyage. In " The End of the World ", the Doctor recalls having been on board and surviving the Titanic's sinking to find himself "clinging to an iceberg". The Fourth Doctor mentioned this event in Robot and The Invasion of Time , where he insists that the sinking was not his fault; the Seventh Doctor became involved in

44096-418: Was pre-determined from his hidden previous life. The Doctor stole a TARDIS with his granddaughter Susan from a repair shop on Gallifrey. In later episodes, the Doctor mentions that he once took a driving test to pilot a TARDIS and failed, and that he threw the instruction manual in a supernova because he disagreed with it. In " The Doctor's Wife ", Idris (the TARDIS's living soul in a human body) mentions that

44308-506: Was released in September 2015, with the stories of Deep Time , Royal Blood and Big Bang Generation ; the first two of these also feature the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, while Big Bang Generation sees the Twelfth Doctor reunited with the Seventh Doctor 's Virgin New Adventures companion Bernice Summerfield . In April 2017, three new novels were released, featuring new companions Nardole and Bill Potts. They are titled The Shining Man , Diamond Dogs and Plague City . In February 2019,

44520-415: Was revealed on 4 August during a live broadcast on BBC One , titled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor . The live show, hosted by Zoe Ball , was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia. While Capaldi was the first choice for the role, other actors were also approached in case Capaldi should turn the offer down. Ben Daniels , who

44732-404: Was revealed that the question had been projected by the Time Lords across all of time and space through a "crack in the skin of the universe" as a means of contacting the Doctor and seeing whether it was safe to leave the parallel universe in which their planet, Gallifrey , had been left following the events of " The Day of the Doctor ". This arc was penned by Steven Moffat , who has been exploring

44944-401: Was viewed by 9.44 million people. The episode was the tenth most-watched programme of the week and received an Appreciation Index score of 87 (considered Excellent). The episode received generally mixed reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World , said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to

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