A Biography of the Doctor

The Third Doctor

Character

The Third Doctor is quite different from his two predecessors. Marooned on Earth, he was, at least initially, desperate to get away, to again travel the Universe. On at least one occasion he was prepared to abandon his old friend the Brigadier in the midst of an alien invasion to defy his sentence of exile. In fact, his relationship with the Brigadier was frequently strained - particularly when the Doctor tried to make peace with the "Silurians" and the Brigadier simply blew up their base. This Doctor was as concerned as any other to safeguard life and find peaceful solutions. However, the Doctor gradually came to become good friends with the Brigadier, both softening towards the other.

As a result of the Doctor's desire to escape Earth, he did more work on the TARDIS than any of his other incarnations, probably being the most technically able of all the Doctors. This love of technological tinkering continued past the end of his exile. He was also fond of technobabble. Whether his descriptions of the advanced technology that he and his sonic screwdriver produced were made up on the spot or genuine terms probably made little difference to him. His sense of being exiled and denied the opportunity to travel through time may have been the reason for his habit of name-dropping historical characters. All of the Doctors have done this to some extent, but the Third Doctor was definitely the most pronounced example.

This Doctor also developed a strong liking for various - particularly fast and exotic - forms of transport. His vintage car Bessie was a particular favourite. In keeping with this, he was quite a man of action. He frequently used physical solutions to problems - often using Venusian Akkido. On one occasion, he even had a swordfight with the Master. He also saw himself as something of a gentleman, belonging to several gentleman's clubs in London, and carrying himself above human society. He was extremely impatient with bureaucrats and authority figures. However, he had a lot of respect for those involved in environmental issues. Despite this, his own lifestyle was fairly high-flying, as he enjoyed good food and fine wines at every opportunity.

His relationship with his own people was quite different to his predecessors. Whilst the first and second Doctors had avoided talking about their origins, the Third frequently mentioned his people - though mostly to complain about their treatment of him, exiling him and using him as an agent. However, he was fairly loyal to them - agreeing to work for them when necessary and once even saving Gallifrey from his personal hero Omega. He also developed a "best enemy" relationship with the Master - his old friend from the Academy gone bad. The two almost looked forward to sparring against each other.

Over time, the Third Doctor came to see Earth and UNIT as his home and family. When his exile was lifted, he revelled in the freedom but kept on working for UNIT, helping the Brigadier fight mad scientists and alien invasions. In fact, UNIT became like a family to him.

Appearance

When the first Doctor met the third (The Three Doctors) he described him as 'a dandy'. This is quite a good description of the Third Doctor's dress sense. The Doctor frequently wore frilly shirts with ruffled fronts and cuffs - often with a bow tie - and velvet smoking jackets, together with sharply-creased black trousers and polished shoes. He usually wore a cape over these. However, he often switched to more practical clothes when necessary. All of this clothes sense went together with a distinguished and expressive face with a large nose.