Third Doctor


*The following article is written from an In Universe perspective.*

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

The technological limitations of the time period, and the constraints of his exile, offen made him feel frustrated and bitter. However he retained his endearing compassion towards his human companions, and he finally gained some mastery over the TARDIS as he dissected its inner-workings while it remained inoperable.

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

His foremost enemy was a fellow Time Lord, the Master. Although appalled by the disregard for life in the Master's schemes, the Doctor treated their relationship as somewhat of a friendly rivalry, even enjoying their battle of wits. The Master reflected an equally casual attitude back at him. The Doctor still held out hope that he could rehabilitate the Master, whom he had once considered a friend. Though the Master sometimes teamed up with the Doctor to deal with foes that threatened him, he always bent to dark and malicious desires which kept their neutral antagonism alive.

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

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

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

The Doctor eventually regenerated into a younger body after being exposed to large amounts of radiation during his efforts to stop the Eight Legs of Metebelis III. The price of correcting a mistake from the past. They were a temporary vessel in which the Doctor's consciousness was held, in an effort to resurrect the Time Lord.

Biography

Post-Regeneration

After being forced to regenerate before being exiled to Earth, (TV: The War Games) the freshly regenerated Doctor collapsed outside on 20th Century Earth, near a UNIT patrol. He was taken to a hospital unconscious, where he suffered numerous moments of consciousnes, before falling unconscious again.

Escaping from the hospital by appropriating an ornate outfit and commandeering a sporty antique roadster, the Doctor made his way to UNIT HQ to meet Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. However, he was uneasy about the Brigadier since their last meeting and eager to reclaim his TARDIS key to escape the planet. However, the Doctor found that not only had his knowledge on how to operate the TARDIS had been blocked, but also that the dematerialisation codes had been changed.

Learning that a swarm of power units for a non-physical Alien Intelligence known as the Nestene Conscious had an affinity for plastic, and planned on replacing key government and public figures with animated facsimiles called Autons, the Doctor agreed to work for UNIT for the time being.

With the help of Dr Elisabeth Shaw, the Doctor created a device to stop the Autons. The Brigadier feared that the Nestenes would return, and asked for the Doctor's continued assistance. The Doctor agreed to join UNIT as their scientific Advisor, using the identity of Dr. John Smith, in exchange for facilities to repair the TARDIS. He also requested similar clothes to the ornate outfit he had appropriated during his escape from the hospital, and a car like the sporty antique roadster he had also commandeered during the escape. (TV: Spearhead From Space)

UNIT Career Begins

Summoned by the Brigadier to an underground research centre on Wenley Moore, the Doctor and Liz met Silurians, a species who had gone into hibernation millions of years earlier, revived by power from the research centre. The Doctor strove for peace between the reptiles and humans and gained the trust of the Silurian Leader. However, a rebellious and intolerant young Silurian killed his leader and released a deadly virus that threatened to wipe out humanity.

The Doctor and Liz found an antidote, but the Silurians retaliated by taking over the research centre. They planned to destroy the Van Allen Belt, a natural barrier shielding the Earth from solar radiation harmful to humans, but beneficial to reptiles. The Silurians had to return to their caves when the Doctor overloaded the reactor, threatening a nuclear explosion. As the Silurians retreated to their base to go back into hibernation until the radiation in the area subsided, the Doctor stopped the reactor from exploding. The Brigadier, to the Doctor's disgust, ordered the Silurian base to be sealed off with explosives, killing the Silurians, (TV: Doctor Who And The Silurians, The Sleepers of Earth)

After Wenly Moore

The Doctor saved radiation-dependent alien ambassadors from General Carrington, a xenophobic retired astronaut, and arranged the exchange of the ambassadors for three captured astronauts. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)

The Doctor, Liz and UNIT next began working as security at an experimental project to drill through the Earth's crust. The drill head started to leak an oily green liquid that transformed those who touched it into vicious, primeval, creatures who craved heat. The Doctor was transported by the partially repaired TARDIS console into a parallel universe in which the drilling project was further along. He worked with ruthless, alternative versions of his UNIT friends to save both universes. When the drilling site in the alternate universe was destroyed, it gave the Doctor information on the course the project would take. This let him save his own universe at the cost of the director of the operations becoming one of the creatures. (TV: Inferno)

Battles With The Master

The Doctor's new assistant at UNIT after Liz left was Jo Grant. After being warned about the Master coming to Earth, the Doctor convinced the Master to stop his alliance with the Nestenes, as the Nestenes would not distinguish between the Master and anyone else in their takeover, and the two worked together to fling the Nestenes back into space by "chang[ing] the polarity" whilst the transfer shift of the radio telescope that summoned the Nestene invasion force was still open. The Doctor had also stranded the Master on Earth after stealing the dematerialisation circuit of the Master's TARDIS. (TV: Terror of the Autons)

The Doctor visited Stangmoor Prison with Jo for a demonstration of the Keller Machine, a device to extract negative emotions from hardened criminals. The Doctor discovered that the Master was behind the machine, but also that he had lost control of it. The machine was destroyed along with the Thunderbolt missile the Master tried to launch at the World Peace Conference, but the Master recovered his dematerialisation circuit and escaped again in his TARDIS. (TV: The Mind of Evil)

When a seemingly benevolent alien species known as the Axons arrived, promising new means of energy, the Doctor immediately saw through their charade; they had no intention of helping Earth, instead they planned to drain it dry of all energy. The Doctor once again encountered the Master, who had been captured by Axos after leading them to Earth; the Doctor put on the pretence of abandoning his friends at UNIT while working with the Master to repair his TARDIS. While the Master escaped once again, the Doctor succeeded in trapping Axos in a time loop before departing himself. However, much to his displeasure, the Time Lords had anticipated him leaving Earth and so reprogrammed the TARDIS to always return him to the 20th century. (TV: The Claws of Axos)

When the Time Lords discovered the Master had stolen their secret file on the Doomsday Weapon, they sent the Doctor and Jo to retrieve it on the planet Uxarieus, where they met resistance with the Interplanetary Mining Corporation, who tried to claim rights to the planet with highly unethical means and forcing the colonists to vacate, despite them not being able to do so with an old, damaged ship.

Taking advantage of the standstill between IMC and the colonists, the Master posed as an Adjudicator who could overturn the decision in favour of IMC. The Doctor had little choice but to play up to the Master's whims after a native alien tribe had stolen the TARDIS. He learned the Master's disguise was a ploy to reach a forgotten alien civilisation on Uxarieus, planning to seize the power of one of their weapons. However, the Doctor met the primitives' intelligent leader in the civilisation's city. Because it was intelligent, the Doctor reasoned with it, convincing the guardian to destroy the weapon and all traces of its civilisation before the Master could misuse the technology it held. The Doctor reclaimed his TARDIS and left Uxarieus in the hands of a real Adjudicator. (TV: Colony in Space)

The Doctor tried to stop the Master, posing as a rural vicar, from summoning Azal, the last of the Dæmons, at Devil's End. Azal decided to give his power to the Master, and fired energy at the Doctor to kill him, until Jo stepped in front of the Doctor, asking Azal to kill her instead. This act of self-sacrifice did not make sense to Azal and the confusion destroyed him. The Master tried to escape in Bessie, but the Doctor's remote control brought the car back and the Master was finally captured by UNIT. (TV: The Dæmons)

Missions In Time

Freedom fighters from an alternate 22nd century tried to thwart a Dalek invasion by coming to the 20th century to assassinate a delegate, Reginald Styles, at the second World Peace Conference in Auderly House. After following the guerrillas back to the 22nd century, the Doctor realised that Styles' actions had instead been performed by Shura, one of the fighters, in a misguided attempt to fulfil his mission. After travelling to the 20th century, the Doctor returned to ensure the evacuations of the delegates, having the Brigadier order his men to fall back and allow the Daleks to pass. The Daleks and Ogrons arrived in pursuit of the Doctor, but both were destroyed when Shura detonated his bomb. (TV: Day of the Daleks)

the Doctor accidentally landed the TARDIS on the ledge of a great cliff, which gave way and caused it to fall to the bottom of the chasm, on Peladon. After a cautious climb to safety in the middle of a turbulent storm, the Doctor and Jo entered the citadel of Prince Peladon, where the Doctor was mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation, where delegates consisted of the Ice Warrior Izlyr, the Alpha Centauri and Arcturus. There proved to be a conspiracy between a Federation delegate and the High Priest of Peladon, and the Doctor and Jo revealed this conspiracy to the Prince. When the delegates began to point fingers at each other in blame, the Doctor himself accused, all suspicions were rendered futile.

However, the Doctor discovered that Peladonians worshipped a mythical beast named Aggedor, which turned out to be real. After encountering it, he learned a Venusian lullaby could calm it, it feared fire, and could fall under hypnosis. Aggedor was simply a wild creature confined to the citadel in a temple, but the Doctor faced a punishment of execution for desecrating the inner sanctum of Aggedor's temple. Through a plea, he was allowed to battle for survival in a pit fight against the mute warrior Grun instead. The Doctor won the match and spared Grun, since he was a simple and frightened soul at heart. However, delegate Arcturus revealed himself as a traitor working for Hepesh and attempted to snipe the Doctor from above the pit, however, Ssorg killed Arcturus before he could kill the Doctor.

Hepesh had refused to let Peladon join the Federation because he held fast to the old customs of the planet, which would soon be abandoned if an alliance changed the ways it was governed. He used Aggedor to kill Torbis, let Aggedor run wild through the citadel and cause chaos and framed the Ice Warriors as part of a bid to sabotage the delegation, creating dissent between all parties. The Doctor brought Aggedor to the Prince of Peladon so he would also learn of its presence, but Hepesh tried to command it to kill as its High Priest and appointed ruler. He intimidated Aggedor with a torch, thinking it would obey out of fear, but instead, it provoked Aggedor into fatally mauling him. With the traitors condemned, relations between the Federation and the Peladon Kingdom were improved. After the TARDIS had been heaved up the mountainside, the Doctor and Jo had to disembark immediately from Peladon when the real Earth delegate arrived and they were outed as impostors. (TV: The Curse of Peladon)

The Doctor and Jo visited the Master, now imprisoned on Fortress Island. He claimed to have reformed, but still refused to reveal the location of his TARDIS. As they left, the governor, Colonel Trenchard, told them ships had been disappearing. The Doctor investigated, and discovered that the Master had used Trenchard's sense of duty to manipulate him into stealing electrical equipment from the naval base HMS Seaspite to build a machine to control the Sea Devils, hoping to use the reptiles to conquer the world. The Doctor entered the Sea Devils' base and tried to encourage peaceful negotiation, but the Royal Navy, under orders from Private Secretary Walker, attacked the base with depth charges, causing more hostilities between humans and Sea Devils. The Doctor escaped with the captured navy crewmembers and their submarine, and returned to HMS Seaspite, which was promptly captured by the Master and the Sea Devils. The Master forced the Doctor to create a sonar device that would reactivate more Sea Devil bases, but the Doctor plugged it in improperly, creating a noise that temporarily incapacitated the Sea Devils, and allowing time for Jo and Captain Hart to gain reinforcements to recapture HMS Seaspite. The Doctor chased the Master and his device into the Sea Devil base, and overloaded the device by reversing the polarity. This destroyed the base, preventing more bases from being activated and stopping the war. With the Sea Devils destroyed, the Doctor was prepared to return the Master to prison, but was unable to do so as the Master once again made his escape. (TV: The Sea Devils)

The Time Lords ordered the Doctor to deliver an object to an unknown person in the 30th century, near the end of the Earth Empire, on the colony world of Solos, where the humans were becoming hideous mutants. The Doctor, with the help of Professor Sondergaard, discovered the transformation was a natural part of the Solonian life cycle. A Solonian leader, Ky, eventually went into his metamorphosis and killed the Marshal of Solos, who had been committing genocide against the mutants. The Doctor was instrumental in finding the crystal on Solos that was necessary to spark their final metamorphosis into a higher existence for the coming of the planet's long summer climate. (TV: The Mutants)

The Doctor discovered that the Master had constructed a device known as TOMTIT and commissioned scientists, Ruth Ingram and Stuart Hyde, to further its work at the Newton Institute. The device let the Master pluck various objects from history out of their proper setting and slow down time, though the Master's true goal was to summon the Chronovore Kronos and use its incredible might for conquest.

The Doctor accidentally materialised his TARDIS inside the Master's, locking both in a space loop. After much arguing between him and the Doctor, the Master forcibly separated their TARDISes, but launched the Doctor into the Time Vortex. Fortunately, the Doctor used his Binary cardiovascular system and the telepathic circuits of his TARDIS to communicate with Jo and instruct her to materialise him back in his TARDIS by using an emergency switch on the console.

The Doctor, Jo and the Master travelled to ancient Atlantis for the other half of the crystal needed to control Kronos, where the Doctor and Jo temporarily enjoyed victory over the Master. However, the Master's charm won over King Dalios's wife, Queen Galleia, making her turn against Dalios's rule. When a guard killed Dalios, however, Galleia turned against the Master in anger, and summoned Kronos with the crystal, resulting in the city's destruction. The Master escaped the destruction, but took Jo hostage in his TARDIS. The Doctor threatened to time ramthe Master's TARDIS, but the Master knew he would not risk Jo's safety. Jo, however, tried to carry out the time ram on her own.

To their surprise, Kronos itself intervened and told the Doctor and Jo that it was above good and evil. It would grant any wish they desired, but wanted to inflict an everlasting punishment on the Master for trying to control it. The Doctor, knowing that this fate was too cruel, asked that the Master be spared and that he and Jo were sent home to Earth. (TV: The Time Monster)

Facing Omega

A superluminal signal was sent to Earth, carrying with it an unusual energy blob that seemed intent on capturing the Doctor. On Gallifrey, the Time Lords broke the first law of time to bring the Second Doctor to help him. When the two proved too different to work together, the Time Lords summoned the First Doctor to lead them, but he was trapped in a time eddy and unable to fully materialise, only communicating with them via the TARDIS scanner.

The Doctors found Omega behind the mysterious disappearances. They prevented him from reinserting himself into the world of matter from his anti-matter domain by blowing it up with a mix of regular matter and anti-matter.

As a reward for his services, the Doctor's exile was lifted and he returned to the TARDIS with Jo for more adventures in time and space. (TV: The Three Doctors)

Freedom

The Doctor and Jo wound up on the SS Bernice, a cargo ship crossing the Indian Ocean. A monster appeared in the sea, events repeated themselves, and a giant hand stole the TARDIS. Investigation revealed that they were inside a miniscope, an alien peepshow sporting numerous miniaturised environments, which showman Vorg and his assistant, Shirna, had brought to amuse the populace of the planet Inter Minor. After leaving the miniscope, the Doctor returned the creatures home and destroyed the machine, allowing him to return to normal size. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)

Upon arriving on an Earth freighter, the Doctor and Jo were caught up in the escalating tension between planets Earth and Draconia. The Doctor landed his ship in an Earth cargo ship to avoid a collision, but could not properly speak to the crew, as Ogrons boarded it, making off with the TARDIS. Unfortunately, a strange noise caused the human crew to see the Ogrons as though they were Draconians, and they believed the Doctor and Jo had led them onto the ship as spies for Draconia. The two of them were imprisoned on Earth and were unable to convince their captors that they were innocent.

The Doctor was sent to a penal colony on the Moon, where the Peace Party plotted an escape, while Jo was greeted by the Master, posing as a commissioner from Sirius IV and arranged for the release of the Doctor from the penal colony after intervening with a sabotage of the Peace Party's escape plot. They soon discovered that the Master was secretly working with the Ogrons to provoke the two sides into all-out war under the orders of the Daleks, using hypnosound technology to confuse them into thinking humans and Draconians were attacking each other. His plans to kidnap them failed when the ship violated Draconian territory, causing Draconians to seize control of it and bring the Doctor, Jo, and the Master to their home world to face judgement by their own emperor.

Fortunately, the Doctor was able to convince the Emperor that they were being tricked into attacking humans. He sent the Doctor back to Earth with his son, the prince of Draconia, to convince the president they had been wronged, but the Master sent the Ogrons to attack them and they captured Jo. Unable to turn back because Earth and Draconia were on the brink of war, the Doctor continued to Earth and explained the deception to its President. He also had to reason with the unyielding General John Williams, who joined the expedition to the Ogron planet, and the group rescued Jo after she managed to resist the Master's hypnosound technology and radioed for help.

Personality

To be added

Physical Appearance

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Other Information

To be added

Behind the Scenes

To be added

List of Appearances

Doctor Who

Footnotes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Archive footage

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Archive footage

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