Tenth Doctor

The Doctor

The Tenth Doctor
Doctor Who character
File:Tenthdoctoralone.jpg
First regular appearance	The Parting of the Ways
Last regular appearance	Ongoing
Portrayed by	David Tennant
Preceded by	Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
Succeeded by	Eleventh Doctor (Unknown)
Information
Tenure	2005 – ongoing
No of series	2
Appearances	22 stories (28 episodes)
Companions	Rose, Mickey, Donna, Martha,
Chronology	Series 2 (2006), 3 (2007)

The Tenth Doctor is the name given to the tenth and current incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant.

Overview

After the successful premiere of Rose and the announcement of a second series being commissioned by the BBC, the story broke that Christopher Eccleston, who played the Ninth Doctor, would not be returning for the second series. On 16 April 2005, the BBC announced that David Tennant had been selected for the role of the Tenth Doctor.

The Tenth Doctor's first appearance in the series was for 20 seconds following the Ninth Doctor's regeneration at the end of The Parting of the Ways. His first full episode as the Doctor, barring an appearance in a "mini-episode" during the 2005 show of Children in Need, was the 2005 Christmas Special, The Christmas Invasion. He appeared in the 2006 series, the second seasonal episode, and he is due to continue through the third series and into the fourth.

In 2006, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Tennant's Doctor "Best Doctor", over perennial favourite Tom Baker.

A twelve-part cartoon adventure, The Infinite Quest, featuring the Tenth Doctor and new companion Martha Jones (voiced by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman) premiered on Totally Doctor Who on 2 April 2007. It also features Anthony Head as the evil space pirate Baltzar, "Scourge of the Galaxy" and Toby Longworth as Baltazar's robot parrot Caw.

While the previous Doctor was never explicitly referred to as the Ninth on-screen, the Tenth Doctor tells Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion that he has regenerated "half a dozen times" since they last met, which (barring the events of The Five Doctors) was in his fourth incarnation. Off-screen, a song commissioned for the Christmas Invasion episode soundtrack and played during the sequence in which the Doctor chooses his new wardrobe was titled "Song for Ten".

Biography

The Ninth Doctor regenerated into the Tenth due to cellular damage caused by absorbing the energies of the time vortex at the climax of The Parting of the Ways. In the Children in Need mini-episode, the Doctor initially exhibited stable behavior as he introduced his new form to Rose Tyler, showing particular interest in his appearance; but soon began acting erratically and said that his regeneration had "gone wrong". He remained in a delirious or comatose state through most of the events of The Christmas Invasion until his regeneration was settled through absorbing the free radicals and tannin from some hot tea. He then saved the Earth from invasion by defeating the leader of the alien Sycorax using a satsuma.

The Doctor seemed disappointed that his tenth incarnation was not "ginger". Instead of the Ninth Doctor's leather jacket, the Tenth chose an outfit consisting of a dark brown pinstripe suit, shirt and tie, a light brown overcoat (which he claims was given to him by Janis Joplin), and a pair of cream-coloured Converse All Stars from the TARDIS wardrobe, a costume which Tennant described as "geek chic". In Smith and Jones, he sports a new blue pinstripe suit and a pair of maroon Converse All Stars during the Judoon investigation (but left his trainers behind in the New Hope hospital after absorbing Röntgen radiation, and releasing it from his left foot - feeling he looked "daft with one shoe", he removed the other one too). After inviting Martha Jones aboard the TARDIS, he alternated between both suits on their adventures.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose went on to rescue Queen Victoria from a werewolf. The Doctor was knighted as "Sir Doctor of TARDIS" as a reward—a title he continued to use as of his first journey with Martha— although Victoria banished them from the British Empire and set up the Torchwood Institute to defend Britain from paranormal threats and wait for the Doctor's return. He would finally encounter the Institute in Army of Ghosts.

In The Girl in the Fireplace, he appeared to develop romantic feelings for Madame de Pompadour while attempting to discover why clockwork androids on a 51st Century spaceship were stalking her throughout her life. Ultimately, he was unable to take her with him as the last, asynchronous time window returned him to her after her death.

In Rise of the Cybermen, the Doctor was forced to fix the broken TARDIS by giving up the energy from ten years of his life (but he claims that it's worth every second). Given the general longevity of the Time Lords, whether this will affect him to any significant degree is yet to be seen, although it could also be interpreted as affecting his biological age (the Sixth Doctor said in Attack of the Cybermen that a few decades were "a handful of heartbeats for a Time Lord").

The Tenth Doctor has used his psychic abilities more often on screen than his previous incarnations. He continues to use the Ninth Doctor's psychic paper, but has also been seen using telepathic techniques several times (for instance, in The Girl in the Fireplace and The Shakespeare Code).

Companions

The Tenth Doctor inherited Rose Tyler as his companion, who left in Doomsday, the final episode of the 2006 series. At the end of the same episode, a bride named Donna played by Catherine Tate appeared in the TARDIS as a result of her Huon particle intake, and only appeared in the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride.

Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke), a recurring character from the previous season, joined the TARDIS crew as a regular companion in School Reunion. Mickey departed the TARDIS in The Age of Steel, replacing his deceased counterpart on a parallel Earth. He returned in the 2006 two-part series finale, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday.

Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler was also a recurring character in the first two series, and played a major role in several episodes, notably The Parting of the Ways, The Christmas Invasion and Love & Monsters, finally travelling in the TARDIS by accident in Army of Ghosts. Though she travelled in the TARDIS with The Doctor she is not necessarily considered a companion.

In the 2006 Christmas special, Donna Noble filled the companion's role for the hours immediately following his farewell to Rose at the end of Doomsday. But, in the episode's dénouement, she refused his offer of full-time companionship, instead suggesting he find someone else.

In series 3 the Doctor was joined by a new companion called Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman. Agyeman previously played Adeola in Army of Ghosts, a character who died during the course of the episode, later revealed to be Martha's cousin. Martha joins the Doctor after they save each others' lives during a Plasmavore attack, and the Doctor offers her a single trip in the TARDIS by way of thanks. She continues to operate as his companion following a trip to the Globe Theatre, and was made an official companion—by receiving a key to the TARDIS—in 42.

Previous companion "Captain" Jack Harkness was originally to have rejoined the TARDIS crew in the 2006 series. However, this plan was abandoned, in part because of Harkness' role in the new Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood. It was initially announced that there would be no crossovers between the two series, but Harkness will return to Doctor Who in the 2007 series for "multiple episodes", including the series finale.

The Doctor was also reunited with previous companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 (Mark III) in School Reunion.

The Tenth Doctor is also the first since the Second Doctor to actually say goodbye to a companion rather than simply leaving, or giving some platitude when a companion leaves of their own accord. He is also the first to keep mentioning other companions – as when he mentions Rose Tyler to Martha Jones and Donna Noble, although in past incarnations, he has also made the occasional repeated reference to the likes of Susan Foreman and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. At one point he used "Doctor James McCrimmon" as an alias, another reference to a previous companion.

Personality

File:Tennantdoc.jpg

The Tenth Doctor in his original costume

So far, the Tenth Doctor has displayed a light-hearted, easy-going, witty and somewhat cheeky manner, yet with a strong personal sense of justice that makes him quick to anger when he feels it is violated, as in New Earth when he learned of the plague farm run by the Sisters of Plenitude. In The Christmas Invasion he showed a grimmer side when he sent the Sycorax leader (who was attacking him from behind) tumbling to his death while commenting that, with him, there were "no second chances." He was equally unforgiving of Prime Minister Harriet Jones; after Jones had given the order to destroy the retreating Sycorax ship, the Doctor warned her that he could "bring down" her government with six words ("Don't you think she looks tired?", whispered to Jones' aide). Like the Ninth Doctor, he sometimes uses a cheerful façade to mask inner emotions.

The Tenth Doctor has a tendency to babble, mixing apparent nonsense with vital information, sometimes acting erratically to put his enemies off guard like some of his earlier incarnations. He can also be rude on occasion, and is not always aware of it. In School Reunion, he acknowledges that he is less merciful than he used to be. He has a tendency to use technobabble to describe scientific concepts before substituting it with a simpler, analogous explanation.

The Doctor is also able to rapidly switch between moods, from mania to anger to nonchalance. He uses this as a form of reverse psychology on several occasions (Fear Her, Love & Monsters and Army of Ghosts). By switching gears suddenly when confronted, he made the other person disconcerted enough to allow the Doctor his own way.

It has been made clear that the Doctor is, despite constant interaction with others, a lonely person deep down. In School Reunion, he describes the ability of Time Lords to live so long as a curse, because while his human companions all someday leave him and eventually die, he continues to live. Other characters have also commented on the Tenth Doctor's loneliness.

While the Ninth Doctor was somewhat standoffish around most humans, the Tenth is more extroverted and gregarious, quickly establishing a firmer rapport with Rose Tyler's friends and family than he ever did in his previous incarnation. The Tenth Doctor is also fonder of mankind, and is apparently in awe of their tenacity and curiosity, a trait exhibited by his fourth incarnation. In The Impossible Planet, he hugs the leader of an Earth expedition for daring to explore a planet orbiting a black hole. In The Age of Steel, he describes human beings as both brilliant and stupid in the same sentence while arguing the necessity of emotions with the Cyber-Controller.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose often faced their adventures with a cheerful, almost blasé attitude, even when terror and death happened around them. Queen Victoria commented on this in Tooth and Claw when she banished them, and producer Russell T. Davies hinted that there would be consequences to this carefree attitude later in the series. At the end of the 2006 series, in Doomsday, the two were separated seemingly forever when Rose was left in a parallel universe as a consequence of foiling a Dalek and Cyberman invasion of Earth.

The 2006 series continued the exploration of the Doctor's romantic aspects, with the Tenth Doctor sharing kisses with Rose (albeit while she was possessed by Lady Cassandra) and Madame de Pompadour. In School Reunion, Sarah all but confesses that she had been in love with him. In Doomsday, during their farewell, Rose tells the Doctor she loves him; he begins to reply but only manages to say her name before the transmission is cut off, leaving him alone in the TARDIS with a tear on his cheek. After this, whenever he is reminded of Rose he becomes depressed. In the audio commentary for Doomsday the executive producer Julie Gardner claims that she will confirm to the nation the Doctor was going to 'say it back'.

The Doctor sometimes dons a pair of spectacles, like the Fifth Doctor, whose youthful appearance he shares. He also exhibits a remarkable sense of taste, able to identify the blood type of a blood sample (The Christmas Invasion), the presence of mistletoe oil (Tooth and Claw) or Krillitane oil (School Reunion) just by licking.

The Tenth Doctor speaks with an Estuary English accent, rather than the Northern inflection that the Ninth Doctor used, the Received Pronunciation of most earlier Doctors, or Tennant's natural Scottish brogue. In a December 23 interview on BBC Radio 1, Tennant explained that a line had been scripted for the Christmas special explaining that the newly regenerated Doctor had imprinted on Rose Tyler's accent, "like a chick hatching from an egg," but the line was cut from the final programme. (Had the line been kept, it might have caused a continuity issue, since the first voices both the Sixth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor heard were American, and the Seventh Doctor sounded Scottish despite first hearing an English (or possibly Gallifreyan) accent). The Tenth Doctor also briefly affected a generic American Appalachian accent in the Children in Need special and The Christmas Invasion, and a Scottish accent (actor David Tennant's own accent) in Tooth and Claw.

Like his predecessor, the Tenth Doctor shows a fondness for human popular culture — a characteristic not all of his previous incarnations seemed to share — but even more so, to the point where he finds himself unconsciously quoting the song "Circle of Life" from Disney's The Lion King during a confrontation with the Sycorax leader. He also referred to his pyjamas and dressing gown as being "very Arthur Dent", a Hitchhiker's reference. In School Reunion he responded to a student with 'correctamundo', an exclamation often made by The Fonz on the TV show Happy Days. In The Girl in the Fireplace, he sings "I Could Have Danced All Night" from the musical My Fair Lady. He also appears to be a fan of pop music, quoting Kylie Minogue and Status Quo, and has made quips about Balamory (in Tooth and Claw), EastEnders (in The Impossible Planet), and Ghostbusters (in Army of Ghosts). He also has a fondness for pop/rock music, attempting to take Rose to an Ian Dury and the Blockheads concert in 1979, and Elvis Presley's appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in NYC in the 1950s (he fails to reach his destination either time). In The Shakespeare Code, he mentions having read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which made him cry, as well as referencing Back to the Future when explaining the infinite temporal flux to Martha.

His knowledge of contemporary pop culture is not complete however. In The Lazarus Experiment he fails to recognise the term "science geek" when Tish applies the label to him. Once he is provided with a definition he does choose to take it as a compliment, though.

His references are not all restricted to modern pop-culture. In Tooth and Claw, his description of Rose as a "tim'rous beastie" is an allusion to the poem To a Mouse by Robert Burns, an 18th century Scottish poet. In The Shakespeare Code he quotes from the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas and displays an expansive knowledge of the works of William Shakespeare, both directly and indirectly suggesting famous lines to the man himself. He has also quoted from the T.S. Eliot poem The Hollow Men, referencing both the "Falls the Shadow" and "This is the way the world ends" passages.

Much as the Ninth Doctor frequently declared things "Fantastic!", this Doctor has also favoured certain phrases on various occasions such as "Brilliant!", "That's impossible!", "I'm so sorry" and "Allons-y."

Other appearances

Novels

New Series Adventures

• The Resurrection Casket by Justin Richards
• The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner
• The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole
• The Nightmare of Black Island by Mike Tucker
• The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole
• The Price of Paradise by Colin Brake
• Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole
• Wooden Heart by Martin Day
• The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner

These books have also been released on audiobook, narrated by a Doctor Who cast member. Three further books, presumably the second wave of Series 3 releases, have also been announced. These will be out on September 6th.

• Wetworld by Mark Michalowski
• Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
• Sick Building by Paul Magrs

Another set of three novels has been announced as being intended for publication on December 26 2007. No further details have been released as to authors or titles.

Quick Reads

Another, shorter book was announced as part of the Quick Reads Initiative, and was published in May 2006:

• I am a Dalek by Gareth Roberts

A second Quick Reads book was released in March 2007.

• Made of Steel by Terrance Dicks

Short stories

• "Deep and Dreamless Sleep" by Paul Cornell
• "42: Prologue" (a prologue to the Series 3 episode 42) by Joseph Lidster

Comics

Doctor Who Magazine

• The Bethrotal of Sontar
• The Lodger
• F.A.Q.
• The Futurists
• Interstellar Overdrive
• The Green Eyed Monster
• The Warkeeper's Crown
• The Woman Who Sold The World

Doctor Who Adventures

• Which Switch?
• Mirror Image
• Under the Volcano
• The Germ War
• Warfreekz!
• A Delicate Operation
• Blood and Tears
• Fried Death
• Bizarre Humans
• Save the Humans
• Bat Attack / The Battle of Reading Gaol
• Triskaidekaphobia
• Smarts Bomb
• Pinball Wizard
• Gangsters' Paradise / Heads You Lose
• A Date to Remember / Snow Fakes
• The Hunters / Cliffhanger!
• 13 O'clock (2 parts)
• Green Fingers (2 parts)
• The Snag Finders (2 parts)
• The Skrawn Inheritance (1 part so far)

Battles in Time

• Growing Terror
• Hyperstar Rising
• Death Race Five Billion
• The Macrobe Menace
• The Hunt of Doom
• Reunion of Fear
• The Glutonoid Menace
• The Power of the Cybermen
• Drones of Doom
• Enemy Mine
• Time of the Cybermen
• Beneath the Skin
• The Sky Below
• Beyond the Sea
• Lonely Planet
• Plague Panic
• Exhausting Evil

Doctor Who Annuals

• Down the Rabbit Hole

External links

• The Tenth Doctor on the BBC's Doctor Who website
• Tenth Doctor's theme music
• David Tennant's Site
• Doctor Who series two press launch report and audio interviews at BBC Wiltshire