Jodie Whittaker
The Doctor
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Cast
Episode Guide
- 6. The Vanquishers Dec 5, 2021
- When the monsters have won, there seems to be no one who can be counted upon to save the universe.
- 5. Survivors of the Flux Nov 28, 2021
- The Doctor, Yaz and Dan face perilous journeys and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
- 4. Village of the Angels Nov 21, 2021
- November 1967; a little girl has gone missing; Professor Eustacius Jericho conducts experiments.
A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. S. T. U. W. Y. Guest appearances. See also. References. Series main cast. The following tables are an overview of all the regular cast members that have appeared throughout the show since 1963. 1963–1973.
Aug 15, 2018 · Vote for your personal favorite characters from the show, regardless of how beloved they are by others. Full Doctor Who characters list with photos and character bios when available. List contains all Doctor Who main character names and features lead Doctor Who roles.
- Reference
- Overview
- The Doctor's real name
- "Doctor Who"
- Theta Sigma
- Commonly used aliases
- First Doctor
- Second Doctor
- Third Doctor
- Fourth Doctor
Throughout their travels in time and space, the Doctor took on and was called by a number of different aliases, titles and names. Some were fleeting, while others, like John Smith, were used by almost all of their incarnations, with some variations. The Doctor told very few people their original name, instead asking others to simply call them the Doctor. By many accounts, the Doctor considered this title to be their real name. (TV: The Name of the Doctor et al.) It was their chosen identity, and a promise to the universe. (TV: The Sound of Drums, The Beast Below, The Day of the Doctor)
In other accounts, however, the Doctor's "true name" was the one which was hidden, a guarded secret the Doctor kept from almost everyone. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace, The Shakespeare Code, The Fires of Pompeii, The Time of the Doctor) Most names the Doctor kept were a matter of convenience, and they were prone to take on whichever name would help them blend in best, or stand out more, depending on the situation. Some companions felt this was not the Doctor's strongest suit, however. (AUDIO: What Just Happened? et al.)
Most accounts treated the Doctor's true name as a complete mystery. Bill Potts, his student, asserted that "nobody [knew] the Doctor's real name", although Missy claimed that she was an exception to this given that she "grew up with him". (TV: World Enough and Time) One account even implied that their given name was ceremoniously withdrawn and stricken by their Cousins as punishment for a disgrace the Doctor had brought upon their House. (PROSE: Lungbarrow) However, the Doctor's true name did appear in secret files created by the High Court of the Time Lords, containing a transcript of the Doctor's trial, where it was spelled as "∂³Σx²". (PROSE: The Trial of Doctor Who) While wandering in the Doctor's TARDIS, Clara Oswald read a history of the Time War which apparently told her the Doctor's name, causing her to remark "So that's who." (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS)
Even when put on trial by the Time Lords, they were only referred to as "the Doctor", (TV: The War Games) although the Valeyard, a culmination of the Doctor's darker side who prosecuted the second trial, acknowledged that this was an alias. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) When the Fifth Doctor was officially inducted as Lord President, he declared that it was "out of the question" for him to be introduced by his true name, stating that he would accept being introduced as "Lord President Doctor". (AUDIO: Time in Office) Even those who had known them in childhood addressed them only as "the Doctor", such as the Master, (TV: Death in Heaven) and the Rani. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction)
According to one account, during their first incarnation, the Doctor adopted this name in dealing with human colonists on the planet Iwa at the same time that his granddaughter adopted the name "Susan". (PROSE: Frayed) Other accounts implied that the Doctor's title had been chosen as a Gallifreyan custom, (TV: The Sound of Drums) and that he had been using it before he left Gallifrey. (TV: The Name of the Doctor, World Enough and Time)
The Doctor's real name has been said to be difficult to pronounce, for humans at least, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, AUDIO: Slipback) and certainly for adults, (TV: Twice Upon a Time) possessing thirty eight syllables. (PROSE: SLEEPY) The First Doctor once told an interrogator he "wouldn't be able to pronounce the first syllable of [his name]." (PROSE: Salvation) His seventh incarnation likewise told one of his captors that he "doubt[ed] [they]'d be able to pronounce the name [he] was originally given." (PROSE: Illegal Alien) When asked about the Doctor's name, Peri Brown once said that the Doctor had told her she would find it unpronounceable. (AUDIO: Slipback) Moments before his regeneration, however, the Twelfth Doctor stated his belief that "children [could] hear [his name]", but only when "their hearts [were] in the right place, and the stars [were] too." (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
The Doctor kept their true name hidden despite numerous "mind-probe" attempts and the effect of a truth field. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace, The Time of the Doctor) The Carrionite Lilith, unable to discover the Tenth Doctor's true name even with the "witchcraft" used by her kind, remarked that "there [was] no name," and that the Doctor was hiding it in despair. (TV: The Shakespeare Code) The psychically-gifted Evelina, who attempted to foretell the Doctor's future, remarked that his "true name" was "hidden" from her. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
By one account, in his youth, the Doctor had outright removed his name from time, all but he and the Master forgetting his birth name. (AUDIO: Blood of the Time Lords)
The name "Doctor Who" was used by or applied to the Doctor on a large number of occasions, with accounts varying on whether this seemed to be the time-traveller's actual name — or at any rate a name they accepted and used for themselves — or simply a placeholder applied to them by others for lack of knowledge of his real names.
The Third Doctor once stated that his real name was not "Doctor Who", but that others often called him that for lack of him divulging his actual true name. (TV: The Shrink)
The Master addressed a postcard to the Third Doctor as "Dr Who". (COMIC: Fogbound) Missy later made two bold claims to Bill Potts in quick succession, first that "Doctor Who" was in fact the Doctor's real name, and second that it was, more specifically, an alias he had chosen himself early on, as an attempt to "sound mysterious". In this account, he would later drop the "Who" because it was "a tiny bit on-the-nose". The Twelfth Doctor told Bill she was just trying to wind her up, but he later identified himself as "Doctor Who" to Jorj, noting that he liked the name. (TV: World Enough and Time) According to one account, a conversation he had with Missy at an earlier point bore out Missy's claim, seeing him explain to her that the name arose from the question of "who to save", calling it "the Doctor's Who". (COMIC: The Road To...)
When the First Doctor was using the name "Doctor Caligari" and someone remarked, "Doctor who?" he replied, "Yes, quite right."; (TV: The Gunfighters) similarly, when Jimmy Forbes asked "Doctor who?", another incarnation of the Doctor replied "Yes, if you like.", (AUDIO: Seven Keys to Doomsday) and when Citizen 327KL asked "Doctor who?", the Fourth Doctor simply said "yes". (TV: Dr. Who For Keep Australia Beautiful) The Fourth Doctor outright stated that his name was "Dr Who" when Richard the Lionheart asked for his name; King Richard later referred to him as simply "Who". (PROSE: Doctor Who Discovers The Conquerors)
The TARDIS-Keeper on Gallifrey also knew the Doctor as "Who". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon)
The computer WOTAN repeatedly referred to the First Doctor as "Doctor Who". (TV: The War Machines) Both Ian Chesterton and Vicki occasionally called the Doctor "Doctor Who", (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Zarbi) as did Argon, (PROSE: Terror on Tiro) Mitzog, (PROSE: The Cloud Exiles) and Phlege. (COMIC: Mission for Duh) The Doctor's grandson John (COMIC: The Klepton Parasites) used the last name "Who". (PROSE: Beware the Trods!)
The Doctor's old Academy schoolmate Drax knew the Doctor as "Theta Sigma", which he informally shortened to "Thete". The Fourth Doctor repeatedly corrected him when they met again centuries later, wanting to be called Doctor instead. (TV: The Armageddon Factor)
Some accounts treated "Theta Sigma" as the Doctor's actual, proper name as far as Gallifrey was concerned; for example, some Gallifreyan records noted that K9 Mark I had formerly been a companion to "the Time Lord Theta Sigma". (PROSE: K9 and the Beasts of Vega, etc.) In an alternate timeline in which Rassilon failed to finish the Eye of Harmony before his death, the Doctor never left Gallifrey and became a commentator rather than a renegade Time Lord. He was known as Commentator Theta Sigma. (AUDIO: Forever)
"ΘΣ" was part of River Song's message to the Eleventh Doctor on the universe's oldest cliff-face. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) River Song claimed and demonstrated on numerous occasions that she knew the Doctor's secret real name. (TV: Forest of the Dead, The Name of the Doctor, etc.)
However, the Seventh Doctor would later claim that "Theta Sigma" was his "nickname at college" to the coincidentally-named Trevor Sigma. (TV: The Happiness Patrol) The Ninth Doctor would later reiterate this in a duel with the Grimminy-Grew to guess the other's true name, saying that "old school nicknames don't count". (AUDIO: Station to Station)
In one account, the Doctor considered it a "Time Lord coding", which he couldn't "bear [to be] addressed as". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor) It identified him uniquely amongst the Time Lords and was not to be spoken outside of the Academy. (PROSE: Falls the Shadow) According to the author of The Time Lord Letters, a historical document compiling writings by and concerning the Doctor, "Theta Sigma" was also their Academy Student Identification Code. (PROSE The Time Lord Letters)
When the Doctor's final incarnation permanently died during the first battle of the War in Heaven, his coffin had two Greek letters on it; one of these was "Sigma". (PROSE: Alien Bodies)
John Smith
John Smith was an alias the Doctor frequently used on Earth and around humans when a "standard" name was needed, with the Eighth Doctor noting it was "the nom de guerre [he] seem[ed] to keep ending up with". (PROSE: Alien Bodies) It was often preceded by the title "Doctor", though not always — for example, when he was undercover as a teacher at a school or a patient in a hospital. (TV: School Reunion, Smith and Jones) As "John Smith" was considered a generic name in some Earth cultures, the Doctor's use of the alias was occasionally treated with scepticism. (TV: Midnight) The First Doctor used a library card with the name Dr J. Smith while living at 76 Totter's Lane, (TV: The Vampires of Venice) as well as for identification when renting the junkyard. (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story) The inspiration for the alias was John Smith of John Smith and the Common Men, with which he was familiar through Susan. (PROSE: The Witch Hunters) In their second incarnation, the name was independently used by his companion Jamie McCrimmon while the Doctor was being treated for a concussion, as he saw it being used as a brand name on a metal container. (TV: The Wheel in Space) The Doctor himself used the alias when being interrogated by a German soldier. (TV: The War Games) Likewise, Chang Lee chose to register the name for the Seventh Doctor while he was en route to get his bullet wounds healed. (TV: Doctor Who) The Doctor adopted the name on a semi-regular basis during their third incarnation while exiled on Earth, when he served as unpaid scientific advisor to UNIT. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Inferno, The Time Warrior) The UNIT files referred to him as "Dr. J.S.". (AUDIO: Tales from the Vault) The Doctor twice changed himself into a human who used the name John Smith. This occurred in their seventh incarnation, (PROSE: Human Nature) and in their tenth incarnation. (TV: Human Nature) Often, the Doctor would use variations of the name, like the online handle "jsmith", jsmith8", (PROSE: Blue Box, Lonely) the French variation "Jean Forgeron", (COMIC: The Forgotten) or the German translation "Johann Schmidt". (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass; AUDIO: Storm Warning) The Thirteenth Doctor once made use of a variant, "Jane Smith", while hiding her true identity from Martha Jones. (COMIC: A Little Help from My Friends) By one account, "John Smith" was the name which the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor chose to go upon settling down with Rose Tyler. (COMIC: Empire of the Wolf) The Tenth Doctor attempted to use this alias when he met the Fourth Doctor. However, he opted out of the second half and instead used Rose's last name, ending up with "John Tyler" instead. (AUDIO: Out of Time)
The Oncoming Storm
The Doctor was referred to as "the Oncoming Storm" by the Draconians, (PROSE: Love and War) himself (PROSE: Vampire Science) and in "the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld". (TV: The Parting of the Ways) In Draconian, the title was pronounced "Karshtakavaar". (PROSE: Love and War) After being told of the title by the Ninth Doctor, (TV: The Parting of the Ways) Rose Tyler called the Tenth Doctor by the "Oncoming Storm" when she and Mickey Smith were being prepared for dissection by the Clockwork Droids. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace) The Tenth Doctor later introduced himself as the "Oncoming Storm" to a Dalek aboard of the Wayfarer, (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks) and referred to the title when confronting a rabbit he thought was a Zygon. (TV: The Day of the Doctor) The Eleventh Doctor began calling himself the "Oncoming Storm" when he misinterpreted Sean's request to help the King's Arms football team "annihilate" another team at a match. (TV: The Lodger) He later referred to the title when the Daleks forgot him. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)
Destroyer of Worlds
As early as their second incarnation, the Doctor knew that the Daleks had also given them the epithet "Ka Faraq Gatri", (COMIC: Bringer of Darkness) which translated as "Destroyer of Worlds". (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation) or possibly, "Nice guy, if you're a biped". (PROSE: Continuity Errors) He had been awarded the name upon orchestrating the destruction of the Dalek home planet Skaro in his seventh incarnation, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) though the Daleks also used it prior to Skaro's destruction. (COMIC: Bringer of Darkness) Davros also referred to the Doctor as "the Destroyer of Worlds" after the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor destroyed the New Dalek Empire on the Crucible. (TV: Journey's End)
Known uses of John Smith
•He used it as identification when renting the junkyard from its owner, Hawkins. (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story) •The name was on the First Doctor's library card while he was living at 76 Totter's Lane. (TV: The Vampires of Venice) •He used it when Rebecca Nurse asked his name, realising that a simple "Doctor" would not do. (PROSE: The Witch Hunters) •He used it to check in at Ingersoll's tavern in Salem. (PROSE: The Witch Hunters)
Other aliases
•Dr Foreman: Addressed as "Dr Foreman" by Ian Chesterton due to the assumption that he shared Susan's (purported) surname. The Doctor responded, "Doctor who? What's he talking about?" (TV: An Unearthly Child) According to one source, however, he had previously used the alias while still on 1963 Earth during his trial for the killing of a werewolf. (PROSE: The Juror's Story) •Doctor I. M. Foreman: The Doctor's application for Susan Foreman's admittance into Coal Hill School used this alias. (PROSE: The Time Lord Letters) •Earl Foreman: When Barbara Wright was posing as Lady Barbara Foreman in the Victorian era, the Doctor posed as her father with the title of Earl. (PROSE: The Duke's Folly) •Wissfornjarl: While on the Isle of Hoy, Orkney in 1956, the Doctor was given this name by the spaywife Janet McKay. After seeing his arrival in the TARDIS, she mistook him for the island's protector from Norse mythology. He believed that it was simplest to accept the name. The name meant "Wise Old Chieftain," which Ian thought was appropriate. (AUDIO: The Revenants) •Benjamin Jackson: Used when he returned to the Salem Village on 18 July 1692. (PROSE: The Witch Hunters) •Doctor Caligari: The Doctor used it when he arrived in Tombstone, Arizona in October 1881, impersonating a magician. However, the locals mistook him for Doc Holliday. (TV: The Gunfighters)
Impersonations
•Dr Samuel Smythe (PROSE: The Nine-Day Queen) •Maximus Pettulian: While visiting the Roman Empire shortly before the Great Fire of Rome in July 64, the Doctor briefly impersonated a murdered lyre player named Maximus Pettulian in the court of Nero. (TV: The Romans) •Zeus: When the Greek warrior Achilles mistook the Doctor for Zeus posing as an old man in circa 1200 BC, he went along with it, until the unconvinced Agamemnon spoiled the Doctor's ruse. (TV: The Myth Makers) •Dalek Supreme: Displaced in time, the Doctor secretly co-opted the casing of the Dalek Supreme who fled the destruction of Kembel in a dying state. He took charge of the other Daleks who were instructed the other Daleks to hunt down the Robot Doctor. He was also address as the "Supreme Dalek" or just "Supreme". (AUDIO: Fugitive of the Daleks) •The Master of the Trods (COMIC: Return of the Trods)
Known uses of John Smith
•The John Smith alias was given to him by Jamie, having seen a John Smith & Associates apparatus, and was used aboard Space Station W3. (TV: The Wheel in Space) •He later used it when questioned by Lt. Lucke, a German soldier in World War I. (TV: The War Games)
Other aliases
•Gaius Iunius Faber: "Iunius Faber" being the Latin equivalent of John Smith. The Second Doctor used this alias during his visit to Bruttium, Italy in 71 BC. (PROSE: The Slave War) •Doctor Galloway: Edward Waterfield made up this name for the Second Doctor when arranging to meet him. (TV: The Evil of the Daleks) •The Wizard of Omega (COMIC: The Witches) •Dr Rip Van Winkle: A name given to him by Mrs Craig. (PROSE: The Indestructible Man) •Doctor Gond (TV: The Krotons) •Citizen-Representative Henri Dupont (PROSE: World Game) •Doctor Jean Dupont (PROSE: World Game) •Doctor Mason: An alias used when he took part in a jury at the trial of the First Doctor for killing a werewolf. (PROSE: The Juror's Story)
Impersonations
•The Examiner: Still not sure if he was "the Doctor" after his first regeneration, the Doctor took on the identity of an Examiner from Earth after the original one was assassinated by Bragen. (TV: The Power of the Daleks) Later in his life, he masqueraded as another Examiner, this time of a non-existing War Prison in an attempt to liberate Jamie from said prison. (TV: The War Games) •George Meadows Chameleon: On order to enter the Chameleon satellite, the Doctor pretended to be the George Meadows Chameleon, saying he had been processed twice to explain his new appearance. (TV: The Faceless Ones) •Ramón Salamander (TV: The Enemy of the World) •The Karkus (TV: The Mind Robber) •McCrimmon of McCrimmon: The Doctor masqueraded as the hereditary chieftain of Jamie McCrimmon in order to deceive the War Chief into believing that he had successfully brainwashed Jamie. (TV: The War Games) •Napoléon Bonaparte (PROSE: World Game) •Supreme Dalek (COMIC: The Doctor Strikes Back)
Known uses of John Smith
•The Third Doctor regularly called himself "John Smith" when working as UNIT's scientific adviser. (TV: Spearhead from Space, The Time Warrior) •He used it on the planet Kastopheria when asked by Administrator Charteris. (PROSE: Catastrophea)
Other aliases
•Quiquaequod: Miss Hawthorne referred to the Doctor as "the great wizard Quiquaequod" while attempting to bluff the villagers of Devil's End into releasing him. (TV: The Dæmons) Later used in his seventh incarnation. (PROSE: Sanctuary) •Doctor Noble: An alias used when he took part in a jury at the trial of the First Doctor for killing a werewolf. (PROSE: The Juror's Story) •Prisoner 177781: The Doctor was recorded by this designation when he was briefly arrested by the British Army alongside Sarah Jane Smith, who was recorded as Prisoner 177782. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
Impersonations
•The Doctor found himself forced to impersonate an Earth delegate when the real delegate, Amazonia, failed to arrive on Peladon. (TV: The Curse of Peladon) •The Master: Forced to masquerade as the Master when the latter switched bodies with him. (PROSE: The Switching) •The Gold Dalek (TV: Frontier in Space) •El Llama (PROSE: Catastrophea) •Doris Griffiths (TV: The Green Death) •Linx (TV: The Time Warrior) •Robot Knight (TV: The Time Warrior)
Known uses of John Smith
•A French variation, "Brigadier-General Jean Forgeron," was used by the Doctor when met by French soldiers in the labyrinth underneath Paris. (COMIC: The Forgotten) •He used the name in Budapest in 1980. (AUDIO: The Labyrinth of Buda Castle) •Figment knew the Fourth Doctor by the name "Jonathan Smith". (POEM: Afterwords)
Other aliases
•The Thedoctor: An interpretation of the Doctor's title when he was mistaken for a toody. He played along in case correcting the mistake proved culturally insensitive. It was usually shortened to The. (PROSE: Last Man Running) •Citizen Doctor (TV: The Sun Makers) •?: The Doctor signed a document with a question mark prior to the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey. (TV: The Invasion of Time) •Drax (COMIC: Time Lady of Means) •Tom Baker (PROSE: Bafflement and Devotion)
Impersonations
•Stanley (COMIC: Double Trouble) •Hieronymous: Stole Hieronymous's robes and pretended to be him to defeat the Mandragora Helix. (TV: The Masque of Mandragora) •Christopher Marlowe (PROSE: All Done with Mirrors) •Doctor Svengali (PROSE: Ghost Ship) •Xoanon (TV: The Face of Evil) •Oskin: The Doctor masqueraded as Oskin in order to destroy The Asteroid. (AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men) •The Moderator General (COMIC: City of the Damned) •Meglos (TV: Meglos)
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Fantasy. Horror. Sci-fi. Doctor Who. The following actors have been cast in regular roles on televised Doctor Who.
T:CHAR NAMES. By forum consensus, the titles of articles about individual characters should be the name by which the character was most commonly known in the Doctor Who universe. If a full name is provided, though is not generally used, the body text of the article itself should start with it.
Doctor Who. "The Doctor is never alone." As may be expected of a show that's run for almost forty seasons over six decades, there are plenty of characters here. For an index of the actors and actresses of the Whoniverse who have their own page on this wiki, see here.
(Top) Premise. History. Episodes. Characters. Music. Viewership. Adaptations and other appearances. Chronology and canonicity. Awards. See also. Notes. References. Further reading. External links. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963.
