There has been some delays regarding parts 10 and 11 of the Matrix Databank series plus the 8th Doctor companions series but bear with me. The 10th Doctor entry is indeed set to be published thus fortcoming Sunday 01-12. The 11th Doctor entry will also be published soon. There will be some changes and new additions coming in the new year in the Continuity Zone. So here's the following new additions:
Season to Season reviews will begin in March starting with the Classic Series episodes (Big Finish included once I get to the 8th Doctor)
I'll be jump starting my Bernice Summerfield reviews again for the first time since my History of the Doctor days. The first seven seasons will be reposted on here just in time for the reviews for Series 8-11 and the Box Sets
Era Assessment: Looking back on each era of the show's history (including controversies, triumphs, et al)
New online polls
Matrix Databank: 12th Doctor (coming late in the year once Series 8's finished airing)
Page update:
Gallifrey's timeline page will be revised to include every Gallifrey centered story ever
Suppliments to recent reviews will be up in the comming months to flesh it out in a more in depth manner.
So, that's the update. If you have further ideas for the blog I'm all ears and post them in the comments section. Ta!
You know, it's hard to believe it's been nearly 4 years since Matt Smith took on the role of the 11th Doctor. Reactions to his casting from January 2009 up to the premiere of The Eleventh Hour in the spring of 2010 ranged from severely negative to open minded approval; taking a wait and see outlook to how good he'd be. Now four years later (five next month to the day of his casting), we bid adieu to our Raggedy Man, our Mad Man in a Box. So how does tonight's Chirstmas Special measure up to the previous ones and does 11th go out on a coherent high?...Well...lets cut to the good this time:
Good:
The intro with 11th and the Daleks (and "Handles") early on was strong; leaving you to believe this will be a very strong send-off.
The performances from Smith, Coleman and guest star Orla Brady were on the ball. Plus the scenes in Trenzalore showcased why I like 11th. Going toe-to-toe with the wooden Cybermen whilst rapidly aging through 900 years (rivaling 8th's 600 years on Orbis). The aging 11th was very amusing. By the time we got to the grand finale, Smith's elderly make-up makes him look nearly Hartnell-esque right down to the wig and walking stick.
The cameo from from Karen Gillan was one many a fan won't forget. It serves as a right little bookend to 11th's lengthy life. He met Amy in his beginning as her imaginary friend, now she's became his just before he went.
Wooden Cyberman....Wooden. Cyberman!. That is all.
The expanation to who blew the TARDIS up, but not the why (why is disappointing) apart from the destiny trap the church mapped out for the Doctor.
Dat final speech! Now this (while second to Paul McGann's Physcian, heal thyself line) it strong dialogue for Matt Smith to go out on.
Bad:
The sexism is quite evident here just as it was in last November's turkey and even moreso 2011's Let's Kill Hitler. Normally I don't have a dog in that race but it's quite alarming when the showrunner's sexual politic issues run the gammut from mild to flat out hamfisted. Case in point the unneeded mysogynist line or two being foisted on Smith to say which feels more at home from a Terrence Dicks penned Doctor Who novel of old than on TV.
The Daleks were not in best use here One forum comment the other day was on point about there not being a single extermination from them since Steven Moffat's reign begun. They're now no more neutered (on TV, anyway) than Saturday Morning cartoons were when parent forced TV programmes to be the parent while the actual one just continue their passive parenting without a single-(Kory. Rambling!). Bottom line, they've ceased being scary and its a damn shame in their 50 year in pop culture. Plus, I can see now we'll never see a proper Dalek agent or a Roboman at this point or ever.
The plot when it comes to the previous baddies used through out the Smith era made the entire special feel like a Greatest Hits complilation but with no bonus bits og new material to shine through to round it off. The late Craig Hinton would've crapped out a better form of fanwank without blatantly gushing about what a genuis he is.
Clara, Clara, Clara.....I can't help but think her lack of character development is more in tune with how Susan was written the fifty years before. Only in 2013, sprained ankles and cry spells have been replaced with quips, flirtation and her saving the day a lot whether its a a leaf or her apealing to the Time Lords via a crack to give the Doctor a new regeneration. Speaking of that....
Yay for Moffat's latest Kanye moment! Rubbing salt on an old wound by bringing up the Eccleston stand-in (that's all John Hurt will always be to me) and Handy to remind us that the 11th Doctor was the last one with complete disregard for the Valeyard angle to tackle which could've been the best opportunity to exploit it. Ain't he a stinker?....
Will someone please tell Murray Gold to turn down the friggin' volume when adding music to every episode?! It wasn't cute during the RTD era and it's not cute now.
Do you know how to fly this thing?!
It's Feels Different This Time...::
The regeneration was a lot short this time around; in a same quckness as the Pertwee-Tom Baker regeneration in Planet of the Spiders and, more or less the infamous 6th regeneration in the intro to Time and the Rani. Still the 30 odd seconds with the now incumbent Doctor Peter Capaldi was a real treat. So, it's good to say that everyone has a good reason to look forward to August 2014 (or Easter depending on an odd rumor or two).
The verdict: The Time of the Doctor is indeed uneven and often slow in certain parts. It really shoud've been a stronger send off for Matt Smith rather than the net result. Compared to the hollow Day of the Doctor, the Time of the Doctor is more stable even if its disjointed it's own Moffaty way. On the bright side, Smith didn't go out like whiny child like his pinstriped predecessor...(just saying!).
2014, ho!!!
*a nod to both the Virgin New Adventures swear word and Capaldi's iconic role of Malcolm Tucker on The Thick of It.
It was a matter of time before The Vayelard would be revisited in some form of fashion via Big Finish. Having last appeared in the infamous 2003 Unbound audio He Jests at Scars... one wondered when we've heard the last of him....until now. This December saw the Subscibers Only release follow up to the 1986 14 part Trial of a Time Lord; the highly antisipated Trial of the Valeyard.
Told you, I'd be back, fandom but you didn't listen!
The story was originally intended for 2012's Subscribers Only release only to be pushed back for the 4th Doctor release Night of the Stormcrow (now released to non-subscribers), the 66 minute epic showcases a rematch between the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) and his enigmatic opponent (Michael Jayston). What better way to kick off the adventure is to set it back to the very space station where the saga began. For the rainbow claded maverick, it's one old wound that didn't need reopening; of course the Inquisitor (Lynda Bellingham) begged to differ. This time around it's not the Doctor on trial but the Valeyard for a crime heineous that the High Council
Colin Baker still shows why Sixy is the reigning Big Finish Doctor right down to the intro scene in the TARDIS to his one-on-ones with Michael Jayston. Speaking of Jayston, he slipped back into the role of the Valeyard with great finesse and ease; just as menacing and wicked as ever. Lynda Bellingham makes her Big Finish return as Inquistor Darkel, rounding off the trio and sending us back to autumn 1986. The music and sound design from Andy Hardwick proves more efficient here than in this year's Persuasion (review at a later date). I tip my hat to Mike Maddox and Alan Barnes for coming up with this suspensul gem; yo can spt many nods to the past and future in a few key scenes and certain topic that's been raging on in the wake of a certain TV Special from last month (which shall remain nameless) Special shout out to the top notch direction of Barnaby Edwards
Fret not, non-subscribers, you'll get to be the proud owners of Trial of the Valeyard next December, Another Subscriber Release winner that will keep you glued to you CD player, computer, iPod and more. Let's see if next year's release can top this, eh?
Having been in this fandom for seven years, I've learned a lot about the Wilderness Years; especially the last eight years before the show returned from life support. While Christopher Eccleston's my first Doctor, Paul McGann is THE Doctor to me not just because of one TV Movie but the audios, comics, and the novels. Those three areas rescued McGann from being christened the George Lazenby/Alan Arkin (Arkin played Inspector Clouseau forty-five years ago in the film of the same name while Peter Sellars and Blake Edwards made The Party) of Doctor Who. I have to laugh at those who keep denying the Eighth Doctor's existance just because of one little line they go insane over more than Sarah Jane saying she's from 1980 when her hairstyle screams 1975. So, he said he's half human on his mother's side. SO WHAT?! It's not that serious anymore than the so called "Morbius Doctors" (that's one topic for another time) or the nickname Theta Sigma. But the time after the broadcast of the TV Movie has, to me, be the most turbulent time in the program's fifty year history and for fandom. While we've been told or implied that this Doctor fought in the Last Great Time War (before Steven Moffat buggered that detail up this year), there was already one between three genres for the role of primary Doctor Who.
The Gillatt edited DWM's giant raspberry to its open minded audience
This "Time War" began with Gary Gillatt's tenure as Editor at Doctor Who Magazine. It's no secret that he had/still has a huge disdain for the Virgin New Adventures and everything about it (including the long since revered Bernice Summerfield) so figure what way to make what he thought was "real Doctor Who" known than to kill off Ace with the aid of writer Scott Gray in the Seventh Doctor strip Ground Zero. Looking back on it, it was a very daft decision. It's like cutting your own limb off thinking you'd be better off yet there's nothing wrong with it. But it was only the beginning of the War for Canon supremacy. The Eight Doctor strips began with the Doctor returning to Stockbridge and saving it from the Celestial Toymaker with the aid of the village's resident UFO nut Max Edison and his young friend Izzy Sinclair who automatically became his new companion. The Byronic traveler and his Sci-Fi loving chum hit the ground running in their first batch of stories in the first year. While drawn by Martin Geraghty others McGann's likeness remains intact while Izzy visualization has undergone three faces over the last 16 years: in the beginning she first bore a resemblance to singer Louise Wener of the band Sleeper, then later the actress Luisa Bradshaw-White of This Life fame and most recent (via Big Finish Productions) actress Jemima Rooper. While the DWM ushered in its first Renaissance since the Sixth Doctor strips, on the prose front, things began to get ugly.
One of the three poisoned chalices from Terrence Dicks and John Peel
In 1997 (a year after the TV movie), the BBC stripped Virgin Publishing Ltd of its Who license and took it in house. For many who enjoyed the New Adventures (though Bernice Summerfield continued by until decade's end), it was a bitter blow and a mistake; a mistake still felt in the eight years since the show returned. Gone were the too broad, too deepness the NAs were known for and in its place was the chaotic period of the BBC Books Editorship of Nualla Buffini and later Stephen Cole. To start off the newly born Eighth Doctor Adventures, Buffini chose former script editor Terrence Dicks to kick it off with the most offensive book ever to be published in both his name and Doctor Who's: The Eight Doctors. Dicks was very bemused by how the TV Movie represented Who so instead of writing what should've been a new story much like his previous NA efforts, he went the opposite direction by writing the most poorly written, continuity drenched, multi-Doctor story ever completed with creating the doomed companion, the much maligned Samantha Jones. The book not only served as a grand example of why the BBC should take everything in-house but a black spot Terrence Dicks's cred with fandom. However, the arrival of the next book Vampire Science and the other two made up for it but the fifth one would cause a mighty uproar. Another writer who's cred got deep sixed because of his disdain for what he thought Who did wrong was John Peel. His two Dalek novels War of the Daleks and Legacy of the Daleks were and still are the most awful piece of prose ever written. War not only went out it way to devoid Eight and Sam of any personality but did a gruesome hatchet job on Dalek stories from Destiny to Remembrance (especially Skaro's destruction). Sometimes I wonder if not only did Terry Nation hated Remembrance but whether or not if he had a grudge against Douglas Adams.
The turbulent period saw the return of "Mad Larry" himself Lawrence Miles with his fantastic Faction Paradox. His first three books in the range were the most spellbinding and above all revolutionary. These days, whenever you think of the Matt Smith's Doctor dying at Lake Silencio, it lifts from Alien Bodies. Its no secret some think Steven Moffat's ripping off the book and The Adventuress of Henrietta Street for his flimsy ideas and poor resolutions (I'm looking at you, River Song and The Name Of The Doctor!) and my god its showing! While, Eight and Sam dealt with the Faction and other baddies, they were joined by a male companion who is the most revered and loved after Benny: Fitz Kreiner. Another Miles book that turned Doctor Who inside out was the mammoth Interference that not only saw the exit of Sam and the arrival of Compassion but the retcon of the Third Doctor's regeneration (later restored) Before the recent John Hurt hoopla there was Three dying on Dust instead of at UNIT HQ. Of course continuity still reared its ugly head as if it became a burden to the audience, When the year 2000 rolled in, a drastic change was made: the destruction of Gallifrey. For those new to Who the fandom of old have huge yet bizarre bone of contention towards the Time Lords and have a defeatist logic that they're better off dead (including Romana!) and there's nothing interesting to be done with them. Big Finish begged to differ there but even that's fallen on deaf populist ears. Though the line got better with the Caught on Earth arc, Anji, Trix, and Sabbath.
This is where the lines were drawn....
Speaking of Big Finish, the company gained the license to make Doctor Who audios after the success of the first six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations. In 2001, Paul McGann returned to the role for brand new audio adventures that have been ongoing for now thirteen years. For the first five to seven years, the Doctor was joined by self professed "Edwardian Adventuress Charley Pollard (India Fisher) and later the criminally maligned and underrated Eutermisan woobie C'rizz (Conrad Westmaas). The first two seasons centered around Charley and how the Doctor saving her from the R101 caused ripples to the Web of Time leading up the controversial 2003 audio Zagreus. For those who hate it, there's no love lost between jilted customers who were expecting a traditional multi-Doctor story and its co-author and former Big Finish Svengali Gary Russell deciding to segregate the 8th Doctor's timeline into three alternate timelines: separating the audios, the novels, and the DWM comic strips. For those who follow Russell's works over the years its no secret that he enjoys his alternate timeline ideas. Pity Jason Haigh-Ellery never pulled him to the side to tell him to leave it out.The so-called alternate timeline idea has been well abandoned in the years since Russell left his duties to Nicholas Briggs. From 2007 to now, Big Finish catapulted listeners to a later period of the Eighth Doctor's life which included the Blackpool native Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith), struggling actress Tamsin Drew (Niky Wardley), WW1 Voluntary Aid Detachment Molly O'Sullivan (Ruth Bradley) and soon joining the list next year Kaldor City native Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) from the Seventh Doctor audio Robophobia. The period also saw the return of his Grand-daughter Susan Campbell (nee' Foreman) and albeit brief, her son Alex (played by McGann's own son Jake). In the wake of the Briggs era ,The Bodysnatchers was referenced in Paul Magrs' 2008 audio The Zygon Who Fell to Earth and the following year 2009's The Company Of Friends (featuring Benny, Fitz, Izzy and Mary Shelley) officially put the last nail in the coffin for a long bitter war for what was Canon. Further, in 2012, Eight abandoned his Wild Bill Hycock attire for a dark blue naval leather jacket, denim jeans, brown boots, satchel, and a new steampunk Sonic Screwdriver for the finacially and critically successful Dark Eyes box set.
The return to TV came with a price.....
Of course the war actually ended with the return of the TV series in March 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the then new Ninth Doctor with Billie Piper in tow as Rose Tyler. The return saw a bad patch for all three spin-off medias: For BBC Books, they ceased publication of the EDAs and the PDAs in favor of tie-in novels to the New Series. However, there have been four new books since the Matt Smith/Steven Moffat era that were right up EDA/PDA-ers' alley and a new eBook series in the works. Big Finish sales dipped briefly during the Russell-Briggs transition period in 2006-2007. The media most hit was Doctor Who Magazine who had plans to make a Ninth Doctor Year One arc with then Eighth Doctor Companion, the Oblivioner Destrii. Due to the BBC, RTD and Julie Gardener wanting Nine to only be seen with Rose, the Year One plan and the regeneration panel was scraped; the strips suffered for a time with mediocre stories only to gain its mojo again by the time David Tennant's tenure started and at rapid speed once Rose Tyler was gone.
And they would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids (Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner)
There's a lot to be learned from this and there's a damn good reason why the BBC will never pull a Gene Roddenberry and decide what's canon and what isn't (The Adventure Games notwithstanding) though the recent minisode may have successfully tore down the proverbial iron curtain between TV only and everything else. Its up to you, the viewer, the listener, the reader to decided what you consider what happened and what didn't without treating your opinion as "facts". Otherwise, history would repeat itself. And no matter the direction, the Eighth Doctor is still the romantic, byronic traveler with a love for all life and did many impossible things for the greater good.
October 2013 appeared to be the momentous month for Doctor Who fandom: the recovery and iTunes release of two 2nd Doctor serials (The Enemy of the World and 4/6 of The Web of Fear with part three still missing), and (the disappointing) Day of the Doctor, and the most surprising of all was the early release of Big Finish Productions highly anticipated 50th anniversary release The Light at the End.
For those who are quite disenchanted by The Day of the Doctor, The Light at the End is right up your alley. Its a milestone in many ways than one. It's the first major anniversary story from Big Finish since the critically derided Zagreus from the decade before. Unlike 2010's The Four Doctors and the previous TV multi-Doctor stories of old, this release has not only the surviving five Doctors (with Tom Baker finally taking part in a multi-Doctor adventure with his predecessors) but also the partcipation of 1-3 via the voices of William Russell (Ian), Frazer Hines (Jamie) and recurring guest voice Tim Treloar (Destination: Nerva, The Return of the Rocket Men).
The story takes place at No. 59 Barnsfield Crescent, Northampshire on November 23rd, 1963 where the life of Bob Dovie (Big Finish's top tier writer John Dorney) has turn upside down with the arrival of a police box on his chimney...and it all ties to the Master and a red light flashing at the end of TARDIS console signaling a greater danger that threaten's the Doctor's very existence. Unlike this past season's finale, only the Doctors have to rally together to thwart the Master once and for all before its too late.
On to the cast!: All five Doctors: Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann are at the top of their games here; particulary in key scenes like 4th and 8th and their perspective companions Leela (Louise Jameson) and much missed Charley (India Fisher), 5th and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) at the Dovie home investigating, and most of all 6th and 7th at their finest and less disagreeing. I did chuckle out loud when Ace (Sophie Aldred) called ol' Sixy "Joseph" and felt maudlin when 7th sees Peri (Nicola Bryant). John Dorney pulls off his performance as Bob Dovie with the greatest of ease ranging from scared, confused, to outright ticked off. Geoffrey Beevers gives another slam dunk performance as the Master showing his crispy incarnation is just as ruthless as ever imagined. Distorted voices aside, William Russell and Frazer Hines honor their late co-stars with their voices as the 1st and 2nd Doctors and Tim Treloar's 3rd sounds more or less akin to Jon Pertwee circa the early 90s BBC audios.
Gotta give around of applause to Jamie Robertson for pulling all the stops with the score and the rocking theme tune that gives Murray Gold's recent arrangement some tough competition. Further his sound designs is top tier work raking along side the efforts of previous sound designers of old. Last of all, Nicholas Briggs, who both write and directed it, has certainly given us what some can call this release the 40th anniversary present we should've had instead.
All in all, The Light At The End gives Classic Who fans (old and new) something to cheer about as this reviewer certain views it, the recovered Troughton episodes and the recent docudrama An Adventure In Space and Time as the real gems of the program's 50th anniversary and a damn good jump-on point for brand new listeners.
I know what you're thinking... Something's wrong with this picture. Looks fine to me!
I never thought I'd see the day I'd rate a Moffat penned episode as my very least favorite, but the day officially came...
Before you all go screaming "if I could unread your post, I would!" or "Haterz gonna hate", let me be perfectly blunt and clear. I've been a Whovian for the last seven years since I was 17. I've watched every episode classic and new (and the many comics, novels and those magnificent audios from Big Finish that followed) and experience fandom's good side and its bad side (i.e. bashing Adric, some still viewing the TV Movie as "the American Abomination",and fans bashing others for not liking the current showrunner and the one before him). Not one time has any of Who make me second guess myself as a viewer (or do I really want to continue being apart of this fandom) the way the Day of the Doctor did yesterday evening.
In the many months since the announcement that none of the Classic Doctors nor Christopher Eccleston were returning (for the latter, we'll lay the blame on Marvel/Disney's doorstep) my excitement for the 50th TV Special went from a "Hell yes!" to a certified "Hell NO!". For the many complaints about Day of the Doctor being more of a tribute to the last eight years than pre-2005. Well, after what I've sat through, those criticisms were and are well justified and severly accurate many ways than one. Adding insult to injury that Day turned out to be the lastest of times Steven Moffat's been feeling himself too much in his writing; the worst case since 2011's Let's Kill Hitler. Plus his agenda to resolve the regeneration limit but shoehorning a unnecessary forgotten incarnation as the one who ended the Time War instead of what the majority of fandom assumed (and backed up by Big Finish and IDW's The Forgotten) to be the 8th Doctor. Bare in mind regarding 8th, while such an act would go against his Big Finish characterization, the 8th Doctor of the EDA novels would given the first time he blew up Gallifrey (and the violatile actions done during the Caught on Earth arc). It's a tragedy that Moffat used the 50th to muck with the limit so he can be the only one to deal with it and no one after him would ever get the chance.
I'll just come right out with the bad:
I just can't accept John Hurt's War Doctor at all. I'm sorry....no, I'm not sorry! I believe the idea of a hidden incarnation between the two Doctors I love (Christopher Eccleston's my first Doctor and Paul McGann's MY Doctor) is a terrible one; my least favorite idea from Moffat after the existance of River Song. Don't get me wrong, I think Hurt's a lovely dude and I don't question his acting abilities, but I feel his presence designated him in my eyes as the New Who generation's equivalent of Richard Hurndall in terms of his role being made bigger to accommodate Eccleston's non-participation (and frankly, I won't hold it against Eccleston unlike some in this fandom). Plus he agreed to take part in a honored role he didn't deserve nor did he earn. Had he'd been cast as, say, 5 or 6 years ago, then it'd be fine but not so much as an hidden incarnation. I feel the wrong man was there. If it were Richard E. Grant, I'd most likely would've been cool with it seeing as I liked Scream of the Shalka and he was, until that faithful TV announcement, the real 9th Doctor (well the 2nd of the now 4 9's). Regardless of the ending scene and the closing titles, the numbering as far as marketing and merchandise are concerned, will remain the same. Eccleston's still 9, Tennant 10, Smith 11, and Capaldi 12. No point in stomping your feet demanding Hurt be included in future products anymore than Handy (Meta-Crisis 10) nor am I changing my Matrix Databanks and Timelines for a mere one-off. Further, he didn't come off as the bad man Moffat attempted to sell us with in The Name of the Doctor; he was no different from the other before Eccleston through Smith. An idea that went up in smoke and a true waste of a regeneration.
The Queen Elizabeth thing. I wasn't keen on the whole thing when it started out as a poorly thought out joke from RTD and still not keen on fulfilling it here. It was embarassing along side the Zygon-UNIT plot which was too random for its own good.
Spoiler: The Time War.... For a once renegade Time Lord who once store all of Gallifrey via Matrix into his mind just as he blew it up the first time around (via the novels), he really didn't making the effort to figure out a way to save his home and have the War Council and Spits-a-lon overthrown to send it to a pocket universe instead of waiting three regenerations later to finally come up with the plan. Makes the Doctor look slack and a bit of a defeatist.
The Moment - Didn't see the point in the Moment taking the form of Rose when the War Doctor had no companions. It's only proves that the War Doctor role could've easily be either Paul McGann or Christopher Ecceston. Had the Moment took the form or Susan or Romana, there'd be more impact and more familar in terms of the program's mythology that's not limited to only 2005 to now.
Now for the good:
GALLIFREY FALLS NO MORE!!! After eight gruelling years of watch the Doctor being molded into a Superman-esque character, the aftertaste of the RTD era has finally cleansed the show back to its roots. The first 50 years was about him running away from it, now the next 50 will be him running towards it. I know some folks are against this but like the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of Oa, the Time Lords aren't exempted from being brought back (save for Rassilon who can stay in his tomb for all I care)
The performances from all involved were fine. I was rather glad Billie Piper was only the Moment's manifestation of Rose and not the real deal. While a relief for her, a disappointment to fans of the Russell T. Davies era who wanted to see her and 10th interact instead of
Spoiler: The Capaldi cameo and the special appearance of Tom Baker was lovely
But that even the good bits can't save it from being the turkey it was destined to be: a souless 8th anniversary that thumbed its nose to viewers (casual or long-time) and insulted their intelligence outright with not a single (Rhymes with Buck) given. Fans deserve better. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann deserve better. Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman deserve better than this giant contunuty albatross that Moffat foisted upon the general public. Day of the Doctor is one anniversary gift he and the BBC should've kept to themselves.
Don't take it as a anti-Moffat post as I enjoyed most of his tenure up until this month and this past June's finale; I'm not amused by the radical changes like renumbering the Doctors. Especially to confuse those who'll might get on board in future once Peter Capaldi gets the key to the TARDIS in the next 8 months. Time will tell...
The Day of the Doctor has taken the No. 1 spot after Terrence Dicks' The Eight Doctors and John Peels Dalek novels (as you can see I refuse to include those two in my 8th timeline) as Doctor Who stories I pretend never happened. Criticize/insult me all you like, but that's the way it is.. Nice to know some folks enjoyed it, but don't expect me to change my posts and timelines to accommodate Hurt.
"Charley. C'rizz. Lucie. Tamsin. Molly. Friends and companions I've know, I salute you..."
What? Were you expecting him to mention Grace Holloway? As heard in the min-episode The Night of the Doctor, the names the 8th Doctor uttered were the five of the many companions that traveled with him in the long time since San Francisco New Year's Eve 1999 up to the events of the minisode. This three part series offers new 8th Doctor fans to learn more about each companion from all three genres that make up the good Doctor's mammoth life. Part one of the series takes a look at the companions from Big Finish Productions that have been along for the audio ride since 2001 and beyond.
Charley (India Fisher)
Charley Pollard
First appearance: with 8th - Storm Warning (January 2001); with 6th - The Condemned (February 2008)
Last appearance: with 8th - The Girl Who Never Was (December 2007); with 6th - Blue Forgotten Planet (September 2009)
Charlotte Elspeth Pollard- Charley to her friends, Lottie to her mother. Born the day the Titanic sank and later stowaway on board the airship R101 on October 1930. It was there that she met the Doctor while encountering the Triskeli. With this adventure and beyond, Charley accompanied the Doctor in his travels. Throughout their adventures lingered the aftermath of her being saved from the R101 disaster which caused hard to the Web of Time. Over time, her feelings for the Doctor grew even when confronting the Time Lords and the Anti-Time creatures. She stowaway in the TARDIS once the Doctor was exiled to the Divergent Universe where they endured many an adventure well out of their depth. Occasionally she'd see a dream or hallucination of her mother at one point. She left the Doctor's company after her bemusement of his reaction to the death of C'rizz only to end up seperated from him during an encounter with the Cybermen. However her story was far from over when the 6th Doctor answered her S.O.S.....(That's for another time)
C'rizz (Conrad Westmaas)
C'rizz
First appearance: The Creed of the Kromon (January 2004)
Last appearance: Absolution (October 2007)
C'rizz was a Eutermisan of the Divergent Universe and a monk from the Church of the Foundation. For most of his life he was taught killing was saving people. He was almost freed from that life when L'da, his lover, paid for his freedom before the Kromon invaded their world. He met the Doctor and Charley when he was found stranded and disoriented. Whilst helping his new friends, he made a awful discovery that his L'da was turning into an insect queen; with no alternative, he ended her suffering. Upon defeating the Kromon, C'rizz accompanied the Doctor and Charley in their quest to retrieve the TARDIS in their new surroundings. He later joined them back to their universe where he was just as out of depth here as they were in his. He remained with them for many adventures until he sacrificed himself saving his friends from the Absolver on the planet Utebbadon-Tarria.
Lucie (Sheridan Smith)
Lucie Miller
First apperance: Blood of the Daleks Pt.1 (Originally broadcast December 31, 2006/CD release January 2007)
Last appearance: To the Death (CD release March 2011/Later broadcasted January 18, 2013)
Lucie bleedin' Miller! Much like a certain redhead from Chiswick after her, the brash Blackpool native appeared out of nowhere in the TARDIS. It was during the event of the Daleks on the desolated planet of Red Rocket Rising, the Doctor learned she was placed under his care via the Celestial Intervention Agency's witness protection regarding a company who hired her that was in involved in conflict with the Cybermen. Throughout their time, Lucie and the Doctor dealt with every mad man and monster under the stars and even encountered her aunt Patricia Ryder on a few occasions. The second occasion led to Auntie Pat's demise at the wrath of the Zygons (Pat's Zygon lover took her form to conceal the truth from Lucie). The final meeting saw the truth of Pat's fate revealed while Lucie fought for her life dealing with a vengeful Zynog; as a result she left the Doctor's company. She reunited with him on Deimos during an excursion with the Ice Warriors. Later, she sacrificed her life saving the world from the Daleks and their Time Controller.
Tamsin (Niky Wardley)
First appearance: Situation Vacent (CD release July 2010; broadcast January 8, 2013)
Last appearance: To the Death (CD release March 2011; broadcast January 18, 2013)
Tamsin Drew. Struggling out of work actress who was seeking a new gig when she stumbled upon an advert seeking new time traveling companions. She answered the ad under the persona Juliet Walsh though she almost didn't make the cut until the other applicants weren't what they seemed. She traveled with the Doctor for a time before she left him in the wake of their moral differences during the Ice Warrior attack on Deimos. She ended up travelling with another Time Lord known as the Monk. She was exterminated by the Daleks during their invasion of Earth; she was one of three deaths that impact the Doctor to take direct action.
Molly (Ruth Bradley)
Molly O'Sullivan
First appearance: Dark Eyes: The Great War (November 2012)
Last appearance: Unknown
Molly O'Sullivan was a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during World War I; she was stationed in France along side her charge and almost sister Kitty. She met the Doctor after he was found unconscious via mustard gas. He noticed her eyes were darker than normal human eyes; that warrant not only his attention but the Daleks. From there, Dunkirk, Hallalka, and Strangor, Molly and the Doctor were on the run from them. It was these events that Molly learned that a mysterious Time Lord known as Kotris abducted her as a child, implanted her with retro-generated particles in order to use her for a space-time projector to erase the Time Lords from reality plus having the skills of operating a TARDIS without the sheer knowledge of how. After she was saved and Kotris (and his past life) were exterminated by the Daleks, her eyes were returned to normal and she returned back to her time zone to remain by her charge's side. Her story, however, is only the beginning....
Also Companions:
Samson and Gemma Griffin (voiced by Lee Inglby and Lizzie Hopley) - a brother-sister duo from Folkstone who traveled with the Doctor prior to Charley and C'rizz. The trio had several fun adventures together ranging from the ice caves of Shabadabadon to Studio 54. Their time with the Doctor came to a volatile end when the siblings when to investigate only to end up in the cluches of Davros. As the madman entered the TARDIS, Samson restrained the Doctor as Gemma, under Davros' orders, altered the Doctor's memories; forcing him to drop Davros off on Earth, 200,000s. Upon his return to our universe, the Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz encountered them (albeit seperately) as Davros was suffering from the effects of Emperor reprogramming. Gemma served as his virus to spread all over Earth (she later died at C'rizz's hands) while Samson was struggling with the aftermath.
Mary Shelley (voiced by Julie Cox) - The legendary Frankenstein author first met the Doctor at the Vila Diodati in 1816 Switzerland when he answered a distress call sent out by himself near the end of his life. The Time Lord and Mary's adventures including the "Silver Turk", a witch from the well, axons, the Bone Lord and King Herald and the battle of Hastings. Upon Mary's request, the Doctor returned her to the Vila Diodati and went to retrieve Samson and Gemma.
The Eighth Doctor entry of the Matrix Databank series has been updated to include today's minisode The Night of the Doctor featuring the well deserved return of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor.
As for Parts 10 and 11, I'm currently working on it as I type. Part 10 will be made available late Thursday and Part 11 will be published on here immediately on Christmas Day shortly after the premiere of the Christmas Special.
The 9th Doctor: Damaged, Manic, Sharp witted, Northern, Last of the Time Lords. This incarnation was born during the tail end of the Last Great Time War which saw the destruction of both Time Lord and Dalek alike. The event left him severely devastated and often had to hide his grief with a manic yet cheery grin. Unlike his previous eight selves, this Doctor sported a short haircut along with a black U-boat jacket, V neck jumper (ranging from red, blue, green, dark purple and jet black), black pants and boots to match. Much remains unknown about the many adventures he had save for a few documented ones ranging from his encounter with the Sontarans in Istanbul, delivered his fifth self's letters to Peri and Erimem at the Kingmaker Inn in 1483, and tended to the wounds of an old associate named Honore' Lechasseur after a bunker explosion; Lechasseur never knew who the northern gentleman was. He was also one of the twelve incarnations to attend the funeral of Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor was sited in a few historical photos obtained by Clive Finch where he was allegedly present at the days of the Kennedy Assasination, the sinking of the Titanic and the eruption of Krakatoa.
While inside a London department store called Henrik's, the Doctor met and rescued 19 year old Rose Tyler from a group of Autons. He ran into the girl once again when obtaining an Auton's arm at her family apartment on the Powell Estate. Whilst escaping a duplicate of her boyfriend Mickey Smith, the unlikely duo went straight to the TARDIS (now with a more grainy coral configuration) to trace the whereabout of the Nestine Consciousness only to find it and the real Mickey located under the London Eye. With her help, the Doctor defeated the Consciousness. Upon getting her and Mickey to safety, the Doctor offered Rose to come with him in the TARDIS but she turned down the offer and the TARDIS took off. However, immediately after an adventure in Babylon, the Doctor returned to mention to Rose that the ship can go anywhere in time and space. With that, Rose kissed Mickey goodbye and ran inside what would become her new life. For her first trip, the Doctor took Rose to Platform One in the year 5,000,000,000 to watch Earth's destruction. They soon discovered metal spiders sabotaging the platform; the metal spiders belong to "the last human" Cassandra O'Brien. With the aid and unfortunate sacrifice of Jabe of Forest Cheem, the Doctor rescued the platform and its surviving guests. Cassandra, however, was met with a grizzly fate as her skin dried to a point the frame exploded (thought her brain meat was recovered). This adventure led to the Doctor opening up to Rose about the Time War and what it cost him. Another trip was to Christmas 1869 in Cardiff where they had a run-in with the Gelth and meeting Charles Dickens. The Doctor managed to return Rose back to the Powell Estate; much to their surprise, the TARDIS arrived in 2006: a year later. Upon being greeted with questions from not only the police but Rose's mother Jackie and Mickey (who was looked at as a potential suspect), the Doctor and Rose saw a spaceship ram through Big Ben and crashed into the Thames. It was this event that saw them encountering the Slitheen. Also, the Doctor gained an ally in MP Harriet Jones. With Mickey's help, the Slitheen were blown to bits at 10 Downing Street by the Harpoon missile. Shortly after, the Doctor and Rose departed Cardiff and resumed their travels. Their later adventures involved 1924 London, Justicia, a lone Dalek, Satellite 5, the Quevvil, and 1987 where Rose wanted to see the day her father died triggering a series of time altering effects.
It wouldn't be just the two of them for long when the TARDIS landed during the London Blitz. The Doctor was tracking a strange object while Rose wandered off and ended up hanging onto a barrage balloon. She lost her grip on the rope and fell until she was rescued by the dashing young Time Agent Capt. Jack Harkness. The two joined the Doctor who's investigation led to the Albion Hospital where he discovered living dead creatures, with gas masks fused to their face, and identical symptoms, including a scar on the hand in the same place as a young child who was stalking a young homeless woman and the children she was looking after. It was discovered that the young boy was related to the woman. With Jack disarming a bomb inside the ambulence, the Doctor had it destroyed it to make sure history proclaimed the bombs hit that very location. Immediately after Capt. Jack joined the Doctor and Rose on board the TARDIS and the new crew sat off to new adventures. During this period, the trio traveled to the The Novrosk Peninsula, Bromley in 2005, a return to Cardiff dealing with the last of the Slitheen family, the Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four, Arkannis Major, 2775, New Vegas in the 23rd Century, and Kyoto, Japan. After leaving Kyoto, a bright white transmat entered the TARDIS transporting the Doctor, Rose, and Jack to Satellite 5; a hundred years after the Doctor and Rose last visited the station. The Doctor was transmatted and later escaped the Big Brother house (taking one of the contestants with him), while Jack took out two androids equivilants of Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine and Rose trapped playing the Weakest Link. Just as the Doctor and Jack broke in to save her Rose was gun down by the AnneDroid believed to be dead. However, it was workout that the disintegrater was nothing more than a transmat beam. Much to the Doctor's horror, he saw over two hundred Dalek fleets confirming that the Daleks survived the Time War afer all; they had Rose as their hostage. The Doctor and Jack managed to retrieve Rose only to end up meeting the Dalek Emperor. Knowing the fight would be a suicide mission, the Doctor pre-programmed the TARDIS into taking Rose home while he, Jack and the rest of the Game Station fought the Daleks. However, no one but the Doctor survived and built a delta wave generator meant to destroy all life; among the casualties was Jack and the Big Brother contestant Lynda Moss. Back on Earth and unhappy about being behind the sidelines, Rose with Mickey and her mother's help opened the TARDIS console; absorbing the heart of the ship where she returned to the station as the Bad Wolf entity much to the Doctor's fear. In the process, Rose destroyed all of the Daleks and their Emperor plus ressurected Jack in the process. Knowing the power could destroy her, the Doctor kissed Rose to abstract the time vortex from her and restored it back to the heart of the TARDIS. They left the game station unaware that they left a newly immortal Jack behind. Absorbing the vortex cause celluar damage to his body, thus dying right before Rose's very eyes. He tried to explain to her about the concept of regeneration and before he did exactly that he told Rose that she was fantastic and so was he. With that, the Time Lord regenerated; gone was the northern big eared man and now the form of a handsome skinny idiot.
The Eighth Doctor: Enigmatic, Zagreus, the Evergreen Man, Romantic, Adventurous. His birth came a few hours after his seventh incarnation died on the operating table at Walker General Hospital in San Fransisco, California on December 30, 1999. He awoke from the morgue confused and scared; wondering who he is. He scavenged for clothes by putting on a long dark green velvet coat, grey cravat and waistcoat. Upon wondering the hospital, he came cross Dr. Grace Holloway who he thought knew who he was. At the same time, the Master gained a new body in the form of the paramedic who took the Doctor to the hospital. With the aid of Chang Lee, the Master entered the TARDIS to get to the Eye of Harmony; using it to track the Doctor down. In the process of the Eye opening, the Doctor regained his memory and immediately enlisted Grace's help in obtaining an atomic clock to repair the malfunction of the TARDIS console. However, the Master eventually tracked and captured him. As the Master drained the rest of his remaining lives with the Eye, the Doctor instructed Grace to set the ship into temporal orbit triggering the Eye to lose power and preventing the universe's destruction. Freed, the Doctor defeated the Master; being sucked into the Eye of Harmony in the process. Returning Grace and Lee to January 1, 2000, the Doctor offered her to come with him but politely declined. The two parted company as he left for new adventures in the TARDIS.
After a dream about Cambridge 1979, the Doctor went to Gallifrey where he enlisted Madam President
Romana and K9 in helping him resolve a old mystery of Prof. Chronotis and the going up against Skagra and the Krags whilst entering the Time Lord prison planet Shada. Shortly after returning Romana and K9 back to Gallifrey, the Doctor returned to Earth, this time in 1997 where he re-united with Bernice Summerfield. The duo along with retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT thwarted an Ice Warrior invasion. Shortly after, the Doctor dropped Benny off at St. Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. Not only did he team up with his three previous selves in thwarting the Daleks' latest scheme for universal conquest, he also encounter Morgaine and Mordred, leading to him to write a letter to his seventh incarnation about Morgaine's plans for King Arthur. Several short trips later, the Doctor met two young siblings by the name of Samson and Gemma Griffin at a library in Folkstone. The trio had several fun adventures together ranging from the ice caves of Shabadabadon, to Studio 54. Upon leaving them in Vienna, the Doctor went to Switzerland 1816 at the Vila Diodati to answer a distress call sent out by himself near the end of his life. It was there, he met the author Mary Shelley (nee' Godwin). The Time Lord and the Frankenstein author had several adventures including the "Silver Turk", a witch from the well, axons, the Bone Lord and King Herald and the battle of Hastings. Upon Mary's request, the Doctor returned her to the Vila Diodati and went to retrieve Samson and Gemma. They spotted a Nekkistani time vessel and the siblings when to investigate only to end up in the cluches of Davros. As the madman entered the TARDIS, Samson restrained the Doctor as Gemma, under Davros' orders, altered the Doctor's memories; forcing him to drop Davros off on Earth, 200,000s.
Having no recollection of the Griffins or Davros, the Doctor wandered through the vortex until a encounter with a Vortisaur led to him materializing within the confines of the airship R101 where he met a young stowaway, the self-professed "Edwardian Adventurous" named Charlotte Pollard. Charley wasn't meant to be on board that day as the R101 crashed on October 5, 1930. Having saved her life and gotten chummy with the lone Vortisaur, Charley joined the Doctor in his travels. Their early adventures included the Cybermen, Venice, "Malebogia" w/ the Brigadier, New York 1938, Edwardian London 1906, Singapore with the Nimon, ROSM, a surprising run-in with the Celestial Toymaker, London's West End 1935, and 2020s w/ the Daleks during the Euro-Wars. The Web of Time became ill and it was assumed it was because of saving Charley that let to unforeseen consequences that led to the Time Lords pursuing and later captured them. According to the Celestial Intervention Agency, the rescue of Charley cause a tear in the Web of Time. Not only that, but she was also a gateway to a universe of anti-Time. The Doctor and Romana travelled into the anti-Time universe and he also managed to destroy the Never-people only to end up infected by anti-Time; his mind was hijacked by the divergent entity Zagreus while in the universe of Anti-Time and threatened the existence of the universe. With help from his previous three incarnations (while Charley, Romana, Leela and K9 went up against Rassilon), the Doctor removed Zagreus from his mind and. In case, any anti-Time lingering within him, Romana exiled him into the divergent universe. Despite his attempt to leave her behind, Charley stowed away in the TARDIS to accompany him into the universe without time.
During their time in the anti-Time universe, the duo were apart of a accelerated evolution experiment. Upon defeating the sound creature, the Doctor and Charley escaped the experiment. Shortly after, the duo wound up in the Interzone. There, they met a troubled Eutermisan named C'rizz who was on the run from the Kromon. Upon being captured, the Doctor discovered C'rizz's lover L'da mutating into the Kromon's insect queen. Given no other alternative, C'rizz ended L'da's suffering by gunning her down. With his help, the Doctor freed Charley from becoming the latest insect queen. Now free of the Kromon, C'rizz joined the Doctor and Charley in their quest for the TARDIS. During their journey, the three travellers found themselves in Light City, Setarus, the Multihaven, Bortresoye and, Caedroia. Also during their travels they kept encountering the mysterious Kro'ka. Upon arriving in Caedroia, the Doctor was split into three; two of him represented different aspects of his personality in order to defeat the Kro'ka and finally retrieve the TARDIS. After beating Rassilon, the Kro'ka and the other inhabitants, the Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz returned to N-Space. Unknown to them that Davros set up a trap for them despite his increasing mental instability due to sharing his mind with the Dalek Emperor. At the same time, the Doctor's memories of Samson and Gemma were restored. However, due to Davros' influence being too great, C'rizz performed a mercy killing; freeing her indefinitely. Rather than avoid being defeated, the Daleks agreed to evacuate Earth. The TARDIS trio's later adventures included Sammarus Institute, Endarra, The Great Exhibition of 1851, the planet Industry's Clockwork Men, The Brainworm, and the TARDIS being stolen by a ice cream van! Their travels ended in two chaotic ways however. C'rizz sacrificed himself to save the Doctor and Charley from the Absolver on the planet Utebbadon-Tarria. His death and the Doctor's blaise' behavior towards it angered Charley leading to her demanding to return home. This only prove pragmatic as they had a run-in with the Cybermen that split the two apart leaving Charley stranded on a deserted island in the year 500,002* while the Doctor was left a goodbye note from her at the Singapore Hilton.
Grim for a brief time, the Doctor traveled alone for a time before he arrived in Stockbridge. While there, he encountered the Celestial Toymaker who brainwashed the majority of the village's residents into obeying his every command. Assisting the Doctor in battling the Toymaker were the only two citizens who weren't under the Toymaker's influence: old friend Max Edison and his young friend Isabelle Sinclair. After restoring Stockbridge to normal, the Doctor once more offered Max a trip in the TARDIS but the resident UFO spotter politely declined the invite. In his place, Izzy accepted the invite and the two were off to brand new adventures. Their early adventures saw them in the 51st Century. dealing with alternate universe Daleks, and the most prominent force the Threshold. During a visit to 1939 in the South Pacific, the Doctor and Izzy ran a foul of a rich madman who injected his fellow guests with a dangerous toxin. Upon the Doctor suffering from its effects, the TARDIS took him Izzy and Fey Truscott-Sade to Gallifrey to be placed into the Matrix for recovery. With this, he was dragged into an adventure with the Elysians with the aid of Shayde. Upon his return, the Doctor regenerated into a new body much to Izzy and Fey's horror. However, the new incarnation turned out to be Shayde in disguise while the real Doctor infiltrated the Threshold. With Fey and Shayde merging as one, the Doctor was able to defeat the Threshold once and for all. The Doctor and Izzy's later adventures included human-morphant hybrid, 17th Century Japan, battling the Gaijin plus making a samurai immortal to save his life in the process, a run in with space pirates and Kroton, the Cyberman with a soul (who later joins the TARDIS crew) and a deadly confrontation with a newly resurrected Master. Their adventures took a hectic turn in the form of Ophidius. There, the Doctor and Izzy met the Oblivion native Destrii who was on the run from the Mobox. To evade facing their wrath, Destrii switched bodies with Izzy using a machine she passed off as a telepathic transmitter, Upon finding the Doctor, Destrii (in Izzy's body) was vaporized by the Mobox much to Izzy's (in Destrii's body) horror leaving her to cope with someone else's body. During this period, the duo met the artist Frida Kahlo and later tangoed with the Daleks; those "good Daleks" were a result from his previous encounter six incarnations before. Upon adventure's end, Izzy was captured by operatives of Destrii's mother, who wanted Destrii to prepare for her wedding by fighting a duel to the death. With the help of Feyde (Fey and Shayde merged in Wormwood), the Doctor was able to track down Destrii and took her to her homeword Oblivion to undo the damaged she caused. Mid way during the fight to the death, Izzy and Destrii returned to their respective bodies. Immediately after (and coming to terms with who she is and her sexuality) Izzy parted company; returning to the night she left Stockbridge. The Doctor traveled alone for a brief time before encountering Destrii again (with her uncle Jodafra) in the Dakota Hills in 1875. The Doctor stopped the Windingo and Jodafra (with Destrii's help) from sacrificing the Lakota tribe. Angered by his niece's betrayal, Jodafra beat Destrii and left her for dead; the Doctor found her and immediately took her to seek medical care. While at the Hippocrates Base, the facility was boarded by the Zeronites. With the Destrii's help, the Doctor put an end to the attack and the two sat off to adventures new (with Destrii now sporting a holographic necklace that makes her appear human). The new duo went to London 2004 where the Cybermen sought to convert the human race into being like them. After defeating the Cybermen, the Doctor and Destrii continued their travels until they parted company.
The Doctor traveled alone once again, until he landed in London 1997, where he met Samantha Jones, who was on her way to a Greenpeace rally. Intrigued by her new friend, Sam took one trip in the TARDIS before being dropped off at the rally. The Doctor later picked her up: three years later for him; a few hours for her. During the three year gap, the Doctor traveled with a young woman named Stacy Townsend who he saved during his excursion with the Cybermen and were sometime joined later by the Ice Warrior Ssard. The three traveled until the new couple parted company one they got married. Before that a brief reunion with Prof. Bernice Summerfield on Epsilon Minima. Afterwards, the Doctor returned for Sam and the duo headed out to new adventures. Early on the Doctor and Sam's travels included Vampires in 1997 San Francisco, Zygons, Werewolves, Wirrn, and the devious time cult known as Faction Paradox. Their encounter with the group lead to a shocking revelation for Sam: She fell into dimensional scar that altered her history presenting a dark version of herself. Later on, the Doctor later accquired Fitz Kreiner in 1963 and with Sam's departure following their tumultuous encounter with Faction Paradox, he gain another new companion in Compassion , an agent of the Remote (an offshoot of Faction Paradox). Several adventures later and a reunion with a widowed Lethbridge-Stewart, the TARDIS was destroyed leading to not only uneasy tension with the Time Lords and a newly regenerated Romana, but had to travel inside Compassion who at that point evolved into a TARDIS. The trio resumed their travels that led to a grand turning point in the Doctor's life: The foreknowledge of the Second War in Heaven obtained by the Doctor and the Time Lords triggered the first destruction of Gallifrey. In shock and pain, Compassion and Fitz dropped him off on Earth at the turn of the 20th Century with his own TARDIS now in cube form (it would grow back to its normal size) and a note from Fitz that told him to meet him in St. Louis in 2001. As a result he remained of Earth for a century but with no memory. Throughout the 20th Century, the amnesic Doctor dealt with fiery beings, the Players, Ferren and the revelation that he has a teenage daughter named Miranda.
As 2001 approached, the TARDIS was restored to normal size and reunited with Fitz. During the reunion Earth was being invaded by the Kulan. It was this adventure that the duo met the young stock broker Anji Kapoor and her boyfriend Dave was among the casualties of the invasion. Upon the tragedy, Anji joined the Doctor and Fitz in their travels. The new TARDIS crew found themselves dealing with pre-historic dinosaurs, alien wasps, Hitchemus Tigers, the Slow Empire, New Orleans, the planet Entusso (whilst Anji was incapacitated due to an alien cocktail she drank), and a "World of Wishes". Things took a surreal yet darker turn for the Doctor and friends when they encountered Sabbath in the 18th Century; the new foe even removed the Doctor's second heart leading to him losing his Time Lord abilities which went to Sabbath in return. The TARDIS crew would encounter their new enemy several more times while landing in several alternate timelines. Along with this, Sabbath hired con artist Beatrix "Trix" MacMillan as his agent to stowaway inside the TARDIS for time until she took Anji's place at the Doctor's side when she parted ways with him and Fitz to raise a young girl named Chloe. The Doctor would eventually find out that Sabbath was an associate for the mysterious Council of Eight who sought to delete alternate timeline for more universal control. Not only that but the Council had several of the Doctor's companions killed since they viewed them as "uncontrollable elements". With the aid of his daughter Miranda (and her daughter Zezanne) and Sabbath, the Council of Eight were defeated though not with out two casualties. The TARDIS crew resumed their travels shortly after this event. During this time, Fitz and Trix developed a relationship and the Doctor finally learned of his part in Gallifrey's destruction but also its restoration. A huge chunk of the Matrix was supplanted into the Doctor's mind with the aid of Compassion. The size of it was enough to compress his memories and triggered the amnesia. With this knowledge, the Doctor was given the opportunity to restore his homeworld and the Time Lords; assisting him was another Time Lord called Marnel. With Gallifrey restored and the Vore's invasion of Earth averted, Fitz and Trix stayed behind to settle down leaving the Doctor to travel on his own once more.
Several trips later, a young Blackpool native named Lucie Miller appeared in the TARDIS out of the blue, much to the Doctor's chagrin. It was while on the planet Red Rocket Rising that Lucie was under witness protection courtesy of the Celestial Intervention Agency who, unknown to the Doctor, suspected her future involved her becoming an evil dictator. While on the planet, the two unlikely pair thwarted two Dalek factions whilst gaining each other's trust. Despite being in unable to return Lucie to her time period, she and the Doctor got used to one another within time. The duo ended up landing at a nearby motorway station where Lucie ran into her aunt Patricia Ryder while aiding the Doctor in stopping the super beings known as the Only Ones who had one half of a brother-sister glam rock duo under their influence. Other adventures included a planet bearing an eerie resemblance to ancient Greece, Phobos (Mars' moon) and battling the Tar Modowk. Following the TARDIS duo was the mysterious Headhunter who was hired by a business man to retrieve Lucie from "competition". During the confrontation with her and the Cybermen, it was discovered that Lucie's co-worker was the CIA project not her all along. Immediately after this event, the Doctor and Lucie resumed their travels. Their later adventures involved a snake sentinent, a murder mystery involving a space ship TV program, the Autons, the black diamond (plus another encounter with the Headhunter) and the Zygons at a hotel in 1984 wich saw another reunion with Lucie and her Auntie Pat who, unknown to her, died during the confrontation and in her place was her Zygon lover who took her form to hide the real Pat's death. Things took a radical turn for the TARDIS duo when they found themselves dealing with a devilish philanthropist who successfully resurrected Morbius. During a struggle, the Doctor and Morbius fell down from the resurrected madman's palace; their bodies and the interstellar manipulator were never recovered. Lucie was in mourning for six months before being taken by the Headhunter to go find the Doctor. It was revealed that the Doctor spent 600 years on the planet Orbis and along with him Morbius' intersteller manipulator. Upon retreiving him and the interstellar manipulator destroying Orbis in the process, Lucie and the Doctor resumed their travels much to the Time Lord's sorrow and bemusement; this behavior was short lived. The duo's later adventures included the Krynoids, the fabled Beast of Orlok, Wirrn, the clan Baroque during World War II, murderous servicedroids and the Eight Legs of Metebelis III. The secret of Auntie Pat's demise would come back to haunt the Doctor and the Zygon Haygoth in Christmas 2009 when a Zynog sought to take over Lucie's body to get revenge on Haygoth. In the process, Lucie learned the truth about the real Pat and decided to leave the Doctor.
For a while, the Doctor traveled alone. He went to 22nd Century Earth where he not only reunited with his granddaughter Susan Campbell (nee Foreman) but met his great-grandson Alex. Several short trips later, he landed on Earth and met four individuals who were auditioning to become his new companion. Out of the four, he chose a struggling actress named Tamsin Drew. Much to her surprise, Tamsin learned that the Doctor didn't put the advert in the newspaper but someone else did. Aside from this mystery, the new friends had several adventures together including the planet Nevermore and 1006 Ireland where the stopped a newly regenerated Monk and his curious assistant from taking the Book of Kells. Unknown to the Doctor, the Monk's assisstant turned out to be Lucie Miller under the guise of "Brother Lucianus". The Doctor and Tamsin landed on Deimos where they encountered the Ice Warriors as well as the Monk. It was this adventure that saw the Doctor reuniting with Lucie and Tamsin, after being shown a faux destruction of a civilization allegedly caused by the Doctor, went with the Monk. Shortly after, the Doctor and Lucie had Christmas dinner in the TARDIS with Susan and Alex as guests after which, Lucie stayed behind with them while the Doctor resumed his solo travels. Upon escaping the Consensus after being held prisoner for six years, the Doctor was heading to Earth after recieving a distress signal from Lucie regarding the Daleks invading Earth. He along with Lucie, Alex, Susan, and Tamsin learned of the Monk's part in aiding the Daleks in their conquest. It was this event that saw the deaths of Tamsin (who was surplus to Dalek requirements and exterminated on the spot) and Alex while saving his mother and Lucie. Lucie also died while sacrificing her life destroying the Dalek with their doomsday weapon which created a time warp eradicating the Daleks and the Dalek Time Controller. After being returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor in rage and grief chastised the Monk (also in grief) for his stupidity and meddling. The deaths of Lucie, Alex, and Tamsin left the Doctor in anger and grief leading to him travelling alone and Susan not only a widow but now a grieving mother to her dead child.
Upon a visit from the Time Lord Straxus, the Doctor was desperate for hope to a point where he wanted to see the end of the universe to see how everything turned out. Instead he was sent on a mission by Straxus to World War I with his new sonic screwdriver in tow. While there, he met a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse named Molly O'Sullivan who was tending to his wounds and his aftershock. Upon being saved by Molly after being confronted by a deranged American doctor, the two found themselves on the run from the Daleks who were searching for the young VAD. While on the run, the TARDIS landed in Dunkirk during the Second World War. Upon returning to the ship and explaining to his dark eyed friend about it, the Doctor changed from his torn attire into a blue leather pea coat, white t-shirt, denim jeans, brown suede boots and a old medical bag he accquired from the trenches. The TARDIS arrived in both 1972 London and the planet Halalka while evading the Daleks. Upon leaving the planet, the Doctor and Molly learned that their foes were being assisted by a rouge Time Lord called Kotris who sought to destroy all Time Lords. Once they've learned of Kotris early encounter with Molly, her and the Doctor ended up on Skaro where the Daleks there became peaceful after the destruction of the Time Lords. Of course that turned out to be part of a simulation generated for propaganda. The duo were saved by Straxus and later arrived on Srangor where the Daleks sat up shop which contained both Kotris and the Dalek Time Controller. Much to both the Doctor and Molly's horror, it was discovered that she was implanted with retro-generated particles in order to use her for a space-time projector to erase the Time Lords from reality. Another revelation was that Kotris was actually a future incarnation Straxus who was ashamed of the Time Lords' machinations and hypocrisy. Straxus was able to manipulated Kotris into using the generator to destroy the Daleks. In the process, an old civillian of the planet sacrificed his life to destroy the projector and the Dalek Time Controller exterminated both Straxus this Kotris ceasing to exist. After this event the Doctor and Molly returned to the TARDIS and departed Srangor. Molly returned to the trenches or World War I and the Doctor was left alone again. However, this chapter is far from over....
As for the fate of this incarnation during the time war, it went something like this....
Pay no attention to the face at the end of the clip. This is how it really went:
