Ncuti Gatwa
Name:
The Doctor
Species:
The Doctor’s species
First Appearance:
Contents
First Seen In:
Other Appearances:
The World Tree
First Day of the Doctor
Rose
Whotopia: The Ultimate Guide to the Whoniverse
The Church on Ruby Road
Space Babies
The Devil’s Chord
Boom
73 Yards
Dot and Bubble
Rogue
The Legend of Ruby Sunday
Empire of Death
Joy to the World
The Robot Revolution
Lux
The Well
Lucky Day
The Story & the Engine
The Interstellar Song Contest
Wish World
The Reality War
Played by:
Ncuti Gatwa
click on images to enlarge
The Fifteenth Doctor, freed from the emotional baggage and deteriorating mental state of his predecessor, journeyed the universe with invigorated optimism following a fabled bi-generation. Charismatic and adventurous, this incarnation of the Doctor would eagerly anticipate this new chapter in his life, even while knowing of the threats ahead, and soon became acquainted with “Ruby S” during his travels.
A DAY TO COME
The Fifteenth Doctor came into existence via a process previously believed to be a myth: bi-generation. While he did regenerate from the Fourteenth Doctor, that incarnation continued to exist once the Fifteenth Doctor came into being. However, the Fifteenth Doctor was indeed older than the Fourteenth, with the Fifteenth Doctor’s carefree attitude only being possible thanks to the retirement undertaken by the Fourteenth Doctor after the bi-generation. The Fifteenth Doctor even advised the Fourteenth to take the break to help recover from their billions of years of trauma; in effect, the Fifteenth Doctor came into existence before the therapy had even started, yet he had still learnt from that experience due to the Fourteenth Doctor being a prior incarnation. Seeing his successor’s emotional health helped convince the Fourteenth Doctor to undertake the retirement, which ensured the Fifteenth Doctor would come into being with the personality he did. As the Fifteenth Doctor summarised, The Doctor was thus “doing rehab out of order”. (The Giggle)
POST-REGENERATION
Atop the helipad attached to UNIT HQ in the City of London in late 2023, the Toymaker reasoned that under the Fourteenth Doctor’s “rules”, the third game they played in their “best of three” must be played with another incarnation. Thus, the Toymaker shot The Doctor full on with UNIT’s Galvanic Beam, initiating his regeneration; however, as Donna Noble and Melanie Bush rushed to his side, he found that he wasn’t regenerating as he typically would and asked them to pull on his arms. Doing so, the Fifteenth Doctor split out of the Fourteenth Doctor, in a process previously believed to be a myth: bi-generation.
After the Fifteenth Doctor cracked his neck and flirted with Mel, the Toymaker interrupted him, wanting to continue forcing The Doctor to bigenerate. The two Doctors challenged him to a game of catch, and while the Toymaker protested, believing this to be cheating, he was unable to justify why. The trio played the game, with the Fifteenth Doctor ultimately playing the winning throw after the Toymaker failed to catch the ball. As his prize, the Fourteenth Doctor chose to banish the Toymaker from existence.
The Fifteenth Doctor and Donna consoled the Fourteenth Doctor over the deaths caused by the Toymaker, with the Fifteenth Doctor giving his predecessor a reassuring hug, before walking back into the UNIT HQ. In the TARDIS, the Fifteenth Doctor explained to the Fourteenth Doctor that he needed a break, as ever since the First Doctor’s encounter with the Toymaker, they never stopped adventuring, not for a second. As the Fourteenth Doctor confided that he couldn’t leave the TARDIS behind while living on Earth, the Fifteenth Doctor realised that, as the Toymaker’s domain was still lingering and that he hadn’t yet claimed his prize, he could use a large wooden hammer to hit the exterior of the TARDIS, to duplicate it. The Fifteenth Doctor entered the original TARDIS, with the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna following him in to say goodbye. He began to dematerialise the TARDIS, so his predecessor and Donna left, leaving the Fifteenth Doctor to travel the universe. (The Giggle)
Shortly after, deciding that the attire of his previous incarnation “[wouldn’t] do”, The Doctor[nb 1] choose his new clothing in the TARDIS, selecting sturdy boots and a new hat. (Contents) He then had an adventure involving “Ruby S”, and following that, wrote in his diary about his first adventures, quoting himself saying “what the h[…] here?” (First Day of the Doctor)
The Fifteenth Doctor, early on, was aware a new chapter in his life was beginning, as he had a new face, friends and adventures to go on. He was aware that he had new threats and enemies to face, and that they had “no idea what [they’d] let themselves in for.” (“Heroes of Time”)
A FRESH START
As he was given a tour of their TARDIS, the Fifteenth Doctor told the Fourteenth Doctor that he needed a break, with Donna agreeing that he was “running on fumes.” As he convinced his fourteenth incarnation to settle down by listing their traumas, the Fourteenth Doctor confided that he couldn’t leave the TARDIS behind while living on Earth, so the Fifteenth Doctor, realising he hadn’t claimed his prize for winning the game, used the lingering powers of the Toymaker’s domain to bring back a future TARDIS with a mallet. The Fifteenth Doctor entered the future TARDIS, with the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna following him in to say goodbye after he tried sneaking off. Giving them a fond farewell, the Fifteenth Doctor then left to travel the universe. (The Giggle)
Deciding that the attire of his previous incarnation “wo[uld]n’t do” anymore, The Doctor[nb 1] chose his new clothing in the TARDIS, selecting sturdy boots and a new hat. (Contents) The Doctor then thought on how a new chapter in his life was beginning, as he had friends to make and adventures to go on, with new threats and enemies to face with “no idea what [they’d] let themselves in for.” (“Heroes of Time)
TRAVELLING WITH RUBY
On 22 December 2023, The Doctor wore a stetson to the same bar Ruby Sunday visited, but didn’t meet her, when the power went out. The next day, he went to a bar again, which Ruby was also in. She saw him dancing in a tank top and a kilt, and he caught her drink when she nearly knocked it over. He then saved her and her friends from a falling snowman decoration, saved a woman with a pram full of presents from it as well, before it collapsed on him.
On Christmas Eve, he saw Ruby again when he was following a Goblin ship and he saw her hanging off the ladder. They were then captured, but escaped once The Doctor figured out the language of the ropes, and tried to saved Carol’s foster baby called Lulubelle. They did that by singing and tricking the Goblin King, but when they returned, The Doctor realised Ruby didn’t exist. He then went back in time to the day she was abandoned to stop the Goblins from stealing her and undoing their altered timeline. She then joined him in the TARDIS. (The Church on Ruby Road)
FINAL ADVENTURES WITH RUBY
Arriving in 19th century Copenhagen, The Doctor and Ruby met Hans Christian Andersen and encountered the Snedronningen. After the entity kidnapped Ruby when she defended Hans, The Doctor followed them through a sub-dimensional fissure with Hans. They encountered soldiers led by Hans’ captive father, who decided to turn on their master after she took Hans. With their aid the Doctor reached Ruby and together they realised they could defeat Snedronningen by having everyone assert that they did not believe in her. Her realm then disappeared, returning them all to Copenhagen. (The Hans of Fear)
The Doctor and Ruby arrived in CoHurtCo™’s focus group facility for creating monsters for armies, and helped free the protoplasm subjects they were using. (The Monster Makers)
The Doctor took Ruby for a holiday at the resort in the Gardens of Kubuntu on Yewa, only to become embroiled in a conflict between hostile vigilantes from the twin planet Bia and Yewa terrorists opposed to relations with Bia whilst the royal court of Bia and leadership of Yewa were reviving an ancient ritual. He eventually made peace with the Bia vigilantes upon discovering they were trying to retrieve the royal court who had unknowingly been at the resort for over a century due to its calming influence, and discovered an ancient remnant of Kubuntu’s first attempt at life, Empire, was stirring up the conflict between the terrorists and the leaders at ritual by impersonating both the terrorist leader and the Bia prince. After pacifying Empire with the aid of the ancient security systems of the Gardens, The Doctor and Ruby departed. (Eden Rebellion)
SOLO ADVENTURES
Picking up the pieces after Sutekh’s attack, The Doctor helped UNIT rewrite and reorder their Gold Archive. (Introduction to The Gold Archive)
The Doctor landed on Grey Grieving, pretending Ruby was still with him. He was chased by It and hunters trying to kill it as game. When The Doctor’s chase led to It’s re-imprisonment, the hunters threatened to kill him, but he was saved by the Grey Grievants attacking the hunters for attempting to kill It, a being they protect. (Run)
Arriving in New York in 1977, The Doctor encountered the Hypnotising Cat who led him to Beatie, an alien from the Beatine Dimension of Dance seeking to rule Earth. Beatie challenged him to a dance off for the fate of the planet, however The Doctor began to lose and turn to stone until the cat tripped Beatie over. With Beatie banished back to their dimension by the cat, The Doctor was left wondering which of them had really saved the day. (Dance Till You Drop)
The Eleventh Doctor secured the Fifteenth Doctor’s help to free Nora Wicker from the Time Bubble placed around her home on 16 December 2033 as the younger Doctor had miscalculated the size of the bubble when he erected it to contain the seed of the World Tree that had landed in her garden. From outside the bubble, the Fifteenth Doctor was ready to use his sonic screwdriver at the same time as the Eleventh Doctor to produce a precise frequency to create a crack in the bubble, however, at the last possible moment, Nora confided to the Eleventh Doctor that she wanted to remain in the bubble to look after the tree, distracting the younger Doctor and causing the sync to fail. The Fifteenth Doctor lowered his screwdriver and returned to the TARDIS, planning to return the next day, but ultimately did not to respect Nora’s wishes. (The World Tree)
The Doctor appeared on Match of the Day with a cyborg Gary Lineker and a holographic Ian Wright, seemingly commenting on a football match. He remarked that a goalkeeper’s cybernetically extendable arms created a difficult atmosphere, which Wright agreed with. (Match of the Who) He later provided continuity announcements for BBC One, introducing EastEnders, Pointless, and The One Show. (Untitled)
The Doctor broadcast to the Royal Albert Hall via the Vlinx when Maestro invaded a concert to play bad music to create dissonance, instructing the audience to clap to bring their music to an end. With Maestro banished, he told the audience Maestro were wrong to claim that they owned music and that it was for everyone. (Pantheon of Discord)
Following a SOS to the empty Lifewright city guarded by biohazard nanotechnology, The Doctor encountered Gothar who claimed to be the only survivor of his people wiped out by the Panacea and demanded rescue from the quarantined planet. The Doctor realised the truth that Gothar was in fact the Panacea itself in disguise, and that he’d heard of the Lifewrights before in the future when they were known only as the Deathsmiths of Goth. After exposing the Panacea he used the Lifewrights’ biohazard guards to shut off the SOS and fled, hoping no-one would visit again. (No Signs of Life)
EARLY TRAVELS WITH RUBY
The Doctor took Ruby back 150 million years back on the planet Earth, to prove that the TARDIS was a time machine as well as a space machine, as they had landed it what would become Wyoming. Ruby was worried about the Butterfly effect, which did affect her temporalily changing her species into a humanoid lizard. This reminded him to activate the Butterfly compensation switch.
Asking her for a set of numbers they landed on Baby Station Beta in 21506, where they encountered a space station that was slightly debilitated. They encountered its crew of babies that were stunted in their growth, but had the intelligence of a 6 year old. He also found himself scared of the Bogeyman, which he found odd. Learning from Jocelyn Sancerre that the ship had been abandoned due to budget cuts, he vowed to find a way to get them to a neighbouring planet which accepted refugees, and to stop the Bogeyman. From analysing the shed skin of the creature, he discovered that it was made of bogeys, and theorised that the parthengensis machine made it to create something to make the babies afraid as part of their upbringing. He closed the airlock that Jocelyn had opened to remove it from the station, realising it was two a baby that needed protecting. He had realised that the pressure build up was methane that came from the babies decomposing nappies, and used that as a fuel to move the ship to a neighbouring planet. He subsequently took Ruby home to talk to her family, (Space Babies) and promised Carla he would keep Ruby safe on their travels. (Rogue) Knowing that he would have to prepare himself for enemies he had never faced before. (TARDIS Data File: The Doctor)
Arriving atop the Jason Orange Plaza in Mancopolis 2424, The Doctor and Ruby dodged being run over by a tram, only to be arrested by the Care Force for being “tram raiders”. A weather orb, noticing they weren’t smiling, began raining on them. After stopping the orb, the mayor of the city, Mary Mulberry, communicated to them via the windows of a tower which also functioned as screens, believing them to be auditors sent by the Galactic Central Exchange; she ordered Zhi, one of the Care Force, to bring them to her, and, on the journey to the Mancopolis City Hall, she explained to them how Mayor Mulberry saved the city and its population after the 2399 Event.
Entering the Mayor’s office, the Mayor vocalised her belief that they had been a deliberate distraction to enable the Exchange to sneak an assault ship into the city, which she promptly had destroyed. She offered a negotiation, but, after realising they weren’t non-humans since they weren’t going shift into another form, she threatened to dismember one of them. As they tried to escape through a lift, she had the duo teleported to a dark space filled with “massive people-eating silkworms”.
Escaping from them, the duo found themselves in the real Manchester underneath before they’re pursued by moths and Ruby is teleported away. With Zhi, he found his way to Ruby and frees her. He then uploaded footage of Mulberry being a Moth-person causing a revolution to overthrow her. She retaliated by using weather control to smite them, but he summoned the auditors down. Panicking, The Doctor was able to grab her weather controller and have the weather orbs zap it causing them to collapse. She teleported away to be eaten by her young while the Doctor dealt with the auditors who want to take over Mancopolis. He was able to disperse them using Ruby’s bank interests. (Mancopolis)
The Doctor and Ruby travelled to Wonder Central, where they introduced themselves to an individual outside a shop and the portal to the Deep Space Zone. If the individual travelled to the zone, The Doctor and Ruby would be waiting, ready to help the individual search for stickers.
At this time, there were advertisements for Doctor Who in the Deep Space Zone, as well as in a castle, depicting the Doctor. (Wonder Chase)
Later tellings of this account instead had the portal to the Deep Space Zone in a more central location, away from the shop, with the Doctor and Ruby still standing near it. (Wonder Chase)
The Doctor and Ruby landed on a wrecked luxury liner on the Asterion Field and came across Navitrix Ortega. They encountered a Kua’Mara but were able to freeze it and escape. (Fragmented Cosmos)
Ruby asked to see The Beatles record their first album at Abbey Road studios. Upon arriving in 1963 they discovered that something was wrong with music as they realised that the Beatles where making bad using, as well as Cilla Black and other musicians. He realised that this also went wider as part of history had changed, like a Soviet Union offence against Finland. Investigating this, he had Ruby play one of her band’s songs on a rooftop which attracted Maestro to them. He used a trick to stop all sound from appearing to help them escape. He was worried about their power, realise that they were a child of The Toymaker. To prove this to Ruby, he took her to her own time of 2024 showing a devastated world after a nuclear war, caused by the lack a music. He theorised that there was a way to banish them using the lost chord. During a music battle, The Doctor managed to find most of the notes of the chord, but landed on a bum note for the final part. The combined efforts of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, found the last note rescuing The Doctor from being trapped in a Timpani drum. With music returning to the word, The Doctor and Ruby sang and danced with those at the studios, before leaving. (The Devil’s Chord)
The Doctor and Ruby encountered a Shreek in 2024, with the Doctor having to give her an antidote for being marked as it’s prey. (Lucky Day)
FURTHER TRAVELS WITH RUBY
Landing on Kastarion 3, The Doctor heard a scream and ran out of the TARDIS to investigate. In his haste, he stepped on a landmine but didn’t fully set of the trigger due to it needing to confirm that the Doctor was alive. He managed to balance his weight enough to stop the countdown for a while. When Ruby arrived he asked her to find something heavy to help him balance and trick the algorithm in the mine. She arrived with what she thought in an urn, but he realised it was a smelted down body. They discover that it was of John Francis Vater when AI hologram of him appears. They learn that he was killed by the Ambulance algorithm as a mercy killing as his temporary blindness reduced his operational efficiency. When Vater’s daughter, Splice Alison Vater came hearing her father’s voice he tried to stop her from coming closer to him, spiking his adrenaline causing the countdown to move. An ambulance sensing conflict came over to assess the situation, sensed The Doctor but couldn’t work out how to treat due to alien biology. Ruby tried to distract the machine, but was shot by Canterbury James Olliphant. The Doctor became distraught at the situation, as the countdown was entering a fail safe. Knowing that the conflict was being perpetuated by the Villengard motive for profit and keeping the casualties at a constant rate to allow more equipment to be bought, as the human’s enemy didn’t exist, he asked the Vater AI to enter the ambulance computers to get the systems to surrender stopping the war. This deactivated the landmine. (Boom)
The Doctor landed the TARDIS on the South Wales coast on 9 November 2024, (73 Yards) and was delighted that he was in Wales. He started to tell Ruby that he loved the Welsh but started to warn her about Roger ap Gwilliam, before realising it was a spoiler for her immediate future. Not paying attention he nearly walked into a fairy circle made out of cotton, (The Life Of Ruby Sunday) but Ruby stopped him. He then told her to not interfere with it as to be respectful. (73 Yards)
Following an alien distress signal to Lake Peipus in 1242, The Doctor and Ruby met Ranavere Rentara who was attempting to escape her family of mercenaries. Whilst trying to make peace between her and her sisters who had arrived to force her to fight as ordered, they discovered the Genetrix, a parasitic enemy of the Rentara, was also on Earth and was spreading its parasites among Novgordian soldiers. After a failed mental contact, The Doctor finally located the Genetrix as latched onto his TARDIS on the frozen lake and managed to separate it, forcing it back into hibernation beneath the ice. With peace now established between the sisters, he left them to guard the lake against any return of the Genetrix when the ice thawed, choosing not to tell them he actually intended to use the TARDIS to take it off-world as he wanted them to use the time to bond. (Ruby Red)
Arriving on a new planet, The Doctor and Ruby encountered Chirracharr who was looking for aliens who’d abducted her once before. They discovered drones monitoring the planet and found an observatory set up by those aliens. After Ruby was taken to the aliens’ planet, The Doctor helped Chirracharr organise her people to defend against an onslaught of drones sent to clear the planet for colonisation, until Ruby was able to stop the settlement plans. Reunited, The Doctor and Ruby left with the alien scientists now openly meeting Chirracharr‘s people. (Caged)
The Doctor and Ruby landed on Chemical Beach, Seaham in 1958, meeting another familiar woman, who warned them to get off the beach. Drawn through a rift in a cave structure, they ended up on Ghost Beach, where they met Reginald Wormsley. They immediately started to gain other memories. Finding the real Reginald’s dead body in a forest, they realised that an immensely powerful alien creature known as the Kassif had been extracting the memories and forcing them into their minds and onto the planet. Once Kassif had been stopped, they had moments to escape before the closing of the rift. (On Ghost Beach)
Discovering the existence of a Sasquatch species in Washington state, The Doctor and Ruby learnt of an attempted Earth invasion by the Sleekers. During this period, Ruby recognised one of the victims as a “greyish-blonde woman”, whom she found familiar. With the help of the Sasquatches and Dixie’s antihistamines, The Doctor managed to kill off the Sleeker nest, saving those they had taken over and further saving the world from potential Sleeker control. (Sting of the Sasquatch)
Landing in Finetime, The Doctor and Ruby investigated why people were going missing. realising that he was already to late to save anyone who’s surnames began with A or B. (Welcome To Finetime) Managing to eventually make contact with Lindy Pepper-Bean, he managed to persuade her to escape the city by proving to her that people were going missing, by showing that one of her colleagues was being eaten by a Mantrap. Directing her to a nearby conduit to the river that ran under the city, he gave her and Ricky September the code to unlock the door. He then offered the survivors a trip in the TARDIS to find a safe planet, which they declined. This was due to the racial segregation in the city and racism due to his skin colour. He tried to plead for them to understand, but this upset him. He watched them depart. (Dot and Bubble)
MEETING ROGUE
The Doctor and Ruby attended a party organised by the Duchess of Pemberton where they were photographed. (Spot The Difference) He was delighted at the spectacle. After Ruby experienced interference in her psychic earrings, he traced it to Rogue. He learnt that he was there to find a Chuldur and showed The Doctor his ship. Rogue accused him of being the Chuldur he was searching for, but after teasing him for a bit, The Doctor changed the settings on Rogue’s ships scanner to show multiple previous incarnations and that he was from Gallifrey. They teamed up to find the Chuldur by creating a scandal in regency society. They discovered that there was a Chuldur family at work. He expanded Rogue’s trap to work for up to six occupants. He managed to corner the family during the wedding between Lord Barton and Ruby trapping them all, thinking that Ruby had been killed by the Chuldur. Rogue captured the last Chuldur placing her in the trap. Rogue and the Doctor kissed, allowing him to gain the trigger. He watched as Rogue replaced Ruby in the trap and set it off. He set Rogue’s ship off to wait for its pilot. Ruby asked if he would go searching for Rogue. (Rogue)
FINAL ADVENTURES WITH RUBY
Arriving in 19th century Copenhagen, The Doctor and Ruby met Hans Christian Andersen and encountered the Snedronningen. After the entity kidnapped Ruby when she defended Hans, The Doctor followed them through a sub-dimensional fissure with Hans. They encountered soldiers led by Hans’ captive father, who decided to turn on their master after she took Hans. With their aid The Doctor reached Ruby Cybermen and together they realised they could defeat Snedronningen by having everyone assert that they did not believe in her. Her realm then disappeared, returning them all to Copenhagen. (The Hans of Fear)
The Doctor and Ruby arrived in CoHurtCo™’s focus group facility for creating monsters for armies, and helped free the protoplasm subjects they were using. (The Monster Makers)
The Doctor took Ruby for a holiday at the resort in the Gardens of Kubuntu on Yewa, only to become embroiled in a conflict between hostile vigilantes from the twin planet Bia and Yewa terrorists opposed to relations with Bia whilst the royal court of Bia and leadership of Yewa were reviving an ancient ritual. He eventually made peace with the Bia vigilantes upon discovering they were trying to retrieve the royal court who had unknowingly been at the resort for over a century due to its calming influence, and discovered an ancient remnant of Kubuntu’s first attempt at life, Empire, was stirring up the conflict between the terrorists and the leaders at ritual by impersonating both the terrorist leader and the Bia prince. After pacifying Empire with the aid of the ancient security systems of the Gardens, The Doctor and Ruby departed. (Eden Rebellion)
HUNTED BY THE SCREAM SOMMELIER
Hearing a sound as the TARDIS flew through the Time Vortex, The Doctor followed it to a variety of planets he’d had bad experiences on and finally leading to Yorkshire in 1739. There he found Dick Turpin had been gifted Cyber-technology and stopped him escaping his execution using it. Studying the weapon, The Doctor found it programmed with coordinates which Ruby suggested was meant as a trap. (“Free Comic Book Day 2024”) Nevertheless, the two of them followed the coordinates to Sanctum Shopping & Dining, the last shopping mall on Earth in the 29th century where The Doctor was surprised to find a group of humans living to wait out the solar storms of the time. There they encountered a battalion of Cybermen, which turned out to be a construct of the Scream Sommelier, a being from outside the universe who fed on screams. The Doctor and Ruby were able to make him retreat by threatening some of his precious scream collections. Afterwards The Doctor recalled one of the shoppers was identical to the Ambulance and Lindy’s mum, and decided UNIT may be able to help them get to the bottom of it. (Everyone Must Go!)
THE RETURN OF THE GOD OF ALL GODS
The Doctor returned to UNIT HQ to ask for their help investigating a woman who kept appearing in different forms across recent travels, citing Gina Scalzi and Penny Pepper-Bean amongst his examples. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Morris Gibbons were quick to point out that they already knew as it was Susan Triad. He noticed he noticed her name was an anagram of TARDIS, and Ruby wondered if she was his granddaughter, due to having the same first name. Of learning of Susan’s age, he wondered it she might be Ruby Sunday’s mother and ask to use UNIT’s time window to help learn more about that night. After a glitch stopped them from seeing her face, he got Colonel Winston Chidozie to look closer at what she was pointing at. After encountering a large particulate cloud which killed Chidozie, he went with Mel Bush to confront Susan before the launch of her product. He asked her if her dreams matched the people she did, which she confirmed. When Kate informed him that there was something living around the TARDIS, and realised that UNIT archivist Harriet Arbinger was a harbinger. He deduced that he was right that there was something in her name, but it wasn’t an anagram but a different abbreviation SUsan Triad TECHnology, referring to Sutekh, the Osiran who was a God of Death. (The Legend of Ruby Sunday)
The Doctor and Mel escaped Sutekh’s Dust of Death returning to the Time Window in UNIT HQ. There he encountered the Remembered TARDIS, and asked Ruby to remember the TARDIS to make it stronger. After taking one of the CRT screen from the TV that was playing the VHS, Sutekh came to taunt him explaining how he survived their first encounter, and how he had created Susan Triad and her other forms everywhere The Doctor had landed ever since. The Doctor, Mel and Ruby escaped in the Remembered TARDIS and watched from space as dust consumed the entire Earth. Landing on a planet as the universe was dying, The Doctor retrieved a piece of metal, a spoon, from a kind woman and promised to save the universe with it in her honour after she too succumbed to the dust.
He used the spoon to stabilise the Remembered TARDIS and talked to Ruby about what to do as Mel slept, (Empire of Death) telling her about his original encounter with Sutekh in 1911. (Pyramids of Mars) As they spoke, the Time Window’s CRT screen showed them Roger ap Gwilliam prompting The Doctor to realise that his DNA programme would help them stop Sutekh by finding the identity of Ruby’s mother. Travelling to the barren 2046 they found the information however were interrupted by Mel who had became one of Sutekh’s angels of Death and returned them to UNIT HQ. Whilst Ruby distracted Sutekh with the information on her mother, he used a rope and the Intelligent glove he found in the Remembered TARDIS to pull Sutekh off the TARDIS and then used the ship to pull him though the Vortex, restoring life to the universe before casting him in the Vortex being torn up by the Time Winds. He took Ruby back to Earth, where they learnt the true identity of Ruby’s mother Louise Miller. The Doctor realised he had to leave Ruby behind to so that she could be with both sets of parents to come to terms with things. (Empire of Death)
MOVING ON FROM RUBY
Picking up the pieces after Sutekh’s attack, The Doctor helped UNIT rewrite and reorder their Gold Archive. (Introduction to The Gold Archive)
After learning UNIT was hiring new recruits, (We’re Recruiting…) he decided to help by giving them his TARDIS a three fake ones.[statement unclear] (Assessment)
The Doctor landed on Grey Grieving, pretending Ruby was still with him. He was chased by It and hunters trying to kill it as game. When the Doctor’s chase led to It’s re-imprisonment, the hunters threatened to kill him, but he was saved by the Grey Grievants attacking the hunters for attempting to kill It, a being they protect. (Run)
Arriving in New York in 1977, The Doctor encountered the Hypnotising Cat who led him to Beatie, an alien from the Beatine Dimension of Dance seeking to rule Earth. Beatie challenged him to a dance off for the fate of the planet, however the Doctor began to lose and turn to stone until the cat tripped Beatie over. With Beatie banished back to their dimension by the cat, The Doctor was left wondering which of them had really saved the day. (Dance Till You Drop)
The Fifteenth Doctor once returned to the Federation universe and stood among several of his other incarnations, as well as various captains. He held a communicator next to Jean-Luc Picard, who was holding the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. (Friendship is Universal)
The Doctor broadcast to the Royal Albert Hall via the Vlinx when Maestro invaded a concert to play bad music to create dissonance, instructing the audience to clap to bring their music to an end. With Maestro banished, he told the audience Maestro were wrong to claim that they owned music and that it was for everyone. (Pantheon of Discord)
The Doctor once welcomed an individual into the TARDIS in London. (Travel Through Time and Space)
The Doctor arrived in the Time Hotel and in doing so he gained the Customer ID “7214”, (Welcome to the Time Hotel) where he became intrigued by a mysterious briefcase handcuffed to its carrier, recruiting aid of hotel employee Trev. He followed the briefcase from person to person until the hotel’s Silurian manager took it to a room in 2024. The hypnotised manager tried to give it to him but he refused and it instead latched onto Joy Almondo who was staying in the room. Opening the briefcase The Doctor discovered a star seed within however the case began threatening to disintegrate Joy without the correct code. Unable to crack it, The Doctor was instead told it by his own future self who arrived from the Time Hotel and then told him he would need to stay behind to become him the long way round, to the Doctor’s frustration. Left behind in 2024 by his future self, The Doctor asked the 2024 hotel’s manager Anita for a job and stayed for a year, knowing from a brochure he’d taken another door to the Time Hotel would open in a year’s time. Though he became close to Anita, he left her in December 2025 and found a portal to the Time Hotel in New York, where he found the door to 2024 to tell the code to his younger self and take Joy back with him. After she was compelled to go through a portal 65 million years to the past, he managed to get Joy to release herself Joy the briefcase’s hold by provoking her about her mother’s death, and then discovered it belonged to Villengard. Forced to retreat by a dinosaur, The Doctor found a portal to a timezone when the seed would have matured however whilst he devised a way to open a shrine the case was now kept in Joy opened it and absorbed the seed. Choosing to become a star safely away from the Earth, Joy advised him to find a friend. (Joy to the World)
While still in the Christmas spirit The Doctor once stood in his TARDIS as it was pulled forward through the sky by two reindeer. (Joy to the World, Honey!)
The Doctor visited a space station orbiting a black hole while it was being attacked by daleks and Weeping Angels, and guided a visitor through the ship and past the threats. At various points during this, The Doctor’s TARDIS could be seen being flown past, not piloted by the Doctor later expressing relief upon reaching the TARDIS with the visitor. (Wonder Chase)
Following a SOS to the empty Lifewright city guarded by biohazard nanotechnology, The Doctor encountered Gothar who claimed to be the only survivor of his people wiped out by the Panacea and demanded rescue from the quarantined planet. The Doctor realised the truth that Gothar was in fact the Panacea itself in disguise, and that he’d heard of the Lifewrights before in the future when they were known only as the Deathsmiths of Goth. After exposing the Panacea he used the Lifewrights’ biohazard guards to shut off the SOS and fled, hoping no-one would visit again. (No Signs of Life)
The Doctor arrived in Nigeria in 1965 where he met Omo Esosa in the midst of a fire started by him and his friend Blue sabotaging a generator for an illegal oil field. The Doctor treated Blue’s injuries and helped put out the fire by dousing it with a hose whilst flying the TARDIS above it. Afterwards he asked Omo where he could go to find more information about what was going on and Omo recommended his father’s barber shop in Lagos. (What I Did On My Holidays By Omo Esosa) The Doctor did visit the barber shop multiple times, which was eventually run by Omo himself. He came to feel like he belonged as he didn’t feel stigmatised there. (The Story & the Engine)
TRAVELLING WITH BELINDA CHANDRA
Trying to trace Belinda due to know that she had some importance attached to her. Missing her at her house by arriving too late to stop her kidnapping by the rabots, he chased their rocket to try and recapture her. However, the TARDIS and the rocket became affected by a time fracture pushing him off course arriving six months too early. He embedded himself in the society helping the Missbelindachandrakind rebels in their resistance against the Missbelindachandrabots, and getting promoted to be the official historian. He became close to Sasha 55 and promised to take her travelling once the revolution was won. Encountering Belinda once she arrives, he made her away of the glitch in the bots systems that they were not able to process every 9th word and past on a message to her. The rebels started their plan to escape with Belinda, but Sasha was killed in the process. The Doctor became visual upset by this. Deactivating the cleaning bot that came with them to stop the bots from tracing her, he discovered that the the AI generator that controls the bots has the same certificate that Belinda has and started forming a plan to get them to touch. After the bots caught up with them they are both taken to the Generator, learning that it was controlled by Belinda’s old coercive boyfriend Alan Budd who had been placed in charge 10 years earlier. After Belinda touched the two versions of her certificate activating the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, he absorbed most of the energies released saving her from being aged to death as Alan was regressed to conception. He offers to take Belinda home after she refused to go on adventures with him, but something was stopping him arriving on May 24 2025. (The Robot Revolution)
Telling Belinda Chandra that they may travel the “long way around”, The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to six locations: firstly, the studio of The Apprentice, where Alan Sugar told them that they are “both garbage”, causing the duo to storm out, offended; secondly, The Queen Victoria, where Peggy Butcher tossed a drink at Pat Evans, splashing the time-travelling duo in the process; thirdly, to the studio of Gladiators, where they quickly popped their heads outside the TARDIS before leaving, fourthly to the dining room of the Traitors where Belinda Chandra recognised Linda, fifthly to the filming of a nature documentary, and finally to the Squirrel Club Clubhouse where they encountered Duggee and the Doctor and Belinda appeared as a beaver and a horse, respectively, with The Doctor commenting that this was “new”. (The Doctor’s TARDIS lands in iconic BBC shows)
The Doctor abandoned the brute force attempt of getting Belinda back to 2025 after checking the TARDIS console for faults. He built a vortex indicator and planned to use it triangulate his way to the coordinates to where Belinda needed to be. The first place he landed was in Miami, Florida, in 1952. Whilst waiting for the indicator to pick up a signal, The Doctor and Belinda explored the vicinity noticing a chained up cinema with a memorial outside. Despite this indicator finding a signal, Belinda allowed The Doctor to solve his mystery. Gaining knowledge from Logan Cheever about the 15 people that went missing there 3 months ago and consoling Renée Lowenstein that he’ll find her son Tommy Lee. Managing to get inside the cinema, and trying to find Reginald Pye to learn more, he accidentally awakened Mr Ring-a-Ding who conversed with him. After making him laugh with the Giggle, The Doctor learnt that he was Lux the God of Light, one of the Gods of Chaos and he trapped The Doctor and Belinda in a film becoming animated. Discovering that letting out emotions helped them become their original selves, he worked out a way to get out of the film. The first attempt by accelerating the speed of the film led him to be in a fictional version of Miami where a fictional version of Renée Lowenstein used racist language and a Policeman tried to arrest him. Realising that the Policeman’s uniform was of the New York Police Department not the local force, he tried again. This time by breaking the fourth wall, he encountered a fictional world where he was a fictional creation with fans, Hassan Chowdry, Lizzie Abel and Robyn Gossage who gave him clues and were worried about dying. The final attempt landed him back into N-Space where he devised a plan to stop Lux. However, Lux captured him and planed to use the Artron Energy stored in The Doctor to become corporeal. After Reginald, caused an explosion he was able to escape and witnessed the sun rising, which diluted Lux’s power dissipating him to the universe. He left after the 15 missing people returned. (Lux)
Using the reading from Vortex Indicator to make another attempt to get back to Earth, the TARDIS lands 500,000 years in the future on a drop ship. Convincing the troop leader, Shaya Costallion, that he outranks them using his psychic paper he and Belinda help to investigate the trouble here. Finding Aliss Fenly alone with a corpse, he signed to her to ask for information. Leaving Belinda to give her medical treatment, he went with Shaya to gain information from the central computer, from which he learnt that the crew was ranting about something coming from the well, the drill hole they used to mine the planet. He asked Shaya about the history of the planet they were on, discovering that the surface was made of diamonds and about the dead star being the X-tonic star Xion. He realised that this was the planet Midnight and feared that the creature that came from the well was the Midnight Entity. Using the fact that the Entity smashed all the mirrors, he got Shaya to shoot the mercury pipelines to create a mirror to detach itself from Aliss. They all raced to the air lock but that creature attached itself to Belinda. He tried to convince the entity to use him instead, but Shaya shot Belinda instead before committing suicide. He raced to save Belinda from her laser shot wound eventually recovering her in the TARDIS before they left for their next destination. (The Well)
The Doctor and Belinda landed in London in 2007 amidst New Year celebrations. Whilst using the Vindicator, they briefly met Conrad Clark as a child. (Lucky Day)
The Doctor and Belinda landed in 1656 to get another reading on the Vortex Indicator, while also deciding to explore but in doing so got separated The Doctor ended up back at the TARDIS while Belinda ended up lost in the woods, The Doctor also realised the Vindicator was missing but before he could reacts he was trapped by a group of people who thought he was a scourer. (His Mad Pranks)
The Doctor hoped to use the large communications network in Lagos, Nigeria, he landed there in 2019. After quickly getting a signal, he asked Belinda if he could stay a while and visit his friend Omo Esosa’s barbershop, which she thought was odd as the TARDIS did his hair. He explained to her that as this was first time one of his incarnations had been a black man he felt like he belonged here and wasn’t stigmatised, which she understood as her nan did the same thing taking her to India. Making his way through the markets he was curious that the street that contained Omo’s barber shop was less busy and contained a keep out sign. He ignored it and went to shop. Entering he finds the customers in the middle of telling a story. He recognised the customers from the missing poster. He was intrigued about the walls of the shop depicting the story. He recognised Abby somehow when she entered the shop. Being told that they couldn’t leave without telling a story, The Doctor sat in the chair and told a story about a Belinda work day. The Barber realised his stories were powerful. He tried to leave the shop, but learnt that he was in a different realm with the barber shop now riding a large spider like creation in a strange domain. He demanded to know who The Barber was, and was given a spiel about him being Anansi, Saga, Bastet, Dionysus, Loki, the god of stories. The Doctor realised his bluff having met Bastet, Saga, Dionysus, Anansi, with the later offering The Doctor the hand of his daughter. Learning, that he was in fact a dsigruntled servant of the gods who planned to wipe them out, he realised who Abby was. She was Abena the daughter of Anansi who he could help due to being a fugitive at the time. Abena offered up her own story about how slaves in American plantations would hide maps in braids, whilst she did the same to his hair. He worked out that she had given him directions to the Engines in her weaves. Following them, he started to disrupt the engine, when The Barber came to stop him, The Doctor’s stories of his past incarnations started to feed and overload the Engines. The Doctor gave The Barber an ultimatum, let everyone go and let the engine disintegrate or trap them. When The Barber opened the door he ran with him exiting the shop, before watching the ship explode. (The Story & the Engine)
The Doctor and Belinda land on Harmony Station to make another reading on the vindicator. They decided to remain after discovering it was hosting the Interstellar Song Contest. After watching Rylan Clark’s opening monologue, The Doctor noticed that the live feed on their viewer wasn’t matching their view of the stage, as only Sabine was showing. Looking at the electronics to find a cause, he was ejected in the air with the rest of the audience and contestants when Kid switched off the forcefield covering the area. Floating in the Mavity field and starting to freeze, he saw a vision of Susan Foreman in the TARDIS willing him to find him. He captured a nearby confetti cannon to direct him to an airlock. Inside he encountered Gary Gabbastone and Mike Gabbastone, using Gary’s knowledge of the systems he finds out that Kid is planning to use a Delta Wave to kill all the viewers of contest as revenge for what the Corporation did to his home planet. He manipulated the hologram systems to fool Kid and allow him to destroy the device. He then starts to give electric shocks to Kid for his actions, ignoring his visions of Susan telling him to stop, and only stopping when Belinda arrived. They watched Cora Saint Bavier sing a tradition Hellion song to tell the universe of her plight. Before leaving, they learnt from the Graham Norton hologram about the death of planet Earth. Discovering that he had enough readings they managed to get back to May 24 2025 before hearing the Cloister Bell and an explosion ripped through the doors of the TARDIS. (The Interstellar Song Contest)
ON WISH WORLD
The Doctor and Belinda woke up in an idealised world where they were a married couple with a daughter Poppy and lived next to Melanie Bush. He didn’t remember his true life and thought he was an Home Insurance Under-Manager called John Smith who was employed at the Unified National Insurance Team, (Wish World) with the Unified National Insurance Team ID Clearance Level X. (Unified National Insurance Team) He started to doubt things when antiquated ideas were being said such as Christofer Ibrahim’s reaction to the Doctor calling him beautiful, implying same gender attraction wasn’t allowed, and that he should marry Kate Lethbridge-Stewart so that she shouldn’t work. Later that evening he was watching one of Conrad Clark’s broadcast, he briefly saw an image of Susan, before being in direct contact with Rogue, who told him that “Tables don’t do that” and spent the following hours seeing that the mugs fall through the table during the “slips”. This woke Belinda who called the authorities as he was having doubts. He was brought by police to the Bone Palace, where he was confronted with pieces of Gallifrey heritage such as the Seal of Rassilon. After being taken to see Conrad and the god of wishes, and learning this world has been wished into existence, he realised that he was talking to a new incarnation of The Rani. She took him to balcony explaining that she was using his doubts plus the trails of the Vindicator to rip reality apart to rescue Omega, before locking him out and detonating some explosives making the balcony fall into the Underverse. (Wish World)
However, he was saved when Anita Benn opened a door to the Time Hotel, and learnt how The Rani’s destruction of Earth was affecting the hotel given that they were based in the 23rd century stopping them from fully working. Given that he was now in reality, he first got Belinda and Poppy out of their house realising that Poppy was real. He then asked Anita to open a door to UNIT HQ to anchor it to reality. He managed to get Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Christofer Ibrahim and Susan Triad back to reality, and restoring Rose Noble into existence. He asked Susan to make a Zero Room to protect Poppy when he removed the wish. The Rani confronted him in UNIT HQ mocking him about hiding half a mile away from her base. He copied the software from The Rani’s sonic screwdriver and used this to gain access to her hover scooter to regain access to the base. He arrived just in time to see Omega return to the universe, but not in his Time Lord form, but in the form of the myths and legends of his people, a mad god. After The Rani was eaten by Omega, he used the energy stored in the Vindicator to return Omega to the Underverse. With Ruby stopping the wish, he return to the UNIT basement to see if Poppy survived, which she seemed to have. The Doctor and Belinda proceeded to take her with them into the TARDIS to continue their adventures, but they slowly forgot her and she disappeared from creation. Reminded by Ruby about Poppy, he dismissed Kate’s calls to help using UNIT tech and left in the TARDIS. (The Reality War)
FURTHER ADVENTURES
The Fifteenth Doctor arrived outside the Time Bubble containing Nora Wicker’s home on 16 December 2033. The Eleventh Doctor had secured his help after deciding to free Nora following the forty-six years she spent inadvertently trapped inside, each day looping over and over, as the Eleventh Doctor miscalculated the size of the bubble when he erected it to contain the seed of the World Tree that had landed in her garden on 19 August 1987.
After exiting his TARDIS, the Fifteenth Doctor waved to Nora and the Eleventh Doctor, then readied himself to use his sonic screwdriver at the same time as the Eleventh Doctor to produce a precise frequency to create a crack in the bubble. However, at the last possible moment, Nora confided to the Eleventh Doctor that she wanted to remain in the bubble to look after the tree, distracting the Eleventh Doctor and causing the sync to fail. The Fifteenth Doctor lowered his screwdriver and returned to the TARDIS, planning to return the next day, but ultimately did not as to respect Nora’s wishes. (The World Tree)
At some point prior to 5 March 2005, The Doctor was photographed on Earth. This photo would later be in the possession of Clive Finch. (Rose)
OTHER REALITIES
THE DAFT DIMENSION
In the Daft Dimension, the “new Doctor”, as mentioned by one fan, was among the exciting new developments of Doctor Who. (The Daft Dimension 579)
PSYCOLOGICAL PROFILE
PERSONALITY
The Fifteenth Doctor displayed an optimistic and adventurous outlook towards the future; (“Heroes of Time”, etc.) he was freed from the emotional baggage of his past, following the Fourteenth Doctor’s rehab on Earth; he was accepting of his losses, while fondly remembering his past loved ones. The Doctor was also flirtatious and charismatic. He was overjoyed meeting his predecessor and had an excellent relationship with him. He was sympathetic about the Fourteenth Doctor’s struggles and would hug him in comfort. (The Giggle)
The Fifteenth Doctor took pride in his status as a time traveller, taking offence when Ruby called the Goblin’s time travellers He corrected her that their time-surfing capabilities were a mere “bimble” in comparison to “cool” time travellers like himself. (The Church on Ruby Road)
SKILLS
The Fifteenth Doctor displayed sharp deductive and reasoning skills, being able to interpret a reading from his sonic screwdriver which detected a 2 carat diamond ring in the pocket of a policeman and deduce that he intended to propose to his girlfriend. (The Church on Ruby Road)
HABITS AND QUIRKS
The Fifteenth Doctor spoke with a unique Scottish-Rwandan accent, which meant that, unlike his predecessors, his accent did not originate solely from the British Isles. The Fifteenth Doctor wasn’t much for feeling embarrassment; spending his post bi-generation without trousers on. (The Giggle)
APPEARANCE
The Doctor had a “nice” new face which fitted well into place, with his hair being short and his nose being just right. His legs were firm and his eyes were bright. (Contents) He had dark skin and a thin black moustache. (The Giggle, “Heroes of Time, Rose etc.)
CLOTHING
Upon bi-generation, the Fifteenth Doctor split from his predecessor; taking some of his clothing. Wearing the Fourteenth’s dress shirt, The Doctor also ended up with his untied tie, underpants, socks and shoes. (The Giggle)
The Doctor wore the clothes of his predecessor for a short time and, believing them to be “off-the-peg”, he first pondered on wearing a frilly shirt and a scarf before deciding they were “over them” and “a touch too soon” respectively. The Doctor finally chose some sturdy boots, believing them to be handy for the Moon and a “nice” new hat. (Contents)
MAIN ATTIRES
The Fifteenth Doctor frequently wore a burnt orange double breasted leather trenchcoat, complete with pockets and belted cuffs. Additionally, he wore a striped zip-up cardigan, blue trousers, and a silver necklace and rings. (The Church on Ruby Road, “Heroes of Time”, etc.)
BEHIND THE SCENES
THE FOURTEENTH DOCTOR?
The BBC announcement revealing Ncuti Gatwa’s casting as The Doctor was worded ambiguously, with Gatwa’s Doctor only described as “the new Doctor”; he was not explicitly stated to be the Fourteenth Doctor, or the successor to Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor.[1][2] Nevertheless, numerous news outlets presumed that Gatwa’s incarnation would be the Fourteenth Doctor and incorrectly reported as such.
However, Whittaker’s final episode, The Power of the Doctor, depicted the Thirteenth Doctor regenerating into a new incarnation once again portrayed by Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant. After Power of the Doctor’s broadcast, Russell T Davies confirmed that Tennant’s new incarnation was the Fourteenth Doctor, and that Gatwa’s would follow as the Fifteenth.
Gatwa was again incorrectly identified as the Fourteenth Doctor by the Channel 5 documentary Doctor Who: 60 Years of Secrets and Scandals which aired on 25 November 2023, shortly following the premiere of the Star Beast, the first full episode of Tennant’s run as the Fourteenth Doctor.
THE FIRST BLACK DOCTOR?
The Fifteenth Doctor was the first “main” ordinal incarnation of the Doctor in the programme’s history to be played by a black man, namely Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa; however, other black Doctors have previously appeared in The Doctor Who universe.
Comedian Lenny Henry was the very first non-white actor to portray The Doctor; in an untitled skit from an episode of the Lenny Henry Show broadcast on 3 October 1985, Henry portrayed a parodical Seventh Doctor. Upon Gatwa’s casting in 2022, Henry praised the development, noting “a lot of black fans have been looking at our watches for a while! More power to Russell T Davies.” While Henry’s incarnation is not considered part of Doctor Who’s “main continuity”, it would take thirty-three more years for another black Doctor to appear in any media.
Russell T Davies’s novelisation of Rose, released on 5 April 2018, featured a photograph in conspiracy theorist Clive Finch’s possession that showed a tall, bald, black female Doctor who wielded a flaming sword.
The 2020 episode Fugitive of the Judoon introduced the “Fugitive Doctor”, a mysterious, previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor portrayed by BAME actor Jo Martin. This unseen incarnation, a predecessor to the First Doctor, joins the ranks of the eight other “pre-Hartnell” Doctors introduced in the 1976 serial The Brain of Morbius. Within the same series as Fugitive, several of the Timeless Children — seven youthful incarnations of the Doctor — were played by BAME child actors, most notably including the first.
In addition, various “bodyswaps” have been depicted wherein The Doctor temporarily possesses the body of a BAME individual, such as Daniel Anthony’s Clyde Langer being possessed by the Eleventh Doctor in Death of the Doctor, and Damian Lynch’s Benjamin Chikoto, who the Third Doctor uses as a means to communicate in Ghost in the Machine.
At the time of production for Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, Steven Moffat secretly intended Doctor Moon to be a future Doctor, meaning that Colin Salmon would have been the first BAME actor to portray a main ordinal Doctor, although this was never revealed in any later work of fiction. In Showrunner Showdown in 2020, Moffat commented that he thought a version of this idea could still work and Russell T Davies revealed that he always thought of the character as The Doctor while watching the episode.
A QUEER INCARNATION?
Gatwa has the distinction of being the first openly queer actor to portray a mainline ordinal incarnation of the Doctor;[9] queer actor Mark Gatiss portrayed an non-ordinal Doctor in the parody skit The Web of Caves, while Geoffrey Bayldon portrayed an alternate universe Doctor in The Doctor Who Unbound audio series.
Though it remains to be seen if the Fifteenth Doctor himself is queer, co-star Neil Patrick Harris has described Gatwa as “the first gay Doctor”.[10] The question of which incarnation constitutes the “first gay Doctor” is a matter of debate; the friendship between the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan became romantically tinged towards the end of the Chris Chibnall era, though the pair never explicitly expressed their attraction to one another, and the Eighth Doctor was implied to be non-heterosexual in the Eighth Doctor Adventures series of novels. Furthermore, many stories released in the 1990s and beyond reiterate that the Time Lords’ concept of gender differs to that of humanity.
UNDATED EVENTS
At some point before 5 March 2005, the Fifteenth Doctor was photographed on Earth, with the photo eventually ending up in the possession of Clive Finch. (Rose)
The Fifteenth Doctor once stood among several of his other incarnations, as well as various captains. He held a communicator next to Jean-Luc Picard, who was holding The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. (Friendship is Universal)
The Doctor and his TARDIS are pulled through the sky by two reindeer. (Joy to the World, Honey!)
The Doctor once stood in his TARDIS as it was pulled forward through the sky by two reindeer. (Joy to the World, Honey!)
The Doctor once welcomed an individual into the TARDIS in London. (Travel Through Time and Space)
The Doctor was once present in a large group, next to Joy Almondo and near a Christmas tree. (It’s Christmas Time!)
LEGACY
The Doctor was depicted alongside Joy Almondo in an advertisement for Doctor Who, stating that it could be watched at Christmas. Around this time, The Doctor’s TARDIS was flown nearby. (The TARDIS is landing just in time for Christmas!)
APPEARANCES PRIOR TO HIS FIRST FULL TELEVISION STORY
Continuing the trend set by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Doctors, the Fifteenth Doctor appeared multiple times in expanded media before his television debut.
Interestingly, the Fifteenth Doctor’s first appearance was technically before the Thirteenth Doctor’s television debut in The Woman Who Fell to Earth; he appeared implicitly in the 2017 poem Contents, as an ambiguous then-future Doctor with short hair, wherein this Doctor rummaged through a chest looking for a new costume, settling on a hat and boots. As revealed on the Official Doctor Who Twitter account, the Fifteenth Doctor does indeed have very short hair, wears a stetson, and boots.
His second appearance was also implicitly in the audio drama The World Tree, which, while ambiguous as to which future Doctor appeared in it, Nick Slawicz, the story’s author, confirmed that the Fifteenth Doctor was indeed The Doctor present in that story. Slawicz further explained that he didn’t consciously make the future Doctor ambiguous as the costume reveal hadn’t been revealed at the time of the final draft of the story.
The pink-painted TARDIS that appeared as part of a cross-promotion exhibit with the 2023 film Barbie could be argued to be that of the Fifteenth Doctor, owing to the fact that Ncuti Gatwa also played a Ken in the film; Russell T Davies claimed the exhibit depicted genuine in-universe events.
The first explicit appearance of the Fifteenth Doctor was in the short story First Day of the Doctor, which depicted an obscured diary entry of the Doctor written shortly after his first adventure.
The Fifteenth Doctor’s entry in the encyclopaedia Whotopia: The Ultimate Guide to the Whoniverse was styled as an inner monologue of the Doctor, wherein he reflected on the new friends and foes in his life.
Although not an appearance of the Fifteenth Doctor per se, Ncuti Gatwa appeared in-costume as The Doctor in a version of An Adventure in Space and Time broadcast on BBC Four on 23 November 2023 as part of William Hartnell’s (David Bradley) premonition of the future of Doctor Who, replacing Matt Smith’s role from the original version broadcast in 2013.
In the illustrated edition of the novelisation of Rose released on 23 November 2023, photographs of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors were added to Clive Finch’s collection of photographs of the Doctor.
COSTUME
Ncuti Gatwa had a role in the costume chosen for the Fifteenth Doctor.
The Fifteenth Doctor’s Christmas outfit has an overall retro appearance: his cardigan is Madcap England’s “Capitol 60s Mod Stripe Zip Polo” and his trainers are Grenson’s “Sneaker 51”.
MERCHANDISE
Titan Merchandise, for MCM Comic Con, released an exclusive t-shirt, sweatshirt, cup and coaster using a promotional picture of the Fifteenth Doctor. These were later sold by Forbidden Planet.
A poster of the Fifteenth Doctor was included with Doctor Who Magazine #598.
OTHER MATTERS
THE WHOUNIVERSE INDENT
A clip of the Fifteenth Doctor was used in the Whoniverse ident released on 31 October 2023.
A version of Lee Sullivan’s The Usual Suspects? art piece including the Fifteenth Doctor was released on 21 October 2023 for the Adventures in Time and Space – 60 Years of Doctor Who Art Exhibition exhibition held at Weston Museum, although there is no indication that this version of the artwork is licensed, although versions released earlier were.
Various pieces of fan art of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby were shared by the Official Doctor Who Twitter account under the #FanArtFriday and #DWFanArt hashtags.