The Doctor ' s mother According to some accounts , the Doctor remembered having a mother . The Eighth Doctor claimed that his mother was human ; ( TV : " Doctor Who " , PROSE : " Alien Bodies " , " The Infinity Doctors " , " Grimm Reality " , " Unnatural History " , " The Shadows of Avalon " ) other accounts said she was a Time Lord . ( COMIC : " The Comfort of the Good " ) The Eighth Doctor also said that he couldn ' t remember if he had a mother or if he was loom ed . ( PROSE : " The Shadows of Avalon " , " Bafflement and Devotion " ) Biography . The Doctor said that his mother used to sing the Zagreus nursery rhyme to him . ( AUDIO : " Seasons of Fear " ) When the Doctor was just a " small child " , the Doctor ' s mother sat by the side of his bed and told him the story of Grandfather Paradox . ( PROSE : " The Gallifrey Chronicles " ) The Eighth Doctor relived a memory from his first incarnation where his mother watched as his father held him up as a child to see the stars . ( PROSE : " The Eight Doctors " ) Other universes . In one universe , when the Doctor was young , his mother and father went on a trek in the mountains with him . The Doctor ' s father and mother owned a summer house on the other side of Kasterborous . He remembered that her name was Penelope . ( PROSE : " The Infinity Doctors " ) In the Obverse , the Doctor ' s mother was a mermaid . ( PROSE : " The Blue Angel " ) References . The First Doctor once had a hallucination of his mother stroking his hair and asking him to tell her about his adventures . He thought to himself that she was as beautiful as ever . ( PROSE : " A Big Hand for the Doctor " ) The sentient quantum field of the planet Albert told the Eighth Doctor that there was a reality where he knew his mother ' s voice . ( PROSE : " Grimm Reality " ) Talent Scout took on the appearance of the Doctor ' s mother from TARDIS ' databanks . The Eleventh Doctor referred to her form as a " petty cruelty " . ( COMIC : " The Comfort of the Good " ) Appearance . The First Doctor remembered his mother having red hair . ( PROSE : " A Big Hand for the Doctor " ) The Eighth Doctor also remembered that his mother had long red hair , and a cut - glass voice ; ( PROSE : " The Gallifrey Chronicles " ) according to him , she resembled the third incarnation of Romana . ( PROSE : " The Ancestor Cell " ) At some point in life the Doctor ' s mother had grey hair . ( COMIC : " The Comfort of the Good " ) Behind the scenes . Penelope Gate . Lance Parkin intended for the human Penelope Gate and the Time Lord Ulysses to be the Doctor ' s parents . Penelope ' s description matches the description of the Doctor ' s mother in " The Gallifrey Chronicles " , and , in the same story , Penelope and Ulysses are said to have a half - human son on Gallifrey . In " The Infinity Doctors " , the Doctor recalls that his mother ' s name is Penelope . The Woman . Russell T Davies has stated ( in a March 2009 email reprinted in REF : " " , pages 622 - 623 ) that the unnamed woman , implied to be a Time Lord , in " The End of Time " was meant to be the Doctor ' s mother . However , he has also said that whoever the woman is can be up to judgment , and she could be someone else . Additionally , the depiction of the Doctor ' s mother in " The Comfort of the Good " bears a striking resemblance to the Woman in both physical appearance and Gallifreyan dress .