Sixth Doctor

As loud in clothing as he was in voice, the Sixth Doctor would often browbeat others into submission with his savage wit and grammarian's interest in language. Passionate, warm and virtuous, he held a thunderous and turbulent exterior that initially manifested as righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction, but, as he acquired a larger entourage of companions, he mellowed out of his faults and became a man of genuine zest and charm. 
== Biography ==
The Doctor was profoundly difficult with his first companion, Peri Brown, even strangling her out of sheer paranoia mere hours after his regeneration. (TV: ) While their relationship remained vitriolic during their adventures on Telos and Varos, (TV: , ) the Doctor's affirmation on Peri's importance to him during their battle against the First Rani and the Tremas Master at Killingworth proved that he was someone she could rely upon, (TV: ) even if he indulged in more extreme solutions, such as killing the Androgum Shockeye in an act of pure self-preservation. (TV: ) While taking some solo adventures to mellow out of his violent tendencies, the Doctor faced Davros again (AUDIO: ) and also briefly reunited with Tegan Jovanka, (HOMEVID: ) with him and Peri later meeting H. G. Wells during an adventure on Karfel (TV: ) and stopping Davros' schemes at Tranquil Repose. (TV: )
Further adventures to the likes of Blackpool and Magnus (PROSE: , ) improved their bond to the point that Peri looked to the Doctor for strength after her mother's death, which also untethered her from Earth and allowed her to devote herself to traveling in the TARDIS. (AUDIO: ) Though they were duped by temporary companion Joe Carnaby into reviving his Were Lord brethren, (AUDIO: ) the pair had a better relationship with their next companion, the Whifferdill Frobisher, whom the Doctor met while Peri was staying in 1985 New York City, (COMIC: , ) though he chose to leave the TARDIS (AUDIO: ) sometime after they saw Jamie McCrimmon die fighting the Cybermen. (COMIC: )
The Doctor and Peri continued to travel together until they were separated shortly after their trip to Ravolox, when the Doctor was forced to stand trial against the Time Lords in an impartial inquiry on his character, (TV: ) where his prosecutor, the Valeyard, showed him Peri being killed on Thoros-Beta. (TV: ) The Doctor tried to explain he would improve in the future by showing an adventure he would have with Mel Bush on the Hyperion III, only to then be charged with genocide against the Vervoids. (TV: ) However, the arrival of the Master showed the trial to be a farce orchestrated by the Time Lords to discredit the Doctor, and also revealed the Valeyard to be a future personification of the Doctor himself, using the trial for his own agenda. After he managed to defeat the Valeyard, the Doctor was told that Peri was still alive, the reports on her death having been falsified. (TV: )
Although he left the trial happy in the knowledge that Peri had married, the revelation that the Valeyard's dubious existence was tied to his own left the Doctor to fall into a depression and try to live reclusively, (PROSE: , ) even when taking on companions such as Grant Markham (PROSE: ) and Mathew Sharpe, (AUDIO: ) until the Fates reassured him that becoming the Valeyard was but one of many possible timeline restored him from his funk. (PROSE: ) Now seeking out Peri, (AUDIO: ) the Doctor learnt that the Time Lords' manipulations on Thoros-Beta had spawned multiple versions of her. (AUDIO: ) He also spent time stranded in 1890s London, where he became reacquainted with Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot, even taking them on a quick trip after retrieving his TARDIS. (AUDIO: )
During a visit to Sheffield Hallam University, the Doctor found himself being forced to take on history lecturer Evelyn Smythe as a companion, with her verbal dexterity being on par with his own. (AUDIO: ) While being troubled again by Thomas Brewster led them to meeting Flip Jackson and Patricia Menzies, (AUDIO: ) it was their battles with Nimrod and the Forge (AUDIO: ) that saw the Doctor learn true humility from Evelyn when she confronted him on his flippant attitude towards death. (AUDIO: ) Now reassured that the life he thought would be "short, but sweet", could progressed further, (AUDIO: ) the Doctor continued to travel with Evelyn until she chose to settle down on Világ. (AUDIO: )
The Doctor's following adventures saw him reunite with Frobisher, (AUDIO: ) befriend Jason, Crystal and Zog, (AUDIO: ) briefly travel with UNIT operatives Will Hoffman and Emily Chaudhry, (PROSE: ) try to unravel the mystery of Charley Pollard until she was erased from his memory, (AUDIO: ) and return to the Land of Fiction to help Zoe Heriot fend of the Cybermen with a fictional construct of Jamie. (AUDIO: )
As he was slowly manipulated by the Valeyard across different moments of his life, (AUDIO: , , ) the Doctor found himself reuniting with Flip while stopping Davros from altering the Battle of Waterloo, and she joined him as a companion (AUDIO: ) until she left to marry Jared Ramon just before the Doctor was re-joined in his travels by one of the versions of Peri. (AUDIO: ) While traveling alone, the Doctor took on Bletchley Park WREN Constance Clarke as a companion, (AUDIO: ) and they were swiftly joined by Flip when they found her in 1948 Vienna, (AUDIO: ) with the trio forming the "TARDIS Gang". (AUDIO: )
Eventually, the Doctor found himself meeting Mel Bush at Pease Pottage during an Auton invasion, and invited her to join him as a companion, fulfilling the future he had seen at his trial. (PROSE: ) Although he was annoyed by Mel's insistence on making him exercise and maintain a diet, (TV: ) the pair came to form a close friendship as they voyaged to planets like Generios 1, (AUDIO: ) Lethe (AUDIO: ) and Oxyveguramosa. (PROSE: ) Their travels saw the Doctor reunite with Evelyn, and later be joined by one of her old students, Hebe Harrison. (AUDIO: )
Accounts vary on just how the Sixth Doctor regenerated, though they all agree that his final flight saw him and Mel drawn to Lakertya by the Rani. (TV: ) While one account depicted him suffering a fatal head blow when his TARDIS was suddenly ensnared in a tractor beam before he could activate the defences, (PROSE: ) two differing accounts would elaborate that the Doctor was manipulated into ensuring his own demise in the attack by the unborn Seventh Doctor (PROSE: ) and Fenric. (PROSE: ) A second account attributed his inability to survive the attack as being from fatigue after sacrificing his chronon energy to stop Monica Lamprey destroying the multiverse. (PROSE: ) A third account showed the Doctor having to arrange his own demise to prevent the Valeyard's plan to replace every Time Lord in existence by sending a message back down his timeline and coercing his younger self into entering the Lakertyan System and regenerating after being exposed to focused radiation beams that were fatal to Time Lords. (AUDIO: ) Whatever the reasons, all accounts agreed that the Sixth Doctor regenerated into his successor once his TARDIS was forced onto Lakertya by the Rani. (TV: )
== Other realities ==
=== Alternate timelines ===
In an alternate timeline, the Doctor became President of the Time Lords, and, in his sixth incarnation, led a battle in the war with the Daleks. With the assistance of the Master, the Daleks began winning the war. Rather than letting them take control of the universe, the Doctor activated the Armageddon Sapphire, destroying the entire universe. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel)
In one alternate timeline, the Doctor had his throat slit by Shockeye. In another, he saved Oscar Botcherby's life by arriving thirty seconds before Oscar was killed by Shockeye, instead of thirty seconds afterwards. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin)
When the Cybermen allied with to take over history, (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen) the Doctor found that the Cybermen had taken over the Matrix during his battle with the Valeyard, (COMIC: Prologue: the Sixth Doctor) and he and Mel were captured by the Cybermen. This timeline was eventually unwritten by Rassilon and the Twelfth Doctor. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen)
In a timeline where a Dalek invasion of Earth in 1903 was thwarted by the Doctor and Evelyn, the British Government trapped the Doctor in the Tower of London along with the two surviving Daleks to keep him as a symbol of their victory, cutting off his legs in order to keep him trapped. Driven insane over the years, the Doctor sometimes spoke to hallucinations of Evelyn after she died of old age, not even fully aware when a younger Evelyn came to see him in the Tower. He was eventually exterminated by the last surviving Dalek when it came to ask him for orders as it didn't know what else to do with itself. (AUDIO: Jubilee)
=== Averted timelines ===
When the Eighth Doctor arrived at the Sixth Doctor's trial, the Valeyard was able to force an alternate timeline where a guilty verdict was delivered against the Sixth Doctor on genocide charges. Rescued from execution by his eighth incarnation, the alternate Sixth Doctor created by the Valeyard's actions accompanied him to Gallifrey. The two set up a Presidential Inquiry into their current trial. The Sixth Doctor managing to deliver his own testimony before the timeline that created him ceased, leaving the Eighth Doctor to continue the investigation into the trial, to the point of bringing in Borusa to stabilise the situation. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
Before meeting Frobisher, the Doctor travelled with William. (PROSE: Gone Fishing, Walkin' City Blues, Certificate of Destruction, The Earwig Archipelago) These events were undone by the Eighth Doctor in order to stop Flora Millrace embarking on her murder spree. (PROSE: DS Al Fine)
==== Facing the final curtain ====
The Doctor tried to travel to the Lakertyan System, but discovered there was deadly radiation nearby and quickly fled, attempting to take Mel to Zastros 8, but instead ending up on Zastros 9, a totalitarian state, and becoming caught up in another situation they only narrowly escaped from when the planet's denizens set chase after them. Back on board his TARDIS, the Doctor found the underside of the TARDIS console smoking. As he went to examine the problem, his consciousness was suddenly transported to the Matrix, and the Valeyard took over his body. Inside the Matrix, the Doctor met a Gallifreyan technician named Genesta, who warned him he was dying. He eventually discovered her to be the Valeyard in disguise.
Throughout their climactic encounter, the Valeyard taunted the Doctor, informing him that he had effectively used creatures called Nathemus to replace the entire Time Lord civilisation with his consciousness and implanted them inside the symbiotic nuclei of the TARDIS. Since the Nathemus fed off telepathic energy, they gained access to its telepathic link, and by extension, the Doctor's mind when he interacted with his ship symbiotically, which let them feed until they were able to gain access to the Matrix, giving the Valeyard a means to take it over and alter history. Because of this, both the Doctor and his TARDIS were now empowering the Nathemus and subject to their influence.
Having been completely defeated in the present, the Doctor realised the only way to break the parasitic hold the Nathemus had on him would be to put a halt to the Valeyard's master scheme in the past. He sent himself a psychic signal via a telepathic impulse from his own TARDIS to go to Lakertya regardless of the danger and experience the deadly radiation, believing he would die if he did so. Suddenly put in a threatened position, the Valeyard tried to convince the Doctor not to go with his plan, but the Doctor carried on, readying himself for the end by reminiscing of all the companions he had during his lifetime. The Valeyard challenged him with the fact that if he didn't die, but regenerated, the Nathemus would still survive. However, the Doctor knew through the process of regeneration, all the cells in his body would be replaced anew, including those of his mind. The Nathemus were linked to the unique mind he had in his present state, but with his mind reshaped, the Nathemus would no longer have any connection with him to feed on it or subsequently manipulate the TARDIS, starving them to death.
After sending his past self the message, therefore undoing all the damage the Valeyard managed to inflict on history, the Valeyard found himself reduced to a powerless form in the Matrix, cut off from the universe and left to shrivel up and die, though it also meant the end for the Sixth Doctor as well. His consciousness began to wane in the wake of time being rewritten, and he sensed the change occurring. (AUDIO: The Brink of Death)
=== Undone events ===
thumb|left|The Sixth Doctor and Peri investigate. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
In a negated timeline, the Doctor and Peri were almost forced to land at the Big Bang due to mysterious coordinates being sent to the TARDIS. Escaping the explosion, the Doctor and Peri arrived at a Vess warehouse, and learnt the full magnitude of the situation with the Seventh Doctor and Ace. Contacted by CIA agent Straxus as Peri vanished, the Sixth Doctor discovered that had blackmailed the CIA into giving him a conceptual bomb, which he then set off inside the mind of Bob Dovie when he entered the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS; Davie's refusal to accept its existence caused the TARDIS to explode in its own timeline until it never existed. The Sixth Doctor then expanded the dimensional stabiliser on Straxus' TARDIS and was able to summon his other seven incarnations to help stop the Master. The Fifth Doctor went to 1962, and showed Dovie the TARDIS then, so that he would not be dumbfounded by the TARDIS's interior and therefore preventing the bomb's detonation. The Sixth Doctor then joined his other seven incarnations in preparing to time ram the Master's TARDIS. However, rather than kill the Master, the First Doctor instead turned off the automatic distress actions, which had brought all of the Doctors to the pocket dimension and triggered the TARDIS' destruction, making it so none of that had happened. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
=== Parallel universes ===
During the fight with the Lamprey, several alternate Doctors were travelling with different companions, such as Evelyn Smythe, a half cyber-converted Evelyn Smythe, Frobisher, a human/Silurian hybrid Melanie Baal, and Peri Brown. One Doctor, hailing from a timeline where Rome never fell, lost his left eye in the events that led to the death of his companion Perpugilliam of the Brown, keeping the injury as a reminder of his shame. (PROSE: Spiral Scratch)
==== Earth-33⅓ ====
== Psychological profile ==
=== Personality ===
With the satisfaction of performing the greater good always at the heart of his actions, the Sixth Doctor held a thunderous presence that remained unwavering and uncompromising when confronting the evils of the universe, with the Doctor likening himself to a heroic knight errant. (TV: The Twin Dilemma) Just as likely as he was to be a mischievously cuddly theatrical as he was a viciously intelligent sarcastic, (AUDIO: Bloodtide) he revelled in taking people by surprise by performing the unexpected, (TV: The Mysterious Planet) and often browbeat others into submission with his grammarian use of language, with Banto Zame complaining that "talking [to him was] like arguing with a thesaurus", (AUDIO: The One Doctor) and Sabalom Glitz saying the Doctor could "talk an ayatollah into opening an off-licence". (PROSE: Mission: Impractical)
Though he tried to remain detached from his surroundings, even imploring others to likewise not "get emotional" when facing painful revelations, (TV: The Mysterious Planet) the Doctor was quick to act when the situation called for it, with not even his companions being able to get in his way. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mysterious Planet, The Ultimate Foe) While his primary concern was helping others in need, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) the Doctor tried not to think about his actions in advance. (TV: Mindwarp)
Preferring to face danger to the end instead of living in fear, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) the Sixth Doctor would remain unfazed when in the line of fire, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, The Mysterious Planet) or in the face of the unknown. (TV: Vengeance on Varos, The Ultimate Foe) Even when helpless or under threat, he would be unafraid to speak his mind. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks) However, once he had decided he was doomed, the Doctor would accept his demise with quite dignity. (TV: Vengeance on Varos, The Two Doctors, Timelash) He was also unable to escape his own curiosity, refusing to leave a mystery until he had the answers. (TV: The Mysterious Planet)
During his early days, the Sixth Doctor could be unpredictable, self-absorbed, argumentative and arrogant, believing himself greatly superior to anyone he encountered, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) though was critical of himself when realising his mistakes, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, Revelation of the Daleks) He enjoyed proving people wrong when they doubted what he said. (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans) His adventurous side still remained, but the Sixth Doctor was more selfish about it, especially when it came to decision making, often deciding he knew what Peri wanted out of her travels and telling her where she wanted to go instead of asking her. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, The Two Doctors, Timelash)
While he lost his compassion to post-regeneration trauma, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) he learnt to care for others after realising his mistake in doubting Lytton's motives. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) He could be especially blasé in the face of death, to the point that he would deliver quips to dead bodies, (TV: Vengeance on Varos, The Two Doctors) though he still felt regret when good people died. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks) He employed a more direct approach to how he resolved a situation, (TV: Vengeance on Varos) and would make plans in preparation for his adventures instead of waiting for events to happen, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) though he would improvise his way out of a situation if he had no choice. (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans)
He worried he would be seen as frightening, and was willing to isolate himself if he thought he was a danger to others. (TV: The Twin Dilemma) However, he would deliberately exaggerate his argumentative nature in order to fool people into leaving him be when he wanted to act alone, (TV: Timelash) being especially blunt when dealing with people he wished to ignore. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Timelash) Despite his hubris approach, the Doctor knew when to be serious, such as when he rushed to help Lytton after exiting his TARDIS in a comedic manner. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
By the time he met Frobisher, the Doctor still had a chip on his shoulder when it came to being in one place for too long, but was friendlier to those he met, even taking the Whifferdill's decision to join him as a companion in his stride, (COMIC: The Shape Shifter) though he was still rude and dismissive towards Frobisher. (COMIC: Voyager) However, he held life at value, being aghast when people were sacrificed to achieve a goal, and offering emotional support to those that had suffered great loses, (COMIC: War-Game) but would wait until asked for hospitality instead of offering it. (COMIC: Exodus)
When Peri was distressed over the idea that Ravolox was a devastated Earth, the Doctor tried to comfort her, even showing empathy for her plight, despite initially telling her not to get emotional. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) He was devastated when presented with the news of Peri's demise on Thoros Beta, and was enraged that the Time Lords had engineered her execution, threatening he had every intention of discovering what they were up to. (TV: Mindwarp) When he discovered the Time Lords had relocated Earth and renamed it Ravolox to keep the secrets of the Matrix from being exposed, the Doctor announced his purpose was to stop evil and power mad conspirators. (TV: The Ultimate Foe)
After the events of his trial, the Doctor became more aggressive and irascible (PROSE: Time of Your Life) to cover up a depression that was so deep and consuming that he even contemplated suicide. (PROSE: Killing Ground) He showed a lack of faith, and even a dislike, for his companion, Grant Markham, as a means of changing his future, demonstrating his lack of consideration for his companion, and even self-absorption for his own problems. (PROSE: Time of Your Life) However, his opinion of Grant changed after Grant proved that he wasn't as unlikeable as he initially believed. (PROSE: Killing Ground) None the less, the Doctor began questioning his desire to help others after his trial, growing emotionally exhorted enough to try and become a background presence while he dealt with the lingering betrayal he felt until an adventure with the got him out of his funk, (AUDIO: The Wormery) leading him to start acting calmer and more adjusted, though still haunted by his guilt for "[having] led friends to their deaths and caused numerous wars" while also influencing "peaceful people [into] taking up arms, and good people [into] having their faith or reason destroyed." (AUDIO: The Marian Conspiracy)
The Doctor continued to mature in the company of Evelyn Smythe, to the point that Melanie Bush called her "the woman who tamed the Doctor". (AUDIO: Thicker Than Water) While he could still be irritated by bureaucracy, the Doctor became more willing to apologies for his outbursts, and make others feel included in his victories, (AUDIO: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor) though he would give them the option to retreat if his objective was sufficiently dangerous. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element) He even came to see how his flippant attitude towards death was alienating from how Evelyn reacted to him. (AUDIO: Arrangements for War, Medicinal Purposes) Upon meeting an iteration of himself from just after his trial following his travels with Evelyn, the Doctor reflected how his demeanour had changed, noting how "obstreperous" he used to be. (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors) 
While travelling with Frobisher again, the Doctor became friendlier and more playful, even sharing jokes with Frobisher during serious situations. (AUDIO: The Holy Terror)
Despite his high spirits, the Sixth Doctor did possess a melancholy side to him, believing that the universe would have gone on if he had stayed on Gallifrey, though admitted it would be in a different shape, and once desired only to fish instead of involve himself in another crisis. (COMIC: Time & Time Again) He claimed he would begin a "vegetarian diet" after almost transforming into an Androgum, (TV: The Two Doctors) but this claim was dubious. (PROSE: Instruments of Darkness, The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up) When reading a newspaper, the Doctor would focus on the cartoons and crosswords. (AUDIO: Excelis Rising)
He also seemed unable to see his own faults, but would hypocritically criticise those that showed them, particularly the Valeyard. (TV: The Ultimate Foe) He accused Peri of being an "egotistical young lady", (TV: The Caves of Androzani) and of being overweight. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) He also rebuked Balazar for boasting about his knowledge. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) He did, however, admit he had misjudged Lytton following his death and their defeat of the Cybermen, feeling bad even after he had kept Earth safe and the timeline intact. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
The Doctor liked Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn, (PROSE: Business Unusual) the Star Wars Special Editions, (PROSE: Mission: Impractical) Creature from the Black Lagoon, (AUDIO: Pier Pressure) and dinosaurs. (AUDIO: Excelis Rising) Among his favourite words were "serendipity" and "fortuitous", (AUDIO: The Hollows of Time) and Late-Victorian Britain was one of his favourite times and places. (PROSE: Wish You Were Here) He disliked hotels. (AUDIO: The One Doctor)
Mel Bush remembered the Sixth Doctor having a fondness for cats, (TV: Time and the Rani) with the Doctor himself agreeing with Charley Pollard when she noted that he "had a way with cats", stating that "cats had a way with [him]". (AUDIO: The Condemned) He adorned his attire with cats, such as wearing a cat brooch on his left lapel, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) cat cufflinks, (AUDIO: Trouble in Paradise) and a tie printed with little cats on it, (PROSE: Blue Box) while also carrying a cat themed face mask on his person. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) He even owned a pair of silvery silk pyjamas covered in pictures of different species of cat, all of them wearing his patchwork coat, (PROSE: Instruments of Darkness) and used cat photos to send encoded messages. (WC: Doctors Assemble!)
He also enjoyed hazelnuts, (AUDIO: The Condemned) and crispy Peking duck with prawn crackers. (AUDIO: Project: Twilight) His favourite sandwich flavour was peanut butter, lettuce and potato chip. (PROSE: Timeshare) He took four sugars in his tea, (AUDIO: Project: Lazarus) and "just a dash of milk" in his coffee. (AUDIO: The Reaping) He thought salads were "boring", (COMIC: Salad Daze) and disliked carrot juice. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids)
A prospector of knowledge, (TV: Terror of the Vervoids) the Sixth Doctor held an interest in "everything", and considered "the province of knowledge to speak, and the privilege of wisdom to listen." (TV: The Two Doctors) He did not, however, believe in luggage, (PROSE: The Death of Me) ghosts, (AUDIO: The Macros) or fate. (AUDIO: Urgent Calls)
While he believed that the "purpose of life [was] too big to be knowable", the Doctor felt that "everything in life [had a] purpose" and that "every creature [played] its part". (TV: The Mysterious Planet) Indeed, he always willing to lend a helping hand wherever he could (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) and see that justice triumphed over the guilty. (TV: Mindwarp) 
He preferred to deal with "one problem at a time", (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans) would try to respect the customs of the locals at the places he visited, (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) and considered his inability to tell his destination to be "half the fun" of travelling. (AUDIO: The Ultimate Adventure) When he blew out the candles on his 900th birthday cake, his wishes were to "have better control of the TARDIS", "peace throughout the galaxy" and "more manageable hair". (AUDIO: The One Doctor)
It was during his sixth incarnation that the Doctor began to see the logic in murder, (PROSE: Alien Bodies) making him more willing to resort to a "modicum of force", (TV: The Mysterious Planet) despite his belief that he had "an inbuilt resistance to any form of violence, except in self-defence." (TV: The Twin Dilemma) He gunned down his foes with little hesitation, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, Timelash, Revelation of the Daleks, Untitled) and was unafraid to take a life when he felt sufficiently threatened, (TV: The Two Doctors) knowing that there were times when one had no choice but to kill to survive. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) However, the Sixth Doctor also had a more emotional and caring side, determined to not let people die "if there [was] a chance of saving them", (TV: The Mysterious Planet) though he was still willing to allow a few deaths if it would protect the majority from harm. (WC: Real Time)
The Doctor held a hatred for robots, branding them as "simple-minded creations" that only existed to "serve sentient beings", (COMIC: Time Bomb) and confessed to Drathro that he saw them as lower than organic life. (TV: The Mysterious Planet)
While he could be flippant with his travels, the Doctor was aware of the need to be careful around certain points in time. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) He would "show little mercy to time meddlers." (TV: Timelash)
The Sixth Doctor thought of himself as being "a man of science, temperament and passion", and also agreed with Peri on him having "a very loud voice", (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) though thought the idea of him being "eccentric" was "preposterous". (TV: The Mark of the Rani) He described himself as "pragmatic", and considered compassion and a "capacity for self-sacrifice" as "some of [his] defining traits". (AUDIO: The Sirens of Time) He also believed himself to be blessed with both "tact and finesse", (TV: Terror of the Vervoids) and believed he could subdue opponents with his charm. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) He also considered himself to be courageous, intellectual, and of "incredible perspicacity." (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans)
The Sixth Doctor considered his five predecessors to have been "good men". (PROSE: The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up) Although he would dismiss his third incarnation as "more interested in axle grease and looking in the mirror" than in reading, (AUDIO: Year of the Pig) and as having had a "strange taste in clothes", he was willing to acknowledge his superior skill in swordplay when the situation called for it. (PROSE: State of Change)
Immediately after his regeneration, the Doctor saw his new body as an improvement and felt that the Fifth Doctor had had "a sort of feckless charm that was never really [him]", (TV: The Twin Dilemma) but later admitted to Evelyn Smythe that "being him was like a holiday." (AUDIO: The 100 Days of the Doctor)
The Sixth Doctor held an admiration for the Seventh Doctor's confidence and forward planning, and his preparedness to do things he himself "would never do", but disliked his reputation as a planet destroyer, (AUDIO: The 100 Days of the Doctor) and thought him "selfish" for hunting big game with "live bait", (COMIC: Time & Time Again) but still thought him to be a "charming fellow". (AUDIO: The Light at the End) He also noted that he and the Eighth Doctor made a good team when dealing with the crisis caused by the Valeyard's machinations on Gallifrey. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors) He was critical of his thirteenth incarnation due to her vocabulary. (WC: Doctors Assemble!)
The Sixth Doctor did not suffer fools gladly, and sometimes seemed to endure the presence of others more than he enjoyed it. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Timelash) However, he enjoyed the company of his companions, saying that Peri was important to him, and assuring her he wouldn't abandon her, (TV: The Mark of the Rani) confessed how he loved Evelyn Smythe as a friend, (WC: Real Time) and refused to leave Constance Clarke when she begged him to save himself. (AUDIO: The End of the Line)
Though he was bitter for a while, the Doctor ultimately did not hold a grudge against Peri for her unintentional part in his predecessor's regeneration, telling her that he accepted the choice that the Fifth Doctor made and that "a universe with [her] brightness in it [was] infinitely preferable to a universe without". (PROSE: Burning Heart) He became grief-stricken when presented with evidence of Peri's untimely death, (TV: Mindwarp) describing his pain as "like dying [him]self," (AUDIO: Her Final Flight) and was most pleased when he discovered the evidence had been tampered with, and that Peri was still alive. (TV: The Ultimate Foe)
Seeing Earth as an "irritating planet" chiefly filled with people characterised as poor thinkers, (TV: Timelash) the Sixth Doctor saw humans as having "small" brains, though believed that they could "be quite effective when used properly." (TV: The Two Doctors) He could be particularly dismisses of females. (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans) However, he also enjoyed how humanity was "seldom predictable". (AUDIO: The Ultimate Adventure)
The Doctor had a soft spot for children (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani), and once entertained local schoolchildren with various card tricks. (PROSE: Grave Matter)
The Doctor was resentful towards the High Council of the Time Lords for how they would manipulate him and his travels, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, Mindwarp) but he did not believe them capable of violent actions against innocent beings, despite being concerned he was wrong in his assumption. (TV: The Two Doctors) However, once he was informed that they were responsible for the relocation and ravaging of the Earth to keep the secrets of the Matrix being exposed, and had placed him on trial to discredit him and remove him as a witness, the Doctor denounced the Time Lords as a "sanctimonious gang of hypocrites" that were "decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core", with all the other "power-mad conspirators" in the universe "still [being] in the nursery compared to [them]". (TV: The Ultimate Foe)
He considered the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans to be "the most evil force[s] in the galaxy". (HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans)
While he was suffering from post-regeneration trauma, Peri Brown called the Sixth Doctor a "manic depressive paranoid personality", while Mestor described him as "egocentric, wilful and quite mad". (TV: The Twin Dilemma) On Thoros Beta, King Yrcanos noted that the Doctor thought like a warrior but did not act like one. (TV: Mindwarp) When reflecting on his blue coat, Mel used "understated", "sombre", and "boring" as words not often associated with the Sixth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors) River Song described the Sixth Doctor as like "a clown put through a woodchipper". (GAME: The Eternity Clock) When the Eighth Doctor had a tarot card reading, the Sixth Doctor was identified as "the Moon". (PROSE: The City of the Dead)
The Tremas Master described the Sixth Doctor as "the blustering one with the stupid coat", (GAME: Destiny of the Doctors) with the Decayed Master calling him "the carnival clown". (AUDIO: The Two Masters) The Doctor's first TARDIS described the Sixth Doctor as "the retroaction". (AUDIO: Prisoners of Fate) The Valeyard described the Sixth Doctor as a "whirl of blunder and bluster". (PROSE: The Dark Scrolls of the Valeyard) Adam Mitchell identified the Sixth Doctor as the "madman" in comparison to his other incarnations. (COMIC: Unnatural Selection)
Upon learning that the Valeyard had infected his mind with the Nathemus to overwrite the Time Lords and trap them as formless beings in the Matrix, the Doctor willingly sacrificed his life to wipe out the Nathemus from his head, having no qualms about it if it meant stopping the Valeyard, openly taunting him as he began fading from existence. Admitting he had "lived a good life by and large", the Doctor toasted the companions he had travelled with, while the Valeyard tried to tempt him not to die by pointing out he would be throwing away his "precious moral scruples", but the Doctor decided these traits would die with him. Feeling his past self regenerating as timelines began to change, the last echo of the Sixth Doctor faded away in blissful peace, allowing himself to become reborn as the Seventh Doctor. Meanwhile, his younger self, though distressed by the sudden attack of fatal radiation from Lakertya, found peace in having lived with "a good innings", hoping the "footprint he [left]" would be "light, but apposite". However, when the manifestation of his next incarnation began talking, the Doctor reacted with confusion, unsure of who was there as he faded away. (AUDIO: The Brink of Death)
According to another account, after sacrificing much of his chronal energy to trap the Lamprey inside the Spiral Chamber, the Doctor, heavily weakened, tried to brush off Mel's concern by feinting prideful gravitas, but soon revealed to her that he was resigned to his fate, believing that his sacrifice was worth it to save the multiverse. As he took one last look at the universe, Mel protested that it was unfair for the Doctor to die, but he testified that his sacrifice was his time to donate and his chance to give to the universe. Satisfied with the life he led, the Sixth Doctor told Mel not to feel cheated by his untimely demise. (PROSE: Spiral Scratch)
=== Habits and quirks ===
Commonly, the Sixth Doctor would overreact with outrage when feeling indignant on someone or questioned about his methods, repeating a single word from the criticism, often getting louder as each repeat went on. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, The Mark of the Rani, Timelash, Revelation of the Daleks) He also had a taste for poetry and literature, often reciting quotes and scriptures that matched his current predicament at the first given opportunity. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe)
He would let out a light, "Hmmm", when he noticed someone was talking to him while he was preoccupied with a task. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, The Two Doctors, The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp) He also had a tendency to exclaim, "Great Gallifrey!" (COMIC: Revelation!, Genesis!, The Gift)
When concerned with his appearance, the Doctor would ask how he looked to ensure he appeared appropriate in his attire. (TV: The Mark of the Rani, Revelation of the Daleks) He was also known to let out an annoyed, "d'oh", when dismissing someone, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, Timelash, The Ultimate Foe) and would say, "come on", when instructing people to follow him. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks, The Ultimate Foe)
The Sixth Doctor incorporated more theatrical movements, often walking or moving his hands in an over-the-top and comedic fashion, (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos, The Ultimate Foe) though he would also stand with his hands crossed behind his back. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Vengeance on Varos, The Two Doctors, Timelash, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids)
Much like his previous incarnation, the Sixth Doctor would often stand with his hands in his pockets, also while flicking the long tails on his frock coat back. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Timelash, Revelation of the Daleks, Terror of the Vervoids) When not in his pockets, he would keep his hands hovering above his waist, wringing his fingers together. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, The Mark of the Rani, Timelash, The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe)
For good luck, (PROSE: Time Wake) the Doctor would stroke his cat brooches before attempting something risky. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos)
He would sometimes scratch at his right ear, (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Vengeance on Varos, The Mark of the Rani) and often sat in a chair with his feet up and legs stretched out and crossed. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Vengeance on Varos, Terror of the Vervoids)
Something of a foodie, the Doctor was known to fill himself up on food, such as sneaking a bite from Peri's apple, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) and eating two biscuits meant for him and the Brigadier, and then "coyly eyeing [a] half-eaten custard cream". (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass) He once devoured a burger in a single mouthful, (PROSE: Business Unusual) and also engaged in a series of adventures solely to acquire food without Mel noticing. (PROSE: The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up)
The Sixth Doctor could be literal minded, often mistaking what was being said to him as having a different meaning. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, The Mysterious Planet)
When relaxing, the Doctor would go fishing, especially for Gumblejack, which he considered amongst the tastiest fish in Mutter's Spiral. (TV: The Two Doctors; COMIC: Time & Time Again; PROSE: Business Unusual; AUDIO: Arrangements for War) However, the Doctor considered giving up fishing when he started thinking that it "wasn't fair on the fish". (AUDIO: The Wormery)
In place of a sonic screwdriver, the Sixth Doctor would utilise a sonic lance as both a tool and a weapon. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen; AUDIO: Paradise 5, The Song of Megaptera; PROSE: Something Borrowed) He was also known to carry a multi-coloured umbrella that matched the clashing colours of his clothing. (TV: The Two Doctors, The Mysterious Planet, Time and the Rani)
When not in the pockets of his jackets, the Sixth Doctor would often stand with his hands on his hips, or hold his hands onto his lapels. He would also give a condescending smirk when playfully following instructions he was against.
=== Skills ===
The Sixth Doctor was highly deductive, able to understand a situation based on small details that others overlooked, (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Two Doctors, Terror of the Vervoids) and identify his location by studying his surroundings. (AUDIO: Trial of the Valeyard) He was also able to see through attempts at deception, (TV: The Ultimate Foe) and could tell when he was being snuck up on from behind. (TV: The Two Doctors, Timelash)
Taking advantage of his larger build, the Sixth Doctor was able to overpower others by brawling them into submission with sudden surprise attacks. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks) He was also able to knock out an attacker in an alleyway with a single palm thrust, (COMIC: The Shape Shifter) behead an Auton with a single punch, (COMIC: Façades) and knocked his opponent unconscious with three punches to the face while a contestant on Death-Hunt 3000. (PROSE: Time of Your Life) However, he recognised that he had little chance when fighting more experienced and prepared opponents, once allowing his third incarnation to take control of his body when he was forced to act as a gladiator in an alternate version of Rome. (PROSE: State of Change)
The Doctor proved sufficient enough with a sword to duel with Astrolabus, (COMIC: Once Upon a Time-Lord) and was even able to effectively wield an umbrella against a vibroknife. (COMIC: The Shape Shifter) He was also taught the Waltz and the Foxtrot by Becky. (PROSE: Teach Yourself Ballroom Dancing)
The Sixth Doctor's skin had extra subdural and subcutaneous layers, giving him a high level of damage resistance (PROSE: Burning Heart) and a high pain threshold. (AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates) 
The Doctor was also a skilled pendulum hypnotist, utilising a jewel to put an erratic Jamie McCrimmon into a trance in order to extract information from him. (TV: The Two Doctors) He later tried the same tactic to calm a violent mutant, but the mutation rendered the man unable to remain calm for long, (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) with the Doctor having much more success calming Mel Bush after she was forcibly enraged by Dr. Prana's drugs. (AUDIO: Loud and Proud)
He was able to use telepathy to form an astral link between his mind and his past incarnations in the event of a mind-slip. (TV: The Two Doctors)
The Doctor had great mechanical skills, being able to briefly repair his TARDIS's damaged chameleon circuit, (TV: Attack of the Cybermen) and effectively sabotage the Rani's TARDIS. (TV: The Mark of the Rani)
He knew how to perform first aid on a human. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, PROSE: Synthespians™)
The Doctor developed a weak form of night vision from his consumption of carrot juice, (AUDIO: The One Doctor) and could measure distances via sound reverberation. (AUDIO: The Juggernauts)
The Doctor was a decent singer, (AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates) and could play the organ. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
The Doctor was shown to have great acting skills, (TV: The Ultimate Foe) as well as being a decent performer of magic tricks. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids) He could also place himself in suspended animation for at least twenty minutes, (PROSE: Killing Ground) knew how to operate a parachute, (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass) could escape a straightjacket, (COMIC: Façades) and could pick a lock with a paperclip or a hairpin. (AUDIO: The Condemned, Industrial Evolution)
== Appearance ==
Resembling a man in his 40s, (AUDIO: The Middle) the Sixth Doctor was a tall man, with bouffant, curly, blond hair, (TV: The Caves of Androzani) and green eyes. (PROSE: Business Unusual) He also had small hairs growing on his arms. (TV: The Mark of the Rani) Over time, the Doctor gained weight and his hair significantly grew out. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) Consequentially, Melanie Bush thought him overweight and forced him to undergo a vigorous fitness program, which he found annoying, taking every available opportunity to deviate from it behind Mel's back. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids)
Physically, the Sixth Doctor was identical in appearance to an incarnation of the Time Lord Maxil that the Fifth Doctor met with Nyssa. (TV: Arc of Infinity) 
While he considered his "outward appearance [to be] of no importance whatsoever", the Sixth Doctor was pleased that his face had "a noble brow," as well as "a firm mouth, [and] a face beaming with a vast intelligence". (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
Dibber described the Sixth Doctor as "a dilly in a long coat", (TV: The Mysterious Planet) with Sabalom Glitz describing him as a "flashy, fair-haired person". (TV: The Ultimate Foe) Evelyn Smythe though he had a nice smile, that made up for his poor fashion sense. (AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates) The Countess described the Sixth Doctor as a "great handsome bull of a man", (PROSE: Endgame) while the Fifth Doctor described him as a "jester", (PROSE: Five Card Draw) and Death calling him "the Colourful Jester". (PROSE: Love and War)
When Legion took on the appearance of the Sixth Doctor, William Blake saw him as "a fat, jolly fellow wearing a multicoloured coat". (PROSE: The Pit)
When Affinity took on the Sixth Doctor's appearance to approach the Twelfth Doctor, he noted that the sixth incarnation was a "large man in [a] garish coat". (PROSE: Silhouette)
=== Clothing ===
==== Main attires ====
The Sixth Doctor wore a plain white shirt with cherry question marks embroidered on the collar, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) and braces adorned with question mark symbols. (TV: Vengeance on Varos) He took to wearing a set of royal yellow trousers with black stripes, and his footwear was a pair of royal orange spats over forest green ankle boots, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) that Sabalom Glitz confused for "ankle armour". (TV: The Ultimate Foe) His show size was size ten. (AUDIO: The Wormery)
Most distinctive of the Sixth Doctor's attire was his patchwork frock coat, which had cuffs the same colour as his trousers and featured patches of red tartan, scarlet, green, pink and maroon felt, peach wool, a woven back piece, checked collar and amber and pink lapels, (TV: The Twin Dilemma) with a total of seventy-six different colour tones overall. (AUDIO: The Middle) The Tenth Doctor told Gabby Gonzalez that the coat was "at the height of sartorial elegance", (COMIC: Laundro-Room of Doom) and the Eleventh Doctor told Clara Oswald that his patchwork coat was "made for a spectrum invisible to the human eye", and that he had won an award for it. (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand) He owned at least thirteen versions of the patchwork coat, though at least one was known to have been destroyed in an explosion. (AUDIO: The Crimes of Thomas Brewster)
The Doctor also included a range of waistcoats, oversized bow-tied cravats, and fob watches with coloured chains to accompany his patchwork coat, each possessing a different colour scheme and design. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mysterious Planet, Terror of the Vervoids) He first wore a knitted waistcoat that was dark brown, orange and purple in colour and featured dark green buttons, along with a dark green metal watch chain and both a turquoise (TV: The Twin Dilemma) and a dark blue coloured polka-dot cravat. (AUDIO: Prime Winner)
After briefly wearing a shirt with blue question marks on the collar and a dark purple squared waistcoat with an orange cravat decorated with yellow polka-dots and pink hearts, (PROSE: Burning Heart) a waistcoat with tweed pattern on the right side and a zig-zag pattern on the left, (PROSE: Time Wake) a plain brown waistcoat, (COMIC: Virtually Indestructible) a plain violet waistcoat, (COMIC: Endgame) and another with a blue striped theme, (AUDIO: Year of the Pig) the Doctor's prominent waistcoat became a red and white gingham waistcoat with bear face buttons, with which he wore both his original cravat and a new neon green plastic watch chain, before replacing his turquoise cravat with a plain red polka-dot one and his green watch chain with a bright pink plastic one. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) After this waistcoat was ruined at the Network, he switched it for one striped with diagonal greens and oranges, (PROSE: Time of Your Life) and also donned a periwinkle purple cravat. (PROSE: Killing Ground) While travelling with Frobisher, the Doctor once wore a waistcoat that was blue on its left side, green on its right side and purple on its back. (COMIC: Time & Time Again)
In the latter periods of his life, the Doctor wore both a pink, purple and green waistcoat with red ladybird buttons, a yellow cravat decorated with a starfield pattern and plastic watch chain that was a half neon green and half bright pink, (TV: Untitled) and an iridescent black and white waistcoat with a purple polka-dot cravat. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel)
The Sixth Doctor's patchwork coat was the subject of much ridicule, with people often mocking it. (TV: The Twin Dilemma) Mel Bush and Peri Brown each thought the coat as resembling "an explosion in a paint factory", (PROSE: Instruments of Darkness; AUDIO: An Eye For Murder) though the Doctor insisted that there were places where his coat was considered the "height of fashion". (PROSE: Palace of the Red Sun) Peri once described the Doctor as "the worst dressed man in all of time and space", (AUDIO: Of Chaos Time The) with the Twelfth Doctor also showing a disgust for the Sixth Doctor's clothing, (PROSE: Silhouette) and the Fourth Doctor wondering how he could ever end up with "such a terrible sense of fashion" after seeing the Sixth Doctor's coat. (AUDIO: The Light at the End) When he appeared in the black and white film Swamp of Horrors, the Doctor commented that his "clothes were made for technicolor". (PROSE: Swamp of Horrors (1957) - Viewing Notes)
Attending a funeral with Evelyn Smythe, (AUDIO: Real Time) the Doctor abandoned his patchwork coat for a more subdued blue coat, alongside a plain white shirt, a navy blue waistcoat, gold metal watch chains, blue trousers and boots, and a plain turquoise cravat. (WC: Real Time) Adopting this as his regular attire, he took to also wearing his blue coat with both his original shirt, (AUDIO: The Doomwood Curse) and his blue shirt, (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors) as well as with his purple, (AUDIO: The Condemned) dark blue (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors) and turquoise polka-dot cravats, (AUDIO: The Crimes of Thomas Brewster) and a blue cravat decorated with starfield patterns. (AUDIO: Project: Lazarus) He would also occasionally swap the cravat for a black and grey striped necktie. (AUDIO: World Enough and Time) He would later resume wearing his patchwork garb (TV: Time and the Rani) for the benefit of an amnesiac version of Mel, who liked his original outfit. (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors)
Due to his fondness of cats, (TV: Time and the Rani) the Doctor always wore one of a number of cat-shaped pins or brooches on his left lapel. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks, The Mysterious Planet, Time and the Rani) He also wore cat cufflinks. (AUDIO: Trouble in Paradise)
==== Other costumes ====
When he attempted to take Peri to London in 1899 for a holiday, the Doctor wore a dark frock-tailed suit and top hat. Moving on to London in 1936 to investigate the apparent conspiracy against Winston Churchill, the Doctor wore a dark-blue three-piece suit with a slight pinstripe, white shirt and regimental tie, yellow kid gloves, a walking stick, and a grey Homburg hat with a black band. He also wore a green tweed suit, and attempted to wear a brighter suit before Peri insisted he change to maintain their cover. (PROSE: Players)
While confronting the Sontarans in Seville, Spain in 1985, the Doctor removed his coat, left his cravat-less shirt unbuttoned, and replaced his usual waistcoat with a Hawaiian-styled one, (TV: The Two Doctors) which he later wore again whilst on Galápagos Islands with Evelyn Smythe. (AUDIO: Bloodtide)
thumb|The Doctor's mourning cloak. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
On Necros, the Doctor briefly wore a large and eloquent royal blue cloak with gold trim over his usual attire as a sign of mourning for the death of Professor Arthur Stengos, in accordance with the customs of mourning on Necros. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
Investigating strange technology in Washington, DC in the 1980s, the Doctor, on Peri's insistence, donned a black suit and a multicoloured tie printed with dozens of little cats. (PROSE: Blue Box)
While relaxing on the beaches of the planet Halcyon, the Doctor wore a pair of striped yellow trunks, along with a white shirt he kept unbuttoned. (COMIC: The Gift)
While stranded in Victorian London, the Doctor wore a blue variation of the typical clothing of the time period while posing as Professor Claudius Dark. (AUDIO: The Hourglass Killers)
Trying to take Jamie to the Queen Elizabeth II, the Doctor donned a white tuxedo with a black bow tie. (AUDIO: The Wreck of the Titan)
While infiltrating Golden Futures, the Doctor wore a suit of plum purple linen with a white shirt and a black tie. (AUDIO: World Enough and Time)
In place of his frock coats, the Doctor also owned a blue long-tailed jacket, with matching blue striped trousers. (AUDIO: Paper Cuts)
While undercover in Bletchley Park in 1944 after the TARDIS was rendered inoperative by a strange signal, the Doctor adopted a more subdued clothing of a brown and crimson tweed suit and waistcoat with a blue-and-white pinstripe shirt, along with a navy blue bow tie with scarlet spots. (AUDIO: Criss-Cross) The Doctor donned his "Bletchley Tweeds" again when visiting Russia in 1947. (AUDIO: Quicksilver)
== Behind the scenes ==
=== Casting ===
* Future Seventh Doctor actor, Sylvester McCoy, had put his name forward in consideration for role of the Sixth Doctorhttp://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/serials/7d.html before the part went to Colin Baker. However, McCoy would play the role during the regeneration sequence at the start of Time and the Rani.
=== Costume influences ===
* According to an interview with Colin Baker in DWM 118, the Sixth Doctor's coat was created because John Nathan-Turner had the idea that it should be in "very bad taste" to show the Doctor's alien nature. Baker himself had wanted to wear black to display the Doctor's darker side, likening the costume worn by Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor as what he had envisioned. (DOC: Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide)
* Colin Baker related the character of the Doctor to a quote from Rudyard Kipling; "I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me." This made him decide to wear a different cat badge on his costume in each story. He subsequently received a lot more cat badges from fans in the mail. When he played the Doctor on stage for The Ultimate Adventure, these gifts gave him the opportunity to wear a different badge in every single performance.
=== Regeneration ===
* Colin Baker declined an invitation to film the regeneration sequence at the start of Time and the Rani due to the circumstances of his dismissal from the role. Wishing to play the Doctor for the whole of Season 24, he was instead offered one last full story to reappear and regenerate. Baker declined, reasoning that he did not want to make the audience think he was still the de facto Doctor for a sliver of 1987 when he had been removed from the series. His successor, Sylvester McCoy, donned a blonde wig and briefly appeared on-screen as the unconscious Sixth Doctor. McCoy's face was obscured from camera view, first by the TARDIS console and then by the regeneration FX, before the final reveal of the Seventh Doctor. McCoy thus became the first actor to play more than one incarnation of the Doctor. Paul McGann would later play both the Eighth Doctor and the War Doctor in the final moments of The Night of the Doctor (again with his face obscured by the camera placement). Also, Tom Baker has played both the Fourth Doctor and the Curator, and David Tennant portrayed both the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors.
* Colin Baker would not personally enjoy an official regeneration story until 2015, when he was approached to perform one in audio format, The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure, making Baker, along with Eighth Doctor actor Paul McGann, one of two actors who played the Doctor to receive belated regeneration stories.
==== The "bang on the head" myth ====
* Due to lack of any information as to what caused the Sixth Doctor to regenerate, viewers were left to draw their own conclusions. At some point, it became the subject of ridicule that the Sixth Doctor had regenerated because he hit his head in some manner, an idea which some writers ran with, while others teased it. Some fans even joked it was because he fell off the exercise bike Mel had been forcing him to use. When the subject was brought before Colin Baker himself, as evidenced by a YouTube video entitled "Colin Baker Reacts to his Regeneration (50th Anniversary Convention)" by MrTARDISreviews, he found it disappointing.
* Gary Russell's book Spiral Scratch gives a "revisionist" account of the circumstances behind the Sixth Doctor's regeneration, explaining that it had not happened simply because he had hit his head, but because he was drained of the time-based life force that sustained him. Paul Cornell's book Love and War offered a different explanation, indicating the Seventh Doctor had willed himself into existence by influencing the Sixth Doctor's demise.
* In Nicholas Briggs's audio story The Brink of Death, a radiation lethal to Time Lords is the reason behind the Sixth Doctor's end. However, it did not appear to factor in the infamous "bang on the head" as an event coinciding with the Doctor's regeneration in any explicit way due to the fact it is not mentioned through dialogue nor possible to tell if the Doctor hit his head because there is no visual indicator of such a thing happening in the story. However, the Doctor is heard screaming in agony after being buffeted from a strong burst of radiation while a violent crashing sound is audible, proving he suffered some kind of physical trauma. Furthermore, though the Doctor soon afterwards collapses to the floor, there is no evidence of him hitting his head on the way down.
=== Other matters ===
* The prose version of the Sixth Doctor is one of few incarnations besides the Eighth Doctor who has technically crossed with the mythology of Faction Paradox and the War in Heaven. 
** In The Quantum Archangel, the Faction Paradox is mentioned and the Doctor experiences a timeline similar to the War. Craig Hinton's original notes for the novel, eventually published in the charity publication Shelf Life, asserted the War was negatively affecting the Six-Fold Realm of the Guardians. Hinton and Chris McKeon's Time's Champion utilised those notes and asserted the Sixth Doctor's regeneration, as well as the Seventh Doctor's role as Time's Champion, was due to the coming War.
** Lawrence Burton's The Time Wrestlers, published in Obverse Books' A Target for Tommy, has the Doctor, Peri and Señor 105 face War-time agents of the Great Houses. This story loosely connects to Burton's novel Against Nature. The biodata virus from Interference - Book Two is mentioned.
== External links ==
== Footnotes ==
 
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