Sixth Doctor

Bumptious, melodramatic, and above all stubborn, the **Sixth Doctor** instantly believed himself superior to almost anyone he encountered. He would often browbeat others into submission with his savage wit and his grammarian's interest in language. Even so, his mercurial and flippant tendencies did not define the true heart of his persona. Beneath his thunderous and turbulent exterior, he was quite the opposite: a passionate, warm, virtuous and empathetic individual.

He was profoundly difficult with his first companion, Peri Brown, whom he initially challenged for her use of American English and her as-yet-incomplete education. Indeed, during the early hours after his regeneration he physically assaulted her due to post-regenerative paranoia. It took considerable time for himself and Peri to stop bickering and speak together on amiable terms, but the Sixth Doctor eventually became someone she could rely upon.

## Biography

### Post-regeneration

Whilst on Androzani Minor, both the Fifth Doctor and Peri Browncontracted a fatal condition called spectrox toxaemia. The Doctor gave Peri the only antidote available, saving her at the cost of his own life. He expressed uncertainty as to whether he would regenerate or not, as it felt "different this time". However, he managed to regenerate (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

The Doctor expressed joy at the change, seeing his sixth incarnation as an improvement over the Fifth Doctor, who he considered unbecoming. Despite having stabilised physically, he suffered initial personality and mental issues that caused him to lapse into extreme paranoia and violence, even trying to strangle Peri. After regaining his senses, the horror of his actions caused him to exile himself on Titan III as punishment until he had attained appropriate humility. On Titan III, he met another Time Lord, his old tutor Azmael. Instead of a self-imposed exile, the Doctor soon became involved with stopping the Gastropod Mestor from launching his eggs into space, which would cause death and destruction on every world they landed on. These efforts cost Azmael his life, as he sacrificed himself to trap Mestor in his own mind to prevent him having the chance to assault the Doctor's still-fragile new persona, but left the Doctor affirmed in his new identity. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*)

### Dark beginnings

in partially repairing its broken chameleon circuit. Picking up an extraterrestrial signal, he and Peri were drawn into an adventure involving an attempt by the Cybermen to destroy the Earth with Halley's Comet. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

Discovering that the TARDIS was running low on vital Zeiton-7 crystals, the Doctor travelled to their source on the planet Varos. While searching for the crystals, the Doctor was nearly forced to participate in deadly "games" when he attempted to free those trapped in the Punishment Dome. Stopping Sil, the greedy Mentor who had caused this devolution, the Doctor obtained the required Zeiton-7, restoring the TARDIS' supply of it. (TV: *Vengeance on Varos*)

Tracing a time distortion to 19th century England, the Doctor discovered that the Master had teamed up with another renegade Time Lord, the Rani, to aid her experiments in the extraction of the chemical responsible for inducing sleep from human miners. Sabotaging the Rani's TARDIS, the Doctor sent the pair flying through the Time Vortex while he took back the chemical and cured the miners. (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*)

After the Doctor and Peri went on a fishing trip, the Doctor felt a time slip in his subconscious where he saw his second incarnation get executed. Upon Peri's suggestion to see a doctor, he went to *Space Station Camera*to see Joinson Dastari, only for them to find that a massacre had occurred there, with no signs of life. In the service ducts, they found Jamie McCrimmon, who claimed that the Second Doctor had been executed by the Sontarans during a battle on board the space station. After letting Jamie rest, the Sixth Doctor deduced that the Second Doctor's supposed death was an illusion created by the Sontarans. The Sixth Doctor used telepathy to track the Second Doctor to a hacienda near Seville, where he was being held captive while Dastari tried to isolate the symbiotic nuclei in his cells so that the Sontarans could be given the secret to time travel. While Peri distracted the hacienda's occupants, a local woman called Anita helped the Sixth Doctor and Jamie find a secret passageway into the cellars.

The Sixth Doctor sabotaged a TARDIS copy that was being developed on the space station, and lied to Jamie about its workings while he knew the Sontaran Group Marshal Stike was listening in on them. Jamie wounded Stike, and the two of them escaped. Knowing there was another Time Lord present, the augmented Androgum Chessene changed the plan into having Dastari alter the Second Doctor into Chessene's Androgum consort. Chessene also betrayed the Sontarans. The effect on the Second Doctor was not permanent, however, as the condition was not stabilised. The Sixth Doctor, Peri, and Jamie followed the Second Doctor to Las Cadenas restaurant in Seville. Dastari and Chessene had the Doctors and their companions brought back to the hacienda. The Sixth Doctor saved Jamie from being butchered and eaten by the Androgum Shockeye. Dastari then freed the Second Doctor upon realising his mistake in augmenting a primitive Androgum, and was shot by Chessene for betraying her. With Peri's help, the Sixth Doctor deceived Chessene into using the faulty prototype TARDIS, and Chessene was killed by molecular disintegration. (TV: *The Two Doctors*)

When the TARDIS became caught in a time corridor oriented from the planet Karfel, the Doctor discovered that Megelen, a human who had become mutated into a half-Morlox hybrid, now ruled the planet. Calling himself the Borad, Megelen was using a device known as the Timelash to banish his disobedient subjects through time. The Doctor found the amulet that powered the Timelash, preventing Megelen from mutating Peri into a hideous mutant like himself in order to mate with her and sent Megelen through his own device. (TV: *Timelash*)

The Doctor went to Necros to pay his respects to his old friend Arthur Stengos at Tranquil Repose, but discovered that Davros had falsified the news of Stengos' death to lure him to the planet. The Doctor learned that Davros had created a new breed of Imperial Daleks, loyal to him alone. The situation was resolved with the arrival of the Renegade Daleks, who sought to take Davros to Skaro for trial. The Doctor then decided to take Peri to Blackpool. (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*)

### Amicable travels with Peri

The Doctor and Peri arrived in Blackpool in 1986 where they began to relax and enjoy the rides. Soon however the Doctor began noticing strange going's-on's and eventually found that the Celestial Toymaker had been hiding in the park. The Doctor was trapped in a deadly video game created by the Toymaker who revealed that if he lost the planet would be destroyed. The Doctor eventually beat the game and defeated the Toymaker before continuing his and Peri's holiday in Blackpool. (TV: *The Nightmare Fair*)

The Doctor next took Peri to the holiday planet Tranquela but found that the normally peaceful inhabitants had turned aggressive and were declaring war on each other. After some investigating the Doctor learned that the planet had been taken over by the Dwarf Mordant, an Arms-Dealer who was using a Deep Space Ray to control the population. The Doctor was briefly put under Mardin's power and almost killed Peri but was freed from the control by her. The Doctor infiltrated Dwarf Mordant's base and forced him into using a Peace Ray on the planet, freeing everyone from his control. (TV: *The Ultimate Evil*)

After arriving in Singapore in 1986, the Doctor and Peri met the Brigadier, who was on holiday. The three soon began to investigate when local people and tourists began to fall ill with a more aggressive version of yellow fever. After investigating, the Doctor, Peri and the Brigadier discovered the Master and the Rani working with the Nestene Consciousness, which had developed a more deadly version of the yellow fever virus, in an attempt to wipe out the humans by infecting local people and tourists, via Autons and plastic mosquitos. The Doctor eventually blew up the Nestene's base; killing it, and causing the virus to die out, but the Master escaped with the Rani in her TARDIS. (TV: *Yellow Fever*)

Shortly afterwards, the Doctor encountered Anzor, a Time Lord who had bullied him at the Academy, who used his Type 60 TARDIS to force the Doctor's TARDIS into a locked orbit above the planet Magnus. Anzor had been summoned to Magnus because the natives wanted to learn the secret of time travel for an advantage over their foes, and tortured him after his refusal to cooperate. The Doctor soon discovered his old enemies the Ice Warriors had taken over the planet and with help from Sil planned to rotate the planet's axis to make it cold so that they could live on it. The Doctor defeated them by using their own weapons against them. (TV: *Mission to Magnus*)

The Doctor and Peri traced an alien signal to the village of Pease Pottage, where they found that villagers had been vanishing only to show up an hour later with a thorn in their head. After some investigating, and with help from computer experts Melanie Bush and Aaron, the Doctor and Peri discovered a cult known as the Children of January, made up of a race of bee-like aliens known as the Z'ros. These Z'ros had been exiled from their home dimension for attempting to rule it for themselves and now they planned to take over Earth. The Doctor however thwarted their plan. Afterwards, Peri told the Doctor that she would be staying on Earth, as she'd fallen in love with Aaron, she then suggested that he take Mel with him. The Doctor offered Mel the chance to travel with him, to which she accepted,. (TV: *The Children of January*)

### Adventures with Mel

The Doctor was called to a spaceship to be used as a scapegoat to drive out hijackers. However, this plan turned sour when a genetically engineered species known as the Vervoidsemerged from their pods in storage and killed many of the passengers, simultaneously causing several others to mutate into new members of their own kind. The Doctor discovered that the Rani was the one who created the Vervoids after experimenting on humans. With the Vervoids attempting to convert all of humanity, the Doctor was forced to destroy them by fast-forwarding their lifecycle, as he knew that just one Vervoid making it to Earth would allow this to happen. (TV: (*The Curse of the Rani*)

The Doctor and Mel arrived on Earth in 2002, where they encountered a race known as the Doomwraiths, who had populated the Earth with their own genetic code millions of years ago in order to save their species. The Doctor learned that the Doomwraiths planned to wipe out the human race, due to them not evolving into the Doomwraiths intended design. The Doctor was initially unsure if he wanted to save the human race or help the Doomwraiths, but he eventually sided with the humans, and thwarted the Doomwraiths plans. (TV: *Doomwraiths*)

While helping a family that was being plagued by psychic events, the Doctor discovered that the grandmother of the family was the female half of an entity known as the Hodiac, who had originally been a single consciousness, but was split into two beings born on different worlds that would live out different lives, die and then be reborn, where the cycle would repeat. The Doctor found that the male Hodiac was manipulating the stock market so that gold would be more expensive, and so that he could sell his gold for prophet and hire space mercenaries, he also planned to become an immortal god by merging with the other half of the Hodiac and uniting their minds. The male Hodiac was defeated when it attempted to merge withits other half, but failed due to the female half's mind extending into the family and becoming something more, thus destroying the male Hodiac's mind. (TV: *Mind of the Hodiac*)

The Doctor and Mel visited a place called Hollowdean sometime in the 1980s, where the Doctor met an old adversary of his, The Master. The Master planned to become space and time itself, but the Doctor was able to thwart his plans. (TV: *The Hollows of Time*)

## Personality

The Sixth Doctor could be unpredictable, consistently self-absorbed, stubborn, argumentative, moody, melodramatic and arrogant, believing himself greatly superior to anyone he encountered. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *Attack of the Cybermen*, *Vengeance on Varos*, *The Two Doctors*, *Timelash*, *The Mysterious Planet*) However, he was critical of himself in some situations, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *Attack of the Cybermen*, *Revelation of the Daleks*)

Despite his hubris approach, the Doctor knew when to be serious, such as when he rushed to help Gustave Lytton after exiting his TARDIS in a comedic manner. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

The Doctor 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*)

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*)

Despite his often unstable demeanour, the Doctor was quick to act when the situation called for it, and very little, even his companions, could hope to get in his way. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) More than his other incarnations, the Sixth Doctor was a fatalist, more than once deciding he was doomed and resolving to accept his fate. (TV: *Timelash)*

His adventurous side still remained, but the Sixth Doctor was more selfish about it, especially when it came to decision making. He would often decide he knew what Peri wanted out of her travels and often told her where she wanted to go instead of asking her. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*, *The Two Doctors*, *Timelash)*

A man of little fear, the Doctor would remain unfazed when in the line of fire, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen) or in the face of the unknown. (TV: Vengeance on Varos) Even when helpless or under threat, the Doctor would be unafraid to speak his mind. (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks)*

While he was willing to leave Hugo Lang for dead after Lang made an attempt to kill him, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) the Doctor was, for the most part, always willing to lend a helping hand wherever he could, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*, *The Mark of the Rani*, *Revelation of the Daleks)*

his physical attack on Peri could be attributed to post-regenerative trauma, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) he later stabbed a Cyberman scout to death with a Sonic lance, killed the Cyber-Controller at close range with a Cyber-gun, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*) seemed unperturbed after witnessing two men fall to their death in an acid bath, (TV: *Vengeance on Varos*) smothered Shockeye to death with a cyanide rag in self-defence, (TV: *The Two Doctors*) shot out a Renegade Dalek's eyestalk, (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*)

He was ashamed with himself when he learned he had attacked Peri in his post-regenerative trauma, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) worried what would become of Flast after he exposed her to warmer conditions, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*) commanded Peri to save herself instead of him when being carted away by the Rani's miners, (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*) comforted a mutanted man as he died, was outraged by Davros's disregard for life, offered to find a way to avoid Orcini needing to sacrifice his life, and then agreed to honour his last request. (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*) He claimed he would begin a "vegetarian diet" after almost transforming into an Androgum, (TV: *The Two Doctors*)

He also mourned for Azmael, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) Gustave Lytton, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*) Luke Ward, (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*) Oscar Botcherby, (TV: *The Two Doctors*) Arthur Stengos, the DJ, (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*)

The Doctor could be literal minded, checking Peri's back after she complained about her "heart being where [her] liver should be", and taking Lytton's "look around you" statement seriously. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*) When Lord Ravensworth asked the Doctor what he and Peri did in the TARDIS, the Doctor answered with, "argue, mainly". (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*)

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 they had kept Earth safe and the timeline intact. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

Immediately after his regeneration, the Doctor saw his new body as an improvement and felt that the Fifth Doctor had "a feckless charm that was never really [him]", (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*)

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*, *The Two Doctors*, *Timelash*) However, he enjoyed his companions company, saying that Peri was important to him, and assuring her he wouldn't abandon her, (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*)

### Habits and quirks

Commonly, the Sixth Doctor would overreact with rage when 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*) He also had a taste for poetry and literature, often reciting bits of them. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *The Mark of the Rani)*

The Doctor, when concerned with his appearance, often asked his companions how he looked in an act of vanity. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma, The Mark of the Rani*, *Revelation of the Daleks*)

He was also known to let out an annoyed, "doh", when dismissing someone. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*, *Timelash)*

the Doctor would stroke his cat brooches before attempting something risky. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *Attack of the Cybermen*, *Vengeance on Varos*)

Much like his previous incarnation, he would also 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)*

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*, *The Two Doctors*, *Timelash*, *Revelation of the Daleks)*

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)*

### Skills

The Sixth Doctor was highly deductive, able to understand a situation based on small details that others overlooked, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *Vengeance on Varos*, *The Two Doctors*, *Terror of the Vervoids*, *The Ultimate Foe*) and identify his location by studying his surroundings. (TV: *The Two Doctors)*

Despite his larger build, the Doctor still possessed the fighting skills of his predecessors, being able to overpower Azmael, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) one of Gustave Lytton's fake policeman, Russell, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*) Maldak, (TV: *Vengeance on Varos*) a wounded Stike, (TV: *The Two Doctors*) one of the Borad's androids, (TV: *Timelash*) and Davros's guards. (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*)

The Doctor was also a skilled hypnotist, able to put an erratic Jamie McCrimmon into a trance in order to extract information from him. (TV: *The Two Doctors*) He was later able to use hypnotism to calm a violent mutant human, but the mutation rendered the man unable to remain calm for long, (TV: *Revelation of the Daleks*)

The Doctor had great mechanical skills, being able to briefly repair the TARDIS's damaged chameleon circuit. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

He was also shown to have great acting skills, (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen) and organ player. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)*

## Physical Appearance

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*) being a tall man, with long, curly, blond hair and green eyes., (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

time, the Doctor gained weight and his hair significantly grew out. (TV: The Nightmare Fair)

### Clothing

Much like his fourth and fifth incarnations, 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 generally preferred footwear was a pair of royal orange spats over forest green ankle boots. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*)

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 crimson tartan, scarlet, green, pink and maroon felt, peach wool, a woven back piece, checked collar and yellow and pink lapels, (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*)

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)*

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*)

The Sixth Doctor's coat was the subject of much ridicule, with people often mocking it. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*)

Due to his fondness of cats, the Doctor always wore one of a number of cat-shaped pins or broocheson his left lapel. (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*, *The Mark of the Rani*, *The Two Doctors*, *Revelation of the Daleks)*

## List of Appearances

### Doctor Who

#### Season 21

* *The Caves of Androzani*
* *The Twin Dilemma*

#### Season 22

* *Attack of the Cybermen*
* *Vengeance on Varos*
* *The Mark of the Rani*
* *The Two Doctors*
* *Timelash*
* *Revelation of the Daleks*

#### Season 23

* *The Nightmare Fair*
* *The Ultimate Evil*
* *Yellow Fever*
* *Mission to Magnus*
* *The Children of January*

#### Season 24

* *The Curse of the Rani*
* *Doomwraiths*
* *Mind of the Hodiac*
* *The Hollows of Time*