Fifth Doctor

The Fifth Doctor, as he appears in The King's Demons

Tegan Jovanka

Vislor Turlough

Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

Kamelion

Peri Brown

Youthful in mind, manner and appearance, the **Fifth Doctor** expressed an interest in all things Victorian and Edwardian: cricket, tea, fair play, good manners, and a keen interest in science and exploration.

He was also a sensitive and profusely humane incarnation of the Doctor, who did not make himself an imposition, preferring to be honest reserved, and honourable. However, the Doctor was also less willing to do what he thought was immoral, and became highly conflicted about what choices he could make in a crisis that were truly right. His hesitancy made him seemingly more fallible than many other incarnations, making those around him wonder if he was capable of resolving difficult situations. Nevertheless, he was one of the most overtly fearless incarnations, and frequently found himself right in the thick of battle.

Like his first two incarnations, the Doctor often travelled with multiple companions. However, his TARDIS was rarely as harmonious as those of his predecessors. Instead, he frequently found himself stuck between Tegan Jovanka's pessimism and Adric's arrogance or Turlough's antagonism. Stuck in the middle with him was usually Nyssa, who regularly had to stand as a voice of reason. Eventually, he did settle on just one companion, American medical student Peri Brown, though only for a short period of time.

During his final adventure, the Doctor accidentally exposed himself and Peri to unrefined spectrox, contracting fatal spectrox toxaemia. Though he acquired an antidote, the Doctor had only enough for one person; he gave it to Peri. Not knowing if the disease could kill Time Lords for good, the Doctor gambled on regeneration saving his life, successfully regenerating into a new body after experiencing a vision of the Master and his former companions.

## Biography

### Post-Regeneration

After being severely injured from falling off the Pharos Project Radio Telescope, the Fourth Doctor merged with the Watcher and regenerated into his fifth incarnation. (TV: *Logopolis*) The regeneration proved to be a difficult one, nearly failing. His companions took him to the Zero Room to stabilise. While he was recovering, a message came from Adric, whom the Master had abducted, saying the TARDIS was heading for Event One. The Doctor left Tegan and Nyssa instructions on how to escape by jettisoning rooms from the TARDIS.

Much of the Zero Room was jettisoned as a result and the Doctor, needing a peaceful place to continue his stabilisation, went to Castrovalva. After he had recovered, he learned the city was artificial, created by block transfer computations. The Master, in the guise of the Portreeve, had created the city with Adric's mind. The Doctor rescued Adric and the TARDIS crew fled Castrovalva as it collapsed in on itself, leaving the Master to be erased from existence with it. (TV: *Castrovalva*)

### Attempts to return to Heathrow

Setting off for more adventures, the Doctor was asked by Tegan to return her to 1981 London, as she had only entered his company by accident. The Doctor got the TARDIS to 1981, but in the wrong place: Monarch's spaceship. The TARDIS crew stopped Monarch's scheme for time travel with cyborgs, even though the Doctor had to deal with Adric, who had allied himself with Monarch. Afterwards, Nyssa, who was greatly weakened after almost being converted into a cyborg, collapsed. (TV: *Four to Doomsday*)

While Nyssa rested in the TARDIS, the Doctor, Adric and Tegan visited the planet Deva Loka. While Tegan slept in a peaceful location, the Doctor and Adric were arrested by Commander Sanders, who was undergoing a nervous breakdown. With an artefact known as the Box of Jhana provided by the Kinda, Deva Loka's natural inhabitants, they managed to restore his mind. The Doctor then discovered that a malevolent entity known as the Mara had used Tegan to possess a male from the Kinda tribe. Using mirrors, the Doctor was able to force the Mara out, leaving it to perish. He then helped with asking the exploration team to leave Deva Loka. (TV: *Kinda*)

Another attempt to return Tegan home saw the Doctor land his TARDIS at Heathrow in 1666. The locals accused the Doctor of carrying the plague and hunted him and his friends down, until they were saved by Richard Mace. Allied with Mace, the Doctor and his companions found the Terileptils were enhancing the plague in carrier rats to rid the planet of humans so they could take over. In stopping them, the Doctor had his sonic screwdriver destroyed and accidentally caused the Great Fire of London. (TV: *The Visitation*) The Doctor decided not to replace his sonic screwdriver, despite its usefulness. (TV: *Snakedance*)

### Final Adventures with Adric

On a trip to Oxfordshire on 11 June 1925, the Doctor was mistaken for a cricket player summoned by Lord Charles Cranleigh. Helping Charles win a match, the Doctor and his friends were invited to a fancy-dress ball to celebrate. The Doctor's costume was stolen and used as a disguise during a murder, which led to the Doctor being framed by Lady Cranleigh for the crime. The Doctor cleared his name by revealing the TARDIS, and uncovering a Cranleigh family secret: Charles's supposedly deceased brother, George, who had been mentally and physically scarred by natives during a trip to find a rare flower, was the culprit. George kidnapped Nyssa, who was identical to his ex-fiancée, Ann, but the Doctor and Charles saved her. Unfortunately, George fell off the roof to his death when Charles moved in to hug his brother. (TV: *Black Orchid*)

Adric became distant towards the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan, causing him to request a return to E-Space, which the Doctor angrily denied out of fear that he would become trapped in the mini-universe again. Visiting Earth to cool off after their argument, the Doctor uncovered a plot by the Neomorph Cybermen to destroy Earth with a Cyber-bomb. After defusing it, he traced the Cybermen to Captain Briggs' space freighter, which they now plotted to use as a giant bomb.

As the freighter shifted through time to the distant past, Adric tried to stop the freighter by cracking logic codes on the ship's controls, but a surviving Cyberman destroyed the controls, causing the freighter to hit the Earth and kill the dinosaurs. Trapped on the freighter, Adric also died. Nyssa and Tegan were devastated, (TV: *Earthshock*)

Still recovering from losing Adric, the Doctor finally managed to return Tegan to Heathrow Airport in 1981, where they were recruited by C19 to investigate a missing Concorde. Taking a trip on another Concorde plane, they, along with the crew, were transported to 140,000,000 BC. They visited a Citadel populated by the previous Concorde passengers, where the Doctor encountered the Master, plotting to use the ancient Xeraphin gestalt as a power source for his TARDIS, which had been badly escaping Castrovalva. Stopping the Master from stealing parts of his own TARDIS, the Doctor abandoned him on Xeriphas to let the Xeraphins take their revenge.

After using his TARDIS to bring the Concorde back to 1981, the Doctor and Nyssa left without giving a farewell to Tegan and set off in the TARDIS once again. (TV: *Time-Flight*)

Arriving on Earth in the 20th century, the Doctor and Nyssa learned about a planned invasion by the Nestene Consciousness based in a storage warehouse. They helped the workers there ward off Autons that had invaded the facility and found the part of the Consciousness that the Autons had been after. However, before he could leave the facility, the Doctor was engaged by a squad of Cybermen. Before they were able to kill him and Nyssa, Bernice Summerfield, who had been sent by the Doctor's eighth incarnation to save his previous selves, distracted the Cybermen long enough for the Doctor to hardwire the part of the Consciousness to his will, turning the Autons against the Cybermen. He was then told by Benny to rendezvous at Old Marley Church to help his future incarnation.

Upon arrival, the Doctor helped his Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth incarnations, their respective companions, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart fend off the Cybermen. He and the Seventh Doctor took advantage of the chaos to short-circuit the time capsules used by the Cybermen and joined his other selves in telepathically turning the Cybership and the capsules into time bombs. After aiding in the evacuation of the church, he and his other incarnations departed. (TV: *Destiny*)

### Old foes return again

The Doctor was summoned to Gallifrey after dealing with an anti-matter being near the Arc of Infinity. The High Council, led by Lord President Borusa, ordered a Warrant of Termination issued on the Doctor as a form of execution. In the Matrix, the Doctor encountered Omega and Tegan Jovanka. With Nyssa's help, he escaped to Amsterdam in 1983 and found Tegan and Omega, who had created a new body for himself, copying the Doctor's biodata and appearance. The Doctor used the gun of one of Omega's creations to destroy him before Omega could will his self-destruction. With Omega destroyed, the High Council dropped all the charges against the Doctor, allowing him to continue his travels. He also allowed Tegan to rejoin him and Nyssa in the TARDIS. (TV: *Arc of Infinity*)

When Tegan began having precognitive dreams of the Mara, the Doctor decided to deal with the problem on the Mara's home planet, Manussa, where the Doctor sought help from a snake-dancer named Dojjen. According to him, the Doctor had to find his "still point"; the Mara fed on negative emotions, but if one found this internal spot, they would be safe from being fed on. Taking advantage of this knowledge, the Doctor starved the Mara to death, freeing Tegan of its influence. (TV: *Snakedance*)

When the TARDIS got stuck in a warp ellipse and materialised on a starliner in 1983, the Doctor became trapped at Brendon Public School, where he met a teenage alien in exile named Vislor Turlough, who the Black Guardian persuaded to kill the Doctor in return for being taken back to his homeworld. He also reunited with the Brigadier, who had forgotten their adventures at UNIT and was now a teacher at Brendon's School.

The Doctor found a transmat capsule was responsible for his entrap on Earth; it exploded, sending the TARDIS, containing Nyssa and Tegan, to 1977. After jogging the Brigadier's memory, he and the Doctor went to the spaceship, where the Brigadier from 1977 also was. Mawdryn, one of nine aliens who abused Time Lord technology to become immortal, now wished to die and, at first, it seemed the Doctor would have to sacrifice his remaining regenerations to power a machine to save his companions and kill Mawdryn. Due to the Black Guardian's manipulation of Turlough, the two Brigadiers met and the resulting effect gave the younger Brigadier amnesia and provided power for the machine. The Doctor returned the Brigadiers to their proper times and welcomed Turlough on board, unaware that his latest companion was his assassin. (TV: *Mawdryn Undead*)

On the Black Guardian's command, Turlough sabotaged the TARDIS, and the ship locked onto a spaceship carrying victims of Lazar's disease to Terminus. Terminus had originally caused the Big Bang and was about to reverse it, destroying the universe. The Doctor charmed the Garm, who prevented the engines from blowing up. Nyssa decided to stay on Terminus to help perfect a cure for Lazar's disease, which upset the Doctor, who was left to travel on with Tegan and Turlough. (TV: *Terminus*)

While fixing Turlough's sabotage, the Doctor encountered the White Guardian and was ordered to visit an Edwardian yacht-like spaceship piloted by Eternals in a race for Enlightenment. One Eternal, Wrack, sought the prize to end her boredom, and used the Black Guardian's power to destroy other ships.

After the Doctor and Turlough won the race, both Guardians offered them the prize. Realising Turlough was in league with the Black Guardian, the Doctor offered him the prize to test his virtue. Though the Black Guardian tempted him with anything he wanted in exchange for the Doctor's life, Turlough rejected the offer, making the Black Guardian vanish. Although Turlough had been acting against him, the Doctor allowed him to remain aboard the TARDIS. (TV: *Enlightenment*)

The TARDIS arrived on 13th century Earth, where the Doctor met King John, despite history recording the King was in London on that date. Geoffrey de Lacey arrived at the castle to confirm the Doctor‘s suspicions and the Doctor saved him from being silenced by Sir Gilles Estram, who revealed himself as the Master after they crossed swords. The Doctor discovered John was actually Kamelion, an android the Master acquired after being stranded by the Doctor in their previous encounter. The Master revealed his plan to use Kamelion to avert Magna Carta's signing however the Doctor engaged him in a battle of wills and freed Kamelion, bringing him aboard his TARDIS. (TV: *The King's Demons*)

### The Game of Rassilon

The Doctor took Tegan and Turlough to the Eye of Orion for a rest. However, all four of the Doctor's previous lives were being taken out of his timestream, and he began to fade away. Having his TARDIS forced to the Death Zone on Gallifrey, the Doctor stabilised thanks to the presence of his first incarnation, along with his granddaughter, Susan Foreman.

After encountering the Master and CyberNeomorphs in the Death Zone, the Doctor returned to the Capitol, where he learnt President Borusa was trying to gain Rassilon's secret of immortality; he used the Doctors and his companions to clear the way past traps, even hiring the Master to assist him. With the help of his previous incarnations, the Doctor tricked Borusa into falling for Rassilon's final trap. After this, he instructed Rassilon to return his past selves and companions to their original times.

Though appointed Lord President after Borusa's downfall, the Doctor immediately decided to go "on the run" from the Time Lords in his TARDIS. (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

### Reminders of the past

After receiving damage from Sentinel Six, the Doctor landed the TARDIS inside Sea Base 4 in the year 2084, at a time where two power blocs were on the brink of nuclear war. Three Silurians awoke a colony of Sea Devils from hibernation and intended to take over the base, and trick humanity into waging nuclear war against itself by launching proton missiles into space as a final defensive action of the Silurians. Despite his attempts to convince them otherwise, the Doctor was forced to use hexachromite gas against the reptilian life forms to stop them, and while successfully performing the abort procedure for the missile launch, failed to save any humans inside the base. (TV: *Warriors of the Deep*)

The Doctor landed the TARDIS in Little Hodcombe in 1984 to meet Tegan's grandfather, Andrew Verney. While in Little Hodcombe, the Doctor discovered a being called the Malus had been feeding off psychic energy generated by the negative emotions caused by the war games being held there, and was being assisted by Sir George Hutchinson. However, the Doctor managed to defeat the Malus and Hutchinson with the help of a schoolteacher called Jane Hampden and Will Chandler from Little Hodcombe in 1643, who was removed from his time by the Malus. (TV: *The Awakening*)

The TARDIS was torn apart by the Tractators after being pulled to the planet Frontios. These aliens were stranded on the planet and needed wreckage to make a functional ship. The Doctor tricked them into rebuilding the TARDIS, with their leader, the Gravis, inside, separating him from the rest of the Tractators and leaving them without their hive mind. The Doctor and Tegan left the Gravis on a barren, rocky planet called Kolkokron. After many detours, the Doctor and Tegan collected Turlough from Frontios and became caught in a time corridor. (TV: *Frontios*) Falling through the time corridor, the Doctor ran into the Daleks loyal to Davros at the London Docks in 1984. The Doctor failed to stop them from attacking the prison ship that he placed Davros in years previously.

After resisting the urge to kill Davros in cold blood, the Doctor unleashed the Movellan virus, which destroyed the Daleks. Having won against Davros, the Doctor was dismayed when Tegan, tiring of the violence and death she had encountered during their adventures, chose to remain in her home time. After she ran away from the TARDIS, the Doctor acknowledged that he needed to change his ways. (TV: *Resurrection of the Daleks*)

The Doctor and Turlough went to Lanzarote on 9 May 1984 after Kamelion received a distress signal. Turlough brought on board an American girl, Peri Brown, whom he had saved from drowning. The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to Sarn, a colony world of banished Trions. Kamelion had fallen under the Master's control again and was fronting for him as the god Logar. Though he could not prevent the Master from using the flames to return to full power, the Doctor fiddled with the controls, leaving him to burn to death. Now free of the Master's control, Kamelion begged for death, and the Doctor used the TCE on him. Turlough wished to return home, as his exile from Trion had long been ended. The Doctor took Peri on as his new companion for the last three months of her summer vacation. (TV: *Planet of Fire*)

### Death

Arriving on Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri were caught in a struggle over the mineral spectrox. As they dealt with gun runners, government troops, crooked politicians and a masked madman called Sharaz Jek, the Doctor and Peri were exposed to raw spectrox and contracted the fatal Spectrox toxaemia. Through a perilous descent into the lower caves of the planet, the Doctor managed to get his hands on the milk of a queen bat, the only known cure for the poisoning, but he was only able to recover one dose. He then chose to give Peri the dose, saving her life at the cost of his own.

Succumbing to the poisoning, the Doctor collapsed on the floor of the TARDIS, not entirely sure if he would regenerate, commenting aloud that the regenerative process "[felt] different this time". Seeing visions of his former companions urging him to live and insisting that the universe still had need of him, the Doctor rejected the Master's assertion that he must die and regenerated into his sixth incarnation. (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

## Other Realities

### Aborted timelines

In an alternate timeline created by the influence of the Valeyard using the Dark Matrix, the Fifth Doctor was able to resist the Valeyard's influence for most of his life, but he eventually succumbed at what would have been his regeneration, taking the bat's milk antidote to the Spectrox toxaemia and letting Peri die in his place. This timeline was eventually undone by the Ninth Doctor. (TV: *Matrix*)

## Personality

The Fifth Doctor was the most open and vulnerable of all the Doctors, coming across as naïve and inexperienced, acting like a child excited to see new worlds and foreign places, (TV: *Castrovalva*, *Earthshock*) and believing that there was always “something to look at, if you open your eyes.” (TV: *Kinda*) He was neither pretentious nor selfish and reacted to situations rather than starting them, with his humanity making him panicky and indecisive under pressure, but he would use dissembling and deceit in order to avert a crisis or defeat an adversary. (TV: *Frontios*) His young appearance was reflected in the youthfulness of his companions, whom he treated like friends rather than subordinates, with their pain and sorrow affecting him deeply, (TV: *Earthshock*, *Resurrection of the Daleks*) and their safety his top priority. (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

However, the Doctor's boyish appearance, nervous energy, and charm all hid the fact that he was a Time Lord of great age, compassion, and experience. He was willing to take chances with companions like Vislor Turlough and Kamelion, who were originally threats, (TV: *Mawdryn Undead*, *The King's Demons*) even as he pretended to be unaware of it in order to grant Turlough the opportunity to do the right thing. (TV: *Enlightenment*) He was also willing to make enormous personal sacrifices simply to keep his word and liberate others from suffering, (TV: *Mawdryn Undead*) and would stop and help others while dealing with greater threats. (TV: *Arc of Infinity*, *Destiny*)

Despite his youthful body and love of cricket, the Fifth Doctor was one of the least physical Doctors, preferring to use diplomacy to solve a problem. He was, however, still very capable when pushed to physical confrontations. (TV: *The King's Demons*) He gained trust by proving himself instead of using his vast experience as an excuse to take charge. Indeed, he worked willingly under the leadership of others who had the strong command presence that he lacked. This did not mean he did not take charge in moments of intensity. (TV: *Kinda*, *Resurrection of the Daleks*) He was notably sarcastic, especially towards Tegan and Adric, but usually in the politest way possible. (TV: *Castrovalva*, *The Five Doctors*, *Frontios*)

After finding a cricket bat and discovering a room in his TARDIS dedicated to the sport shortly after his regeneration, the Fifth Doctor became a vivid fan of cricket. (TV: *Castrovalva*, *Black Orchid*)

He identified himself as open-minded, likening himself to Alice as he "tried to believe three impossible things before breakfast". (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

The Fifth Doctor showed a great loathing for violence, bloodshed and the pain and suffering of others. (TV: *The Visitation*, *Warriors of the Deep*, *Destiny*) He failed to execute Davros in cold blood, (TV: *Resurrection of the Daleks*) and, at the android's request, reluctantly killed Kamelion. (TV: *Planet of Fire*)

Despite this, he did possess a dark side, gunning down foes when he deemed it necessary, (TV: *Earthshock*, *Arc of Infinity*, *Resurrection of the Daleks*) and did not move to save the Master from a fiery death, though was deeply upset by his part in it. (TV: *Planet of Fire*) He could lose his temper when pushed too far, (TV: *Arc of Infinity*) and also showed off an immature and childish side when he argued with Adric about returning to E-Space, a place he personally did not want to go to, coming up with every excuse he could to prevent them from going. (TV: *Earthshock*) As well as showcasing a more selfish side, like when he refused to aid Mawdryn and his comrades knowing too well he would stop being a Time Lord. (TV: *Mawdryn Undead*)

He could also get impatient with those around him, especially his companions, (TV: *Earthshock*, *Snakedance*) as well as his other incarnations. (TV: *Destiny*)

Being an open minded individual, the Fifth Doctor was willing to give his enemies the benefit of the doubt, such as when he met the Master in the Death Zone on Gallifrey, and was willing to hear him out when the Master said he had come to aid the Doctor. When the High Council confirmed the Master's story, the Doctor admitted that he had done the Master an injustice by doubting him. (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

Towards the end of his life, the Doctor displayed a more relaxed and controlled side. Even as he awaited execution on Androzani Minor, he was fiercely curious about the spectrox mined there. He still retained his sarcastic side, mocking Chellak's insistence on being addressed as "sir", and reacting with humour to Sharaz Jek's idea of him, the Doctor and Peri becoming "the best of companions". (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

Immediately after his regeneration, the Sixth Doctor claimed that his predecessor had "a sort of feckless charm [that] simply wasn't [him]". (TV: *The Twin Dilemma*) The Eighth Doctor was more positive, calling the Fifth Doctor "a cheerful cricketer, [who] seemed to always make friends". (TV: *Nothing*)

After he and Peri became infected with Spectrox toxaemia, the Doctor became determined to save Peri from dying of the poison; stealing a spaceship, outrunning armed mercenaries, climbing deep into a cave with no oxygen and back, and finally carrying Peri to the TARDIS while in the paralysis stage of the poisoning. When in the safety of the TARDIS, the Doctor gave Peri all that remained of the antidote, saving her life at the cost of his own. (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

### Habits and Quirks

In an occasional reminder of his actual age, the Fifth Doctor would sport a pair of glasses when examining something. (TV: *Castrovalva*, *Kinda*, *Frontios*) He often delegated some decisions to a simple flip of a coin. (TV: *Kinda*)

To encourage others, the Doctor would tell them to have a "brave heart", especially with Tegan, (TV: *Earthshock*, *Enlightenment*, *Warrior of the Deep*, *The Awakening*) though on one occasion with Nyssa. (TV: *Destiny*) He was also known to say, "Sorry, must dash", especially when leaving in a hurry. (TV: *Time-Flight*, *The Five Doctors*)

Typically, the Doctor would either stand with his hands in his pockets, flicking the long tails on his coat back in the process, (TV: *Earthshock*, *The King's Demons*, *The Five Doctors*, *The Caves of Androzani*) or stand with his hands crossed behind his back. (TV: *Four to Doomsday*, *Earthshock*, *Arc of Infinity*, *The Five Doctors*, *Destiny*) He was also prone to dramatic turns, which usually caused his hair to sway wildly. (TV: *Castrovalva*, *Earthshock*, *Mawdryn Undead*, *The Five Doctors*, *Warriors of the Deep*, *Resurrection of the Daleks*)

### Skills

The Fifth Doctor was highly skilled at the sport of cricket. (TV: *Black Orchid*)

He also retained the sword fighting acumen and unarmed combat skills of his predecessors, although the latter was showcased sparingly, and only in self-defence. (TV: *The Visitation*, *The King's Demons*, *Warriors of the Deep*, *Resurrection of the Daleks*)

The Doctor was able to swim out of danger, even while dazed, and was capable of holding his breath for a long period of time. (TV: *Warriors of the Deep*)

The Doctor could decipher the ingredients of a drink by smell; rosemary made him sneeze. (TV: *Castrovalva*)

He learned how to perform coin magic from Adric. (TV: *Kinda*)

## Appearance

The Fifth Doctor resembled a young man in his late twenties, with fair blonde hair and blue eyes. (TV: *Logopolis*)

The Fifth Doctor's hair regularly changed length, ranging from really short to long enough to reach his shoulders. (TV: *Logopolis*, *Castrovalva*)

### Clothing

#### Main Attires

The Fifth Doctor's first outfit featured a long beige-coloured frock coat with red piping along the collar, lapels, sleeves, pockets and tails. Underneath this he wore a white, long-sleeved cricket jumper with a red and black V-Neck pattern, and, under that, a white dress shirt with a red interior and embroidered red question marks on the collars. His trousers were a unique pattern of brown and beige stripes. He also wore white plimsolls. He would top the look with a roll-up Panama hat that had a red band with a black and white pattern. (TV: *Castrovalva*)

After his clothes were ruined in the waters of Sea Base 4, (TV: *Warriors of the Deep*) the Doctor changed to a French grey coat with a longer collar and a jumper with a pattern of thick red and black lines on the bottom, the V-neck and sleeves. The dress shirt had a green interior and the pattern of the trousers changed to thick, orange lines. (TV: *The Awakening*) He sometimes wore suspenders adorned with question marks and, on one occasion, replaced his jumper with a beige coloured waistcoat that had a gold, white and red flora & fauna pattern. (TV: *Planet of Fire*)

He wore a stick of artificial celery on his left lapel (TV: *Castrovalva*, *Enlightenment*) to alert him to his allergy to gases in the praxis range of the spectrum, as the celery would turn purple in their presence. (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

## Behind the Scenes

### Casting

After the popular fourth incarnation, it was decided that the next incarnation should be played by an actor who was already firmly established in the British public's mind. Peter Davison was chosen, due in no small part to his popular and critically acclaimed role as Tristan Farnon in *All Creatures Great and Small*, a BBC series based on the books of James Herriot.

Richard Griffiths was considered for the role before Peter Davison was cast, as was Iain Cuthbertson. Griffiths would later go on to play the Eighth Doctor.

### The age gap

Only 29 when cast, he remains "the youngest Doctor". He was some eleven years younger than Tom Baker, the previous record holder.

### Bad hair years

To a degree never seen with any other regular character before or since, the Fifth Doctor was at the heart of a running continuity error. No make-up artist seemed to particularly care about the length of Davison's hair throughout season 19, despite the fact that it was known that serials were being recorded out of broadcast order.

Davison, a busy actor with other commitments, had his hair cut short at the beginning of *Doctor Who*'s production blocks, because other projects like *All Creatures Great and Small* required it. For reasons unclear, he was then allowed to grow his hair several inches while filming as the Fifth Doctor. However, since the episodes aired out of order, his hair length quite obviously varied.

Were it not for the fact that most serials of season 19 narratively dovetailed into each other, it might be possible to simply believe that the character simply liked to go to the barber shop between stories. Unfortunately for this theory, *Four to Doomsday* was narratively tied to the beginning of *Kinda*, so the jarring hair growth can only be regarded as a production error.

Davison cut his hair prior to each season, and the production team allowed him to grow it throughout each of his production blocks. However, *Snakedance* was the final story of his tenure broadcast out of production order, and *Arc of Infinity* didn't obviously lead into it. Thus, although Davison was again allowed to grow his hair throughout the production of seasons 20 and 21, it never amounted to the kind of production error it was throughout season 19.

It's frequently remarked by Davison on DVD commentaries that *real* fans can tell the production order of episodes by the length of the Fifth Doctor's hair.

### Brainy specs

In several DVD commentaries, Peter Davison claims he abandoned his half-moon glasses because Janet Fielding teased him when he used them. Fielding seemed to agree with this assessment on the commentary for *Earthshock*.

### Celery

Davison agreed to wear a stick of celery on his lapel on the understanding that JNT would eventually have a writer explain the bizarre fashion statement. Though Davison thought the explanation would come earlier, the mystery was at last revealed in his final story. (DCOM: *The Caves of Androzani*) Ironically, Davison hated celery. When he was required to eat celery during the recording of *Castrovalva*, he found it deeply unpleasant. (DCOM: *Castrovalva*)

## Appearances

### Season 19

* *Castrovalva*
* *Four to Doomsday*
* *Kinda*
* *The Visitation*
* *Black Orchid*
* *Earthshock*
* *Time-Flight*

### Season 20

* *Arc of Infinity*
* *Snakedance*
* *Mawdryn Undead*
* *Terminus*
* *Enlightenment*
* *The King's Demons*

### Season 21

* *Warriors of the Deep*
* *The Awakening*
* *Frontios*
* *Resurrection of the Daleks*
* *Planet of Fire*
* *The Caves of Androzani*