Sunday, November 10, 2019

Favorite Characters: The Third Doctor (Doctor Who)


After my first regeneration (Nine to Ten,) the handover to Three was probably my most reluctant transition.  I was still relatively new to classic Who, having only seen what was available on DVD at the time for the First and Second Doctors, and after being utterly charmed by Two in the lamentably-few complete serials he had available, I was nowhere near ready to see him go.  I wouldn’t say I was outright resistant to Three or prepared to dislike him, but I didn’t relish the idea of a new Doctor so soon.  However, while he’s never quite gained the level of affection I have for Two, I came around pretty quickly on the Third Doctor and grew to like him an awful lot.

His post-regeneration episode helped considerably – just the fact that the Doctor himself wasn’t quite sure about the new regeneration at first mirrored my own feelings, and I started warming to him around the same time that he did (I love his appraisal of his new eyebrows.)  Before long, I was used to who the Third Doctor is.  He’s highly intelligent, which of course the Doctor always is, but Three seems to carry himself with that intelligence more overtly, and not just because he spends so much time in UNIT’s science lab or working advanced technology of his own devising in the field.  It’s also just his manner and bearing; the Doctor’s intelligence can often be hidden behind his eccentricities, but Three’s more dignified attitude sells “UNIT scientific adviser” much more convincingly.

Along with that dignity and intelligence comes an immensely self-assured air and a forceful nature.  As to the self-assurance, I wouldn’t quite so far as to call the Doctor arrogant, although he does have his undeniably vain moments.  More than anything, he’s just supremely confident and not at all shy about telling you exactly how he knows he’s right, and since he frequently has the skills and knowledge to back it up, he generally gets away with it.  He doesn’t really act superior for the sake of it, though (for example, I wouldn’t compare him to Sherlock,) and for the most part, he lets his expertise be felt weithout harping on it or implying that others are stupid.  (Note:  the Brigadier might disagree with that last point.)  And as far as the forcefulness goes, it’s an interesting time for the show, with the Doctor stranded on Earth – exiled by the Time Lords – and recruited not wholly voluntarily by UNIT.  Even though the Doctor can never resist a mystery and he’s always going to help people in need when there’s an alien threat afoot, he still chafes at being stuck there, and that frustration often expresses itself in strong words with the Brigadier or one of the other UNIT soldiers.

These are all relatively serious traits, and Three is generally more serious than a number of Doctors, but it’s far from all work and no play.  He can also be quite warm with his companions in a gentle way (despite Jo definitely getting on his nerves on occasion,) and he takes genuine delight in showing them something new.  The old Doctor mischievousness is still there as well, just more subtle – Three can be awfully sly when he wants to be, whether with a baddie he has no respect for or the Brigadier for trying to lay down the law on him.  Especially in his first season, he spends a lot of time secretly tinkering with the TARDIS and trying to rig it so he can leave Earth again, which involves some sneaking around and good-natured trickery.  And, because he is such a proud character, that means good fun whenever he does get knocked down a peg; Three gives the best sheepish look when he’s embarrassed himself, and it’s great for his companions and UNIT friends to get that occasional confirmation that he isn’t perfect.

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