Back Doctor Guerrer Catalan دکتۆری جەنگ CKB Doctor Guerrero Spanish Docteur de la guerre French War Doctor Italian ომის დოქტორი KA 워 닥터 Korean Krigs-doktoren NB Doktor Wojny Polish Doutor da Guerra Portuguese
| The War Doctor | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
.jpg) John Hurt as the War Doctor | |
| First appearance | "The Name of the Doctor" (2013) |
| Last appearance | "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) |
| Introduced by | Steven Moffat |
| Portrayed by | John Hurt |
| Information | |
| Appearances | 3 stories (3 episodes) |
| Chronology | |
The War Doctor[n 1] is an incarnation of the Doctor,[6] the protagonist of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the English actor John Hurt.[6] Although he precedes Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the show's fictional chronology,[6] his first onscreen appearance came eight years after Eccleston's; the War Doctor was retroactively created by showrunner Steven Moffat for productions celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. Hurt would reprise the role in the 2015 audio drama series The War Doctor until his death in 2017, with actor Jonathon Carley taking over the role from 2020 onward.
Within the programme's narrative, the Doctor is an alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, who is hundreds if not thousands of years old and travels in time and space in his TARDIS, frequently with companions. When the Doctor is critically injured, he can regenerate his body, but in doing so, gains a new physical appearance and with it, a distinct new personality. This plot device has allowed a number of actors to portray different incarnations of the Doctor over the show's long run.
The War Doctor, not so named within the episodes in which he appears, is introduced as the incarnation of the Doctor who fought in the Time War of the show's modern-day backstory. He was created as a result of a conscious decision of the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann, to take up arms and become a warrior; in accepting this duty, the War Doctor disowned the title of "Doctor", and after the war's end is viewed with disdain by his subsequent incarnations, who reclaim the title that the character is known by. In the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", however, the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith revises his opinion of this incarnation after revisiting the final moments of the war.
In his original conception of the show's anniversary special, Moffat had written the Ninth Doctor as having ended the Time War. However, he was "pretty certain" that Christopher Eccleston would decline to return to the role, which he did. As he also had reservations about making Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor the incarnation who had ended the war, he created a never-before-seen past incarnation of the Doctor, which allowed him "a freer hand" in writing the story, acknowledging that the success of doing this would be predicated on being able to cast an actor with a significant enough profile.[7][8]
- ^ Merchandise Guide (6 January 2014). "Doctor Who The Other Doctor 5" Action Figure". The Doctor Who Site. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ Merchandise Guide (6 January 2014). "The Other Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver Pre Order + Video". The Doctor Who Site. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ Swift, Simon (24 November 2013). "Doctor Who: Steven Moffat clears up the whole Doctor regeneration problem... sort of". Metro. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ "Doctor Who – Timeline Photos". Doctor Who. Facebook. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ "Doctor Who: The War Doctor". Big Finish Productions. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ a b c "Doctor Who: Steven Moffat clears up confusion around the number of John Hurt's Doctor". Radio Times. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "What if Eccleston Had Returned for 50th?". Doctor Who TV. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Day of the Doctor". HI! Magazine. 26 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
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