Fourteenth Doctor

Played by David Tennant

"You know full well that I've had many faces, containing something far more..."

Similar in personality as well as appearance to his Tenth incarnation, the Fourteenth Doctor is also shaped and burdened by the lives he has lived – and lost – since. More in touch with his emotions and less afraid to show them, this Doctor throws around the word “love” as much as he once hid from it. His responsibility for the fate and wellbeing of his friends and companions weighs more heavily than ever before, especially after being reunited with so many old faces – but that still doesn’t deter him from occasionally being cleverer than his own good, or running headlong into danger just to see what’s there!  

Character Bio

After a fatal clash with the Master that involved both a forced regeneration and de-generation, the Thirteenth Doctor likely wished for a bit of peace and quiet in the transition to her next life. Alone on a clifftop in front of a beautiful sunrise, she embraced the regeneration energy that enveloped her; transforming her, clothes and all, into… an old face?! Resembling the Tenth Doctor, but physically older and somewhat wearier, the Doctor barely has time to register this anomaly in his appearance before he is faced with another blast from the past – Donna Noble, the one person who cannot and must not remember him. Least of all this face!

Upon landing the TARDIS right in front of Donna and her daughter Rose, the Doctor’s getaway is interrupted by a crashing spaceship in the middle of London. As he investigates the landing site, the whole Noble family find themselves immersed in the Doctor’s world once again – culminating in a clash with the Meep, a deceptive and maniacal warlord bent on destroying London with its ship. Left with no choice but to save as many as possible, the Doctor reactivates the Metacrisis in Donna’s brain; restoring her memory and the Time Lord intelligence of the DoctorDonna, but risking her life in the process. Together, the Doctor and Donna vanquish the Meep, and due to a miraculous shared inheritance of the Metacrisis with Rose, Donna was able to withstand its power long enough for them both to release themselves of it.

Thrilled to have his best friend back, the Doctor suggests one last trip in the TARDIS with Donna – who immediately wrecks the brand new console with a cup of coffee! Shipwrecked and abandoned, the Doctor and Donna find themselves alone on a ship at the very edge of the universe – or so they think. Entities known only as No-things appear on the ship from the void beyond the universe and begin to take the Doctor and Donna’s forms; using their own faces to manipulate and terrorise them. Tricked by Not-Donna, the Doctor is forced to reckon with some of the devastation of his past – including the nature of his true origins, and the aftermath of the Flux. But the Doctor has some tricks of his own, and manages to temporarily keep the No-Things at bay by invoking the superstition that otherworldly creatures cannot cross a line of salt – a gambit that will later prove to have disastrous consequences. Determined to keep the No-Things from reaching the rest of the universe, the Doctor and Donna destroy the spaceship and make a dramatic escape in the TARDIS – but not before the Doctor almost flies off with the wrong Donna! 

Back on Earth, the Doctor is delighted to run into yet another old friend – Donna’s grandfather Wilfred Mott, who has been standing guard waiting for the TARDIS’ return. The Doctor learns from Wilf that in the brief period he and Donna were off-world, a phenomenon has swept the Earth, sending everyone into a self-righteous rage! Picked up by UNIT, the Doctor is reunited with both Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and his former companion Mel Bush – both of whom are investigating the phenomenon that would come to be known as ‘the Giggle’. Finding a clue embedded in the world’s screens that dates back to the 1920s, the Doctor and Donna head straight for the action. In 1925, they discover that the player pulling the strings is none other than the Doctor’s ancient adversary, the Toymaker – an almost godlike entity bound only by the rules of play, who crossed into their universe when the Doctor played his game with the salt against the No-things. Goaded by the Toymaker, the Doctor challenges him to another game and loses – but after gleaning some valuable information and invoking the Best of Three rule, the Doctor and Donna make their escape, preparing to face the Toymaker again in 2023.

When the Toymaker arrives in 2023 and immediately begins terrorising UNIT, the Doctor pleads to his better nature, promising they can travel the universe together… and gets blasted with a galvanic beam for his efforts! As he begins to regenerate with Donna and Mel at his side, something feels different, and a quick pull turns his regeneration into a bi-generation; keeping him alive and intact, as the new Doctor splits from his body! Together the two Doctors take down the Toymaker in a high-stakes game of catch, banishing him back to his own domain forever. Lovingly embraced by his next incarnation, the Fourteenth Doctor takes a moment to grieve the losses caused by the Giggle.

When the conundrum of two Doctors in the TARDIS is raised, Donna offers a reason for the return of the Doctor’s old face, and his bi-generation – that his destiny was to come home with her, and take the time to process and heal from all of the devastating and challenging confrontations that the Doctor had experienced across his many lifetimes. The new, vibrant and unencumbered Fifteenth Doctor could head off across the universe on adventures unknown, knowing that the Fourteenth Doctor is at peace, and taking care of them both. And as he sits down for dinner with his family, the Nobles (and mad auntie Mel!), the Doctor takes absolute joy in knowing that at last, he is embarking on the one adventure he has never had…