Doctor (CL)Who: Pt. 1 Face Facts

Season 8's episode "Deep Breath" asked a question almost as old as "Doctor Who?" Peter Capaldi's Doctor asked where his faces come from.

The answer has been in front of our noses for a long time.

In the season 8 episode, "Robots of Sherwood", keen-eyed Whovians should have noticed a photo of Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood. Patrick was an iconic character actor with dozens of roles to his credit, both before and after his stint as the Second Doctor. However, what if this was not simply a stunt photo put in for fans of the classic shows as I suspect. Let's examine a few facts, shall we...

Peter Capaldi first became a part of the television Whoverse in David Tenant's episode, "The Fires of Pompeii". He played Caecilius, a citizen and family man in the doomed city and was ultimately rescued from death by the Doctor. The actor later appeared in the Torchwood serial "Children of Earth", but had no connection (that we know of) to the Doctor in that show. However, Torchwood is part of the TV Whoverse.

Capaldi is not the first actor to appear on Doctor Who as a different character before being cast as the Doctor. That honor goes to the legendary Colin Baker. Colin first appeared as a Time Lord, the Chancellery Guard named Maxil, in Peter Davidson' Fifth Doctor serial "The Ark of Infinity".

Before that we saw the Time Lady Romana actually initiate her own regeneration without dying first. She "tried on" several new bodies before deciding on the form of Princess Astra of Atrios, a character she met at the end of the Fourth Doctor's massive season long serial "The Key to Time" (The Armageddon Factor).

Going back even further we find the unusual circumstances surrounding the Second Doctor's renewal at the end of the serial "War Games". After finally catching the wayward Doctor the Time Lords put him on trial for his alleged crimes. He is found guilty and, as part of his punishment, they force him to "change his face". They present him with multiple choices- all of which he refuses. It is the Time Lords themselves who force the change upon him in the end.

What these clues point to regarding Capaldi' s question about where he gets his new faces from could very well be the answer. They are faces he knows. He has seen them before and they mean something to him.

Let's start at the beginning (at least what we understand to be the beginning) shall we?

William Hartnell's portrayal of the First Doctor went through a big character change. Originally he seemed to travel for two reasons; he was on the run from his own people and he had a thirst for knowledge, especially history. Throughout his first nine serials we see a man that not only wants to leave as little a footprint as possible during his adventures through the fourth dimension (as he called it), but someone that was a bit of a coward. Whenever danger reared its ugly head he simply wished to get back to his TARDIS and leave. However, something always prevented him from doing so and he seemed forced to resolve the dangers. During the tenth serial, “The Dark Invasion of Earth", we see the Doctor, for the first time, going from someone forced to deal with a bad situation into someone who actively decides to stop it. He even says to his companion Ian that they should not try to escape to the TARDIS, but should instead stay and match wits with the Daleks to defeat them. He became a hero; a champion of the downtrodden.

Flashing forward to the "Robots of Sherwood" episode, where Capaldi's Doctor sees the old black & white picture of Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood, we can see a connection. Did the First Doctor somehow come across that picture of an actor portraying the iconic British hero of the downtrodden? I believe so. In a sort of ret-conned retrospective of the Doctor's life it would make sense. With the Doctor’s original body, the "default setting" of the Doctor if you will, the Doctor wanting to become the active hero (instead of a passive bystander) he made the conscious decision to look like a hero of the people. In this case, Patrick Troughton.

Upon the regenerating into the Sixth Doctor Colin Baker remarked that his previous regeneration had a "feckless charm" that just wasn't him. Keeping in mind that Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor met the strong, active character of Maxil, portrayed by Colin Baker, it somehow made an impression on him. The Fifth Doctor was "Feckless" and Fourth Doctor who was childish. Now, it seems the Doctor wanted or needed to be a stronger person, at least in personality and purpose.

Matt Smith's regeneration into Peter Capaldi could therefore be seen as being influenced by the strong, family-centered man he met in his previous incarnation, the Roman citizen Caecilius. However, his strong bond to Amy Pond, a Scottish woman, influenced him enough to adopt her accent. Now we can see how the Fourteenth Doctor got both his face and voice.

Yes, the Fourteenth Doctor.

Let's not forget that David Tenant's Eleventh Doctor made a conscious effort to regenerate into himself after being killed by a Dalek in the episode, "Stolen Earth". This is even referenced by Matt Smith's Thirteenth Doctor in his final episode, "The Time of the Doctor", where he also admits that the War Doctor counted as a regeneration making John Hurt the Ninth Doctor. This makes David Tennant the only actor so far to play the Doctor twice (with the exception of Tom Baker, but more on that latter in this blog).

Before we continue let's take a look at Paul McGann's and John Hurt's Doctors, especially their appearance in the Webisode "Night of the Doctor". His regeneration into John Hurt's Ninth Doctor, the so-called "War" Doctor is due to the Sisterhood of Karn giving him a "mystical" draughts to choose from in order to let him become a war doctor. Following the line of reasoning, concerning how the Doctor becomes who he becomes when he regenerates, this would make sense. The Doctor needed to become a soldier in order to take part in the Last Great Time War. However, the Doctor's subconscious would logically not have been impressed by a soldier enough to leave that sort of template in his mind. And, no, the Brigadier wouldn't count because he was a good man. In order to stop the Time War the Doctor needed to be a not-so good man. Hence, the Sisterhood prepared a concoction that would assure he became the type of Soldier he needed to be.

Now, Tom Baker... In the end of the multi-Doctor 50th Anniversary episode, "Day of the Doctor" Matt Smith muses at the notion that Queen Elizabeth had appointed him as the curator of the royal museum. He further says that one day he might even retire from being the Doctor and he would like to return to be the Curator. Before he heads into his TARDIS he is told that the current Curator wishes to meet him. And who is playing that role, none other than Tom Baker himself! Matt Smith remarks that he knows that face. The Curator explains in a puzzling way that one day the Doctor will revisit some of his old favorites. This is another very important clue as to where the Doctor's faces come from. The Curator IS a future regeneration of the Doctor who did just as Matt Smith wished, he retired and became the Curator!

The connections are all here in front of us people.

Throughout the many show runners, producers, and writers over the last 51 years we have been left with these series of clues as to where the Doctor's new faces and forms come from. Some subtle like Maxim, others blatant like the Curator. Whether it's on a conscious level like Tenant's decision to regenerate into himself, or subconscious as in Davison' regeneration into a form like Maxil's the truth is obvious.

The Doctor himself chooses what his next regeneration will be.

- The Great Grognard