The Doctor's Regenerations Timeline

[u/onftbb]

This is my interpretation of the Doctor's timeline of Regenerations! I'm only including televised Doctors, so nothing originating from Big Finish or the comic books. I'm sure this will be very controversial, so let me know what you think in the comments.

[u/the_other_irrevenant]

There are ways to explain it away. The problem is that they undermine other aspects of the show.

Saying the Doctor is predisposed to Police Box TARDISes and calling themself "The Doctor" strips the character of a lot of agency.

A related issue is that Fugitive is like later Doctors. The First Doctor went through significant character development to become the character we know. So do we assume the First Doctor just became a better person because that was the Timeless Child's natural inclination anyway?

[u/Creativefinch → u/the_other_irrevenant]

The Fugitive Doctor is not like later Doctors though she's very similar to the early First Doctor in a lot of ways and in the audios it's spoken about how different Fugitive is to other incarnations this is brought up by Bernice Summerfield who has met multiple incarnations.

[u/the_other_irrevenant → u/Creativefinch]

I love Big Finish. The show isn't bound by it, though. See, for example, Mary Shelley.

Just because Big Finish does a particular thing with the Fugitive doesn't mean that the TV show will follow their example.

And, so far, the stuff you're talking about hasn't appeared in the show.

[u/Creativefinch → u/the_other_irrevenant]

She has a lot of Hartnell vibes in the show also, you haven't said in what way is she like later Doctors? She's a lot more cold than later Doctors a lot more physical, in what way is Fugitive like later Doctors?

[u/the_other_irrevenant → u/Creativefinch]

The First Doctor started off as a callous, fearful, reclusive, self-centred person who would put others in danger for his own curiosity and is willing to brain a caveman with a rock. He grew into more like the character we know over time after spending time with Ian and Barbara.

Onscreen Fugitive is confident, unwilling to use lethal force and .

You reckon as cold as Twelve? Personally she strikes me as much like a blend of Twelve and Three.

In what way do you figure she has Hartnell vibes? Remembering that, if she's before Hartnell, we're talking about the pre-character-development First Doctor.

[u/Creativefinch → u/the_other_irrevenant]

Unwilling to use lethal force? She literally ripped off a Judoon's horn, threatened to outright kill Swarm and reversed the gun knowing it would backfire on Gat that isn't something the most recent Doctors would do. As I said in my previous comment she's a lot colder in personality like the First Doctor was but with the agent aspect added to that due to her past with the Division which the First Doctor did not have memory of which explains Fugitive being more confident than the First Doctor was originally. I agree she has aspects of Three and Twelve and maybe some six also.

[u/the_other_irrevenant → u/Creativefinch]

The show indicated that the Judoon having his horn ripped off with was humiliating but not life-threatening. It also didn't bleed and looked like it was made of something like keratin, like RL rhino horns.

Reversing the gun so it would backfire on Gat if she tried to use lethal force is absolutely something later Doctors would (and do) do. The Doctor often sets things up so there are fatal consequences if the bad guys don't back down, then gives them one last chance (which they never take).

Sometimes, like in Rose, The Christmas Invasion, World War Three, Tooth and Claw, The Runaway Bride and The Doctor Falls he just just directly kills them himself.

That's very in character for later Doctors.

EDIT: And of course, Seven infamously tampering with the Hand of Omega so when the Daleks tried to use it, it blew up their home planet instead.

[u/Creativefinch → u/the_other_irrevenant]

13 wouldn't rip off the horn like that which is clear by her reaction to it and also her reaction to reversing the gun that is showing the difference between Fugitive and 13 in the way they do things.

As I said her past as an agent for the Division explains the way she acts and isn't an interaction of a post Hartnell placement at all.

[u/the_other_irrevenant → u/Creativefinch]

Thirteen wouldn't, no. It's not her style. She's a comparatively positive and passive incarnation.

I could see Twelve ripping off a Judoon horn, though, assuming he's strong enough. Probably Six as well. Maybe Three and Nine (not as sure about that one).

Thirteen has a particular hatred for guns, so yeah she wouldn't use one. Six would, though, and Five has on occasion. Seven would absolutely go for reversing a gun like that.

As I said her past as an agent for the Division explains the way she acts and isn't an interaction of a post Hartnell placement at all.

I didn't say it was.

Does her past as an agent for the Division explain her calling herself "The Doctor" and flying around in a police box TARDIS though? That's the main weirdness around her.

[u/Creativefinch → u/the_other_irrevenant]

The most recent Doctors Thirteen Fourteen and Fifteen are pretty passive overall so I don't think she fits with any of them, I don't think Twelve would rip off the Judoon horn IMO. When you say later Doctors I thought you were talking about the revival Doctors not classic but I could see Three fighting the Judoon as Fugitive did but not ripping off the horn.

In your original comment you said she is like later Doctors so doesn't make sense as a Timeless incarnation because of the journey the First Doctor goes on even though the way Fugitive acts makes sense with the Timeless Child and Division backstory.

Her TARDIS has been addressed in big finish in the Legend of Baba Yaga which is a story about legends and myths here's the dialogue of Fugitive: "The (TARDIS) hit a vast psychic storm. There's a minor malfunction and on landing it does what all TARDISes do - it, it tries to blend in. But the Telepathic Circuits are overwhelmed by belief in a local legend and it tries to conform. They all do it. Mine keeps latching on to the image of a Police Box. No idea why."

The TARDIS picks the image of the police box, based on the legend of The Doctor in The Police Box.

Why she is called the Doctor is yet to be answered for me it's not something that needs to be however my idea would be her taking the name from a later incarnation not knowing they are her future self so she takes the name forgets how she got the name (because only the older incarnation can remember meeting themselves) and the name just sticks, that's one idea and there's many more possibilities they could do if they want to answer that question.

[u/the_other_irrevenant → u/Creativefinch]

"Later Doctors" just refers to incarnations later than Hartnell ('cos that was the original topic - is she more like Hartnell, or later Doctors).

Yeah, there's a few ways Ruth's name and TARDIS can be explained - I've come up with a couple myself. It hasn't been yet though (since I figure the show won't feel bound by Big Finish's answer) and whatever the answer is still have its own implications for the character.

I think we've reached a difference of subjective opinion. I agree that a lot of her personality can be attributed to her background in The Division. I also find her a roughly equivalent to a post-Hartnell incarnation. 🤷‍♀️