THE EIGHTH DOCTOR
Apparent Age: Mid 30's
Species: Gallifreyan with Human characteristics
Equipment: Sonic Screwdriver, Pocket Watch, TARDIS Key
Strength: 4. Cheat Death 2, Iron Constitution 1, Regenerative Powers 1
Control: 5. Bench Thumping 2, Sleight of Hand 2, Stealth 2, Lockpicking and Safecracking 1, Brawling 1, Marksmanship 1
Size: 3
Weight: 4
Move: 3. Running 1, Driving 2
Knowledge: 6. Computing 1, Detective Powers 1, Electronics 1, First Aid 1, MacGuffin 1, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Pseudoscience 2, Science 2, TARDIS 2, Temporal Science 2
Determination: 6. Hypnotism 1, Indomitable Will 1
Awareness: 5. Animal Empathy 1, Bargaining 1 Con 2, Eloquence 1, Intuition 2, Resourceful Pockets 1, Striking Appearance 2
Of all the incarnations of the Doctor, the eighth is the most human. Compared to his predecessors, his costume is somewhat muted, consisting of a long, dark brown coat, silvery grey waistcoat and cravat, grey trousers and black shoes. He has untidy long brown hair and blue eyes.
The Doctor's personality is less 'alien' than it has ever been. This Doctor has passion and is not afraid to exhibit his real emotions. This makes him seem vulnerable, and indeed he seems to show an almost childlike innocence. However, allied to this is a quickness and decisiveness of action, and he seems to have lost none of the knowledge or humour of his previous incarnations. His innocent nature combined with his knowledge can also be used as a weapon to confuse or bewilder opponents.
As well has a youthful appearence, this Doctor also has a youthful vigour, and excellent manual dexterity. Since he is more physically human than before, some of his Gallifreyan constitution and resistance to harsh environments has been reduced, but he still has the primary physical characteristics of a Gallifreyan and his regenerative abilities.
Companions of this Doctor will find that they are treated as friends rather than as wards or students. He does not use them to further his ends without making them aware of his plans, and is likely to be very trusting with them.
(The biggest problem with designing the eighth Doctor is that there is so little evidence to base anything upon, specifically one story, 'Enemy Within'. Two features stand out from this story. The first is that this Doctor seemingly becomes romantically involved with a companion. Secondly, that he claims to be half-human. When designing this character and trying to fit him in with the previous incarnations, I have had to take both of these factors into account.
Dealing with the second feature first, the Doctor claims to be half-human, on his mother's side. In addition to this claim, we alo have the fact that the Eye of Harmony in the TARDIS responds to human retinal patterns, and that the Master observes that the Doctor has such a pattern. Against this claim we have the fact that it has never even been hinted at by any of the previous seven incarnations, or mentioned by any of the other time lords, including those on Gallifrey who could be expected to know such things. I have taken the following line on this trait therefore. The Doctor's claim to be half-human was made in an almost flippant, off-hand way, and I believe it to simply be not true. However, this does not explain the human retinal pattern and I believe this to be due to the fact that he does have a human ancestor. In his previous incarnations his human traits were almost all suppressed, but in this incarnation they have gained more prominence. I put this down to the regeneration itself; this is the first time that the Doctor has regenerated without either the aid of his TARDIS or another time lord, and that in previous regenerations the human elements had always been suppressed.
His more prevalent human side explains the first feature, that of his emotional attachment to Grace. Frankly. I put the outbursts of kissing down to post-regenerative stress, but am willing to believe that this incarnation is more likely to show a softer, more romantic side.
What I have tried to achieve, therefore, is a Doctor that has a more passionate, human side, at the expense of some of the alien eccentricity. He combines some of the skills of the first Doctor with a personality that has elements of both the second and fifth Doctors. Since a single film is insufficient to give a complete insight into his range of skills and possible reactions to situations I have been obliged to make some things up. Some of the skills he has are common to all of the incarnations of the Doctor. Others are found with only one or two. I have tried to give him skills that emphasise an ability with people, at the expense of his intuitive scientific genius based skills and the Gallifreyan physiology. )