How long has the Doctor lived? · 9:57pm Apr 3rd, 2014
(I wonder if I'm the only one who likes the Season 18 costume the most)
I was having a thought today about Doctor Who, and wondered about how long the Doctor held onto incarnations. This ties into the whole mystery over how old he is, which is a source of confusion because he lost track somewhere after his Seventh incarnation. I'm going to take into account instances in which the Doctor (or others) have stated their age and look at each incarnation, as well as consider off-screen adventures such as audio dramas. These number are by no means canon or accurate, but it is at least an interesting thought project.
The First Doctor: ~400 years
Entered the academy w/ the Master at 8
Visited the Medusa cascade around 90
Somewhere around 200 years old he stole the TARDIS and left Gallifrey with Susan
He may have regenerated somewhere between 200 and 450.
The Second Doctor: ~290 years
Claimed to be 450 during Tomb of the Cybermen
After the events of the War Games and prior to his forced regeneration, he was employed by the Celestial Intervention Agency and sent on missions without the High Council's approval. It is unknown how long he did this for, but due to how old he appeared to be during The Two Doctors I'm willing to bet it was more than a century.
Because of the Third Doctor's short life, he likely regenerated at about 740 years old
The Third Doctor: <10 years
Remained with UNIT for his entire life. Likely this was less than a decade
Regenerated at the age of 748
The Fourth Doctor: ~130
Started his incarnation at 748 years old
Traveled alone after Sarah Jane Smith left and before he met Leela
Traveled alone (with K-9) after Leela left and before meeting Romana
When he first met Romana, she confirmed that he was 759 years old. Because she was sent by the Time Lords and had access to confidential information this is likely his true age at that point in time.
Traveled with Romana I for a short period of time (Key to Time arc)
Traveled with Romana II for an undetermined amount of time (Appears visibly aged by Season 18)
It is unclear how much time elapsed between this point and the next definitive statement of his age. Because of the Fifth Doctor's short life and his signs of aging during Season 18, he probably spent around a century travelling with Romana II
Fifth Doctor: ~5 years
I estimate that he was 888 when he began his life
Did not state his age
Never traveled alone. Since his companions were constantly with him this makes his life very brief
Sixth Doctor: 60 years
Claimed to be 900.
Inherited Peri as his first companion
Traveled alone at some point before meeting Evelyn Smythe (post trial)
It is unclear if his claim of 900 was correct
At some point met Mel Bush
Regenerated at 953
Seventh Doctor: ~100 years
His age of 953 at the time of his regeneration must be correct, as it is a plot point that he is the same age as The Rani and that she was 953.
Traveled alone after Ace for an undetermined amount of time.
Appeared to have aged slightly
Eighth Doctor: ~150
This is where it gets tricky. Like Five, Eight doesn't state his age
Between Doctor Who and The Night of the Doctor he appears to have aged significantly. Not as much as Patrick Troughton did, but slightly more than Tom Baker did. Because of this, I would estimate that he lived for about 150 years.
War Doctor: ~200
Started life as a young, robust man
Ended up appearing very aged
It's possible that his high-stress lifestyle caused him to age faster than normal
When the Eleventh Doctor claims to be "Twelve hundred and something" the War Doctor estimates that 11 is 400 years older than him. This would seem to imply that the War Doctor is 800 years old, which is inconsistent with previous (confirmed) estimates.
It is my belief that at some point in his life, the War Doctor began lying about his age and this stuck for all his subsequent incarnations. He began believing his own lie that he was ~800 and so then The Ninth and Tent Doctor would claim to be 900.
Ninth Doctor: <5 years
Claimed to be 900 years
Spent some time travelling offscreen on his own (the Ask Clive website)
Tenth Doctor: <20 years
Still claimed to be anywhere between 900 and 906. These figures varied, and occasionally went back and forth
It's likely he didn't really know how old he was
Spent time travelling alone between the Titanic Incident and Donna, and a significant amount of time after Donna travelling alone and delaying his trip to the Ood Sphere
Eleventh Doctor: ~900 years
Eleven continued to believe himself to be about 900 years old
At some point he seemed to start keeping track, as he claimed to be 1100 at the time he staged his death at Lake Silencio
Spent more than a decade with the Ponds.
Claimed to be anywhere from 1000 to 1200 after leaving the Ponds
Spent 300 years on Trenzalore when Clara returned the first time. He appeared visibly aged.
Spent another few centuries on Trenzalore. It is not explicitly stated how long he had been their, but my guess is that it was for as long, if not longer than the first time Clara returned.
This makes Eleven the longest-lived Doctor at the time of his regeneration, which is supported by just how decrepit he appeared before his new regeneration cycle started.
According to my estimates, this would make the Doctor about 2270 years old.
There are, of course, plot holes and contradictions to this that stem from the real-world decision to make the Doctor 900 in the new series. For instance, when the TARDIS claims that they have been travelling together for 700 years in The Doctor's Wife, this would seem to imply that he was 900 at the time the statement was made. Setting my speculations aside, that's not possible since we KNOW the Seventh Doctor was 953, and there had been several incarnations since then.
Again, this really isn't supposed to mean anything. I just wanted to get my thoughts down on how I thought out his age conundrum.
I loved Eleven's comments in The Day of the Doctor: "I tell them that I'm around twelve-hundred... unless I'm lying." I get the impression that the Doctor is so old and has looped back on himself so many times that he doesn't know his age himself. He makes a flippant comment about how he might be lying to you when you ask but, in fact, it's just another indicator of how totally lost he is in time and space that he doesn't know the answer.
This is very fascinating. I like how you managed to roughly connect things together.
One thing that occurs to me about the Doctor's age, at least in modern Who: Could he be lying about his age to edit out the War Doctor? Not counting those years on his age.
I'm reading this and taking notes. Very detailed.
) and the umbrella sold it.
fc00.deviantart.net/fs49/f/2009/231/8/3/Sylvester_McCoy_by_PaulHanley.jpg
Seven has my favorite costume. Second from the left. I really like his hat (Though Four had one that was far better, wouldn't you agree
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I think that's very possible. That, combined with losing track could have explained why he thought he was 900.