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"Without the TARDIS I feel rather lost, a stranger in a foreign land, a shipwrecked mariner"
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| The Third Doctor: The Man Who Fell to Earth |
 When Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
first sees The Third Doctor, he's surprised that an apparent
stranger recognizes him, but when the man tracks the TARDIS to UNIT
headquarters and is willing to help with their latest problem, he
soon loses his doubts about The Doctor's identity. While their
relationship is often strained, they eventually develop a mutual
respect and friendship. The Third Doctor can be rather exasperating
at times. He is often rude, arrogant, and condescending. To some
degree this comes from the usual personality changes caused by a
regeneration, but it also stems in part from his resentment of his
exile to Earth. He mellows somewhat as time passes, and when his
exile is lifted he is still willing to work with UNIT, and to some
extent comes to regard Earth as his home. This Doctor is usually
found working in his laboratory, attempting to repair the TARDIS or
coming up with an improbable gadget to defeat the latest threat to
Earth. While he has little patience with some of the narrow-minded
bureaucrats he meets, he does believe that there are capable people
in positions of authority, and he moves easily in their circles. He
is never shy about giving his opinions. He believes that the people
of Earth, even those who are not human, should settle their
differences and work together for a better future, and he is
particularly passionate about ecological issues. While he never
really becomes close with Elizabeth Shaw, the woman he replaces as
UNIT's scientific advisor, he respects her intelligence and
willingness to learn. When Liz leaves he is initially reluctant to
accept new assistant Jo Grant, but she soon wins him over, and he is
greatly affected by her eventual departure. The Third Doctor is more
likely than any other to engage in violence. He is a master of the
arcane martial art Venusian Aikido, and is an excellent swordsman.
He delights in name-dropping, and is fond of technobabble, often
claiming to "reverse polarities" and the like rather than wasting
time with more accurate explanations. He loves fast vehicles and
flashy clothes, and it sometimes seems as if he's undergoing the
Time Lord equivalent of mid-life crisis. The Third Doctor faces many
new adversaries, including the Silurians and Sea Devils, but his
greatest challenge is his former classmate, the man now known as The
Master. The two old friends enjoy their battles and it's plain that
they still have respect and admiration for each other. When The
Master is captured, after a long series of encounters, The Doctor
pleads for leniency on his behalf, a decision that he will later
have ample cause to regret, as The Master proves to be his most
resilient foe, returning time and again to plague The Doctor in all
of his incarnations. In his final adventure, The Third Doctor
confronts a menace which is the direct result of his own greed for
knowledge, and realizes that he must destroy himself in order to
take the next step on his path to enlightenment.
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| Who IS The Third Doctor? |
 The Third Doctor is tall, with a mane of silver hair
framing an expressive face which is dominated by "a mighty nose"
(The Time Warrior). In contrast to his previous selves, his
clothing is elegant, although dated, and usually consists of a
velvet jacket, a frilly shirt with a bow tie, sharply creased pants,
and immaculately-kept shoes or boots. He generally adds a cape or
cloak to this attire. Since he's unable to use the TARDIS during the
early part of this incarnation he must rely on other means of
transport. His favorite vehicle is a heavily-modified yellow
Edwardian roadster which he names Bessie (Doctor Who and The
Silurians), and he also builds a futuristic car (Invasion of
the Dinosaurs) to which he later adds the ability of flight,
much to the alarm of companion Sarah Jane Smith (Planet of the
Spiders). While he often builds gadgets specifically for use
against his current foe, he usually relies on the sonic screwdriver,
which he uses for exploding mines (The Sea Devils), detecting
antimatter (The Three Doctors), and, with the addition of a
spinning mirror, hypnotism (The Curse of Peladon). He finds
this tool so useful that he carries a spare (Frontier in
Space). He also carries sample jars (Colony in Space), a
selection of items used to perform conjuring tricks (The Three
Doctors and others), a radio direction finder, a penlight, and
a hidden file in his boot (Frontier in Space). As usual he
rarely carries money, though as a member of UNIT he obviously has a
credit account to draw on, since he belongs to at least one
exclusive men's club (Terror of the Autons). The Third Doctor
is a man who fell to Earth and adapted well, becoming a more heroic
figure because of the experience.
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