The_doctor

The Doctor generally displays a light-hearted, talkative, easy-going, witty and somewhat cheeky manner, but combines this with a somewhat egocentric sense of unstoppability when facing his enemies. He is perhaps as ruthless and dangerous as ever. In "School Reunion", he acknowledges that he is less merciful than he used to be and has stuck to his "one warning" code, punishing his enemies if they persist in their hostilities.

WHAT?!?

He is extremely critical of weapons, going as far as to describe people with guns as "the enemy". His strong personal sense of justice makes him quick to anger when he feels it is violated. The Doctor sometimes uses a cheerful, energetic façade to mask inner emotions. He has a tendency to babble, mixing apparent nonsense with vital information, sometimes acting erratically to put his enemies off guard.

He can also be rude on occasion, and is not always aware of it, being prone to making comments that to outsiders seem obtuse or rude, sometimes to his own embarrassment. He is often surprised at his own unintentional rudeness when making disparaging remarks, and Final Arrow, after reuniting with the Doctor, notes that his "new regeneration is kinda cheeky." He has a tendency to use technobabble to describe scientific concepts before substituting it with a simpler, analogous explanation. Further to this, he tends to infantilise names and concepts - his description of non-linear temporal physics as "a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff" is perhaps the most well known example. He is also able to rapidly switch between moods, from mania to anger to nonchalance and uses this as a form of reverse psychology on several occasions.

It has been made clear that the Doctor is, despite constant interaction with others, a lonely person deep down. He describes the immortality of Time Lords to be a curse, because while his human companions all someday leave him and eventually die, he continues to live. Other characters have also commented on the Tenth Doctor's loneliness. During a conversation with Gambler, he admits that since the end of the Time War and the loss of the other Time Lords, he has been "lonely ever since". While The Doctor is somewhat standoffish in certain situations, particularly "domestics", he can also be extroverted and gregarious, having quickly established a firmer rapport with Rose’ friends and family than he ever did in his previous incarnation, though his talkativeness sometimes irritates others not used to him.

You're taking the piss now...

The Doctor and Rose often faced their adventures with a cheerful, almost blasé attitude, even when terror and death happened around them, contrasting his previous selves, who displayed more serious attitudes when in trouble.

The Doctor sometimes dons a pair of spectacles, his voice often becoming high-pitched when he shout’s. He also exhibits a remarkable sense of taste, able to identify the blood type of a blood sample or the presence of mistletoe oil just by licking. The Doctor seemed disappointed that his new incarnation was not "ginger", but has worn his own dark brown hair in various ways. He wears a dark brown or a blue suit, a shirt and a tie, a red-hued t-shirt or a black t-shirt, a light brown overcoat, and a pair of trainers, in colours ranging from cream, black or red.

Knowledge of popular culture

The Doctor shows a fondness for human popular culture, a characteristic not all of his previous incarnations seemed to share, but even more so, to the point where he finds himself unconsciously quoting the song Circle of Life from Disney's The Lion King during a confrontation with the Gambler. He also appears to be a fan of pop music, quoting Kylie Minogue and Status Quo, and has made quips about Balamory, EastEnders, Babylon 5 and Ghostbusters. He also has a fondness for pop/rock music, attempting to take Rose to an Ian Dury and the Blockheads concert in 1979, and Elvis Presley's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in NYC in the 1950s. He also seems to have an affinity with 80’s culture, stating openly that it was his favourite period of history and relived the 80’s many times over.

He mentions having read the seventh Harry Potter novel (which made him cry), and, at Martha's suggestion, shouts out "Expelliarmus" as a magic word for Shakespeare to use, as well as referencing Back to the Future when explaining the mechanics of "the infinite temporal flux" to Martha.

His knowledge of contemporary pop culture is not comprehensive however. He fails to recognise the term "science geek" several times when applied to him. Once he is provided with a definition he does choose to take it as a compliment, though, The Doctor states that he had increased the volume on a cathedral organ from 10 to 11, a reference to This is Spinal Tap.

His references are not all restricted to modern pop-culture. His description of Rose as a "tim'rous beastie" is an allusion to the poem To a Mouse by Robert Burns, an 18th century Scottish poet.

Personality quirks

Let's go...

The Doctor has a strong dislike for pears, tomatoes and onions, to the point of ordering Rose to prevent the Doctor, during his period disguised as John Smith, from eating any. The Doctor can be incredibly absent minded at times, having forgotten to tell Gambler to cease calibrating the TARDIS in , leading to the group's unceremonious arrival on an alternate Earth. This absentmindedness is also witnessed when The Doctor easily confuses years and locations and while making repairs to the TARDIS, The Doctor forgets to put the shields back up, resulting in the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS colliding and subsequently merging with the former. He then forgets to raise the shields a second time, causing the TARDIS to crash into the Starship Titanic.

The Doctor has also favoured certain phrases on various occasions such as "What!?", "Brilliant!", "That's impossible!", "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" and the French expression "Allons-y" ("Let's go (there)").