Third Doctor Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series "Doctor Who". He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old Time Lord alien from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in his TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of life, the Doctor can regenerate his body; as a result, his physical appearance and personality change. Pertwee portrays the third such incarnation, a dapper man of action of stark contrast to his wily but less action-oriented predecessors. While previous
The Doctor (Doctor Who) "definite sense of Englishness". When Hartnell left the programme after three years due to ill health, the role was handed over to character actor Patrick Troughton. , official television productions have depicted thirteen distinct incarnations of the Doctor. The longest-lasting on-screen incarnation is the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker for seven years. Within the narrative, these changes were explained as regeneration, a biological process which heals a Time Lord when their incarnation is about to die. Consequently, the Time Lord is given a wholly new body. In "The Deadly Assassin", the concept of a regeneration limit is introduced, giving