History Characters / DoctorWhoEighthDoctor

->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie "Who am I? Who am I?!"]]''

->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie “Who am I? Who am I?!”]]''

* ForeverWar: Played with. In ''Dark Eyes 2'', the Master points out he's been at war with the Daleks, ever since he first landed on Skaro. The Doctor states he is not, and he has no choice but to stop the Daleks' atrocities. But the Master claims he can't help himself and that in doing so he's become a one man army, and this '''before''' he regenerates into the War Doctor.

'''Doctor:''' ''(deadpan)'' Yes, I imagine so! It's quite clear that Frederick brought the car ''into'' the house, ran ''himself'' over with it, and put it ''back outside'' before he finally expired.

** He does not approve of Seven's chess master tendecies, noting how they ultimately lead Seven to alienate all his friends and end his days as a lonely and weary old man. He defines himself as in particular being everything Seven was not.

** While technically not ''his'' failure, the events of ''Genesis of the Daleks'' (more specifically the fact that his fourth incarnation ultimately decided not to kill the Daleks) get brought up alot in ''Dark Eyes" because [[spoiler: the Time Lords are actively trying to wipe the Daleks from existence again, only without getting the Doctor involved this time and using more dubious and extreme methods.]]

* ScrewYourself: There's an ''interesting'' Christmas poem in one of the Big Finish "Short Trips" books, in which Eight merrily tries to kiss all his former selves with the help of some mistletoe. (And succeeds with a few of them.)
* SelfServingMemory: In "Stranded- UNIT Dating", when circumstances see Eight interacting with the Brigadier of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]]'s era and the Brigadier quickly grasps the Doctor's explanation that he's currently in a time loop, the Doctor notes that the Brigadier is quicker to grasp the complexities of the situation than he recalls, and concedes that his past self let his own bitterness over his exile affect how he saw his colleagues in UNIT on some occasions.

* CreepyGood: Sometimes. Anji occasionally has an UncannyValley reaction to him, particularly in ''Camera Obscura'' when he faints and she notices that his "muscular-skeletal frame" is unnaturally flexible. Also, his emotional responses are often a little bit off -- he's sometimes not upset by things that upset everybody else, and even when he is upset he tends not to show it. And there's the StealthHiBye thing he often does, and he didn't have a shadow for a while... he even kept a couple of pet bats in the TARDIS at the beginning of the series, one of which almost scares the crap out of someone in ''Vampire Science''.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In a way. Realizing that he has effectively already died, meaning that he did actually attempt to uphold his principles and stay out of the Time War to the very end and failed, he chooses to cast aside being a good man, being the Doctor. By drinking the chalice of the Warrior, the Doctor accepts that with the war threatening to destroy all of existence, the universe is ultimately more in need of someone who is willing to make hard and pragmatic choices for TheNeedsOfTheMany, which is someone the eternally optimistic and idealistic Eight, who promised that he would ever sacrifice a single life for some abstract idea of "the greater good", simply cannot be.

* [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Innocent Fanservice Guy]]: He seems to consider life clothing-optional, although recognizes that the preference is for clothing. Good thing he's [[MrFanservice attractive]].

* BittersweetEnding: Emphasis on the bitter, but with just enough hope left to salvage it. Upon the death of a mysterious woman with him, the Eighth Doctor [[BreakTheCutie gives into his despair at last]] and activates the Moment, [[KillEmAll destroying the Time Lords and Daleks alike]]. Ending the Time War before he collapses into the TARDIS, broken and slowly dying on the floor, knowing he is time locked and unable to regenerate. However it is revealed that thanks to a kiss from the woman, he finds in sacrificing herself she has passed him the Restoration, breaking him free from the fixed point in time and now able to regenerate into the Ninth Doctor, and [[MyGreatestSecondChance go on to redeem himself for what he has done]].

* KillEmAll: Upon activating the Moment, the Eighth Doctor wipes out the Time Lords and Daleks in an instant.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In a way. Realizing that he has effectively already died, meaning that he did actually attempt to uphold his principles and stay out of the Time War to the very end and failed, he chooses to cast aside being a good man, being the Doctor. By drinking the chalice of the Warrior, the Doctor accepts that with the war threatening to destroy all of existence, the universe is ultimately more in need of someone who is willing to make hard and pragmatic choices for TheNeedsOfTheMany, which is someone the eternally optimistic and idealistic Eight, who promised that he would ever sacrifice a single life for some abstract idea of "the greater good", cannot be anymore.

* AllForNothing: Driving himself to death - and coming back to life knowing the person he tried to rescue essentially chose suicide over being scooped up by him - made Eight ''snap.''

* ChangedMyJumper: For "The Night of the Doctor" Paul [=McGann=] got his wish and has a BadassLongcoat, similar in style to the Tenth Doctor's but in a dark green, along with a well worn and broken-in revision of his TV movie outfit that's much less stylized than his original costume. It's a mix of his classic TV movie costume and his updated Dark Eyes look from AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho.

* DespairEventHorizon: Having endured, and run from, the still waging Time War, his failure to save the pilot Cass, and the accompanying realization of the reputation his people have brought upon themselves, appears to serve as the final straw on his state of mind. With some coaxing from the Sisters of Karn, he resignedly embraces his regeneration into the War Doctor. This comes after being thoroughly broken by his adventures in AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In a way. He chooses to cast aside being a good man, being the Doctor, when he drank the chalice of the Warrior.

In contrast to the somewhat clownish yet manipulative [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor Seventh Doctor]], Eight was defined by his kind, optimistic and classy personality, and he took on many companions. Unfortunately, he was subjected to some of the meanest and nastiest circumstances, constantly captured and tortured, witness to many senseless deaths, and saddled with amnesia so many times that it is a wonder he didn't go insane.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: This only applies to his televised appearances, a whopping ''two'' over the course of '''''17''''' years. It is worth noting that Big Finish took the wheel and patched up the vast in-between space. The Eighth Doctor has been somewhat of a phantom in the TV series, but far from it in audio format. Ironically, and fittingly, Paul [=McGann=] was once quoted as not owning a TV in his household to watch the post-movie ''Doctor Who'', making the actor just as distanced from the new developments as his Doctor.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: After [[spoiler: Lucie's death]] utterly breaks him, a more cynical and somber Eight ditches his Victorian outfit and replaces it with a more practical WWI era leather peacoat in "Dark Eyes". By the time of ''Night of the Doctor'' he'll trade that in for a dishevelled Regency era ensemble when he's desperate to be the man ''he was'' but can't be anymore. ''Echos of Extinction'' implies that the Eighth Doctor had the Regency outfit change shortly before the Time War.

->'''Played by:''' Creator/PaulMcGann (1996, 2013)

He got fleshed out considerably in the ExpandedUniverse media, including the ''[[Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures Eighth Doctor Adventures]]'' novels, the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics and the ''Creator/BigFinish'' audio series, and continues to be, before finally coming BackForTheDead in the TV series for a prelude to the 50th anniversary special. Despite his [[WeHardlyKnewYe scant two appearances on screen]], he has one of the, if not the biggest resume of stories out of all the Doctors, when books, comics and audio adventures are factored in.

* ArchEnemy: The Master, who tries to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations (and remains the only enemy to tackle the Eighth Doctor in all forms of media he appeared in; the telemovie, the comics, the books and the audios).

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: His upbeat and forgiving attitude contrasted Seven's deviously clever tendencies.

* TheMentallyDisturbed: His mental health is somewhat variable. He's usually sort of a high-functioning CloudCuckoolander, but he has moments of being certifiably insane. He has a full-on psychosis in ''Alien Bodies'', twice. ''The Slow Empire'' plays this for [[BlackComedy fairly dark humour]] and mentions that after developing TraumaInducedAmnesia, he occasionally couldn't distinguish between TV and reality, and so had attacks of being able to be DrivenToSuicide by the [[CrapsackWorld utter depressingness]] of ''Series/EastEnders'' [[note]]suggesting, incidentally, that the boredom of WalkingTheEarth alone turned him into a bit of a DayTimeDramaQueen[[/note]], and due to watching {{Superman}} he got some odd ideas about [[ClarkKenting disguises]] and "the relative position of the trousers and [[UnderwearOfPower underpants]]". He also seems to think that someone who was having a nosebleed four days ago may still need a handkerchief. He even had what may have been a momentary AxeCrazy blackout in ''City of the Dead''. In ''The Blue Angel'' he has an alternate self who apparently suffers from schizophrenia, completely averting FunnySchizophrenia; it's reasonably understated and not PlayedForLaughs at all. (Also, his POV in ''The Blue Angel'' is occasionally written in a subtly strange way — for example, he tends to bring something up which doesn't make a lot of sense without further explanation and then drift away from the topic, which resembles some [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder symptoms of schizophrenia]].)

* IconicItem: His fob watch and Edwardian dress. Also, his shoes, which [[NiceShoes fit]] [[EstablishingCharacterMoment perfectly]].

* NiceShoes: "THESE SHOES!" (a pair of loafers donated to him by Grace from, offloading an unpleasant reminder of an ungrateful ex)
** Also part of a running gag, as Three and Four both babbled about their shoes shortly after regenerating (of course, because they had the TARDIS key in them)

* NiceShoes: Now upgraded to a pair of tall cavalry boots. Eight ''really'' needs to consult the Great Big Book of Knots in order to learn how to tie them, though, because they are an absolute ''mess.''

* SignificantWardrobeShift: After [[spoiler: Lucie's death]] utterly breaks him, a more cynical and somber Eight ditches his Victorian outfit and replaces it with a more practical WWI era leather peacoat in "Dark Eyes". By the time of ''Night of the Doctor'' he'll trade that in for a dishevelled Regency era ensemble when he's desperate to be the man ''he was'' but can't be anymore. ''Echos of Extinction'' implies that the Eight Doctor had the Regency outfit change shortly before the Time War.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

In the later years of his life, he had turned colder and angrier and less willing to take on companions because it was becoming clear that something terrible in the universe had been brewing. Finally, the Daleks and Time Lords were locked into a terrible and enormous war, which the Doctor avoided like the plague. However, he got forced into involvement in its early years, but kept his distance from the centre of the battle. When he offered safety to a gunship crewmember in an act of goodwill and got rebuked, Eight went down with the ship and awoke to the unavoidable truth that he ''must'' enter the Time War or the universe would soon be gone. Caving to despair and rage, he allowed himself to become [[Characters/DoctorWhoWarDoctor a warrior and gave up on being the Doctor]].

* NiceHat: He spent a full year of comics travelling alone, and would start off each story with a different hat instead of a companion. [[HilariousInHindsight Including a fez.]]

Eight was defined by his kind and classy personality, and he took on many companions. Unfortunately, he was subjected to some of the meanest and nastiest circumstances, constantly captured and tortured, witness to many senseless deaths, and saddled with amnesia so many times that it is a wonder he didn't go insane.

In the later years of his life, he had turned colder and angrier and less willing to take on companions because it was becoming clear that something terrible in the universe had been brewing. Finally, the Daleks and Time Lords were locked into a terrible and enormous war, which the Doctor avoided like the plague. However, he got forced into involvement in its early years, but kept his distance from the centre of the battle. When he offered safety to a gunship crewmember in an act of goodwill and got rebuked, Eight went down with the ship and awoke to the unavoidable truth that he ''must'' enter the Time War or the universe would soon be gone. Caving to despair and rage, he allowed himself to become a warrior and gave up on being the Doctor.

Notably, he was the Doctor who shattered the NoHuggingNoKissing policy forever, happily snogging his companions just because he wanted to. He also claimed to be half-human, which was either ignored or denied in later stories. Alas, TV audiences only knew him for a single night, owing to neither BBC nor Fox being interested in turning the TV movie into a full revival of the series despite it doing quite well in the franchise's native UK (Fox lost interest because the film flopped in America -- for whom it was directed -- though for whatever reason its British success didn't faze the BBC).

* ILetGwenStacyDie: He was ''this'' close to rescuing Cass and packing off to a brand new adventure... until she saw his TARDIS, whereupon she recoiled as if in the presence of the Death Star or a Nazi flag.

The [[{{Keet}} bouncy]], [[PrettyBoy charming]], [[ThePollyanna optimistic]] [[TheCharmer romantic]], [[BreakTheCutie slowly]] [[DarkerAndEdgier darkened]] by the [[HopelessWar Last Great]] [[WarIsHell Time War]] into a [[{{Hunk}} rugged]] WarriorPoet from [[TraumaCongaLine loss]] and [[HurtingHero sorrow]]. From the little we saw of him, the Eighth Doctor was a chatty, passionate figure who revelled in life and living and -- uniquely among the Doctors -- seemed to enjoy giving people hints about their futures.

[[Characters/DoctorWhoClassicSeriesCompanions Classic Series Companions]] ([[Characters/DoctorWhoK9 K9]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoRomana Romana]]) | '''Revival Series Companions''' ([[Characters/DoctorWhoRoseTyler Rose Tyler]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoJackHarkness Captain Jack Harkness]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoRiverSong River Song]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoClaraOswald Clara Oswald]]) | [[Characters/DoctorWhoOtherSupportingCast Other Supporting Cast]] ([[Characters/DoctorWhoThePaternosterGang The Paternoster Gang]]) | [[Characters/DoctorWhoUNITStaff UNIT Staff]]\\

[[Characters/DoctorWhoClassicSeriesCompanions Classic Series Companions]] ([[Characters/DoctorWhoK9 K9]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoRomana Romana]]) | [[Characters/DoctorWhoRevivalSeriesCompanions Revival Series Companions]] ([[Characters/DoctorWhoRoseTyler Rose Tyler]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoJackHarkness Captain Jack Harkness]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoRiverSong River Song]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoClaraOswald Clara Oswald]], [[Characters/DoctorWhoTeamTARDIS Team TARDIS]]) | [[Characters/DoctorWhoOtherSupportingCast Other Supporting Cast]] ([[Characters/DoctorWhoThePaternosterGang The Paternoster Gang]]) | [[Characters/DoctorWhoUNITStaff UNIT Staff]]\\

* SpotOfTea: He preferred tea to coffee, specifically "hot, sweet tea", with lemon tea being his preference. (PROSE: Casualties of War) He also liked to have his tea with milk and plenty of sugar.