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* {{Jerkass}}: When it comes to being obnoxious, he most certainly [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness appropriates the gateau]]. Good examples are him repeatedly calling Peri fat for no apparent reason.
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* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour. Shortly Evelyn leaves, Six has to work together with a younger version of himself, and [[IHatePastMe he cannot stand said younger self's arrogance]].
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* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour. Shortly after Evelyn leaves, Six has to work together with a younger version of himself, and [[IHatePastMe he cannot stand said younger self's arrogance]].
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(In)famous for being a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and grittier]] Doctor, Six is allowed to grow as a character in Creator/BigFinish and expand beyond his [[WhatTheHellHero unstable origins]] of the TV show. He's still an insufferable know-it-all with a fondness for creative insults and poor fashion sense, but with plenty of {{Lampshading}} and alternative clothing this time around. His new adventures notably show a kindness and depth that often was [[AbortedArc not there in the series]].
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(In)famous for being a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and grittier]] Doctor, Six is allowed to grow as a character in Creator/BigFinish and expand beyond his [[WhatTheHellHero unstable origins]] of the TV show. He's still an insufferable know-it-all with a fondness for creative insults and poor fashion sense, but with plenty of {{Lampshading}} and alternative clothing this time around.around, and his travels sees him gradually mellow out him a bit. His new adventures notably show a kindness and depth that often was [[AbortedArc not there in the series]].
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* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour.
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* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour. Shortly Evelyn leaves, Six has to work together with a younger version of himself, and [[IHatePastMe he cannot stand said younger self's arrogance]].
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* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.") Definitely better than the alternative of the last words Colin was seen to speak onscreen. "Carrot juice!" isn't exactly up there with "Don't cry, Sarah Jane. Where there's life there's..." is it?
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* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.") Definitely better than the alternative of the last words Colin was seen to speak onscreen. "Carrot juice!" isn't exactly up there with "Don't cry, Sarah Jane. Where there's life there's..." is it?")
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* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.")
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* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.")") Definitely better than the alternative of the last words Colin was seen to speak onscreen. "Carrot juice!" isn't exactly up there with "Don't cry, Sarah Jane. Where there's life there's..." is it?
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* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature, but the essence of what the Doctor is at the core- a protector- stays the same.]]
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* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature, but the essence of what the Doctor is at the core- core -- a protector- protector -- stays the same.]]
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[TheFundamentalist naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[TheFundamentalist [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness articulate]] [[PrinciplesZealot naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[SoapboxSadie naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[SoapboxSadie [[TheFundamentalist naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[TalkingIsAFreeAction naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate [[TalkingIsAFreeAction [[SoapboxSadie naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The prideful, articulate naysayer with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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The prideful, [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], articulate naysayer [[TalkingIsAFreeAction naysayer]] with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
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![[center:'''[[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Index]]:''' Incarnations of the Doctor | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFirstDoctor 1]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSecondDoctor 2]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor 3]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor 4]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFifthDoctor 5]] | '''6''' | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor 7]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoEighthDoctor 8]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoWarDoctor War]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoNinthDoctor 9]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor 10]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoEleventhDoctor 11]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoTwelfthDoctor 12]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirteenthDoctor 13]]]]
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* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
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* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls. Stories which feature Colin Baker as Six when he has gotten older see him with less hair coverage until finally balding and having very short and neat white hair around the lower perimeter of his head.
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* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature.]]
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* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature.nature, but the essence of what the Doctor is at the core- a protector- stays the same.]]
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%%* RoguesGallery
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* DeadpanSnarker: Just about every word out of his mouth is a barb directed at someone or something.
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%%* GoodIsNotNice
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[[caption-width-right:342:''"Am I not permitted an occasional moment of melodrama?"'']]
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-->''"I intend to rise above your barbs... but before I do I’d like to say that this coat can only be appreciated by someone with a sharpened aesthetic sense -- not a dunderhead like you!"''
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[[caption-width-right:342:''"Am I not permitted an occasional moment of melodrama?"'']]
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-->''"Am I not permitted an occasional moment of melodrama?"''
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* TheDreaded: With a dash of TheRedBaron thrown in, the Sixth Doctor built himself a reputation so awful, that he was a being of enormous power that could [[DishingOutDirt create sinkholes swallowing armies whole]] called [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho037TheSandman The Sandman]]. He did this to tame the awful AlwaysChaoticEvil Galyari race, a species that otherwise would wage war until nearly all life would be terrorized by it. He then made several trips into their respective future to ensure they stayed on the straight and narrow.
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--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' "Forgive me if I don't join you."
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--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' "Forgive ''(looks at the doomed guards with an "oh, dear" expression)'' Forgive me if I don't join you."
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-->''"I intend to rise above your barbs... but before I do I’d like to say that this coat can only be appreciated by someone with a sharpened aesthetic sense –- not a dunderhead like you!"''
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-->''"I intend to rise above your barbs... but before I do I’d like to say that this coat can only be appreciated by someone with a sharpened aesthetic sense –- -- not a dunderhead like you!"''
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->''"I intend to rise above your barbs... but before I do I’d like to say that this coat can only be appreciated by someone with a sharpened aesthetic sense –- not a dunderhead like you!"''
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-->''"I intend to rise above your barbs... but before I do I’d like to say that this coat can only be appreciated by someone with a sharpened aesthetic sense –- not a dunderhead like you!"''
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[[caption-width-right:350:''"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."'']]
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[[caption-width-right:350:''"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."'']]
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-->''"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."''
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* [[DrJerk Doctor Jerk]]: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
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* GoodIsNotNice
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* {{Jerkass}}: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
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not the trope
* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
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* [[DrJerk Doctor Jerk]]: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
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* SmugSnake: Pre-character development. He is as good as he says he is, but is still obnoxiously arrogant.
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* SmugSnake: Pre-character development. He is ''is'' [[InsufferableGenius as good as he says he is, is]], but is still obnoxiously arrogant.
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%%* RoguesGallery
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%%* RoguesGalleryRoguesGallery
----
----
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!Sixth Doctor
[[quoteright:342:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_-_sixth_doctor_5773.jpg]]
->'''First appearence:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" (1984)
->'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Twin Dilemma]]" (1984)
->'''Final story:'''[[note]]Creator/ColinBaker was dismissed from the role in 1986, and declined to return afterwards.[[/note]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe]]" (1986)
->'''Regeneration television story:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Time and the Rani]]"[[note]]Regenerates in the pre-title sequence. Baker had declined to do the regeneration, resulting in the Doctor's face being obscured during the process.[[/note]] (1987)
->'''Regeneration audio story:''' "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure - The Brink of Death]]"[[note]]Leads directly into "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Time and the Rani]]".[[/note]] (2015)
->'''Played by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1984–86, 1993, 1997), Creator/SylvesterMcCoy[[note]]Played the Doctor during his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor[[/note]] (1987)
-->''"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."''
The prideful, articulate naysayer with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
Alas, viewers weren't exactly fond of the idea of a periodically-evil Doctor. During his first season, the show got in trouble for being too violent. Baker became the only actor to be fired from the role, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling; the fallout was so acrimonious that he didn't reprise the role for a regeneration, so they DroppedABridgeOnHim. However, Creator/ColinBaker is actually [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a wonderful guy]], and is currently still redeeming the character fantastically in AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho, to the point of being voted "favourite audio Doctor" by the fans and eventually doing his Doctor justice with a proper regeneration story in 2015.
!! Tropes associated with the television series
* AbortedArc: A multi-year arc was planned in which the Sixth Doctor would mellow out, but politics at the BBC intervened. This was later taken up (after a fashion) by the [[AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho Big Finish audios]], where regular companion [[CoolOldLady Dr. Evelyn Smythe]] puts up with exactly zero of his ego-trips and gives him a much-needed reality check. Unfortunately, the dissatisfaction with Baker's tenure bled into the material itself ("The Trial of a Time Lord") and later ''Who'' novels, which had Seven seeing him as a fundamentally flawed incarnation (though he eventually changed his mind).
* AntiHeroSubstitute: Whereas the Fifth Doctor found himself stuck in a WorldHalfEmpty, fretting about other ways, Six seems more open to employing dirty methods when fighting evil. In truth, the Sixth Doctor usually wasn't very violent but the situations he found himself in certainly were. Though Nathan-Turner's iron fist was keenly felt in the Costuming Department, script editor Eric Saward was, for all intents and purposes, in charge of the show during this period. Saward is also well-known for his affinity for action heroes, morally ambiguous stories and a kill-or-be-killed mentality. He was at sea with Davison's Doctor, but Baker allowed Saward to indulge a less-utopian worldview. "Feels different this time", indeed.
* BigFun: The most portly Doctor thus far, though that isn't saying much.
* BondOneLiner: Fond of them. There's a particularly grim one in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance on Varos]]," and it began to attract executive mumblings about whether ''Doctor Who'' was going too far. After two guards accidentally fall into an acid bath that was meant for the Doctor...
--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' "Forgive me if I don't join you."
* CameBackWrong: Probably the most memorable regeneration trauma to date. Six has [[LetMeAtHim a peculiar fascination with peoples' throats]] in his debut story.
* CantArgueWithElves: The Sixth Doctor isn't ''quite'' this bad, but he ''is'' abrasive and easily the most articulate Doctor. Do not argue with him. You will lose.
** To take it a step further, in the audio range, where he runs into versions of himself sometimes, if he starts arguing with himself, ''nobody'' wins.
* CatchPhrase: "Mmm, I wonder... Aha!"
* CharacterDevelopment: The Sixth Doctor's relationship with his companion Peri changes for the better with each adventure they have together. If the Sixth Doctor's run had not been [[ExecutiveMeddling abruptly cut short]], then he would have also been shown [[WhatCouldHaveBeen mellowing down and becoming a calmer Doctor closer to his previous incarnation]].
* CheshireCatGrin: He does one in his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKanwT1elM opening credits]].
* CombatPragmatist: Extremely so. When faced with a multitude of buttons, a gun and a few seconds to spare, his default solution is to shoot the entire control panel and short-circuit the system.
* DeathByFallingOver[=/=]DroppedABridgeOnHim: Hits his head on the TARDIS console. (Although later stories include a bit of FixFic for the scene. The BBC Literature/PastDoctorAdventures novel ''Spiral Scratch'' depicts giant alien parasites sucking away the energy around him that time travel generates. They feast on it until he withers, and the Rani's attack delivers the final blow to an already dying Doctor. This was before the '''definitive''' final Sixth Doctor story was revealed in 2015. AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho provides another take on the regeneration in ''The Last Adventure'', involving the Valeyard and six different companions.)
* DefectorFromDecadence: His experiences in this incarnation kill any shred of respect he still had for Time Lord society. After this, he only misses Gallifrey once there's no going back.
--> "In all my traveling throughout the universe I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilization: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core! Ha! Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, they're still in the ''nursery'' compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power: that's what it takes to be ''really'' corrupt!"
* [[DrJerk Doctor Jerk]]: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.")
* {{Foil}}: His outspoken, harsh demeanor and not shying away from using physical force when push comes to shove makes him one to Five.
* AFoolForAClient: Six acts as his own attorney during his murder trial on Gallifrey. This goes down about as well as you'd expect.
* FutureMeScaresMe: The Valeyard. He is utterly appalled that someone so decadent could be none other than himself gallivanting around in chaos. But that doesn't stop him from whipping up glorious helpings of grammarian snark toward the Valeyard, calling him everything from "Boneyard", "Backyard", and "Barnyard", to, best of all, ''"Knacker's Yard".''
* GoodIsNotNice
* GrumpyOldMan: The actor may not visually fit the role, but the Sixth Doctor himself easily fits the role in personality.
* HotBlooded: Creator/ColinBaker summed it up as: "He's intolerant about injustice; he's passionate about justice. But he's not a human being. Therefore he may behave, at times, in a way that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality we mere humans might find puzzling]]. But the greater good is always at the heart."
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: ''Especially'' when frustrated or angry.
* HypocriticalHumor: This Doctor is much more of a "do as I say, not as I do" sort of fellow.
* IconicItem: That technicolor nightmare coat, the cat badge and the umbrella. Sure enough, his regeneration into Seven inevitably culminates with the new incarnation questioning the former's bizarre tastes and pitching the coat for something more sophisticated. Granted, Six did switch to a blue ensemble for a while, but then an alternate Mel convinced him to revert back because she liked the old outfit better and nostalgia got the better of him.
* IHatePastMe: The Sixth Doctor considers himself the [[AwesomeEgo absolute pinnacle]] of Time Lord regeneration. As such he has a low regard for his predecessors, most notably Two and Five. Two returned the sentiment.
* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: It's like a clown vomited in his closet. The shirt and suspenders were inherited from Five, the hair and the Hawaiian vest seem to be directly lifted from producer [[Creator/JohnNathanTurner John Nathan-Turner]], and Six goes for broke with the coat-shaped quilt, a white dress shirt with question marks on the lapels and checked red sleeve cuffs, a polka-dotted aquamarine or red cravat / mustard yellow with a purple starfield cravat tied in a droopy bow, various clashing vests (asymmetrical rainbow patterns with bars on one side and zigzags on the other, red and white plaid with teddy bear buttons, a pattern of diagonal spangling stripes of violet, blue, cerulean, and green) with strange coloured fobs pinned on, the lemonade pants, scarlet socks, the green loafers adorned with traffic cone orange spats, and a variety of cat badges. As a inside joke on the Doctor's post-regeneration makeovers, it's brilliant parody. (It becomes less funny when the Doctor continues to wear it.)
** And then there's [[http://i.imgur.com/ZOhtQ.png the equally eye-popping but less hard]] on the eyes outfit Colin wore during his stage play tours, with a unique candy-striped vest, a ruffled undershirt with even bigger question marks on the collar lapels, and a velvet aqua-coloured cravat.
** Creator/ColinBaker [[http://drwhointerviews.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/colin-baker-nicola-bryant-1992/ actually wanted]] to dress in black velvet for the part (to quote, "a bit austere, ruffled sleeves, long black coat, black trousers"), which John Nathan-Turner shot down immediately due to it basically being the Master's outfit. Legend has it that JNT then turned down the first several versions of the design because they still retained some vestiges of good taste. Interestingly, the costume looks just fine when you remove the excess color (see [[http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/project-lazarus-211 the outfit]] Six switches to for a while in Creator/BigFinish).
* IncomingHam: Introduces himself to the world with some good old-fashioned ''[[DeadpanSnarker snark]]''!
--> '''Peri:''' ...Doctor?
--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' You were expecting someone else?
* InsufferableGenius: Oh, ''boy''. Described by many as a "raging egotist"... but he really was as good as he described himself.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The genuine heart of gold still existed in this Doctor... it was just buried under a whole lot of ego. And bluster. But mostly ego. Ironically, the Sixth Doctor may well have had the largest heart of gold of any of them, hidden way deep down underneath the ego. Creator/ColinBaker later said he based his Doctor on [[Literature/PrideAndPrejudice Mr. Darcy]].
* KangarooCourt: "The Trial of a Time Lord" saw him put on trial for conduct unbecoming a Time Lord by a Gallifreyan court, with the charge later changed to genocide of a minor plant race. Six wasn't allowed to glimpse the evidence against him, the Master was called as a ''character witness'', and most of the surveillance footage was fabricated anyway.
* KnightErrant: Self-described in "The Twin Dilemma":
-->'''Sixth Doctor:''' I'm a knight errant, not an errant fool!
* LaughingMad: His regeneration trauma ran the gamut of emotions, from "happy drunk" to "raving paranoia" and everything in between. The wardrobe change was interrupted by a bout of [[WhoWantsToLiveForever existential angst.]]
-->"Nothing but the... urk!... grinding engines of the universe! The... crushing boredom of eternity! [=HAAAAAHahahahAHAhahahaA!=]"
* MoodSwinger: For all his egoism and posturing the Doctor always stands up for what is right. The extremes of his personality means that Six can be murderous one moment and almost tender the next.
* MurderTropes: Although previous incarnations had no problem with letting villains die horrible deaths or blowing up inhabited enemy shapeships, Six straight up grabbed someone (who very definitely did not have JokerImmunity) and murdered him using a cyanide rag. Admittedly, this was a violent knife-wielding alien who had stabbed the Doctor in the leg and was chasing him with the intention of killing him.
* NervesOfSteel: Showed courage even in the worst situations.
* NoIndoorVoice: Six was quite shouty.
* NumberOneDime: He's apparently [[KindheartedCatLover fond of cats]], as evidenced by a brooch worn on his lapel (a Colin Baker embellishment, natch). Six was known to tap or stroke the cat before attempting something risky.
* [[DeathByFallingOver Regeneration By Falling Over]]: The Rani shot at his TARDIS with a disco laser, there was something involving a rainbow, and... then he was dead on the floor. From 1987 to 2015, that was the impression left when his Doctor was written out of the show before that scene was finally explained. Would you believe it took upwards of thirty years for the true cause of his death to be revealed?
* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: Colin Baker's dismissal from the TV series led to no true regeneration story. By the time Colin finally got one, he couldn't appear in a filmed episode because he had aged out of the role. In lieu of a TV story, he performed an audio anthology that elaborates on his Doctor's final adventure, and due to the AnachronicOrder of these audio productions, it's not the absolute last audio Colin signed on for.
* RoguesGallery: Mestor, Cybermen, the Cyber-Controller, Sil the Mentor, the Master, the Rani, Chessene of the Franzine Grig, Sontarans, the Borad, Davros, Daleks, the Valeyard, and Vervoids.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Depending on the writer, the Sixth Doctor tends to go from "being smart" to "sounding like he not only swallowed a thesaurus, but all of the grammar teachers in England." This is also played up in some of his Expanded Universe appearances.
* TookALevelInKindness: He did mellow out towards the end of his run. This is most prevalent in the Big Finish Audios.
* {{Tsundere}}: The harsh version.
* VitriolicBestBuds: His relationship with Peri at first; it does take them a few episodes to get along without unleashing a hurricane of insults on each other.
* WhatTheHellHero: Only used against the Sixth Doctor in terms of his ''attitude'' rather than his actions or history.
* [[XanatosSpeedChess Xanatos Speed Chess Player]]: Once Six actually figures out what the hell is going on, his quick thinking and planning is pretty much this in curly blond hair and a multicoloured coat. That does, of course, depend on the Sixth Doctor actually being involved enough in the main story to realize what's going on -- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks one example]] left him clueless until the final 20 minutes of the story.
!! Tropes associated with the ''Doctor Who Magazine'' line
The Sixth Doctor's first comic stories were written before his first televised episode, and with no characterisation to go on, the writers interpreted him as a much kinder incarnation than the JerkWithAHeartOfGold we all know and love from the TV show. It stuck, and his adventures with Frobisher and Peri show him as a kind, determined intergalactic hero.
* AliceAllusion: He features as the white rabbit in Peri's hallucination sequence.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For the first story, the artist had no idea yet what the back of Six's coat looked like, and simply improvised.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: He has an impressive zoo in his TARDIS, and spends a lot of his adventures befriending various animals.
* GuileHero: Having a companion who can shapeshift offers endless possibilities in this regard.
* MagicMusic: Leads a group of renegade robots away from a city, Pied Piper style, with a grand musical number.
* MrFanservice: Gets a bit of a HotSpringsEpisode moment at the beach.
%%* RoguesGallery
* TookALevelInKindness: Compared to the TV series.
!! Tropes associated with Big Finish
[[quoteright:150:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sixie_6826.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1999–present), Terry Molloy (2012), Nicola Bryant (2014)
-->''"Am I not permitted an occasional moment of melodrama?"''
(In)famous for being a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and grittier]] Doctor, Six is allowed to grow as a character in Creator/BigFinish and expand beyond his [[WhatTheHellHero unstable origins]] of the TV show. He's still an insufferable know-it-all with a fondness for creative insults and poor fashion sense, but with plenty of {{Lampshading}} and alternative clothing this time around. His new adventures notably show a kindness and depth that often was [[AbortedArc not there in the series]].
* AdaptationDecay: A victim of this InUniverse. In an alternate timeline, the Doctor became Earth's greatest hero after saving it from a Dalek invasion in 1903. In 2003-A, action figures and movies about his exploits are available for mass consumption. Movie!Doctor is a ripped, [[BondOneLiner catchphrase-spouting]] jackass who snogs a YoungerAndHipper Evelyn.
* ArchEnemy: The audios give further development to the animosity the Sixth Doctor had with Davros and the Valeyard in the television series. The Valeyad even serves as the FinalBoss of the Sixth Doctor's life.
* BatmanGambit: A big fan of them.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Iris Wildthyme, quite a bit more strongly than she manages with most other incarnations of him. The fact that [[spoiler: her future self]] manages to hypnotise him into fancying her in "The Wormery" certainly helps.
* BigDamnKiss:
-->'''Doctor''': If I was ''really'' a Time Lord, would I do... ''THIS?'' ''(grabs [[spoiler: Sally-Anne]] into a deep kiss)''\\
'''MonsterOfTheWeek''': ''(Absolutely stunned)'' Noooooo. No. No. No. A Time Lord certainly wouldn't do ''that''!
* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour.
* ChangedMyJumper: A chronic offender with the infamous coat, but he has the good sense to change into more practical clothes at times. Notably, in his first story with Evelyn (i.e. the arc that was written deliberately to give him CharacterDevelopment), he changes into a Third Doctor style velvet-and-ruffles ensemble for a visit to the Queen of England.
** From "Real Time" up until "The Wrong Doctors", Six is seen wearing a blue outfit that, while very similar in design taste to his normal outfit, is a series of tasteful and non-clashing blue hues. Really, it's quite nice. (Started out as a case of LimitedAnimation, since "Real Time" was also released as a semi-animated webcast. None of the artists involved felt like drawing Six's coat, so the blue hues were created as a compromise. The audio-only edition has a short scene to explain it: Six thought Evelyn wanted to see [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks his "mourning" coat]]. She was curious about his morning coat.) He returns to his original coat after a version of Mel makes a wistful remark about missing the old one "her" Six wore.
* CharacterDevelopment: ''Heaps''. His stories with Peri have him very similar to the way he was in the TV series, but episodes taking place after that show a much softer side of him. He grows to care very deeply for Evelyn, and has no problem saying he ''loves'' her -- as a friend -- in "Real Time", pretty early on in their StoryArc.
* [[spoiler: CloningBlues]]: In "Project: Lazarus".
* CombatPragmatist: Possibly his most defining trait.
* CutenessProximity: Unlike Five, who doesn't care for cats one way or the other, Six gleefully defaults to baby-speak when he's near them.
* DrinkingContest: Gets into one, ''in song'', in "Doctor Who And The Pirates".
* FamousLastWords: In ''The Brink of Death'', after being warned of the Valeyard's plot by his future self, the Doctor sacrificies himself to the Rani's attack. As he succumbs to radiation poisoning, he reflects on his time with; "All those lives I've lived. I hope... the footprint I leave... will be... light, but apposite..."
** Then, after he slips into unconsciousness, he hears his seventh persona emerge and responses with; "Who said that? Who is that? Who's... there?..."
** Meanwhile, as his future self slips away as the timeline changes, he says this in unison with the Seventh Doctor; "Our future is in safe hands."
* FreakyFridayFlip: With Davros!
* FutureMeScaresMe: Once Six has had enough CharacterDevelopment to admit that he's a JerkAss, he also quietly reflects on how his next incarnation will not be very emotionally accessible either, from what he's seen. "Always blowing up planets."
* GrandFinale: "The Last Adventure", giving him a desperately needed regeneration story where he had once been ousted from the show without warning, finally proving that Big Finish has ''completely'' rescued his Doctor. He's also the only Doctor to have an audio finale as opposed to a televised final story, since former BBC controller Michael Grade got the drop on him.
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler:Knowing that the Valeyard's AssimilationPlot against the Time Lord society hinges upon his existence, the Doctor does not hesitate to influence his past self into making a move that leads to him getting lethally injured. To add more to it, the Doctor was even in doubt whether or not he would able to regenerate his way out of that situation, but he went ahead and did it any way. Fortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion his regeneration does trigger and turns him into his Seventh incarnation]].]]
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: ''Especially'' when frustrated or angry. In the "The One Doctor", one character remarks that talking to him is "like arguing with a bloody thesaurus!" Later in the same episode, he loses his willingness to debate altogether...
-->'''Sixth Doctor:''' If I have to endure another insult--\\
'''Banto Zame:''' Oh here we go, [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness another voyage 'round the English language...]]
* HypocriticalHumor: His "do as I say, not as I do" attitude is PlayedForLaughs with great frequency in Creator/BigFinish. This contributed ''hugely'' to him getting RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
-->'''Peri''': Don't shout, Doctor! There might be--\\
'''Sixth Doctor''': [[IResembleThatRemark SHOUT?!]] [[HypocriticalHumor I don't SHOUT!]] People who have to resort to shouting to get what they want are merely demonstrating THE INHERENT PAUCITY OF THEIR ARGUMENT! IT'S SOMETHING THAT I NEVER, ''NEVER''--\\
'''Peri''': All right, Doctor!!\\
'''Sixth Doctor''': Point made, I think.
* IAmSong: In the MusicalEpisode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho043DoctorWhoAndThePirates "Doctor Who And The Pirates"]], he sings a truly ''fantastic'' MajorGeneralSong.
* IAteWhat: The Doctor suffers fainting fits brought on by the polluted timeline of 2003-A. He's given a swig of vile black liquid to revive him, which turns out to be fluid produced from a Dalek after it's been tortured. The goop is then bottled by guards and sold as a delicacy.
* IHatePastMe: Calls Five "tediously noble". To his face. (''Sirens of Time'')
** Under duress, however, he finally cracks and admits to Evelyn that being the Fifth Doctor was like being on holiday... a very wonderful holiday. (''The 100 Days of the Doctor'')
** Also played with in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho169TheWrongDoctors "The Wrong Doctors"]], where you have the Sixth Doctor encounter... [[ActingForTwo the Sixth Doctor]]. The Sixth Doctor who's already been through his big emotional Big Finish StoryArc (distinguished by his blue outfit and calmer dialogue) finds his younger self to be pretty annoying.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Six takes more to alcohol than most Doctors, and has a fondness for hanging out in bars and pubs, sometimes to cope with tragedy.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Unlike the hard-to-see-but-still-there heart of gold [[Characters/DoctorWhoClassicSeriesDoctors seen in the TV series]], Creator/ColinBaker's Sixth Doctor in Creator/BigFinish shows an incredible empathy toward his companions when the situation calls for it. Oh, he's still very much alien in how he expresses it, but his treatment of Dr. Evelyn Smythe shows the change of his character from his original premiere in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma the 1980s]].
* JerkassFacade: The ending of his segment in "Project: Lazarus", which segues directly into the start of "Arrangements For War", is all about this trope. Evelyn doesn't put up with it.
* LogicalWeakness: How can this most verbose of Doctors talk his way out with an enemy that is ''language'' itself? (''...Ish'')
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage
* MusicalEpisode: "Doctor Who And The Pirates" is a fantastic one.
* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: In the aptly-titled ''100 Days of the Doctor'', an anonymous party announces that they've ordered a hit on the Doctor, now dying from a biological agent. The Doctor now has a hundred days to discover when and where he was struck with a microscopic needle....during ''his fifth incarnation''. Factor in all the planets he's visited and every single person who might conceivably want to kill him...
-->"Best get moving, especially since--''oh dear''. I've just felt a sudden twinge [[OwMyBodyPart in my kidneys.]]"
* NotSoDifferent: From Davros. The two get a few episodes together with fantastic verbal sparring, and the trope eventually culminates in a FreakyFridayFlip, of all things.
** And during his brief OddFriendship with "Bloody" Queen Mary I, he becomes quite terrified when he realises how similar they are.
* OrphanedPunchline: "Is that a ''sausage''?!" This joke went over pretty well with an auditorium full of tweed. (''...Ish'')
* RedBaron: He's something of a superstar in his own trade; that is, at the annual lexicographer's convention, where he is introduced by the emcee as a "master of English" and "a raconteur and ''bon vivant'' of ''bon mots''!" (''...Ish'')
* ReunionShow: Though not limited solely to him, Six has a tendency of actually reuniting with companions and friends who traveled with his other incarnations. This includes Thomas Brewster, Jamie and Zoe, Henry Gordon Jago, George Litefoot, [[{{CallForward}} Charley Pollard]], Romana, Leela and even Mike Yates. Peri and Mel get special mention; though they already traveled with the Sixth Doctor, Mel was reunited with him twice (both times a first meeting between either her or the Doctor before they started traveling in a more traditional manner), whereas Peri ''died'' [[spoiler: and was reunited by way of a split-timeline duplicate, allowing her to travel with him]]. It's all a bit of a nostalgia trip at times.
* RoguesGallery: Axos, Beth Pernell, the Celestial Toymaker, Cybermen, Daleks, Davros, the Eminence, Ice Warriors, Josiah W. Dogbolter, Krotons, the Rani, Dr. Robert Knox, Silurians, Sil the Mentor, Sontarans, William Abberton, Wirrn, the Wishing Beast, the Valeyard, and Viyrans.
* SmugSnake: Pre-character development. He is as good as he says he is, but is still obnoxiously arrogant.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Weaponised a few times over.
* StealthPun: ''Extremely'' fond of them, often in the middle of a hurricane of more obvious puns.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature.]]
* ToThePain & TickingClock: The Doctor suffers through a slow-motion assassination after being injected with a synthetic, sentient virus. (''The 100 Days of the Doctor'')
* TookALevelInKindness: He's plenty mean towards Peri just like in the TV series, but when he meets Evelyn (after Peri leaves the TARDIS), she mellows him out ''a lot'' with her no-nonsense attitude, her warm demeanor and her chocolate cakes. The fact that Creator/BigFinish insists on [[BreakTheCutie breaking Evelyn over and over]] certainly helps, and she and Six become very emotionally close in the process. By the time he unexpectedly runs into his old self (in a bit of time travel mishap involving Mel), the contrast is ''very'' noticable.
** His treatment of Peri did shift slowly over the course of his time with her - ''very'' slowly, but it was there. The difference becomes far more pronounced, however, [[spoiler: once he's reunited with a split-timeline version of her and they begin travelling]]. She and Six still have legitimate grievances with one another, but they get along ''far'' better than before.
* TorturePorn: "Jubilee" sees him broken more thoroughly than ''any'' other Doctor in ''any'' episode. In the alternate timeline he loses his mind, his [[spoiler: companion]] and his [[spoiler: legs]], and that's just the start of it. When the Evelyn from the original timeline meets him, she is shaken to the core, and the memory flashes of the merged timelines hit Six, he's none too well adjusted to them.
** "Project: Lazarus" also revels in the trope.
* TragicBromance: With Evelyn.
* WonTheWarLostThePeace: A future version of the Sixth Doctor fought to liberate Britain from Daleks, a struggle which ended with the lone Dalek survivor agreeing to a cultural exchange. Flash-forward a hundred years, when the despotic British Empire has monopolized the Daleks' technology to conquer the world. The war is a historical footnote, mere fodder for B-grade movies and crass pageantry. It becomes clear by the end of the story that mankind [[HeWhoFightsMonsters has come to resemble the Daleks]] (as intended, it turns out).
!! Tropes associated with BBC Past Doctor Adventures
* FamousLastWords: If you go by ''Spiral Scratch''; "Local... tractor beam..."
%%* RoguesGallery
[[quoteright:342:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_-_sixth_doctor_5773.jpg]]
->'''First appearence:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" (1984)
->'''Debut:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Twin Dilemma]]" (1984)
->'''Final story:'''[[note]]Creator/ColinBaker was dismissed from the role in 1986, and declined to return afterwards.[[/note]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe]]" (1986)
->'''Regeneration television story:''' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Time and the Rani]]"[[note]]Regenerates in the pre-title sequence. Baker had declined to do the regeneration, resulting in the Doctor's face being obscured during the process.[[/note]] (1987)
->'''Regeneration audio story:''' "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure - The Brink of Death]]"[[note]]Leads directly into "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani Time and the Rani]]".[[/note]] (2015)
->'''Played by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1984–86, 1993, 1997), Creator/SylvesterMcCoy[[note]]Played the Doctor during his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor[[/note]] (1987)
-->''"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."''
The prideful, articulate naysayer with a hidden heart of gold. The Sixth Doctor was a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] (and certainly more unstable) Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Wore a multicoloured coat and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.
Alas, viewers weren't exactly fond of the idea of a periodically-evil Doctor. During his first season, the show got in trouble for being too violent. Baker became the only actor to be fired from the role, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling; the fallout was so acrimonious that he didn't reprise the role for a regeneration, so they DroppedABridgeOnHim. However, Creator/ColinBaker is actually [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a wonderful guy]], and is currently still redeeming the character fantastically in AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho, to the point of being voted "favourite audio Doctor" by the fans and eventually doing his Doctor justice with a proper regeneration story in 2015.
!! Tropes associated with the television series
* AbortedArc: A multi-year arc was planned in which the Sixth Doctor would mellow out, but politics at the BBC intervened. This was later taken up (after a fashion) by the [[AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho Big Finish audios]], where regular companion [[CoolOldLady Dr. Evelyn Smythe]] puts up with exactly zero of his ego-trips and gives him a much-needed reality check. Unfortunately, the dissatisfaction with Baker's tenure bled into the material itself ("The Trial of a Time Lord") and later ''Who'' novels, which had Seven seeing him as a fundamentally flawed incarnation (though he eventually changed his mind).
* AntiHeroSubstitute: Whereas the Fifth Doctor found himself stuck in a WorldHalfEmpty, fretting about other ways, Six seems more open to employing dirty methods when fighting evil. In truth, the Sixth Doctor usually wasn't very violent but the situations he found himself in certainly were. Though Nathan-Turner's iron fist was keenly felt in the Costuming Department, script editor Eric Saward was, for all intents and purposes, in charge of the show during this period. Saward is also well-known for his affinity for action heroes, morally ambiguous stories and a kill-or-be-killed mentality. He was at sea with Davison's Doctor, but Baker allowed Saward to indulge a less-utopian worldview. "Feels different this time", indeed.
* BigFun: The most portly Doctor thus far, though that isn't saying much.
* BondOneLiner: Fond of them. There's a particularly grim one in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance on Varos]]," and it began to attract executive mumblings about whether ''Doctor Who'' was going too far. After two guards accidentally fall into an acid bath that was meant for the Doctor...
--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' "Forgive me if I don't join you."
* CameBackWrong: Probably the most memorable regeneration trauma to date. Six has [[LetMeAtHim a peculiar fascination with peoples' throats]] in his debut story.
* CantArgueWithElves: The Sixth Doctor isn't ''quite'' this bad, but he ''is'' abrasive and easily the most articulate Doctor. Do not argue with him. You will lose.
** To take it a step further, in the audio range, where he runs into versions of himself sometimes, if he starts arguing with himself, ''nobody'' wins.
* CatchPhrase: "Mmm, I wonder... Aha!"
* CharacterDevelopment: The Sixth Doctor's relationship with his companion Peri changes for the better with each adventure they have together. If the Sixth Doctor's run had not been [[ExecutiveMeddling abruptly cut short]], then he would have also been shown [[WhatCouldHaveBeen mellowing down and becoming a calmer Doctor closer to his previous incarnation]].
* CheshireCatGrin: He does one in his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKanwT1elM opening credits]].
* CombatPragmatist: Extremely so. When faced with a multitude of buttons, a gun and a few seconds to spare, his default solution is to shoot the entire control panel and short-circuit the system.
* DeathByFallingOver[=/=]DroppedABridgeOnHim: Hits his head on the TARDIS console. (Although later stories include a bit of FixFic for the scene. The BBC Literature/PastDoctorAdventures novel ''Spiral Scratch'' depicts giant alien parasites sucking away the energy around him that time travel generates. They feast on it until he withers, and the Rani's attack delivers the final blow to an already dying Doctor. This was before the '''definitive''' final Sixth Doctor story was revealed in 2015. AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho provides another take on the regeneration in ''The Last Adventure'', involving the Valeyard and six different companions.)
* DefectorFromDecadence: His experiences in this incarnation kill any shred of respect he still had for Time Lord society. After this, he only misses Gallifrey once there's no going back.
--> "In all my traveling throughout the universe I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilization: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core! Ha! Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, they're still in the ''nursery'' compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power: that's what it takes to be ''really'' corrupt!"
* [[DrJerk Doctor Jerk]]: Took great pleasure in exchanging barbs with Peri, though she took a while to really catch on.
** Interestingly, the first of his ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics was developed before his first episodes even aired, so the writers had nothing yet to go on... and wrote him with a kind, fairly normal personality. It somehow stuck, and his comics incarnation is really just a nice chap, with only the occasional flash of hostility.
* EightiesHair: A mess of big blond curls.
* FamousLastWords: As "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids Terror of the Vervoids]]" takes place [[TimeyWimeyBall after]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", the last thing Six chronologically said on-screen would be "[[Theatre/{{Pagliacci}} Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.]]", (Roughly "Put on your costume, powder your face.")
* {{Foil}}: His outspoken, harsh demeanor and not shying away from using physical force when push comes to shove makes him one to Five.
* AFoolForAClient: Six acts as his own attorney during his murder trial on Gallifrey. This goes down about as well as you'd expect.
* FutureMeScaresMe: The Valeyard. He is utterly appalled that someone so decadent could be none other than himself gallivanting around in chaos. But that doesn't stop him from whipping up glorious helpings of grammarian snark toward the Valeyard, calling him everything from "Boneyard", "Backyard", and "Barnyard", to, best of all, ''"Knacker's Yard".''
* GoodIsNotNice
* GrumpyOldMan: The actor may not visually fit the role, but the Sixth Doctor himself easily fits the role in personality.
* HotBlooded: Creator/ColinBaker summed it up as: "He's intolerant about injustice; he's passionate about justice. But he's not a human being. Therefore he may behave, at times, in a way that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality we mere humans might find puzzling]]. But the greater good is always at the heart."
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: ''Especially'' when frustrated or angry.
* HypocriticalHumor: This Doctor is much more of a "do as I say, not as I do" sort of fellow.
* IconicItem: That technicolor nightmare coat, the cat badge and the umbrella. Sure enough, his regeneration into Seven inevitably culminates with the new incarnation questioning the former's bizarre tastes and pitching the coat for something more sophisticated. Granted, Six did switch to a blue ensemble for a while, but then an alternate Mel convinced him to revert back because she liked the old outfit better and nostalgia got the better of him.
* IHatePastMe: The Sixth Doctor considers himself the [[AwesomeEgo absolute pinnacle]] of Time Lord regeneration. As such he has a low regard for his predecessors, most notably Two and Five. Two returned the sentiment.
* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: It's like a clown vomited in his closet. The shirt and suspenders were inherited from Five, the hair and the Hawaiian vest seem to be directly lifted from producer [[Creator/JohnNathanTurner John Nathan-Turner]], and Six goes for broke with the coat-shaped quilt, a white dress shirt with question marks on the lapels and checked red sleeve cuffs, a polka-dotted aquamarine or red cravat / mustard yellow with a purple starfield cravat tied in a droopy bow, various clashing vests (asymmetrical rainbow patterns with bars on one side and zigzags on the other, red and white plaid with teddy bear buttons, a pattern of diagonal spangling stripes of violet, blue, cerulean, and green) with strange coloured fobs pinned on, the lemonade pants, scarlet socks, the green loafers adorned with traffic cone orange spats, and a variety of cat badges. As a inside joke on the Doctor's post-regeneration makeovers, it's brilliant parody. (It becomes less funny when the Doctor continues to wear it.)
** And then there's [[http://i.imgur.com/ZOhtQ.png the equally eye-popping but less hard]] on the eyes outfit Colin wore during his stage play tours, with a unique candy-striped vest, a ruffled undershirt with even bigger question marks on the collar lapels, and a velvet aqua-coloured cravat.
** Creator/ColinBaker [[http://drwhointerviews.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/colin-baker-nicola-bryant-1992/ actually wanted]] to dress in black velvet for the part (to quote, "a bit austere, ruffled sleeves, long black coat, black trousers"), which John Nathan-Turner shot down immediately due to it basically being the Master's outfit. Legend has it that JNT then turned down the first several versions of the design because they still retained some vestiges of good taste. Interestingly, the costume looks just fine when you remove the excess color (see [[http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/project-lazarus-211 the outfit]] Six switches to for a while in Creator/BigFinish).
* IncomingHam: Introduces himself to the world with some good old-fashioned ''[[DeadpanSnarker snark]]''!
--> '''Peri:''' ...Doctor?
--> '''Sixth Doctor:''' You were expecting someone else?
* InsufferableGenius: Oh, ''boy''. Described by many as a "raging egotist"... but he really was as good as he described himself.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The genuine heart of gold still existed in this Doctor... it was just buried under a whole lot of ego. And bluster. But mostly ego. Ironically, the Sixth Doctor may well have had the largest heart of gold of any of them, hidden way deep down underneath the ego. Creator/ColinBaker later said he based his Doctor on [[Literature/PrideAndPrejudice Mr. Darcy]].
* KangarooCourt: "The Trial of a Time Lord" saw him put on trial for conduct unbecoming a Time Lord by a Gallifreyan court, with the charge later changed to genocide of a minor plant race. Six wasn't allowed to glimpse the evidence against him, the Master was called as a ''character witness'', and most of the surveillance footage was fabricated anyway.
* KnightErrant: Self-described in "The Twin Dilemma":
-->'''Sixth Doctor:''' I'm a knight errant, not an errant fool!
* LaughingMad: His regeneration trauma ran the gamut of emotions, from "happy drunk" to "raving paranoia" and everything in between. The wardrobe change was interrupted by a bout of [[WhoWantsToLiveForever existential angst.]]
-->"Nothing but the... urk!... grinding engines of the universe! The... crushing boredom of eternity! [=HAAAAAHahahahAHAhahahaA!=]"
* MoodSwinger: For all his egoism and posturing the Doctor always stands up for what is right. The extremes of his personality means that Six can be murderous one moment and almost tender the next.
* MurderTropes: Although previous incarnations had no problem with letting villains die horrible deaths or blowing up inhabited enemy shapeships, Six straight up grabbed someone (who very definitely did not have JokerImmunity) and murdered him using a cyanide rag. Admittedly, this was a violent knife-wielding alien who had stabbed the Doctor in the leg and was chasing him with the intention of killing him.
* NervesOfSteel: Showed courage even in the worst situations.
* NoIndoorVoice: Six was quite shouty.
* NumberOneDime: He's apparently [[KindheartedCatLover fond of cats]], as evidenced by a brooch worn on his lapel (a Colin Baker embellishment, natch). Six was known to tap or stroke the cat before attempting something risky.
* [[DeathByFallingOver Regeneration By Falling Over]]: The Rani shot at his TARDIS with a disco laser, there was something involving a rainbow, and... then he was dead on the floor. From 1987 to 2015, that was the impression left when his Doctor was written out of the show before that scene was finally explained. Would you believe it took upwards of thirty years for the true cause of his death to be revealed?
* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: Colin Baker's dismissal from the TV series led to no true regeneration story. By the time Colin finally got one, he couldn't appear in a filmed episode because he had aged out of the role. In lieu of a TV story, he performed an audio anthology that elaborates on his Doctor's final adventure, and due to the AnachronicOrder of these audio productions, it's not the absolute last audio Colin signed on for.
* RoguesGallery: Mestor, Cybermen, the Cyber-Controller, Sil the Mentor, the Master, the Rani, Chessene of the Franzine Grig, Sontarans, the Borad, Davros, Daleks, the Valeyard, and Vervoids.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Depending on the writer, the Sixth Doctor tends to go from "being smart" to "sounding like he not only swallowed a thesaurus, but all of the grammar teachers in England." This is also played up in some of his Expanded Universe appearances.
* TookALevelInKindness: He did mellow out towards the end of his run. This is most prevalent in the Big Finish Audios.
* {{Tsundere}}: The harsh version.
* VitriolicBestBuds: His relationship with Peri at first; it does take them a few episodes to get along without unleashing a hurricane of insults on each other.
* WhatTheHellHero: Only used against the Sixth Doctor in terms of his ''attitude'' rather than his actions or history.
* [[XanatosSpeedChess Xanatos Speed Chess Player]]: Once Six actually figures out what the hell is going on, his quick thinking and planning is pretty much this in curly blond hair and a multicoloured coat. That does, of course, depend on the Sixth Doctor actually being involved enough in the main story to realize what's going on -- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks one example]] left him clueless until the final 20 minutes of the story.
!! Tropes associated with the ''Doctor Who Magazine'' line
The Sixth Doctor's first comic stories were written before his first televised episode, and with no characterisation to go on, the writers interpreted him as a much kinder incarnation than the JerkWithAHeartOfGold we all know and love from the TV show. It stuck, and his adventures with Frobisher and Peri show him as a kind, determined intergalactic hero.
* AliceAllusion: He features as the white rabbit in Peri's hallucination sequence.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For the first story, the artist had no idea yet what the back of Six's coat looked like, and simply improvised.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: He has an impressive zoo in his TARDIS, and spends a lot of his adventures befriending various animals.
* GuileHero: Having a companion who can shapeshift offers endless possibilities in this regard.
* MagicMusic: Leads a group of renegade robots away from a city, Pied Piper style, with a grand musical number.
* MrFanservice: Gets a bit of a HotSpringsEpisode moment at the beach.
%%* RoguesGallery
* TookALevelInKindness: Compared to the TV series.
!! Tropes associated with Big Finish
[[quoteright:150:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sixie_6826.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1999–present), Terry Molloy (2012), Nicola Bryant (2014)
-->''"Am I not permitted an occasional moment of melodrama?"''
(In)famous for being a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and grittier]] Doctor, Six is allowed to grow as a character in Creator/BigFinish and expand beyond his [[WhatTheHellHero unstable origins]] of the TV show. He's still an insufferable know-it-all with a fondness for creative insults and poor fashion sense, but with plenty of {{Lampshading}} and alternative clothing this time around. His new adventures notably show a kindness and depth that often was [[AbortedArc not there in the series]].
* AdaptationDecay: A victim of this InUniverse. In an alternate timeline, the Doctor became Earth's greatest hero after saving it from a Dalek invasion in 1903. In 2003-A, action figures and movies about his exploits are available for mass consumption. Movie!Doctor is a ripped, [[BondOneLiner catchphrase-spouting]] jackass who snogs a YoungerAndHipper Evelyn.
* ArchEnemy: The audios give further development to the animosity the Sixth Doctor had with Davros and the Valeyard in the television series. The Valeyad even serves as the FinalBoss of the Sixth Doctor's life.
* BatmanGambit: A big fan of them.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Iris Wildthyme, quite a bit more strongly than she manages with most other incarnations of him. The fact that [[spoiler: her future self]] manages to hypnotise him into fancying her in "The Wormery" certainly helps.
* BigDamnKiss:
-->'''Doctor''': If I was ''really'' a Time Lord, would I do... ''THIS?'' ''(grabs [[spoiler: Sally-Anne]] into a deep kiss)''\\
'''MonsterOfTheWeek''': ''(Absolutely stunned)'' Noooooo. No. No. No. A Time Lord certainly wouldn't do ''that''!
* BreakTheHaughty: His stories with Peri tend to be light-hearted and have very little CharacterDevelopment. His StoryArc with Evelyn, however, gradually breaks him. "Jubilee" is the first story to really properly traumatise Six, after which "Arrangements For War" sees him emotionally going off the deep end. His main arc revolves around him being forced to come to terms with his crass and often flippant attitude and the severe consequences of his behaviour.
* ChangedMyJumper: A chronic offender with the infamous coat, but he has the good sense to change into more practical clothes at times. Notably, in his first story with Evelyn (i.e. the arc that was written deliberately to give him CharacterDevelopment), he changes into a Third Doctor style velvet-and-ruffles ensemble for a visit to the Queen of England.
** From "Real Time" up until "The Wrong Doctors", Six is seen wearing a blue outfit that, while very similar in design taste to his normal outfit, is a series of tasteful and non-clashing blue hues. Really, it's quite nice. (Started out as a case of LimitedAnimation, since "Real Time" was also released as a semi-animated webcast. None of the artists involved felt like drawing Six's coat, so the blue hues were created as a compromise. The audio-only edition has a short scene to explain it: Six thought Evelyn wanted to see [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks his "mourning" coat]]. She was curious about his morning coat.) He returns to his original coat after a version of Mel makes a wistful remark about missing the old one "her" Six wore.
* CharacterDevelopment: ''Heaps''. His stories with Peri have him very similar to the way he was in the TV series, but episodes taking place after that show a much softer side of him. He grows to care very deeply for Evelyn, and has no problem saying he ''loves'' her -- as a friend -- in "Real Time", pretty early on in their StoryArc.
* [[spoiler: CloningBlues]]: In "Project: Lazarus".
* CombatPragmatist: Possibly his most defining trait.
* CutenessProximity: Unlike Five, who doesn't care for cats one way or the other, Six gleefully defaults to baby-speak when he's near them.
* DrinkingContest: Gets into one, ''in song'', in "Doctor Who And The Pirates".
* FamousLastWords: In ''The Brink of Death'', after being warned of the Valeyard's plot by his future self, the Doctor sacrificies himself to the Rani's attack. As he succumbs to radiation poisoning, he reflects on his time with; "All those lives I've lived. I hope... the footprint I leave... will be... light, but apposite..."
** Then, after he slips into unconsciousness, he hears his seventh persona emerge and responses with; "Who said that? Who is that? Who's... there?..."
** Meanwhile, as his future self slips away as the timeline changes, he says this in unison with the Seventh Doctor; "Our future is in safe hands."
* FreakyFridayFlip: With Davros!
* FutureMeScaresMe: Once Six has had enough CharacterDevelopment to admit that he's a JerkAss, he also quietly reflects on how his next incarnation will not be very emotionally accessible either, from what he's seen. "Always blowing up planets."
* GrandFinale: "The Last Adventure", giving him a desperately needed regeneration story where he had once been ousted from the show without warning, finally proving that Big Finish has ''completely'' rescued his Doctor. He's also the only Doctor to have an audio finale as opposed to a televised final story, since former BBC controller Michael Grade got the drop on him.
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler:Knowing that the Valeyard's AssimilationPlot against the Time Lord society hinges upon his existence, the Doctor does not hesitate to influence his past self into making a move that leads to him getting lethally injured. To add more to it, the Doctor was even in doubt whether or not he would able to regenerate his way out of that situation, but he went ahead and did it any way. Fortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion his regeneration does trigger and turns him into his Seventh incarnation]].]]
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: ''Especially'' when frustrated or angry. In the "The One Doctor", one character remarks that talking to him is "like arguing with a bloody thesaurus!" Later in the same episode, he loses his willingness to debate altogether...
-->'''Sixth Doctor:''' If I have to endure another insult--\\
'''Banto Zame:''' Oh here we go, [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness another voyage 'round the English language...]]
* HypocriticalHumor: His "do as I say, not as I do" attitude is PlayedForLaughs with great frequency in Creator/BigFinish. This contributed ''hugely'' to him getting RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
-->'''Peri''': Don't shout, Doctor! There might be--\\
'''Sixth Doctor''': [[IResembleThatRemark SHOUT?!]] [[HypocriticalHumor I don't SHOUT!]] People who have to resort to shouting to get what they want are merely demonstrating THE INHERENT PAUCITY OF THEIR ARGUMENT! IT'S SOMETHING THAT I NEVER, ''NEVER''--\\
'''Peri''': All right, Doctor!!\\
'''Sixth Doctor''': Point made, I think.
* IAmSong: In the MusicalEpisode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho043DoctorWhoAndThePirates "Doctor Who And The Pirates"]], he sings a truly ''fantastic'' MajorGeneralSong.
* IAteWhat: The Doctor suffers fainting fits brought on by the polluted timeline of 2003-A. He's given a swig of vile black liquid to revive him, which turns out to be fluid produced from a Dalek after it's been tortured. The goop is then bottled by guards and sold as a delicacy.
* IHatePastMe: Calls Five "tediously noble". To his face. (''Sirens of Time'')
** Under duress, however, he finally cracks and admits to Evelyn that being the Fifth Doctor was like being on holiday... a very wonderful holiday. (''The 100 Days of the Doctor'')
** Also played with in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho169TheWrongDoctors "The Wrong Doctors"]], where you have the Sixth Doctor encounter... [[ActingForTwo the Sixth Doctor]]. The Sixth Doctor who's already been through his big emotional Big Finish StoryArc (distinguished by his blue outfit and calmer dialogue) finds his younger self to be pretty annoying.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Six takes more to alcohol than most Doctors, and has a fondness for hanging out in bars and pubs, sometimes to cope with tragedy.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Unlike the hard-to-see-but-still-there heart of gold [[Characters/DoctorWhoClassicSeriesDoctors seen in the TV series]], Creator/ColinBaker's Sixth Doctor in Creator/BigFinish shows an incredible empathy toward his companions when the situation calls for it. Oh, he's still very much alien in how he expresses it, but his treatment of Dr. Evelyn Smythe shows the change of his character from his original premiere in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma the 1980s]].
* JerkassFacade: The ending of his segment in "Project: Lazarus", which segues directly into the start of "Arrangements For War", is all about this trope. Evelyn doesn't put up with it.
* LogicalWeakness: How can this most verbose of Doctors talk his way out with an enemy that is ''language'' itself? (''...Ish'')
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage
* MusicalEpisode: "Doctor Who And The Pirates" is a fantastic one.
* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: In the aptly-titled ''100 Days of the Doctor'', an anonymous party announces that they've ordered a hit on the Doctor, now dying from a biological agent. The Doctor now has a hundred days to discover when and where he was struck with a microscopic needle....during ''his fifth incarnation''. Factor in all the planets he's visited and every single person who might conceivably want to kill him...
-->"Best get moving, especially since--''oh dear''. I've just felt a sudden twinge [[OwMyBodyPart in my kidneys.]]"
* NotSoDifferent: From Davros. The two get a few episodes together with fantastic verbal sparring, and the trope eventually culminates in a FreakyFridayFlip, of all things.
** And during his brief OddFriendship with "Bloody" Queen Mary I, he becomes quite terrified when he realises how similar they are.
* OrphanedPunchline: "Is that a ''sausage''?!" This joke went over pretty well with an auditorium full of tweed. (''...Ish'')
* RedBaron: He's something of a superstar in his own trade; that is, at the annual lexicographer's convention, where he is introduced by the emcee as a "master of English" and "a raconteur and ''bon vivant'' of ''bon mots''!" (''...Ish'')
* ReunionShow: Though not limited solely to him, Six has a tendency of actually reuniting with companions and friends who traveled with his other incarnations. This includes Thomas Brewster, Jamie and Zoe, Henry Gordon Jago, George Litefoot, [[{{CallForward}} Charley Pollard]], Romana, Leela and even Mike Yates. Peri and Mel get special mention; though they already traveled with the Sixth Doctor, Mel was reunited with him twice (both times a first meeting between either her or the Doctor before they started traveling in a more traditional manner), whereas Peri ''died'' [[spoiler: and was reunited by way of a split-timeline duplicate, allowing her to travel with him]]. It's all a bit of a nostalgia trip at times.
* RoguesGallery: Axos, Beth Pernell, the Celestial Toymaker, Cybermen, Daleks, Davros, the Eminence, Ice Warriors, Josiah W. Dogbolter, Krotons, the Rani, Dr. Robert Knox, Silurians, Sil the Mentor, Sontarans, William Abberton, Wirrn, the Wishing Beast, the Valeyard, and Viyrans.
* SmugSnake: Pre-character development. He is as good as he says he is, but is still obnoxiously arrogant.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Weaponised a few times over.
* StealthPun: ''Extremely'' fond of them, often in the middle of a hurricane of more obvious puns.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:Faced with the Valeyard almost pulling off a successful AssimilationPlot upon Time Lord society, the Sixth Doctor chooses to [[HeroicSuicide end his life]] in order to ensure that [[TakingYouWithMe the Valeyard and his plan goes down with him]]. The Valeyard calls him out on this, asking what that such an act would mean for the Doctor's "precious moral scruples". The Doctor grimly replies "They died with me," heralding his incoming successor's darker, colder, and more manipulative nature.]]
* ToThePain & TickingClock: The Doctor suffers through a slow-motion assassination after being injected with a synthetic, sentient virus. (''The 100 Days of the Doctor'')
* TookALevelInKindness: He's plenty mean towards Peri just like in the TV series, but when he meets Evelyn (after Peri leaves the TARDIS), she mellows him out ''a lot'' with her no-nonsense attitude, her warm demeanor and her chocolate cakes. The fact that Creator/BigFinish insists on [[BreakTheCutie breaking Evelyn over and over]] certainly helps, and she and Six become very emotionally close in the process. By the time he unexpectedly runs into his old self (in a bit of time travel mishap involving Mel), the contrast is ''very'' noticable.
** His treatment of Peri did shift slowly over the course of his time with her - ''very'' slowly, but it was there. The difference becomes far more pronounced, however, [[spoiler: once he's reunited with a split-timeline version of her and they begin travelling]]. She and Six still have legitimate grievances with one another, but they get along ''far'' better than before.
* TorturePorn: "Jubilee" sees him broken more thoroughly than ''any'' other Doctor in ''any'' episode. In the alternate timeline he loses his mind, his [[spoiler: companion]] and his [[spoiler: legs]], and that's just the start of it. When the Evelyn from the original timeline meets him, she is shaken to the core, and the memory flashes of the merged timelines hit Six, he's none too well adjusted to them.
** "Project: Lazarus" also revels in the trope.
* TragicBromance: With Evelyn.
* WonTheWarLostThePeace: A future version of the Sixth Doctor fought to liberate Britain from Daleks, a struggle which ended with the lone Dalek survivor agreeing to a cultural exchange. Flash-forward a hundred years, when the despotic British Empire has monopolized the Daleks' technology to conquer the world. The war is a historical footnote, mere fodder for B-grade movies and crass pageantry. It becomes clear by the end of the story that mankind [[HeWhoFightsMonsters has come to resemble the Daleks]] (as intended, it turns out).
!! Tropes associated with BBC Past Doctor Adventures
* FamousLastWords: If you go by ''Spiral Scratch''; "Local... tractor beam..."
%%* RoguesGallery
