History Characters / DoctorWhoSixthDoctor

* 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.

* CatchPhrase: He was prone to saying, "Mmm, I wonder...", when thinking aloud, and then exclaiming, "aha!", when his suspicions were proved correct.[source needed] He was also known to let out an annoyed, "doh", when dismissing someone.

** 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.

The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness verbose]] naysayer with a HiddenHeartOfGold and [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes the dress sense of a BBC test card]]. The Sixth Doctor was a darker and certainly more unstable Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe than [[Characters/DoctorWhoFifthDoctor his previous self]], and his default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. He wore a multicoloured coat (which to this day is quite possibly the most visually distinctive outfit the Doctor has worn, for better or for worse - perhaps it was a midlife crisis?) and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.

->''"[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure I hope the footprint I leave will be...]] '''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure light]]''', [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure but]] '''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure apposite]]'''..."''

* ConclusionInAnotherMedium: 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.

* 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.

* TheBully: Before his persona fully stabilised at the end of "The Twin Dilemma", the Sixth Doctor was a cruel, spiteful, and often violent prick who mercilessly picked on Peri and anyone else unlucky enough to be in his general vicinity. He doesn't endear himself at all to the serial's one-time supporting cast, either. Traces of his former bullying behaviour occasionally seep through in later stories, though his trademark egotistical outbursts tend to be more benign.

* TookALevelInKindness: He did mellow out towards the end of his run. This is most prevalent in the Big Finish Audios.

* 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 Creator/EricSaward 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.

* BeautyToBeast: How Peri views Five's regeneration into Six. She was attracted to Five for his handsome, youthful face and kind, caring personality, only for "her" Doctor to suddenly transform into an older, meaner, and (in her opinion) overall uglier person. Of course, the Sixth Doctor doesn't see it that way at all. He outright dismisses all of Five's positive traits as flaws or weaknesses and refuses to believe how Peri can see his new body as anything less than a physical Adonis.

* IHatePastMe: The Sixth Doctor considers himself the 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.

* ActionHero: Probably the most action-prone Doctor since the Third or Fourth, with many of his conflicts being resolved through violence or brute force, with a dash of GuileHero manoeuvring.

* BreakingOldTrends: Unlike the previous Doctors where they regenerated at the season finale (or how First regenerated at the start), Six was the first incarnation at the penulimate serial.

* CheshireCatGrin: He does one in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKanwT1elM opening credits]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: When it comes to being obnoxious and egotistical, he most certainly [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness appropriates the gateau]]. Good examples are him repeatedly calling Peri fat for no apparent reason. Even Mr. Jobel in "Revelation of the Daleks" notices it would take "a mountain to crush an ego like yours". This is really only applicable to his stories in Seasons 21 & 22 - he's a lot nicer in Season 23. Additionally, the genuine heart of gold still existed in this narcissistic 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]].

* 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.

** 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."

->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani "You were expecting someone else?"]]''

->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani “You were expecting someone else?”]]''

* 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.

The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness articulate]] naysayer with a HiddenHeartOfGold and [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes the dress sense of a BBC test card]]. The Sixth Doctor was a darker and certainly more unstable Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. He wore a multicoloured coat (which to this day is quite possibly the most visually distinctive outfit the Doctor has worn, for better or for worse - perhaps it was a midlife crisis?) and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.

However, while he was becoming a better person, he encountered his antithesis, the Valeyard, who tried many times to seize everything the Doctor had for himself, until a day came when one of his overarching plans succeeded. Six, trapped in the Matrix with no escape and the company of a triumphant Valeyard, decided to cut his own life short and steer his younger self toward Lakertya, despite a warning that something was producing deadly radiation nearby. His TARDIS came under attack by the Rani as she pelted it with beams from a radiation gun, which didn't hurt humans but was lethal to Time Lords. Six got a glimpse of his next self as he regenerated, and the version of him in the Matrix faded away, leaving the Valeyard robbed of victory and trapped inside.

* AbortedArc: A multi-year arc was planned in which the Sixth Doctor would mellow out, but politics at Creator/TheBBC 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, leading to quite a bit of CharacterDevelopment. Unfortunately, in the TV series, 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).

* IHatePastMe: Calls Five "tediously noble". To his face. ("Sirens of Time")
** Under duress, however, he finally cracks and admits to Evelyn that he did actually enjoy his time as the Fifth Doctor, describing having been him like "being on holiday... a very wonderful holiday," and confesses that his animosity towards that period of his life is not really aimed at Five himself, but rather how the universe treated him back then. ("The 100 Days of the Doctor")

* 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")

* ToThePain: The Doctor suffers through a slow-motion assassination after being injected with a synthetic, sentient virus. ("The 100 Days of the Doctor")

** Under duress, however, he finally cracks and admits to Evelyn that he did actually enjoy his time as the Fifth Doctor, describing having been him like "being on holiday... a very wonderful holiday," and confesses that his animosity towards that period of his life is not really aimed at Five himself, but rather how the universe treated him back then. (''The 100 Days of the Doctor'')

* IHatePastMe: Calls Five "tediously noble". To his face. (''Sirens of Time'')

* LogicalWeakness: How can this most verbose of Doctors talk his way out with an enemy that is ''language'' itself?

* OrphanedPunchline: "Is that a ''sausage''?!" This joke went over pretty well with an auditorium full of tweed.
* 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''!"

** 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'')

* LogicalWeakness: How can this most verbose of Doctors talk his way out with an enemy that is ''language'' itself? (''...Ish'')

* 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'')

->''"[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure I've had good innings. All those lives I have lived... I hope the footprint I leave will be...]] '''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure light]]''', [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure but]] '''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure apposite]]'''..."''

->'''Played by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1984–86, 1989, 1993, 2022); Creator/SylvesterMcCoy[[note]]Played the Doctor during his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor[[/note]] (1987)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/ColinBaker (1984–86, 1989, 1993); Creator/SylvesterMcCoy[[note]]Played the Doctor during his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor[[/note]] (1987)

* ArchEnemy: The Valeyard, his evil future self.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: His outspoken, harsh demeanour, his abrasiveness and immense sense of pride that often borders on arrogance, and not shying away from using physical force when push comes to shove, makes him one to to the subdued, humble and quite vulnerable Five.

The [[ItsAllAboutMe prideful]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness articulate]] naysayer with a HiddenHeartOfGold and the dress sense of a BBC test card. The Sixth Doctor was a darker and certainly more unstable Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions were righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. He wore a multicoloured coat (which to this day is quite possibly the most visually distinctive outfit the Doctor has worn, for better or for worse - perhaps it was a midlife crisis?) and wasn't averse to fisticuffs or murder to get out of a desperate fix.