History Characters / DoctorWhoThirdDoctor

* BadassPacifist: Despite being a self-proclaimed pacifist, he was a man of action, joining the fray whenever needed. He always favoured peace and diplomacy above violence and aggression. However, his peace-making methods clashed with stalwart military-minded individuals, who chose rules over morality. This trait is lampshaded in Planet of the Daleks: "For a man who abors violence, I must say I took great satisfaction in doing that.".

* TheBigGuy: At 6'2 1/2", he towers over almost everyone he meets, and is probably the most likely Doctor to physically hit someone. The only person who ever overpowered him was Rossini's musclebound [[ScaryBlackMan circus thug]].

* BadassPacifist: Despite being a self-proclaimed pacifist, he was a man of action, joining the fray whenever needed. He always favoured peace and diplomacy above violence and aggression. However, his peace-making methods clashed with stalwart military-minded individuals, who chose rules over morality.

![[center:'''[[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Index]]:''' Incarnations of the Doctor | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFirstDoctor 1]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSecondDoctor 2]] | '''3''' | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor 4]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFifthDoctor 5]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSixthDoctor 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]]]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The UNIT years are vaguely set somewhat in a "near future", which could be anywhere from the [=1960s=] to the [=1980s=]. The Brigadier's daughter lampshaded this continuity (or lack thereof) in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]" when she requested an archive file.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Scared out of his wits to face the [[GiantSpider Great One]]. Knows he's going to die horribly. Sucks it up and does it anyway. Even while racked with radiation poisoning, he managed to get a few comforting FamousLastWords out for Sara Jane.
* FamousLastWords: "A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry. While there’s life, there’s..."

** Terrance Dicks, script editor at the time of Jon Pertwee's run, has actually said that he often asked Pertwee if the actor desired anything in his tales beyond the story being fun. Being given this massive potential of a request, all that Pertwee asked for was "a moment or two of charm". The "reverse the polarity" line was another favorite of Pertwee's, as the actor struggled with what we would refer to today as {{technobabble}}.

* IHatePastMe: He and Two really rubbed each other raw. Three is embarrassed by his past self for [[ObfuscatingStupidity playing the buffoon]] and his disheveled look, while Two seems to think his future-self is over-dressed and anal-retentive.

* {{Foil}}: As well as his televised conflict with the Master, the Doctor draws a distinction between his approach to things and the Monk's reasons for meddling in history, arguing that he just helps deal with an immediate threat while leaving humanity to grow on their own where the Monk 'cheats' by giving them advanced technology without concern for the wider implications of his actions.

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1970–74, 1983, 1989, 1993, 1995[[note]]He reprised his role in a cameo for the fan production "Devious" in 1995, excerpts of which appeared as a bonus featurette on "The War Games" DVD release for North America in 2009[[/note]])

-> '''Voiced by:''' Tim Treloar (2013; 2015–present)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1970–74, 1983, 1993, 1995[[note]]He reprised his role in a cameo for the fan production "Devious" in 1995, excerpts of which appeared as a bonus featurette on "The War Games" DVD release for North America in 2009[[/note]])

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1993, 1996), Tim Treloar (2013, 2015-present), Creator/JonCulshaw (2020)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1993, 1996), Tim Treloar (2015-present), Creator/JonCulshaw (2020)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1993, 1996), Creator/JonCulshaw (2020)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JonPertwee (1970–74, 1983, 1993–1994, 1995[[note]]Briefly reprised his role for the fan production "Devious" in 1995, excerpts of which appeared as a bonus featurette on "The War Games" DVD release for North America in 2009[[/note]])
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JonCulshaw (2020)

* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: Five is quite embarassed by his old collection of frilly shirts. Eleven outright calls Three "Oscar Wilde on a bad day".
* LongGame: In order to protect Jo, he [[spoiler: sets events in motion that would only come into play decades later]].

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Averted. The other Doctors are all [[ScienceHero Science Heroes]], but despite using the brains to defeat their enemies are never shown doing any scientific work. The Third Doctor is the ''only'' Doctor who is consistently shown doing experiments ForScience in his downtime instead of just running off on adventures.

* IChooseToStay: After spending a good chunk of his tenure trying to fix the TARDIS so he can escape UNIT, once it's actually fixed he chooses to stay and continue the fight against alien invaders against Earth. His successor however did not share the sentiment and left as soon as possible.

A noticeably [[ActionHero agile and more action-oriented Doctor]], he wasn't adverse to use more than his mind to subdue his enemies, and often resorted to GoodOldFisticuffs, being capable take on multiple opponents at once with his "Venusian Aikido". When the Time Lords finally restored his memories of driving the TARDIS, he became much more of a gentleman to his companions.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Three is tall, professional, and no-nonsense, much unlike the clownish, hobo-like Two. He also prefers being commandeering and flashy, compared to Two's knack for mind games and subtlety.

* {{Expy}}: Jason King (that ''hair!'') crossed with [[Series/AdamAdamantLives Adam Adamant]] (that ''cape!''), with a slice of [[Series/TheAvengers John Steed]] for good measure. Or you can boil it down to what every show took inspiration from at the time: '''Franchise/JamesBond'''.

* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: With a lot of "dear old chap", "my good fellow" and "topping day, what?". Also a case of AuthorAppeal, as he intentionally evoked the atmosphere from that ''other'' famous Creator/SydneyNewman show, ''Series/TheAvengers''. However, GoodIsNotNice.

->'''Voiced by:''' Tim Treloar (2013-)

* IAmSong: That's right, Jon Pertwee (singing ''as the Third Doctor'') wound up recording a song that rivals most villain songs for just being pure awesome. Just ''try'' not to jam out to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7tKAi-lDhM I am... The Doctor!]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_-_third_doctor_8818.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"It seems that I am some kind of a galactic yo-yo!"'']]

* BeserkButton: He often held a strong disgust toward people who were any combination of stubborn, selfishly goal-driven, or close-minded. These types of people would anger him further if they refused to listen to him, ignored his protests, or went to absurd lengths just to dodge the risk of being proven wrong. He was particularly enraged by Eric Stahlman and his parallel universe counterpart, the latter of which destroyed the Earth because of his extreme obduration, while the former came dangerously close to doing the same. He showed a similar anger at General Williams for being utterly convinced he was a Draconian spy without proof.

* TookALevelInKindness: Once he regained his usual level of control of his [=TARDIS=], the Doctor quickly mellowed into quite a gentleman.