Characters / Doctor Who - Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor

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Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors

Thanks to a very, very odd case of "bi-generation", the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors are able to exist simultaneously. Due to experiencing some rather horrific traumas throughout his past incarnations, the Fourteenth Doctor is a nearly identical mirror of his Tenth self, with the Fifteenth (literally) popping out not long after, ready to continue his adventure into time and space, but as Fourteen still has lingering issues he needs to sort-out with some much, much needed self-therapy, he's allowed to relax until he's finally ready to return to his blue box and become the man who literally burst out of him.

Fourteenth Doctor

"...I know these teeth."

Fourteenth Doctor

"I don't know who I am anymore."

First appearance: "The Power of the Doctor" (2022)

Debut: "The Star Beast" (2023)

Bigeneration story: "The Giggle" (2023)

Played by: David Tennant (2022-2023)

"We stand here now on the edge of creation, a creation which I devastated. So, yes, I keep running! Of course I do! How am I supposed to look back on that?"

The scruffy, witty, and somewhat Mulder-ish heartthrob, with... hang on, haven't we done this before?

After being fatally wounded by the Master, the Thirteenth Doctor regenerated on a cliff into a new incarnation who, for reasons unknown, looks exactly like the Tenth Doctor (albeit slightly older). Despite the returning face, the Fourteenth Doctor isn't exactly the same man — with three whole incarnations separating them, Fourteen is a much more emotionally open character, willing to admit to love for his friends^note and crushes on historical figures on a dime and more willing to take on others' advice and ideas.

Fourteen holds a unique position as the first intentional "short-term" Doctor, starring in three 60th anniversary specials in 2023 before handing over the role to Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, thereby making the Fourteenth Doctor the shortest living on-screen incarnation in the programme's history surpassing Nine's one season tenure (while tying both the War and Fugitive Doctors in terms of appearances). ^note Comparing with the other "short-term" Doctors, the Eighth Doctor's TV Movie was left open-ended so it could potentially be picked up for a series, but never was; extra incarnations such as the War and Fugitive Doctors were retroactively introduced and intentionally written to be Special Guest Doctors who were never intended to be the "incumbent" for the main series (War was only created due to Eccleston turning down reprising his role for the 50th anniversary episode, since War's role was originally meant for Nine); and Christopher Eccleston only signed a one-series contract for the Ninth Doctor in case the Revival wasn't renewed, and chose to leave anyway when it was - which, incidentally, is how David Tennant became the Doctor in the first place. He is also one of the few Doctors (along with the War Doctor) whose post-regeneration story was depicted in expanded universe media rather than the main series itself. ^note Fourteen's first adventure after regenerating was shown in the Doctor Who Magazine comic story "Liberation of the Daleks", which was approved by Russell T Davies. Doctor Who Magazine #584, which features the first part of "Liberation", says there can't be too much development for Fourteen between the regeneration and the specials, so the story takes only an hour of his life; this was also a part of Davies's original idea for having the strip handle Fourteen's ongoing story, but it related to a couple of lines in the third special that were subsequently cut. The implication is that there's a brief Time Skip between the regeneration and the specials, and the 2023 Children in Need skit, which has Fourteen Breaking the Fourth Wall to note the timelines and canon are rupturing, also has him comment he was Thirteen sixty minutes ago.

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Tropes associated with the television series

• 10-Minute Retirement: Played with. At Donna and Fifteen's urging, Fourteen decides to settle down on Earth with the Noble family while Fifteen is off on his own adventures. That said, Fourteen hasn't completely retired, as he took Rose to Mars and Mel to New York during its Gilded Age, much to Donna's annoyance.
• Achievements in Ignorance: According to the 2023 Children in Need skit, he's the one responsible for the Daleks having their quirky plunger-like appendages, because he accidentally destroyed the original intimidating claw arm on the first Dalek prototype by crashing the TARDIS into it. Knowing how they look from his time, he replaced it with a toilet plunger and fled before he did more damage to history, and Davros took a liking to it upon seeing the difference.
• And the Adventure Continues: Arguably the happiest ending any of his incarnations have gotten, being able to continue as himself living with the Nobles with his own TARDIS for the time being while Fifteen continues adventuring, and with Fifteen revealing he was pulled out at a point where he was healed of all the trauma (meaning after the Fourteenth Doctor was finally healed), Fourteen will eventually regenerate into Fifteen on his own terms.
• Badass Longcoat: As per the norm for the Doctor, he wears one, this time in blue.
• Been There, Shaped History: Like the Fourth and Twelfth Doctors before him, he's indirectly involved in the creation of the Daleks. He's also partially responsible for the discovery of gravity (sorry, "mavity").
• Beneath the Mask:
  • The events of "Wild Blue Yonder" make clear he is in fact not okay after what Thirteen went through, feeling a great deal of uncertainty over the truth of his origins, the eradication of Gallifrey and the destruction wrought by the Flux, which he naturally holds himself responsible for. On the plus side, he is at least willing to admit he's not automatically okay (and probably won't be for a long time), rather than trying to deny it like his predecessors would. "The Giggle" follows up by showing he has similar insecurities to Twelve, wondering who he is without all the toys and gadgets, everything he thinks makes him special.
  • Donna points out that much like his predecessors, he's reluctant to talk about his past, always charging on, keeping himself busy as a way of never looking back at everything he's been through, and he's wearing himself out.
  • The Toymaker, meanwhile, takes aim at the fates of Amy, Clara, and Bill, snarkily commenting "Well, that's all right, then!" when the Doctor tries explaining there was more to their deaths than just dying, that all of them found second leases on life. The Doctor becomes visibly more and more upset until bringing up the Flux is the final straw, driving him to challenge the Toymaker to a game.
• Big "WHAT?!": He exclaims "What?" several times when he realizes that he has the same face as Ten.
• Blue Is Heroic: While previous incarnations have been shown to wear blue outfits in either the show or Expanded Universe media, Fourteen is the first incarnation where this really applies since he only wears one outfit in his tenure, most noticeably a blue Badass Longcoat.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Once again, this Doctor utters an "Allons-y" (which was the signature catchphrase of Ten's) before heading off into an adventure, implying he's settled back into his old form. He also briefly borrows "I'm so, so sorry" in the Children in Need skit after breaking off the prototype Dalek's multi-purpose claw.
• Breaking Old Trends: As the result of a particularly freaky bi-generation, he has the honor of being the first incarnation of the Doctor to pass the torch to his next incarnation without dying in any way, with Fifteen pulled out of Fourteen's future at a time where he was healed of all the trauma and doing "rehab out of order", implying Fourteen will still regenerate into Fifteen properly, creating a Stable Time Loop.
• Brutal Honesty: Fourteen has a distinct lack of filter, replying with blunt honesty before saying "Oh, do I say that now?"
• Call-Back: The Curator had previously mentioned to the Eleventh Doctor that he might start revisiting a few of their old faces later down the road, specifically the "old favourites". Though unlike with the Curator, this one seems to be entirely unanticipated on their part. The 2024 Annual has him commenting on this:
  The Doctor: I'm just not that Doctor. I look like him. but nah. On a cellular level there are whole bodies between us!
• Character Development: A more obvious inter-Doctor one than usual. With the perspective of three other incarnations, all of whom were closed off in their own way to their detriment and one who questioned if he was a good man at all, Ten’s ego is nowhere to be seen with Fourteen. He’s still the Doctor, but is noticeably more introspective, is willing to admit his feelings for people he cares about and is one of the few revival Doctors who doesn’t pull a Stepford Smiler routine.
• Composite Character: The Fourteenth Doctor is the Tenth Doctor, at least so far as the body, mannerisms and catchphrases go, but also has traits of his next few incarnations, such as the exuberance and speech patterns of Eleven, the paternal, authoritative, and insecurity traits of Twelve and the warmth, friendliness and trauma of Thirteen. This is reinforced by the fact that Fourteen seems to have four musical themes: the Tenth Doctor’s theme, the Eleventh Doctor’s theme, the Twelfth Doctor’s theme and the theme used for all his revival incarnations since the Ninth Doctor. Clearly, the things he learned as the past few Doctors must have stuck with him.
• Contrasting Replacement Character:
  • His predecessor Thirteen was a bubbly, cheerful Stepford Smiler who rarely let on how much the trauma she had experienced impacted her, and she was generally one of the most sweet and idealistic Doctors. She did her best to keep others at arm's length, leaving her unable to confide in anyone about the things she was going through, and her fam were left adrift with no clue how to help. Fourteen, meanwhile, is far more openly cynical, prone to introspection and self-doubt, and forthcoming about his feelings, including his trauma. Donna had always been one to call Ten out when he was hiding something, and she certainly doesn't stop with Fourteen. While Thirteen was an attempt to start over and put the past behind them, Fourteen is a recognition they have to stop and face what they've been through.
  • Also to Ten, despite their sharing a face: Ten was outgoing, cheerful, charismatic, hyperactive and enthusiastic, often at inappropiate moments. He strove to make new friends whenever he went, and extended offers of mercy to even his worst enemies. At the very end, he objected to his regeneration, viewing it as dying even while the process was ongoing. Fourteen, on the other hand, was a lot more introspective and cynical, constantly wondering who he was without his fancy gadgets, but despite his newfound cynicism he was also a lot more willing to enact intimate acts of affection towards those he liked. Fourteen also lacked the vanity issues Ten had and held the opposite view of regeneration, asserting to Donna that it wasn't dying, and saying "Allons-y!" one last time before embracing it as the process started.
  • The War Doctor was born to fight in the Time War, and his actions left deep scars on his future incarnations. Fourteen was born so the Doctor could go through rest and rehab, and his actions resolve much of their mental scarring. War was introduced for the show's 50th anniversary, while Fourteen was introduced for its 60th anniversary.
• Cuddle Bug: Fourteen is fond of giving people, usually his companions, great big hugs to show how happy he is to see them. He also gives Fifteen a hug when saying goodbye to him.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • The Tenth Doctor had a lot of angst over wiping Donna's memories to prevent her dying, and in "The Star Beast", Fourteen is faced with the hideous choice between letting his friend die or London being turned into a slag heap. So he's quite surprised when Donna and her daughter manage to work out a simple solution he'd never even considered.
  • Fourteen definitely does not expect his regeneration being a bi-generation. He was resigned to die/change body and then... he doesn't.
• Don't Explain the Joke: A minor habit he shows in his Doctor Who Magazine story is that he stops to explain his wordplay and asks if anyone got the joke.
• Driving Question: The question running through the 60th anniversary specials is why the Doctor's regenerated into Ten's body again. "The Giggle" implies the answer is Heroic Fatigue; since the Master's return in "Spyfall", the Doctor has been through one Trauma Conga Line after another, not at all helped by previous experiences where the people he loves and cares for are ripped away from him (such as Rose Tyler, Amy and Rory Pond, and Clara Oswald). His regeneration back into Ten is more or less a form of therapy as well as an opportunity to reconcile with Donna to help with said therapy.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of "The Giggle", he decides to properly retire and enjoy life, becoming something of an honorary member of the Mott-Noble-Temple family, allowing him to properly heal while Fifteen continues to adventure across the universe, until Fourteen naturally regenerates into Fifteen since Fifteen was pulled out of Fourteen's future where the rehab was successful.
• Extremely Short Timespan: His televised existence is remarkably short. At the start of "The Star Beast", he's only been the Fourteenth Doctor for an hour after the end of "The Power of the Doctor" (most of this hour chronicled in "Liberation of the Daleks" and "Destination: Skaro" (the 2023 Children in Need special)), and "Wild Blue Yonder" and "The Giggle" are immediate sequels. The novelization of "The Giggle" states that the Fourteenth Doctor lasted only fifteen hours by the time he regenerates again. Subverted for this incarnation as a whole, however, as his bi-generation means he gets to continue to exist despite regenerating, and it's implied that a long rest and rehabilitation with the Nobles precedes his proper regeneration into the Fifteenth Doctor.
• Friend to All Living Things:
  • He warmly calls Castavillian his "brand new friend" after accidentally crashing into the Kaled base in "Destination: Skaro". Keep in mind he's saying this to someone (a Kaled, no less) within about ten seconds of meeting them.
  • In "The Star Beast", he squeals over how cute the Meep is, is horrified when Donna suggests selling the Meep for money, and protects the Meep when the house is invaded by the Wrarth Warriors and brainwashed UNIT. Even after finding out the Meep is an insane psychopath, he offers to build the Meep a more humane way to get off of Earth.
  • In "Wild Blue Yonder", he suggests trying to reason and make peace with the Not-Things even after they chased him and Donna down the corridor. Though he quickly drops that idea after one of them lets out a snarl.
  • At the end of "The Giggle", he gives the moles in Donna's garden a force-field to protect them from Wilfred and outright states that he loves the moles.
• Happily Adopted: His final fate at the end of the specials, settling down on Earth and becoming an honorary family member to the Nobles, essentially becoming an uncle to Rose.
• Heroic Fatigue: The reason Fourteen exists is to force themself (as pointed out by Donna and Fifteen) to finally stop running from their trauma and pretending everything is fine, and to "settle down" and rest. This is heavily implied to be the reason Fourteen looks older than Ten, and why the TARDIS took him to meet and reconcile with Donna. This is enforced by the trilogy of specials they're in taking place consecutively, meaning he's barely had time to process his regeneration, or the trauma of the Flux, the Timeless Child, or the Master's forced regeneration (his adventures outside the trilogy, like "Destination: Skaro" and his Expanded Universe stories during his tenure, are packed into a very short span of time as well, giving him no real time to rest).
• History Repeats:
  • Once again, a Doctor with a Northern accent regenerates into David Tennant. To really sell the point, the first thing Fourteen comments on is his teeth, just like his first words as Ten.
  • It's a regeneration into a face the Doctor has put on before (that being, again, David Tennant), although this time it was unintentional on their part while Ten went out of his way to regenerate without undergoing Death of Personality which used up his eleventh regeneration.
  • Speaking of regeneration, the order of regeneration in terms of hairstyles is reversed, with the shorter haired Ninth regenerating into the longer haired Ten (Tennant), then regenerating into the even longer haired Eleven (whose hairstyle was similar to Thirteen's). This time the longer haired Thirteen regenerates into the shorter haired Fourteen (again, Tennant who has the same hairstyle as he did as Ten), "The Giggle" shows him undergoing the first bi-generation, which allows Fifteen to come into existence at a point where Fourteen was fully healed from all the trauma, meaning he'll eventually regenerate into an incarnation whose hairstyle is even shorter than Nine's. Though as revealed in the trailer for Season 1, Fifteen is capable of growing his hair out into an Afro, meaning he'll have a hairstyle that's both shorter than Nine's and a normal long hairstyle.
  • According to the 2024 annual, he also ended up in a sword fight with a Sycorax, much like what happened with Ten's first adventure.
  • In the 2023 Children in Need skit, he ends up on Skaro while Davros is still creating the Daleks (albeit at an earlier point in time than "Genesis of the Daleks"), and once again ends up influencing their development.
  • Like the Seventh Doctor before him with Wolsey in the Expanded Universe, he takes on an Earth animal as a companion in the 2024 Annual in the form of a pig named Alfredo.
  • Just like the Twelfth Doctor, he ends up getting shot through the chest by a laser beam. Thanks to his bi-regeneration, however, he survives the second time around.
• Honorary Uncle: Upon settling down with Donna's family on Earth following the Toymaker's defeat, he admits that he considers her daughter Rose his niece. Rose, for her part, certainly doesn't seem to mind having him for a surrogate uncle.
• Hydra Problem: Due to his bi-generation, he splits into two Doctors when The Toymaker shoots him. The Toymaker suggests repeatedly killing them until there's a whole field of Doctors to play with.
• I Am Very British: He uses a posher accent than Ten, lacking the Estuary mockney accent the latter had.
• Irony: The Tenth Doctor infamously dreaded his regeneration, comparing the process to him dying and another man sauntering off with his body and memories, and his last words were "I don't wanna go." The Fourteenth Doctor, bearing the same face (and actor), is more accepting of his end, and his intended last words are "Allons-y!", one of the Tenth Doctor's catchphrases, which means "let's go." However, instead of turning into a new incarnation, Fourteen experiences a very rare "bi-generation", where his new incarnation physically splits into a new being, while allowing Fourteen to keep his face and personality in the meanwhile. So, ironically, the Fourteenth Doctor gets what the Tenth Doctor wanted all along, despite having the opposite view of regeneration (though Fifteen points out he comes from a point where he was healed of the trauma and they're doing "rehab out of order", implying Fourteen will ultimately regenerate into him.)
• It's All My Fault: "Wild Blue Yonder" reveals he feels this way about the Flux, blaming himself for the destruction of most of the universe even though he's well aware that it wasn't his fault.
• Multiple Headcase: Briefly; during the bi-generation, he's one body with two heads, his own on the right and Fifteen's on the left.
• My Greatest Failure: The Flux, more specifically his failure to stop the devastation it caused to the universe. While he grits his teeth and bears the Toymaker's taunts over the loss of his previous companions, the moment he mentions the Flux he reaches his Rage Breaking Point and immediately, directly challenges the psychotic entity.
• Nice Guy: While openly more cynical, Fourteen is still a kind and friendly person who loves giving his friends hugs and lacks the Tenth Doctor's god complex.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Getting the Not-Things to count salt at the edge of the universe is what allows the Toymaker entrance into reality.
• No Kill like Overkill: How he meets his end, shot through the chest at the hands of the Toymaker manning UNIT's Galvanic Beam. Or so it seems, until he bi-generates into Fifteen.
• Older and Wiser: Compared to the Tenth Doctor. Fourteen is identical in appearance but his personality slightly differs, taking on traits from Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen rather than regressing entirely back to Ten's personality and the flaws that came with it, showcasing how much the Doctor has grown since then.
• Other Me Annoys Me: He's annoyed that he's regenerated into an older face. Notably, he tells Donna that he's "stuck with" the face, which flies in the face of Ten's self-described vanity issues.
• Perma-Stubble: He's born with a five o'clock shadow, which makes him look somewhat less youthful than the Tenth Doctor.
• Queer Establishing Moment: He agrees with Donna that Isaac Newton was hot, which seems to be a bit of a revelation for him about this incarnation's sexuality.
• Racial Transformation: Time Lords can also change race during a regeneration; in this incarnation's case, while he doesn't outright regenerate into Fifteen (who's Black), he undergoes a rare bi-generation to allow his future incarnation to come into existence, albeit at a point where Fourteen successfully healed himself of his past trauma, meaning he'll regenerate into Fifteen properly after the rehab is finished.
• Rage Breaking Point: Do not, under any circumstance, mention the Doctor's failure in preventing the Flux. When the Toymaker pushes this one, Fourteen finally decides to stop being terrified of him and deal with him personally, on the spot, fear and the Toymaker's omnipotence be damned.
• Refreshingly Normal Life-Choice: Settles down with the Noble family in order to properly heal from his guilt and trauma, and genuinely enjoys his time staying put as part of a regular human family.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: During his brief travels with Donna, they encounter Sir Isaac Newton and accidentally cause him to misremember the word "gravity" as "mavity". The Fourteenth Doctor is the only one who remembers the original, unaltered word (even having to correct himself at one point). This persists into his fifteenth incarnation, as well.
• Rogues Gallery: Daleks, Beep the Meep, Not-Things, and the Celestial Toymaker.
• Sex Shifter: Time Lords can change gender when regenerating. In this case, the Doctor regenerated from female back to male.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: During his bi-generation, his outfit is distributed evenly between the two Doctors. As a consequence, Fourteen spends the rest of the scene walking around barefoot, and Fifteen starts his new life not wearing any pants (though luckily he did get the underwear).
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Echoing how this Doctor is familiar but different, Fourteen's outfit resembles a modified version of the Tenth Doctor's, but has several changes and a few slight similarities to other Doctors. He now sports a blue Badass Longcoat instead of a brown one that looks similar to the Fugitive Doctor, the front part of his vest is only partially buttoned and his suit and pants feature a plaid pattern reminiscent of the First and Second Doctors' houndstooth pants, instead of Ten's pinstripe design. Without the blue coat, his waistcoat and dress shirt also resemble those of the Eleventh Doctor in Series 7.
• Small Role, Big Impact: While he doesn't have the shortest tenure of any televised Doctor, he only features in a handful of episodes for the 60th anniversary before retiring and handing over the TARDIS keys to Fifteen. But his "game" with the Not-Things at the edge of the universe is responsible for summoning the Toymaker from beneath the Under-Universe, and also for the show incorporating more fantasy into the mix again (Seven's run was the last time it was a major part of the show, a good three decades before).
• Snap Back: After Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen's (mostly) amiable working relationship with UNIT, Fourteen is actively mistrustful of them again, going out of his way to avoid them on investigating the Meep's ship (though given UNIT is shoving an innocent reporter into a van as he gets there, some suspicion isn't entirely unreasonable). His mistrust is given some more justification once it turns out the Meep's brainwashed a squadron of them, though he's back to trusting them later.
• Talk to the Fist: On the receiving end in "The Star Beast"; when he offers to build the Meep a more humane way to get off of Earth, he gets knocked out by a brainwashed UNIT soldier for his troubles.
• Took a Level in Cynic: He's much more cynical and downbeat than his previous incarnation 13.
• Waistcoat of Style: Instead of Ten's suit jacket, Fourteen has gone for one of these. He ends up keeping it after his bi-regeneration and settling down with the Nobles.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Wonderfully defied. This incarnation of the Doctor made a handful of appearances onscreen before handing the reins of duty over to his successor, but didn't regenerate. Well, at least not yet. Due to his bi-generation, the Fifteenth Doctor was pulled back from some undisclosed point in Fourteenth's future, at a time in his life where he had made peace with things and regenerated into him. His regeneration is slated to happen eventually, but for now, he continues to live a peaceful life of satisfaction in his present state, gaining a duplicate TARDIS for when he wants to adventure, while the Fifteenth Doctor continues to lead a life exploring time and space in a duplicate of the TARDIS.

"The funny thing is, I fought all those battles for all those years, and now I know what for. This. I've never been so happy in my life."

Fifteenth Doctor

"No way!"

Fifteenth Doctor

"The sharpness of the tongue defeats the sharpness of the warrior."

First appearance: "The Giggle" (2023)

Debut: "The Church on Ruby Road" (2023)

Played by: Ncuti Gatwa (2023-present)

"Time travelers are great. The best. Like, wow."

The flamboyant, supremely self-confident adventure hero, with a boundless curiosity and fascination with the new.

When the Toymaker tried to kill the Fourteenth Doctor in order to play a third and final game against a new incarnation, something strange happened: the Doctor didn't change. Instead, he experienced the mythical “bi-generation”, his new incarnation splitting off into a new person, who teamed up with his predecessor to defeat the Toymaker.

The Fourteenth Doctor decided to retire from adventuring, living life with the Noble family (and having periodic hops into his TARDIS), allowing this brand new Doctor to have adventures of his own.

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Tropes associated with the television series

• Agent Peacock: He's very flamboyant and has an air of showmanship, which is how he was able to form an improv song and dance number for the goblins in "The Church on Ruby Road". That doesn't make him any less dangerous to his enemies though, as he successfully impales the Goblin King on a church steeple by pulling down the goblins' flying ship with his gloves to save Ruby.
• Badass Longcoat: One of his consistent clothing items is a long, tan leather coat. At the end of "The Church on Ruby Road", Ruby cites it as a distinguishing feature when asking her neighbor if she's seen him nearby.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: After splitting the TARDIS in two with the Toymaker's hammer, he whispers "I'm so sorry" to them.
• Brave Scot: Fifteen has a slight Scottish accent and wears a kilt while out at the club, and is willing to dive head-first into danger, most notably jumping onto a ladder hanging in midair after reprimanding Ruby for doing the same thing.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • The very first instance of a bi-generation, a regenerative variant in which the next incarnation splits from the current one, making Fifteen an independent variant of the Doctor while Fourteen is still around, though Fifteen reveals he's from Fourteen's future at a point where his rehab is successful, indicating he'll eventually regenerate into Fifteen naturally. He also has more screentime in his predecessor's final story than did previous incoming incarnations, who got a scene at best.
  • He's also the first Black incarnation after at least fifteen white predecessors, though as noted under Racial Transformation he's not the first Doctor to be played by a Black actor or an actor of color.
• Character Development: In contrast to the previous Doctors, who were emotionally distant and carried mental hangovers from the Time War. Fifteen is a lot more expressive and has a shameless lust for life and a bigger personality to match. While he still remembers the Time War and all of the other things they've seen, he's more capable of actually processing it and letting himself be happy and deal with it healthily, instead of letting it define him.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Fifteen sports a wide smile when he's adventuring.
• Commonality Connection: He and Ruby bond over their status as foundlings who don't know where they really came from.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Due to the previous incarnation essentially going through rehab and semi-retiring, not only is Fifteen a contrast to his immediate predecessor, but he's also a contrast to all of the Revival Doctors. While all Doctors tend to be emotionally distant, Fifteen wears his hearts on his sleeve. All Doctors had shades of The Atoner, while Fifteen seems to be unburdened by his past. All previous Doctors have the opinion of Who Wants to Live Forever?, while Fifteen seems to have gained a new lease on life and is determined to make the most of it.
• Cooldown Hug: Gives one to Fourteen after they deal with the Toymaker, reassuring him that the deaths he caused weren't his fault.
• Establishing Character Moment: Within minutes of his bi-generation, Fifteen is chipper and ecstatic to be around people, much less being born. When the Toymaker is defeated and Fourteen mourns the deaths of everyone caused by the Giggle, Fifteen embraces his fellow Doctor and reassuringly tells him it wasn't his fault by telling him they can't save everyone, showing him to be one of the more empathetic and openly emotional incarnations of the Doctor.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Played With. If the Season 1 teasers and trailers are anything to go by, Fifteen is capable of growing his short hair out into an Afro, making him the first incarnation to sport such a hairstyle.
• Freddie Mercopy: Downplayed. Fifteen matches a lot of the character traits of Freddie Mercury, with his mustache, brightly colored leather jacket (albeit in different colors, Freddie's jacket was famously yellow, while Fifteen's is a burnt orange color), and love of music (singing and dancing in "The Church on Ruby Road", and visiting The Beatles in the series preview). Fifteen and Freddie also share energetic and flamboyant personalities. In terms of sexuality, Freddie was openly bisexual and Fifteen is openly written as queer-coded and is said to be LGBT, with Neil Patrick Harris describing him as "the first gay Doctor, which is going to be super cool, a sexier Doctor.”.
• Get Out!: Says this affectionately towards Fourteen and Donna before starting his travels to parts unknown and letting his predecessor begin his "rehab" with the Mott-Noble-Temples.
  "Okay, kid! I love you. Get out."
• The Heart: He's described as one of the most emotionally intelligent incarnations, and shows it in "The Giggle", helping his previous incarnation face his stress and trauma while happily talking about how much he loved his old companions.
• Hidden Depths: While he's intentionally less angsty then his previous incarnations, several moments in "The Church on Ruby Road" indicate that he's not quite as over his past as he likes to present just yet, casually mentioning that he "has no-one" before moving on and briefly turning more somber when remembering his own history as a foundling.
• Large Ham: He's easily one of the most dramatic of the Doctor's incarnations, stealing every scene he's in.
  • His exuberance can be seen right after he bigenerates, sauntering around like he owns the place.
    "I have bigenerated!"
  • His response to being surrounded by hundreds of angry goblins? Song off.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Although he appears as an energetic hedonist, he has no issues with getting his hands dirty and defeats the goblins by single-handedly dragging down their flying ship to impale the Goblin King on a church steeple.
• Manly Facial Hair: He pops into existence with a moustache, the first "main" incarnation to do so, although he's not the first to have facial hair upon regenerating (Fourteen had Perma-Stubble) or grow it over time (Four, Eight, War, and Eleven all grew beards during their lives, with Four's, Eight's and Eleven's being temporary. Though Eight did get a similar Perma-Stubble style to Fourteen leading up to his regeneration, though this was due to suffering from the effects of the Time War and having aged as it went on).
• Manly Tears: In "The Church on Ruby Road" he starts crying after hearing Alternate Timeline Carla's Suspiciously Specific Denial that she never wanted a daughter.
• Mr. Fanservice: The Fifteenth Doctor looks young and conventionally handsome (Mel even calls him beautiful!), and he's effortlessly suave after his regeneration. It's helped by him spending all of his screentime in "The Giggle" in an unbuttoned shirt, underwear, and bare legs. When he first appears in "The Church on Ruby Road" he's dancing in a club wearing a tank top and kilt that show off his arms and legs.
  Fifteen: Mel, what do you think?
  Mel: I think you're beautiful.
  Fourteen: Still beautiful?
  Mel: [lightly and unconvincingly] Yeah.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Upon seeing Carla and Ruby bonding over Ruby's failure to find any sign of her birth parents, the Doctor tells them he recently learned he was adopted too. Unfortunately, the coincidence helps the goblins travel back in time and steal the infant Ruby before she's found.
• Pants-Free: Since the "bi-generation" led to the Fourteenth Doctor's outfit being split between the two Doctors, Fifteen keeps the dress shirt, tie, briefs, socks and shoes, while Fourteen keeps the waistcoat, pants, and undershirt.
• Racial Transformation: Fifteen is the first "main" incarnation of the Doctor to be played by a Black actor (though not the first Black actor or POC to play the Doctor, as proven by Doctor Moon, the Fugitive Doctor, the Timeless Child, and the Spy Master in the Doctor's body).
  Donna: Do you come in a range of colours?
  Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors, in unison: Yes.
• Rogues Gallery: The Celestial Toymaker, and Goblins.
• Sherlock Scan: After surviving a falling snowman, the Doctor deduces through observation that the police officer taking his statement intends to propose to his girlfriend.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Moreso than other incarnations, Fifteen takes full advantage of the TARDIS wardrobe, changing several times in "The Church on Ruby Road" alone.
• Vibrant Orange: In promotional material for the series, Fifteen is shown wearing an orange shirt to match his larger-than-life personality. He's also shown wearing an orange tank top in a nightclub, and a burnt orange double-breasted leather trenchcoat in "The Church on Ruby Road". The lighting in the TARDIS was also changed to orange.

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