Fan Nickname / Doctor Who

---

• What do you call specific incarnations of characters played by multiple actors?:
  • Just about all of the Doctors — with the exception of the War Doctor — are called by their place in the numerical order of regenerations. Which format gets used — that is, One, Two, Three or First, Second, Third — depends on preference. The First, Second, Third names tend to be used by The BBC in official material, and the One, Two, Three format is stereotypically associated with post-2005 fans and Estrogen Brigade types (due to the ease of shortening David Tennant's Tenth Doctor with the system), but is in fact Older Than They Think and even briefly used in the show itself a couple of times (such as in the Fourth Doctor's skipping rhyme in "Robot", the Image Songs "Song for Ten" and "Vale Decem"^note Latin — "Goodbye Ten" and the Eleventh Doctor's Out of Continues-explanation and cracker poem in "The Time of the Doctor"). For what it's worth, Colin Baker likes to affectionately refer to his (Sixth) Doctor as "Sixie" and Billie Piper and John Barrowman call David Tennant's (Tenth) Doctor "Ten-inch". Jodie Whittaker's (Thirteenth) Doctor is sometimes referred to as (Un)Lucky Thirteen.
  • Another naming format is abbreviated form of actor's name + "Doc". BillDoc, PatDoc, JonDoc, TomDoc, PeteDoc, ColDoc, and SlyDoc. Then PaulDoc, ChrisDoc, DaveDoc, MattDoc, PeteDoc II, JoDoc...
  • Romana's incarnations are referred to with Roman (heh) numerals — Romana I (Mary Tamm), Romana II (Lalla Ward), and Romana III (the incarnation in the Eighth Doctor Adventures, based on Louise Brooks, and/or Juliet Landau, the Big Finish Romana).
  • Master incarnations are usually referred to by the name of the actor due to the fact that the second incarnation on screen is the thirteenth, and their incarnation number is all over the place — Delgado Master, Ainley Master, Simm Master, Macqueen Master etc. — with a few exceptions. The horrible rotting Master was played by two different actors and so is generally called Crispy or Decayed Master (or Pratt-Beevers Master), and the female Master is mostly referred to by her in-universe nickname Missy (variations include the Mistress and Gomez Master). The Jacobi Master is also called the War Master (in a similar vein as the War Doctor).
    • Other commonly used nicknames for the Masters include: UNIT Master for Delgado, Tremas Master for Ainley, Yana Master for Jacobi, and the Saxon Master for Simm.
    • Sacha Dhawan's Master was called "Hot Camp Master" by the Guardian recaps, as the character is a Psychopathic Manchild and the actor is, well, really pretty. Commonly used nickname for him in more serious discussions are the O Master or the Spy Master.
  • Non-canon incarnations, due to not having a numerical placement (or sharing it with a TV Doctor) tend to get named for the story they appear in ("the Shalka Doctor", "the Curse of Fatal Death Doctors"), the actor who portrayed them ("the Nicholas Briggs Doctor", "the Peter Cushing Doctor") or occasionally just a fun nickname ("the Greenpeace Doctor", for a stage show Doctor who wore a Greenpeace tshirt as his costume). The same applies for the Master.
  • In-Verse nicknames used by the Doctor himself to reference and/or tease his other selves are also used by fans in a similar teasing manner. Hence, "Teeth and Curls" for Four (from "The Five Doctors"), "Dandy" and "Clown" for Three and Two respectively (from "The Three Doctors"), or multiple examples from "The Day of the Doctor" ("Sandshoes" or "Dick van Dyke" for Ten, "Chinny" for Eleven, "Granddad" for War).
• Story types and eras get nicknames too:
  • "Pure historical" — a story format where they would go back in time and not encounter aliens, save for the time travellers themselves. Sometimes defined as "no science fiction elements", but some are still science fiction stories in theme, like "The Aztecs" (which is about changing the past). Very much associated with the First Doctor and the show's Early Instalment Weirdness in general, as the only non-Hartnell pure historicals are the Second Doctor's "The Highlanders" and the Fifth Doctor's "Black Orchid". The first historical was the very first serial, "An Unearthly Child".
  • "Historical"/"Pseudohistorical" — they go back in time in Earth's history and encounter aliens. "The Time Meddler" is the first one.
  • "Celebrity historical"/"Celebrity pseudohistorical" — they go back in time, and encounter a famous historical figure. (And/or aliens.) The first Celebrity Historical is "Marco Polo", and the first Celebrity Pseudohistorical is "The King's Demons" (or arguably Charlie Chaplin's cameo in "The Daleks' Master Plan", though he only appears in a Breather Episode that has no science fiction elements in it itself).
  • "Base Under Siege" — the Doctor lands in a small and isolated base full of interesting people being besieged by something nasty, quite often (though not always) an abstract or nebulous force rather than a specific "monster". The trapped people are useless against the force for whatever reason, and the Doctor helps them fend the thing off. The big themes are claustrophobia and guest characters dropping like flies. Associated with the Second Doctor's era, where it was used very heavily as a cheap way of producing horror, but also shows up earlier and later — the First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet", the Fourth Doctor stories "The Ark in Space" and (especially) "Horror of Fang Rock" and the Tenth Doctor episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Waters of Mars" fit the formula too. The Eleventh Doctor story "Cold War" is one of these, as an intentional and knowing homage to this story style.
  • "Gothic" or "Hammer Horror" — story type focusing on a Pastiche of Gothic Horror or Hammer Horror tropes and stories, and Victorian-1950s pulp literature. Associated with Season 13 and 14 (with the Fourth Doctor) and Philip Hinchcliffe's tenure as producer, though some Gothic stories show up earlier and later than this (stories like "Horror of Fang Rock", "Image of the Fendahl" and "State of Decay" fit, and some people include things like the Third Doctor story "The Dæmons" and the Eleventh Doctor's "Hide", again a conscious take on the story style).
  • "Running down corridors" — generic term for unspectacular Padding sequences of characters running (down corridors), escaping from prison and getting captured again by the same people, or generally doing something pointless intended to give the illusion of action and plot advancement rather than actually being action. Especially if it happens in the third episode of a four-part story. Example use: "The concept of "Frontier in Space" is good but there's so much running down corridors."
  • "Russell T Davies' Gay Agenda" — Sarcastic reference to various bits of the fandom's objections to what they perceive to be a high level of homosexual/bisexual characters in the new series.
  • "The Monster Season" — Season 5. Two Cybermen stories, two Yeti/Great Intelligence stories, a story introducing the Ice Warriors and one story featuring one-shot baddie the Weed. (And a James Bond pastiche with no monsters in it that no-one cared about until its shock rediscovery in a Nigerian bin.) Highly popular in 1980s fandom, and several 80s stories homage it as Pandering to the Base (like "Attack of the Cybermen" and "The Five Doctors").
  • "The Master Season" — Season 8. At the start of the season, the Doctor steals part of the Master's TARDIS and every story that season features the Master flinging various nasties at Earth while trying to steal the part back. Culminates in the Master trying to summon the Devil, getting arrested by UNIT and placed in prison.
    • Fittingly, Series 8 of the new series also featured the Master as the Big Bad.
• Showrunners seem to attract nicknames.
  • "JNT" — The late John Nathan-Turner, executive producer in the 1980s. Among those more critical of his tenure, "John Satan Turner" is sometimes heard.
  • "RTD", "Rusty", "Uncle Rusty", "Russell T" — Russell T Davies, former showrunner from 2005-2009 and incoming showrunner for 2023. Or even occasionally RTDOBE, after he was awarded Order of the British Empire. "Russell The Davies" is another one, which is oddly fitting as the T is just part of his Pen Name and doesn't stand for anything. Also, "Rusty Trombone". When it was announced that he'd be returning to the show as showrunner in 2023, it was swiftly determined that it would be the "RTD2" era of the show with his first tenure correspondingly nicknamed "RTD1".
  • "The Grand Moff", "TGM" or "The Moff" — Steven Moffat, former showrunner. The latter is currently more popular in a poll on The Doctor Who Forum. According to Karen Gillan in Doctor Who Magazine, Steven himself tried to get "The Mofferator" to catch on. "Lord Steven of Moffat" has also been spotted. DWO Whocast and Staggering Stories Podcast use "Vast Toffee", an anagram of his name missing out two letters (MN, deemed to stand [clutching at straws] for "Master of Nightmares").
  • Terrance Dicks, 70s script editor and modern day elder statesman, is often called "Uncle Terrance", even by new series writers. Also "Uncle Tewwance" thanks to his weak R.
  • "The Three Who Rule" — First used for Russell T Davies, Phil Collinson, and Julie Gardner as the most prominent producers for the first 4 series of New Who and then later applied to Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis, executive producers for series 5 and 6.
  • Marigold — new series incidental music composer Murray Gold.
  • Chibs, Chibbers, Chibby, Chinball — Chris Chibnall, showrunner for series 11 and onward.
• And actors are not immune:
  • "The Mighty Trout"/"The Trout" — Patrick Troughton, the actor who played the Second Doctor.
  • THE Colin Baker — Colin Baker, obviously. Started on the forums of SFX magazine.
    • "Seventies Porn Colin" or "SPC" is a fandom injoke surrounding an old half-naked publicity still of Colin Baker from the seventies, wearing what can only be described as a porno 'tache◊.
  • "CE", "Eccles" or "Ecclescake" — Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth Doctor. The latter is mainly used amongst members of his Estrogen Brigade. His Hate Dom tends to use the much cruder "Ecclescunt".
  • King of the Hipsters — Matt Smith. Because of his lanky limbs and his general klutziness, "The Drunk Giraffe" is picking up speed. Alternatively, "Baby Giraffe".
    • The TARDIS Wiki says this nickname refers to a dance move Eleven invented, seen in a popular gif◊.
• Characters and character teams (Doctors first):
  • "Moe Howard" — Patrick Troughton's Doctor, due to his resemblance to Stooge Prime. Also the "Cosmic Hobo".
  • "Doctor Vet" — the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison, who also appeared in All Creatures Great And Small. Also "Fivey" or "The Big, Blonde Boy-Scout".
  • The Eighth Doctor is referred to by some fans as "The Oncoming Pretty".
  • The Tenth Doctor is sometimes "the Oncoming Sulk" due to his depressive nature after season 2.
  • "Handy Doctor", "Handy", or, more crudely, "The Handjob" or "Dildo Doctor" — The half-human Doctor clone created from the Tenth Doctor's severed hand in "Journey's End". Also called "Doctor Blue"; "10 2.0", "10.5", TenII and TenToo; Proper Doctor and Other Doctor (referring, in that order, to the "real" Doctor and the half-human Doctor), taken from Proper Dave and Other Dave from the two-parter "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead"; or "Cloen", a misspelling of "clone".
  • "Doctor Cullen" — the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, as an early promo pic showed him dressed and posed like Robert Pattinson a.k.a. Edward Cullen from The Twilight Saga. Also known as "Sparkle!Doctor". People abruptly stopped using this nickname once his very un-Twilight-like performance started, though. Other nicknames for the Eleventh Doctor: "Eleventy", "Raggedy", "Poncho Boy", "Flop-Haired Wuss", "Baby Doctor".
    • Eleven is also the "Cosmic Nine-Year-Old" thanks to his childlike actions, and is often dubbed "The Hipster Doctor" due to his fashion choice.
  • The War Doctor (the John Hurt regeneration, as he's credited) has quickly picked up the alternate name of "the Warrior", mainly to avoid the confusion of calling a non-Doctor Doctor "the Doctor".
    • The 8.5th Doctor, due to his mix of 8 and 9's clothing.
    • Regeneration Zero, based on the theory he's a mix of all the previous Doctors.
    • The Forgotten Doctor. Due to the fact he's, well, forgotten.
    • The Other Doctor, a Pun from a version of the Doctor from the EU named "The Other".
    • The Mayfly Doctor, due to his only TV appearances being the final scene of "The Name of the Doctor" and "The Day of the Doctor".
    • The Warlock, meaning "Traitor" or "Oath-Breaker", and as a reference to how the Doctor is a "good wizard" in fairy tales.
    • The Hurt Doctor, both referring to his actor John Hurt and a pun on The Hurt Locker.
    • The Storm/The Oncoming Storm, the moniker used by the Daleks in the Time War.
    • The Valeyard, based on a theory that this is said character's re-introduction to the Whoniverse: both are "dark incarnations" of the Doctor; he really would be a Doctor who abandoned "the name of the Doctor" both metaphorically and physically; and both, to quote, "had no choice" in their evil actions.
  • "The Dalek Fucker" — early nickname for Peter Capaldi's Doctor based on role association with Malcolm Tucker.
  • The 12th Doctor is called "The Thin White Doctor" thanks to him basing his wardrobe and part of his performance on David Bowie.
  • 12 also affectionately gets called "space granddad" for after he chills out a bit, especially in season 10.
  • "Auntie Thirteen" ^note 十三姨, which is transliterated as “shi san yi” and pronounced “sure sahn yee” — affectionate name for Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor in Chinese fandom.
  • In series 12, the mysterious incarnation of the Doctor played by Jo Martin in "Fugitive of the Judoon" is known as "Doctor Ruth", a reference to the first name of her chameleon-arched human persona and to the media sexologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Other names include the "Ruthless Doctor" and the "Fugitive Doctor".
  • Roger Delgado's Master is known as the UNIT Years Master.
  • The Pratt/Beevers Master is called Crispy Master; Geoffrey Beevers' Master is called "Skeletor".
  • "The Masterater" — The Eric Roberts Master with his Terminator get-up, although it sounds like someone who polishes their wand.
  • In some circles, both Susan and Romana have been known as Sailor Gallifrey.
  • "Fred" — the Dalek Ian traps in a hole in "The Chase", thanks to him Waxing Lyrical to make a Bond One-Liner referencing the novelty song "Right, Said Fred".
  • The Fungoids in "The Chase" are called Fungoid Fred, Toadstool Taffy and Mushroom Malone. These were names given to them by the production team.
  • The Monk has been given the expanded nickname of the Meddling Monk, based off one of the episode titles for his initial story, "The Time Meddler".
  • UNIT family — The Third Doctor, his companions (mainly Jo), and his colleagues at UNIT. Sometimes includes Roger Delgado's Master.
  • Dave Ross — boringified name for Davros.
  • "Flying Killer Time Monkeys" — The bat-like creatures unleashed in "Father's Day", officially (if not on-screen) called "Reapers". "Time monkeys!" briefly became a popular way to answer questions of the form "Why can't the Doctor just go back in time and..."
  • Fans seem to prefer the name "Robot Santas" to "Roboform".
  • "Dalek Fred" — the Dalek who shot the Doctor at the end of "The Stolen Earth" (based on the way the Cult of Skaro name themselves).
  • "Steve" — the Master clone in the pink dress.
  • "James Rassilon", "Lord President Bond" "James Bondilon" — Timothy Dalton's character in "The End of Time".
  • "Cybusmen/Cybusman" to denote the Cybermen made by Cybus Industries rather than Mondas.
  • Team Hipster — The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. Mostly due to Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill's tendency towards ridiculous sweaters and skinny jeans, while Karen Gillan can look like a redheaded Twiggy at times.
  • "Hunchback Daleks" — The new Dalek props introduced in "Victory of the Daleks". Also: "Mighty Morphin' Power Daleks!", "Mighty Morphin' Dalek Rangers", "Extermination Sentai Dalekranger", "Power Ranger Daleks", "Teledaleks", or "the Dalek Lantern Corps", all referring to the bright new colour scheme. "iDaleks", because they look like really aggressive iPods. "Fatleks", on account of their greater bulk compared to previous designs.
  • Puddle — as in a small Pond — the then-unidentified child of Amy Pond. AKA River Song/Melody Pond.
  • Team TARDIS — Used for the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory and River circa Series 6, then again for the Twelfth Doctor, Clara and Danny in Series 8, and from there it caught on to the point where it's now used for most Doctor/companion teams. The actor playing Danny started using it a lot when talking to fans and they picked up on it. Ascended in Series 11 when the Thirteenth Doctor uses this title for her crew of Ryan, Graham, and Yaz.
  • "Steve" is also used for the Silent who ended up dooming his entire order. As in, "DAMMIT STEVE".
  • Rosgood — Jac, the U.N.I.T. computer scientist from Series 9 played by Jaye Griffiths. A portmanteau of Osgood, the previous U.N.I.T. scientist and Ros, the name of the secret organisation computer scientist played by Griffiths in Bugs.
  • AsBill — Bill, due to her announcement video proudly stating at the end "INTRODUCING PEARL MACKIE asBILL".
• Meta-concepts:
  • "Assistants" — Classic series media misnomer for what most of the fandom calls a "companion". Some companions were the Doctor's official "assistant", during the period in the 1970s when the Doctor had a job (Liz, Jo, Sarah and Harry), but most time-travellers weren't, so it usually marks the person using it as someone who was a fan of the show in the 1970s (like when Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It suggests a tabloid journalist publish pictures of "Dr. Who's assistant in a school uniform").
  • Wilderness Years — The period between the end of the classic series (1989) and the beginning of the new series (2005).
  • "NuWho" or "New Who" — the 2005 revival.
  • "Doctor DW Who" — The show itself, as spelled on the opening titles for Series 5 and 6.◊
  • "Doctor Misterio" — Nickname for the series in Mexican fandom and media, which gave executive producer Brian Minchin the idea for "The Return of Doctor Mysterio".
  • "Billy-Fluffs" — Whenever William Hartnell screws up a line, one of his Doctor's trademarks.
  • "Tomfoolery" (always capitalised) — Any sequence of Tom Baker blatantly hamming it up for attention or because he's bored of the script.
  • "The memory cheats" — JNT-invented phrase referring to false perceptions of the series's past. Usually he used it to talk about people who insisted the show was better in The '70s (even though a lot of fans still agree that it was), but it applies also to other Dead Unicorn Trope Who myths.
  • "Doctor Nyarlathotep" or "Dr. Nyarlathotep" — Term for fanon about the Doctor as an Eldritch Abomination, up to and including being Nyarlathotep himself, thanks to Seven getting identified as Nyarlathotep in the Doctor Who New Adventures novel The Death of Art.
• Props, costuming, plot points and effects:
  • "Vwoorp! Vwoorp!" seems to be pretty universally agreed upon by fans as the way to write the sound the TARDIS makes when it takes off and lands. It originated as the sound effect in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips, although many of the fans who use it now probably don't know the source.
  • "The Whomobile" — The more extravagant car used by the Third Doctor for a couple serials, used by producers as well as fans. Not to be confused with his more ordinary car, Bessie.
  • "Reverse the polarity of the _____" — whenever the Doctor just kind of fixes a thing by pointing their sonic screwdriver at it or by pulling some switches, and it's glossed over as to how (e.g. "At the end of "Love & Monsters" the Doctor reverses the polarity of the concrete"). From the third Doctor's imagined Character Catchphrase "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow".
  • "The Who-fro" — the Fourth Doctor's hairstyle.
  • "The Plaything of Sutekh" — the disembodied hand (belonging to a stagehand who didn't realise they were on camera) that is briefly visible when Sutekh gets up from his throne in "Pyramids of Mars".
  • "Leather bikini" — Leela's outfit, notable because it's not really a bikini.
  • "Jesus-Doctor" — General term for the Messianic Archetype symbolism applied to the Tenth Doctor in many stories.
  • "BAFTA Cry Scene" — Derogatory term for scenes during the 21st-century show's first two seasons which were seen as relying on Billie Piper's ability to look pathetic for cheap emotional impact.
  • "Pineapple Hair" — The spiky hairdo◊ Martha has for a lot of her appearances.
  • "Tinkerbell Jesus" — The way the Doctor defeated the Master in "Last of the Time Lords".
  • "The Dental Agenda" — Billie Piper's strange accent and facial appearance in "Turn Left".
• Shipping-related concepts:
  • "Cult of Rose" — Derogatory name for obsessive fans of Rose who deny that any companion before or since has contributed anything significant. Also known as "Cult of Skarose" after the Cult of Skaro, the only remaining Daleks in the universe during the period between "Doomsday" and "Evolution of the Daleks". It seems to have evolved into referring to people who obsessively try to get Rose and the Doctor together and call Rose the perfect companion (not all Doctor/Rose shippers are Rose exceptionalists, but pretty much all Rose exceptionalists are hardcore Doctor/Rose shippers). It seems to have started here, here, or here.
  • "Hand Porn" — Can refer either to all the times the Doctor and Rose held hands, or a fetish involving the Tenth Doctor's severed hand.
  • "No hanky-panky in the TARDIS" — the Classic series' No Hugging, No Kissing rule. Taken from a phrase used by John Nathan-Turner, who had to contend with the resultant UST of a Doctor and companion pair who were publicly dating (and married soon after she left the series) and then a Doctor surrounded by attractive teenagers, for whom his first rule was to ban him from touching any of the women.
• Doctor Who on Twitch:
  • "ACTING" — whenever anyone starts hamming it up.
  • "Zombocom" — Zombo, Vicki's friendly Zarbi.
  • "Steve Jobs", "Stevil Jobs", "Apple Man" — The War Lord.

---