10th Doctor

David Tennant (2005 - 2010)

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Series 2 (2006)

The Christmas Invasion
New Earth
Tooth & Claw
School Reunion
The Girl in the Fireplace
Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel
The Idiot's Lantern
The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit
Love & Monsters
Fear Her
Army of Ghosts & Doomsday

Series 3 (2007)

The Runaway Bride
Smith & Jones
The Shakespeare Code
Gridlock
Daleks in Manhattan & Evolution of the Daleks
The Lazarus Experiment
42
Human Nature & The Family of Blood
Blink
Utopia
The Sound of Drums & Last of the Time-Lords

Series 4 (2008)

Timecrash
Voyage of the Damned

Partners in Crime
The Fires of Pompeii
Planet of the Ood
The Sontaran Stratagem & The Poison Sky
The Doctor's Daughter
The Unicorn & The Wasp
Silence in the Library & Forest of the Dead
Midnight
Turn Left
The Stolen Earth & Journey's End

2009 Specials

The Next Doctor
Planet of the Dead
The Waters of Mars
The End of Time part 1
The End of Time part 2

Unlike his immediate predecessor, who was plagued by melancholy due to his actions during the Last Great Time War, the Tenth Doctor possessed an outgoing, lively and genial demeanour that hid his "survivor's guilt". For most of his incarnation, he was able to successfully project a convivial and even frivolous front. However, when he had to engage in conflict, the Tenth Doctor's energies would shift toward heroism to reveal a fiercely protective man who resolutely guarded what he held dear, and who could be viciously unforgiving to the forces that dared menace them.
Intentionally or not, this incarnation showed a definite ability to flirt successfully with humans, such as Madame de Pompadour and his eventual (albeit somewhat unintentional) wife Elizabeth I. His personal magnetism was so pronounced that some women, like Clare Pope and Christina de Souza, proactively came on to him. Jack Harkness readily admitted his attraction as well. 

Late in his life — and especially when he was travelling without companions — the weight of being the last Time Lord became much more pronounced. If prodded too much, he would erupt in an almost righteous sense of fury. Indeed, as compared to the Eleventh Doctor, the Tenth Doctor was described by the Moment as "the man who regrets". The fact that he was instantly able to recall the number of Gallifreyan children that he believed an earlier life had killed during the war indicated just how keenly he actually felt those horrendous memories. 

He travelled mainly with three companions: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Each relationship was shaped, to one degree or another, by romance. He seemed to genuinely love Rose as the person who helped heal some of the scars of the Time War; he was completely oblivious to Martha's obvious affections toward him, and he insisted upon a platonic relationship with Donna. 

He met his end after he absorbed a huge quantity of nuclear radiation whilst saving the life of Donna Noble's grandfather, Wilfred Mott. The foreknowledge of his own demise and his strong attachment to the memories and romance he had that were special to this version of himself made it a particularly difficult task for the Doctor to let go of this incarnation.

This incarnation was very cheerful, charismatic and enthusiastic, often at inappropriate times even in danger, much like his next incarnation. While previous incarnations intentionally flouted social conventions, the Tenth Doctor was genuinely shocked when he realised that he was being rude or uncouth. He occasionally got into trouble because of an apparent sense of superiority over those less "clever" than he was. He regularly used his name as a threat, which only rarely worked, despite his apparent expectations. The Eleventh Doctor would later tell Clara Oswald (TV: The Time of the Doctor) that as the Tenth Doctor he had "vanity issues," as he chose to heal himself while regenerating from a Dalek blast by channelling the regeneration energy into his severed hand, thus not altering his appearance at all. This could, however, be an early manifestation of Ten's fear of his own mortality, which the much older Eleven could've regarded as vain.

The Tenth Doctor retained and even exceeded his last incarnation's capacity for righteous anger, particularly when Rose was threatened or at risk. When driven by anger or justice, he would act without hesitation to strike down those who opposed him, causing the downfall of Harriet Jones for, as he saw it, mass murder. There was an undeniable shadow cast over his geniality at these times, and an intimidating, almost dangerous anger would emerge.

While he seemed to have resolved much of the survivor's guilt felt previously, the Doctor had begun to feel his age. Beneath his youthful veneer and outward playfulness was a very old man who had seen many terrible things. He felt a deep loneliness. His keen sense of loss led him to empathise with those who had also suffered. Sarah Jane Smith tried to comfort him by saying that although he acted like a lonely man he had the biggest family in the world, referring to the many companions the Doctor had picked up on his travels.



The Doctor was an aficionado of twentieth century culture and made frequent references to movies, shows, and songs from that era, including the Ghostbusters theme, the song "Circle of Life" from The Lion King, and one of Kylie Minogue's songs, "Never Too Late". He had also read the Harry Potter books, noting that he cried reading the seventh book. Even though he knew so much of pop culture, he did not understand certain remarks, such as being called a "science geek". He was fond of rock and roll, trying to take Rose to see concerts by both Ian Dury and Elvis Presley. 

He often remarked that exotic technology or life was "beautiful" or "brilliant" and was genuinely enthralled by such discoveries, sometimes to the extent that he placed himself or his companions in danger. When this incarnation was faced with an occurrence that dumbfounded him he would repeatedly say, "What?", looking increasingly astonished with each repetition. While attempting to explain something he would often interrupt himself with a "Well..." and further elaborate what it was he was talking about. The Doctor also made use of the phrase, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry", mainly talking to persons he knew were about to die and whom he could not save. Other favoured phrases were "Allons-y!" and "Molto bene." Like his seventh incarnation, he also responded, "I'm always all right", even when all evidence pointed to the contrary. 

The Tenth Doctor was a handsome man with a tall, slim frame, finely boned hands and face, thick brown hair, pale skin scattered with freckles, and large, dark brown eyes. While he was possessed by Cassandra at New New York Hospital, Cassandra stated that he was "slim and a little bit foxy." 

The tenth incarnation was happy to have sideburns and to have more hair than his previous incarnation, whose hair was very close-cut. Though he initially seemed disappointed at not being ginger, he came to take great pride in his dark brown hair, wearing it in various ways throughout his adventures. He would wear it un-styled, in a fifties-style quiff, or flattened forwards. At the latest point in the Tenth Doctor's life, Wilfred Mott organised the Silver Cloak, a group of pensioners, to seek him out by recognising his appearance; Wilf described the Doctor's hair as being a "modern style", and "all sticky-uppy". Like most of his previous incarnations, he went clean-shaven. The Doctor was considered good looking by people he encountered on his travels, and seemingly thought this of himself as well - his subsequent incarnation would characterise "Number Ten" as having a problem with vanity. 

For the early minutes of his tenth life, the Doctor continued to wear the clothes his previous incarnation had on at the time of his regeneration. After arriving in London and collapsing, he was placed in a set of pyjamas and a dressing gown, which he kept until he chose a new outfit at the end of his first adventure. 

This incarnation had several variations of dress. He had two main suits, a dark brown suit with blue pinstripes and a blue suit with red pinstripes. On rare occasions, he would also don a bow tie and tuxedo. 

Under his suits he usually wore a shirt and a tie, or wore an open-necked shirt with a t-shirt underneath. He had a red-hued t-shirt, a brown t-shirt or a purple t-shirt.

Both brown and blue suits were often accompanied by a light brown Duster-type overcoat, which the Doctor claimed had been given to him by Janis Joplin. He usually took it off while doing fiddly tasks or piloting his TARDIS. 

His footwear choices were trainers, more specifically, Converse All Stars. He varied the colours from cream white to go with his brown suit, red for wearing with blue suit and on a few occasions, black to go with his tuxedo/brown suit. Both his next incarnation and the War Doctor stated the trainers he wore were sand-shoes, despite his claims that they weren't. 

Another part of the Doctor's attire was a pair of dark tortoise-shell rectangular frame glasses, which he called "brainy specs". Although he wore them on numerous occasions, he later pointed out to an earlier incarnation they didn't need them and simply used them because they made him look clever. At one time, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to darken the lenses to effectively turn them into sunglasses. 

His favourite variation of dress seemed to be his brown suit with blue pinstripes, a light blue shirt, a tie and cream ankle-high Converse All Star shoes.

Next: The 11th Doctor!