1970 - 1974
"I sometimes think that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms." Portrayed by; Jon Pertwee (1919 - 1996)
The Third Doctor was a suave, dapper, technologically-oriented, and authoritative man of action, who not only practiced Venusian Aikido (or Karate), but enjoyed working on gadgets and riding all manner of vehicles, such as the Whomobile and his pride and joy, the canary-yellow vintage roadster nicknamed "Bessie," a construct which featured such modifications as a remote control, dramatically increased speed capabilities and even inertial dampeners.
While this incarnation spent most of his time exiled on Earth, where he grudgingly worked as UNIT's scientific advisor, he would occasionally be sent on covert missions by the Time Lords, where he would often act as a reluctant mediator. Even though he developed a fondness for Earthlings with whom he worked (such as Liz Shaw and Jo Grant), he would jump at any chance to return to the stars with the enthusiasm of a far younger man than himself (as can be seen in his frivolous attitude in The Mutants).
If this Doctor had a somewhat patrician and authoritarian air, he was just as quick to criticise authority too—having little patience with self-inflated bureaucrats, parochially-narrow ministers, knee-jerk militarists or red tape in general. His courageousness could easily turn to waspish indignation. It is thus no surprise that a common catchphrase of his was, "Now listen to me!"
Despite his now-and-then arrogance, the Third Doctor genuinely cared for his companions in a paternal fashion, and even held a thinly-veiled but grudging admiration for his nemesis, the Master, and for UNIT's leader, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, with whom he eventually became friends.
In fact, even when his much resented exile was lifted, the highly moral and dashing Third Doctor continued to help UNIT protect the Earth from all manner of alien threats.
Perhaps due to his time spent on Earth, or maybe just as a function of his pacifistic and authoritative tendencies, the Third Doctor was a skilled diplomat (keeping talks going in The Curse of Peladon, for example) and linguist, as well as having an odd knack for disguises - all of this, combined with his formidable galactic experience, often allowed the Third Doctor to play a central role in the events he found himself in.
Televised AdventuresSpearhead from Space; Doctor Who and the Silurians
The Ambassadors of Death; Inferno;
Terror of the AutonsThe Mind of Evil;
The Claws of Axos; Colony In Space
The Daemons; Day of the Daleks;
The Curse of PeladonThe Sea Devils;
The Mutants; The Time Monster
The Three Doctors; Carnival of Monsters;
Frontier In SpacePlanet of the Daleks;
The Green Death; The Time Warrior
Invasion of the Dinosaurs; Death to the Daleks
The Monster of Peladon; Planet of the Spiders
The Five Doctors