A Question I Have To Ask

[PointyHairedJedi]

Oh, he did once, sorta, but then he came back somehow (not like that Sheridan dweeb did though).

I always find discussions about canon and Doctor Who to be particularly difficult - one of the truly wonderful things for me about the show is that it has always been flexible and subject to change, just because of the very nature of the show's premise - time travel, as Oscar Wilde might have said were he from Gallifrey, covers a multitude of sins. There are a core set of irrefutable facts of course, but in practical terms you can believe that everything - series, books, audios, comics, whatever - is 'canon', or you can pick any combination of those things as you see fit, simply because time travel in the Whoniverse is such a chaotic and pleasingly ill-defined thing. Like me, you can even choose to ignore the whole thing and just simply enjoy one of the richest characters in SF doing his bit to make the Universe a slightly less scary place.

From The Dying Days

'Who are you?' Xznaal hissed. 'Sshow yoursself. Identify yoursself.'

'I am the man that gives monsters nightmares.'

I frowned. It was a loudspeaker, a public address system of some kind. The second time the voice had spoken it had been at a normal volume.

'The Daleks call me the Bringer of Darkness.'

I couldn't begin to work out where the voice was coming from. It was getting louder, reaching a crescendo.

'I am the Eighth Man Bound.'

Something was glittering, coalescing in the air over Tower Bridge. A face.

'I am the Champion of Life and Time.'

A long, angular face with a jutting chin and aristocratic nose, framed by a mane of brown hair.

'I'm the guy with two hearts.'

Thousand-year-old eyes and a child-like expression gazed down at us, smiling angelically.

'I make history better.'

There was a pause that contained worlds and histories immeasurable to man. Then four words, each one louder than the last, each one drowning out the noise of the wind and the battle.

'I... '

My eyes were watering.

'Am... '

The Brigadier lowered his binoculars, his eyes wide.

'The Doctor!'

And it was.