How Many Incarnations Of The Doctor Are There?

May 21, 2025

Since I was little, I’ve been a massive fan of BBC sci-fi institution Doctor Who. This love continues today, with me going out of my way to guarantee I never miss one of the Doctor’s adventures. One of the most fascinating elements of the show’s recent seasons has been how they’ve shaken up the show’s lore, presenting a new take on the Doctor’s history, one that suggests there are incarnations of the Time Lord we’ve yet to see, ones who exist outside of the main numbering system fans have grown accustomed too.

This shouldn’t be surprising. Over the years, the various Doctor Who spin-offs, side stories, and audio dramas have introduced numerous unofficial incarnations of the legendary Time Lord, meaning that the numbering system has always been more of a handy convention than a hard and fast fact.

However, this got me wondering: If you include all of the spin-offs and extended media, how many incarnations of the Doctor have there been in total?

Incarnations Of The Doctor [In Order Of First Appearance]

1 – First Doctor

Debuted In: An Unearthly Child [1963]
Played By: William Hartnell

Hartnell’s Doctor laid the foundation for the entire franchise. While he’s more crotchety than later incarnations, he still retains the Doctor’s overall good nature.

2 – Dr. Who

Debuted In: Dr. Who and the Daleks [1965]
Played By: Peter Cushing

The first “non-canon” Doctor. Cushing’s Doctor appeared in two movies, Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D (1966). Cushing’s Doctor is more eccentric and less grumpy than the mainline First Doctor.

Also, Peter Cushing famously lived in Whitstable. Thus, I am obliged to post this:

3 – Second Doctor

Debuted In: The Tenth Planet [1966]
Played By: Patrick Troughton

The mainline Second Doctor is a space vagabond known for playing the recorder while trying to think.

4 – Third Doctor

Debuted In: The War Games [1969]
Played By: Jon Pertwee

The mainline Third Doctor was known for getting stuck on Earth, being a snappy dresser, and being the first Doctor to use Venusian Aikido.

5 – The Leader

A Poster Of The Leader — *^{You know a character is obscure when I can only use a picture of a picture of them.}*

Debuted In: Inferno [1970]
Played By: Jack Kine

Our first Doctor from an alternative universe! In the “Inferno,” the Third Doctor learns of an alternative timeline dubbed the Inferno Universe. In this universe, Britain has become a fascist regime ruled by a mysterious figure called The Leader.

The Leader’s exact identity has been debated. However, the 1991 book Timewyrm: Revelation stated he was an incarnation of The Doctor.

6 – Third Doctor [Alternative Earth]

Debuted In: Dead On Arrival (Doctor Who Annual) [1974]

Dead On Arrival sees the Doctor and Jo get pulled into an alternative Earth when cosmic dust causes the TARDIS’ molecular adjuster to fail. While on this planet, Jo meets another incarnation of the Third Doctor. Due to the two universes being basically the same, this version of the Third Doctor acts exactly like the one Jo knows (even traveling with Jo’s alternative universe self).

7 – Fourth Doctor

Debuted In: Planet of the Spiders [1974]
Played By: Tom Baker

The mainline fourth Doctor, known for his long scarves and remaining the face of the show long after he left.

8 – Seven Keys to Doomsday Doctor

Debuted In: Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday [1974]
Played By: Trevor Martin

Running between Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker’s television runs, Seven Keys To Doomsday was a stage play where The Doctor teamed up with two new companions to battle the Daleks. However, neither Baker nor Pertwee had time to play the lead role, so Trevor Martin was cast.

Interestingly, the play starts with Martin emerging dressed as the Third Doctor. He would then collapse as the projection screen showed pictures of previous Doctors melting into one another before showing Martin’s face. Martin then removed his Third Doctor outfit and continued with the story, implying that he was a newly-regenerated Fourth Doctor.

9 – Morbius Doctor 1

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Christopher Barry

The Morbius Doctors marks the first time the show has suggested that Hartnell’s Doctor was not the first incarnation of the beloved Time Lord. During a mental battle with Morbius, the creature tells the Doctor that he will mentally send him “Back! Back to your beginning,” before eight faces flash on the nearby screen.

All of the faces shown are members of the production crew. However, later spin-off material has expanded on these figures heavily, turning them into fully-fledged incarnations or brushing them off as fakes created by The Doctor to throw Morbius off the scent.

10 – Morbius Doctor 2

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Robert Banks Stewart

11 – Morbius Doctor 3

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Christopher Baker

12 – Morbius Doctor 4

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Philip Hinchcliffe

13 – Morbius Doctor 5

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Douglas Camfield

14 – Morbius Doctor 6

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Graeme Harper

15 – Morbius Doctor 7

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: Robert Holmes

16 – Morbius Doctor 8

Debuted In: The Brain of Morbius [1976]
Played By: George Gallaccio

17 – The Watcher

Debuted In: Logopolis [1981]
Played By: Adrian Gibbs

This is one of the most heavily debated ones. Logopolis introduces a mysterious, all-white figure who seems to follow the Doctor wherever he goes.

When the Fourth Doctor is injured, this figure comes close and merges with him, triggering the regeneration into the Fifth Doctor. Because of this, fans debate whether this is a unique incarnation or a time-displaced version of the Fifth Doctor.

18 – Fifth Doctor

Debuted In: Logopolis [1981]
Played By: Peter Davison

The mainline Fifth Doctor, known for pinning celery to his lapel.

19 – Sixth Doctor

Debuted In: The Caves of Androzani [1984]
Played By: Colin Baker

Played by Colin Baker, this is the sixth mainline incarnation of the Doctor. While he’s often overlooked when fans discuss the franchise, Vengeance on Varos is likely the most well-aged Classic Who serial.

20 – Alternative Seven Keys to Doomsday Doctor

Debuted In: Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday (New Zealand Tour) [1984]
Played By: Michael Sagar

In 1984, a version of Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday was performed in New Zealand. Michael Sagar played the Doctor in this version. However, this version feels like a different incarnation due to his unique outfit and Sagar’s unique take on the character.

21 – The Valeyard

Debuted In: The Mysterious Planet [1986]
Played By: Michael Jayston

One of the most famous “unknown” incarnations, The Valeyard, was introduced during the “Trial of a Time Lord” arc. At first, it was said that The Valeyard came somewhere between the Doctor’s twelfth and final incarnation and that he was the “amalgamation of the darker sides” of the Doctor’s psyche.

Later extended media has tweaked this slightly, especially now that the twelfth and thirteenth Doctors have come and gone without a hint of the Valeyard.

22 – Seventh Doctor

Debuted In: Time and the Rani [1987]
Played By: Sylvester McCoy

The seventh mainline incarnation of the Doctor, played by the ever-dashing Sylvester McCoy.

23 – Father of Time

Debuted In: The Test of Time [The Doctor Who Fun Book] [1987]

“The Test Of Time” is a comic in The Doctor Who Fun Book. In this comic, the Father of Time, a being that claims it keeps watch over all of time and predates the Time Lords, pulls the First Doctor out of his timestream and makes him perform a series of challenges.

At the end of the story, the First Doctor suddenly realizes that the Father of Time is one of his future incarnations. However, it has never been explained where he fits into the timeline.

24 – Muldwych/Merlin

Debuted In: Battlefield [1989]

This version was first hinted at in the Seventh Doctor story, “Battlefield.” Several people recognize The Doctor as Merlin during this story, sowing the seeds that the Doctor would eventually take on the title.

Naturally, extended media picked up on this, turning Merlin (also called Muldwych) into a fully-fledged future Doctor incarnation, with the Doctor even encountering this incarnation face-to-face a few times.

25 – The Ultimate Adventure Doctor

Debuted In: The Ultimate Adventure [1989]
Played By: David Banks

The Ultimate Adventure was a Doctor Who stage play that ran in 1989. Initially, Jon Pertwee was the star, reprising the role of the Third Doctor. However, when Pertwee fell ill, his understudy David Banks filled in for a single performance.

Interestingly, Banks didn’t wear the Third Doctor’s outfit or do a Pertwee impression. Instead, he donned a unique costume and played a slightly different version of the Doctor. Soon after, Colin Baker would be hired to finish the run, reprising his role as the Sixth Doctor.

26 – The Other

Debuted In: Remembrance of the Daleks (Novel) [1990]

Making his debut in the 1990 novel Remembrance of the Daleks, The Other was said to be one of the founders of Time Lord society. While extended media has offered various ideas of who The Other is, the 1997 novel Lungbarrow said that The Other was reincarnated into The Doctor, making him an early form of the Time Lord.

Similarly, the 1998 novel “The Infinity Doctors,” said that The Other was simply an incarnation of the Doctor who comes before the First Doctor.

27 – The Doctor

Debuted In: An Army of Shadows (Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special) [1991]

The winter 1991 episode of Doctor Who Magazine focused on UNIT. One segment of the magazine saw one member of UNIT talk about the eight incarnations of the Doctor they had worked with up to that point. One of these incarnations (represented by a picture of Brian Blessed) is a large, bearded man who looks nothing like any of the mainline Doctors.

28 – Fred/The Nth Doctor

Debuted In: Party Animals (Doctor Who Monthly Comics) [1991]

Meeting the Seventh Doctor at Bonjaxx’s birthday celebration, The Nth Doctor is an alternative future incarnation of the Doctor. While he called himself The Doctor during his original appearance, the 2021 novel Cyber-Hunt explained that this Doctor was removed from the Doctor’s timeline after making a deal with a shadowy figure. This deal restored the Nth Doctor’s homeworld at the cost of his memories and place in the Doctor’s timeline. After this, the now amnesiac space traveler took the name Fred.

29 – Land Of Fiction’s Dr. Who

Debuted In: Conundrum [1994]

The Land of Fiction is one of the strangest places in Doctor Who lore, so it’s only natural it would end up with its own (particularly funky) Time Lord at some point.

This happens in the Conundrum and Head Games novels, where the former Master of the Land of Fiction creates a doppelganger of the Doctor (who resembles the Seventh Doctor). Unlike the actual Doctor, this version is much more rash, meaning he often acts on his darker instincts.

30 – Eighth Doctor

Debuted In: Doctor Who [1996]
Played By: Paul McGann

The mainline Eighth Doctor. This incarnation was the focus of the now-infamous TV Movie.

31 – Final Doctor/Alien Bodies Doctor

Debuted In: Alien Bodies [1997]

The 1997 book Alien Bodies introduces readers to The Relic. This object is said to be all that is left of the Doctor after he dies during the War in Heaven. However, as this body contained all of the Doctor’s millennia of knowledge, it quickly became a highly sought-after item, hence the name.

32 – The Infinity Doctor

Debuted In: The Infinity Doctors [1998]

The Infinity Doctor hails from an alternative timeline where the Doctor settles on Gallifrey and becomes a teacher. Weirdly, The Infinity Doctors novel (likely due to its unusual premise) implies that this Doctor has infinite pasts and futures and may be alternative versions of any number of Doctors or a Doctor from an alternative universe.

33 – Obverse Eighth Doctor

Debuted In: The Blue Angel [1999]

The Obverse is a strange part of the universe where the usual rules of reality don’t apply. An alternative version of the Eighth Doctor originates from this weird realm. Due to this, the Obverse Eighth Doctor has several quirks. Most notably, his mother was a mermaid named Magda, and he has no navel. Even stranger, in the 1990s, he became a landlord.

34 – Blue Angel Doctor

Debuted In: The Blue Angel [1999]

Appearing in The Blue Angel novel, this Doctor comes sometime after the Time Lord’s eighth incarnation. He is described as being overweight with a mustache. Even weirder, he apparently wore a Napoleon hat, waistcoat, and eye patch.

35 – Ninth Doctor [Curse Of Fatal Death]

Debuted In: The Curse of Fatal Death [1999]
Played By: Rowan Atkinson

In 1999, the British Charity Telethon Red Nose Day included a sketch lampooning Doctor Who. The sketch sees the Ninth Doctor (played by Rowan Atkinson) and his companion Emma being cornered by the Master on the planet of Tersurus.

The core part of this sketch sees the Doctor repeatedly dying and regenerating due to various mishaps. Each new (and increasingly wacky) incarnation of the Doctor is played by a popular actor from the time.

36 – Tenth Doctor [Curse Of Fatal Death]

Debuted In: The Curse of Fatal Death [1999]
Played By: Richard E Grant

37 – Eleventh Doctor [Curse Of Fatal Death]

Debuted In: The Curse of Fatal Death [1999]
Played By: Jim Broadbent

38 – Twelfth Doctor [Curse Of Fatal Death]

Debuted In: The Curse of Fatal Death [1999]
Played By: Hugh Grant

39 – Thirteenth Doctor [Curse Of Fatal Death]

Debuted In: The Curse of Fatal Death [1999]
Played By: Joanna Lumley

40 – Doc Gallifrey

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

The Glorious Dead, a ten-part Eighth Doctor comic story featured in Doctor Who Monthly magazine, sees the Doctor battle the Master through the omniverse, encountering many alternative versions of himself as he does.

Doc Gallifrey is a Western-inspired version of the Eighth Doctor.

41 – Joe Smith

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

A noir-inspired version of the Eighth Doctor. He runs a detective agency.

42 – Lord Quiquaequod

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

A wizard-inspired version of the Eighth Doctor.

43 – Theta Stigma

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

A young version of the Eighth Doctor who goes to the Rani for psychiatric help (in a nod to the Peanuts franchise).

44 – Doctor [Cyborg]

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

A cyborg version of the Eighth Doctor with a gun for a hand.

45 – Tardis Tails

Debuted In: The Glorious Dead (Doctor Who Monthly) [2000]

A Heathcliff-inspired version of the Eighth Doctor. He’s a cat who loves fish.

46 – The Emperor

Debuted In: Father Time [2001]

The Emperor is a version of the Doctor from the far future. However, unlike his other incarnations, this version of the Doctor has become a terminal emperor who rules the universe with an iron fist.

47 – Shalka Doctor

Debuted In: Scream of the Shalka [2003]
Played By: Richard E Grant

In 2003 (a few years before Doctor Who was rebooted as a TV series), the BBC website released an animated webcast that told a new Doctor Who story.

In this story, Richard E. Grant plays a new version of the Doctor (billed as the Ninth Doctor). Unlike previous incarnations of the Time Lord, the Shalka Doctor is gothic and brooding as he is recovering from a traumatic event.

48 – Potential Ninth Doctor 1

Debuted In: The Tomorrow Windows [2004]

In the 2004 novel The Tomorrow Windows, the Eighth Doctor looks into the titular Tomorrow Window and sees several of his potential futures. During this segment, the Doctor sees many previous non-canon future Doctors and two new ones, both of whom were inspired by people rumored to play the Doctor in the rebooted show. This first one, described as a “stocky man in a crushed velvet suit and eye-liner,” was based on Eddie Izzard.

49 – Potential Ninth Doctor 2

Debuted In: The Tomorrow Windows [2004]

As above, however, this one, described as a “scruffy student with unkempt, curly hair and an apologetic, lopsided smile,” was based on Alan Davies.

50 – Ninth Doctor

Debuted In: Rose [2005]
Played By: Christopher Eccleston

The ninth mainline Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston. The first official Doctor of the rebooted series.

51 – First Doctor (Auld Mortality’s Universe)

Debuted In: Auld Mortality [2003]
Played By: Geoffrey Bayldon

Introduced in the first Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound audio drama, this version of the First Doctor didn’t leave Gallifrey. This is because when he tried to steal a Tardis, the ghost of the Doctor’s great-granduncle Quences intervened and made the Doctor forget his desire, hoping that the Doctor would one day become President of the Time Lords. In the years following this failed escape, the Doctor became a popular fiction author, creating books like An Adventurer in Time and Space.

52 – The Exile Doctor

Debuted In: Exile [2003]
Played By: Arabella Weir

The Exile Doctor holds the title of the first female incarnation of the Doctor. However, this is rarely mentioned today, as Exile (one of Big Finish’s Doctor Who Unbound audio dramas) has dated terribly. Basically, in this alternative universe, the Second Doctor didn’t attend his trial, instead opting to kill himself. According to this audio drama, when a Time Lord kills themselves, they flip genders. So, with this new female body, the Doctor settles on Earth, gets a job at a supermarket, and becomes an alcoholic.

Look, there are many reasons why everyone has agreed to never mention this story again…

53 – The Unbound Doctor

Debuted In: Sympathy for the Devil [2003]
Played By: David Warner

Introduced by Big Finish, this alternative version of the Third Doctor comes from a universe where the Third Doctor’s banishment to Earth went wrong, causing him to land in Hong Kong in 1997 rather than England in 1970. Due to this, the Doctor never started working with the military group Unit, dramatically changing the flow of history.

54 – Full Fathom Five Doctor

Debuted In: Full Fathom Five [2003]
Played By: David Collings

The Big Finish audio drama Full Fathom Five (part of its Doctor Who Unbound line of stories) follows an alternative version of the Doctor who believes that “the ends justified the means,” meaning he’s darker and more violent than the mainline Doctors.

55 – Second Full Fathom Five Doctor

Debuted In: Full Fathom Five [2003]
Played By: Ian Brooker

Near the end of Full Fathom Five, the Doctor is killed and regenerates. Once the regeneration is done, the Doctor stands up and says one line before being killed again. Due to this, the second Full Fathom Five Doctor is the shortest-ever incarnation of the Doctor, as he only lives for 11 seconds.

56 – Tenth Doctor

Debuted In: The Parting of the Ways [2005]
Played By: David Tennant

The tenth mainline Doctor, played by David Tennant.

57 – Meta-Crisis Doctor

Debuted In: Journey’s End [2008]
Played By: David Tennant

This one is debatable (but it is funnier if he is included). This Doctor is a hybrid of the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, created when Donna accidentally touched the severed hand the Doctor had poured his regeneration energy into (it makes sense in context).

58 – Eleventh Doctor

Debuted In: The End of Time [2009]
Played By: Matt Smith

The eleventh mainline incarnation of the Doctor, played by Matt Smith.

59 – Johann Schmidt

Debuted In: Klein’s Story [2010]
Played By: Paul McGann

Johann Schmidt is an alternative version of the Eighth Doctor who comes from a timeline where the Nazis won World War II, and the Seventh Doctor was gunned down by Nazis when the Tardis materialized at a border checkpoint in 1955.

60 – Dream Lord

Debuted In: Amy’s Choice [2010]
Played By: Toby Jones

Another debatable inclusion (whom I’m adding as I love Toby Jones). The Dream Lord was a psychic manifestation of the Doctor’s darkest elements created when psychic pollen got stuck in the TARDIS’ time rotor.

61 – Ganger Doctor

Debuted In: The Almost People [2011]
Played By: Matt Smith

A duplicate of the Eleventh Doctor. It was created when the Doctor accidentally left a DNA imprint in the Flesh. Interestingly, this Doctor knew of the main one’s past regenerations despite being a copy (as it briefly started acting like them while trying to stabilize).

62 – The War Doctor

Debuted In: The Name of the Doctor [2013]
Played By: John Hurt

The War Doctor was the first example of the TV series introducing a new, previously unseen, incarnation of the Doctor that comes before the current one. This is the incarnation of the Doctor who fought in the Time War and the one who ended it by destroying the Time Lords and the Daleks (though both would recover from this setback).

63 – Twelfth Doctor

Debuted In: The Day of the Doctor [2013]
Played By: Peter Capaldi

The twelfth mainline incarnation of the Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi.

64 – The Curator

Debuted In: The Day of the Doctor [2013]
Played By: Tom Baker

A mysterious figure who maintains the Under Gallery. While Day of the Doctor hints at it, extended media practically confirms that The Curator is a future version of the Doctor who uses the Time Lord’s “old favorite” faces.

65 – Twelfth Doctor [Four Doctors]

Debuted In: Four Doctors [2015]

In the Four Doctors comic, the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors go to an alternative universe where they see dark mirrors of themselves. The Twelfth Doctor meets a version of himself that becomes bitter after breaking up with Clara.

66 – Time Lord Victorious [Four Doctors]

Debuted In: Four Doctors [2015]

In the same manner, as above, the Tenth Doctor meets a version of himself who fully embraces the Time Lord Victorious title and becomes a galactic tyrant.

67 – Married Eleventh Doctor [Four Doctors]

Debuted In: Four Doctors [2015]

The Eleventh Doctor meets a version of himself that didn’t convince River Song to kill him. Due to this, the pair spends their lives as a regular married couple despite the universe dying around them.

68 – Mirror Doctor

Debuted In: The Silvering (Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor) [2016]

When the Eighth Doctor looks into Silversmith’s mirror, a duplicate of him is formed. However, unlike the regular Eighth Doctor, his mirror counterpart exists in a constant fog of depression and sadness.

69 – Twelfth Doctor [Shadow World]

Debuted In: Extremis [2017]
Played By: Peter Capaldi

Another debatable inclusion. The episode Extremis features a unique twist that sees the Doctor realize he’s not actually the real Doctor. Instead, he’s a copy living within a computer simulation that a group of aliens has created to plan and workshop their invasion of Earth.

70 – Thirteenth Doctor

Debuted In: Twice Upon a Time [2017]
Played By: Jodie Whittaker

The Thirteenth mainline incarnation of the Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker.

71 – Alternative Sixth Doctor

Debuted In: The People Made of Smoke [2020]
Played By: Dan Starkey

In the Big Finish audio drama The People Made Of Smoke, the Fifth Doctor encounters The Smoke, an entity created from the damage done to the timeline. Near the end of the story, the Doctor trapped all of The Smoke in the TARDIS. In response, The Smoke attacks the Doctor, causing him to regenerate into an alternative version of the Sixth Doctor (though this is undone soon after).

72 – Fugitive Doctor

Debuted In: Fugitive of the Judoon [2020]
Played By: Jo Martin

One of the biggest Doctor Who revelations in recent history, the Fugitive Doctor is a previously forgotten incarnation of the Time Lord who came before the First Doctor. Before going on the run, the Fugitive Doctor worked for Division, a shadowy Time Lord organization.