10 Defining Rules Of Iconic Characters (That Came Later Than You Think)

"Never cruel or cowardly" was how influential 1970s Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks described the credo of Britain's favourite regenerating time traveller, adding: "though often caught up in violent situations, he is a man of peace." This remains central to the appeal of the character. He is a man (and occasionally woman) who solves problems with his or her wits instead of violence.

In particular this manifests itself in an opposition to guns. David Tennant's Tenth Doctor simply said "I never would," while Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth spent her second episode insisting her new companions not use them.

This pacifist outlook hasn't always been present, though. In his very first story back in 1963 the Doctor had to be stopped by companion Ian from bashing a caveman's skull with a rock so that he didn't slow them down. Violent murder wasn't a last resort, it was his first thought!

And that wasn't just a case of pilot episode weirdness. In the era of the Third Doctor an imaginary martial art was added to the Doctor's arsenal, while the Fourth Doctor frequently resolved conflicts violently and had few of his successors' qualms about guns. In 1978's The Invasion Of Time, for example, he shoots a whole host of Sontarans with a "demat gun" that wipes them from time itself.

Of course even in the modern show you do occasionally see the Doctor pick up a firearm, but nowadays that's established as being so much against the character's personal rules that it plays as an impactful moment, a moral event horizon, where back in the 70s it was just par for the course.