10 Lies About Doctor Who You Probably Believe
2. "Reverse The Polarity Of The Neutron Flow" Is A Third Doctor Catchphrase
Doctor Who catchphrases are a funny thing. They often emerge by accident rather than by design, and are not always used as commonly as fans remember them to be.
Case in point: few fans would dispute that the Third Doctor’s favourite phrase was “reverse the polarity of the neutron flow”, despite the fact that he only said it once during his own era (in The Sea Devils) and twice in total (the second instance being in The Five Doctors).
It would be somewhat more accurate to say that the Third Doctor’s catchphrase is simply “reverse the polarity” – but even that phrase only appears in a few more serials.
In fact, there are far more cases of the phrase being used by other Doctors, in other eras. It’s been said by the Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Doctors, and gone down in history as the ultimate example of Doctor Who technobabble.
Quite how it managed to catch on after a literal handful of appearances is anyone’s guess. But catch on it did, to the point where it is now as much a part of the Third Doctor’s personality as capes, cravats, and frilly shirts.