Doctor Who: 10 Reasons Why The Third Doctor Is The Best Ever
3. The Tattoo
Yes, the Third Doctor had ink. In Spearhead from Space, the newly regenerated titular Time Lord takes a shower and a tattooed snake in the shape of a question mark is clearly seen on his forearm. It's later seen again in a shot from The Silurians (above). So... what the heck?! Well, thanks to The Doctors Wife, it's been established that tattoos don't survive regeneration. As such, the Third Doctor must have got this done before he first staggered out of the TARDIS, so how did it even happen? Remember that the Second Doctor was forced to regenerate into the Third by the Time Lords. It was part of his punishment for interfering in the affairs of other worlds. The second part of his sentence was to be marooned on Earth and there's a rather elegant theory which suggests that the snake question mark was there to brand him as a renegade and an exile. Its one of those ideas that is so good it deserves to be made canon. Even better, you can run with the idea, too. Perhaps the Doctors fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations adopted the question mark motif in their outfits as a sort of up yours to the Time Lords. Maybe its just prison fashion. Thankfully, the Doctor plumped for this, rather than wearing his jeans low enough to show his underpants. Which other Doctors were cool enough to be inked? Exactly.
Older than some and taller than most. Grey of eye and white of beard.
Stephen's book 'Hiding', about a boy who meets a goblin in a local wood, is available to download from the usual places. Think of it as a scavenger hunt.
