Doctor Who: Every Version Of The Doctor Explained

The Fifth Doctor was the most youthful incarnation in the classic Doctor Who era. But rather than write this Doctor as a young adventurer with a zest for life, the Fifth Doctor was often written as an insecure and indecisive character.

This often meant that his stories ended with catastrophic amounts of bloodshed, due to the Doctor's inability to find another way. He was one of the only Doctors to have a companion die on his watch, with boy genius Adric meeting his maker in the story Earthshock.

He did, however, put his youthful frame to good use, and even took time out of adventuring to enjoy a spot of cricket.

The Fifth Doctor finally got his act together in The Caves of Androzani, when he risked everything to save new companion Peri from spectrox toxaemia, a deadly sickness.

Having secured enough of the cure to save only his companion and not himself, he bravely gave his life for her, and began the process of regenerating – which, perhaps due to the poison's effects, felt a lot different than normal.