Doctor Who Series 12: Ten Huge Questions After Nikola Tesla’s Night Of Terror
7. Since When Was The Doctor An Inventor?
Tesla assumes that the TARDIS is one of the Doctor’s inventions, and although she does not correct him, this is clearly not the case. It has been well established that the Doctor stole the TARDIS from Gallifrey, a point that, quite surprisingly, wasn’t alluded to when the Skithra Queen cried hypocrisy after the Doctor mocked her for living off other people’s inventions.
The Doctor’s primary role has always been that of the explorer, a wanderer in time and space. But she is also a scientist, sceptical of the supernatural and often able to use science to win the day. Back in the 60s the idea that the Doctor was an eccentric inventor was certainly around, even if it was more of an inference by the audience. The two Peter Cushing Dalek movies and parody sketches such as Clive Dunn’s The Doctor’s New Invention go much further down that route than the TV series ever did.
Over the years, the Doctor has largely stuck to tried and tested gadgets, such as the psychic paper and of course the sonic screwdriver, only on the odd occasion has a Doctor invented something new, such as when the 10th Doctor assembled a device to track the ghosts in Army of Ghosts.
The 11th and 12th Doctor’s new sonic screwdrivers were both built for them by the TARDIS, but Whittaker’s Doctor is forced to make her own from scratch – ‘mostly spoons’. With her comedy safety glasses already a recognisable accessory, there can be no doubt that in her 13th incarnation the Doctor sees herself as an inventor.