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Doctorish Characters in Fiction

the vet

the vet

Lieutenant
Red Shirt
What characters in fiction remind you of the Doctor? Two that stand out for me are Uncle Lubin: wears a floppy hat, builds vehicles, outwits various monsters, and Willy Wonka: enigmatic, mysterious, knows a great deal about the Knids who he has fought before, in the recent West End production the great glass elevator even is shaped like a telephone kiosk
 
Ford Prefect from the original Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy TV show was Doctorish. He even dressed like a version of #5.

He only had an electronic thumb of course....and a book....and a towel. Still lots of shenanigans.
 
There might have been the chance for a nice DW-inspired TNG spin-off starring Q and Vash. Oh well, I'm sure at least fan fiction exists on that subject.
 
Dirk Gently is rather Doctor-ish, with his "the-universe-will-tell-me-what-to-do" approach to things.

Then, of course, there's Mary Poppins, but we already knew that she was a Timelord.
 
auntiehill said:
Dirk Gently is rather Doctor-ish, with his "the-universe-will-tell-me-what-to-do" approach to things.

Then, of course, there's Mary Poppins, but we already knew that she was a Timelord.
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Well, Dirk's first novel is a mashup of Shada and City of Death, so he'd have to be a BIT Doctory to fit the narrative role.

Patrick Jane from The Mentalist is quite Doctorish, barring the scientific knowledge.
 
Ar-Pharazon said:
Ford Prefect from the original Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy TV show was Doctorish. He even dressed like a version of #5.

He only had an electronic thumb of course....and a book....and a towel. Still lots of shenanigans.
Click to expand...

Who created Ford Prefect and the Hitchhiker's Guide? Douglas Adams. He was story editor on Doctor Who during Tom Baker's era after all so it's no surprise that the Doctor Who element appeared in Hitchhiker's. Same with Dirk Gently. The Krikkit Wars were a storyline he wanted to do in Doctor Who after all.

Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes is very Doctor-like too, but then besides the fact that Moffat works on both shows, I always thought the Doctor was very like Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes anyway.
 
Apparently the producer at the time thought the idea of the Krikit Wars was too silly
 
I don't hate all the modern era stuff -- just the very silly episodes that make no logical sense or contradict well established scientific fact too much.

There are, of course, many time travel stories -- some dating back to the 18th century.

Some works of SF literature that likely inspired DW to some extent:

The Chronic Argonauts by H G Wells (1888) -- Dr. Moses Nebogipfel is the main protagonist.
There is absolutely no deception, sir, said Nebogipfel with the slightest trace of mockery in his voice. "I lay no claim to work in matters spiritual. It is a bona fide mechanical contrivance, a thing emphatically of this sordid world. Excuse me -- just one minute." He rose from his knees, stepped upon the mahogany platform, took a curiously curved lever in his hand and pulled it over. Cook rubbed his eyes. There certainly was no deception. The doctor and the machine had vanished.
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The Time Machine by H G Wells (1895) -- An improvement on The Chronic Argonauts. The time traveller is perhaps somewhat doctor like in his erratic behaviour and his name is not revealed.

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (1955) -- Time guardians tweak reality to minimise suffering over human history. Possibly a prototype for the Time Lords?

There's also a French work of fiction about a time traveller that predates Dr Who (no, it's neither Docteur Qui dreamt up by Bill Bailey nor is it La Jetée) but I can't locate it in a search. I recall people around here mentioning that it might have had some influence on the series.
 
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I don't think OP was asking for time travel stories before Doctor Who, but of characters that remind you of the Doctor himself. Very intelligent and very eccentric.
 
Ah well, then, from 1963 onward:

Professor Wagstaff in A Hitch in Time (1978) -- Patrick Troughton plays a human Doctor-like character. His last film I believe.

Doc Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-90) is quite similar apart from being human.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). A time machine disguised as a telephone booth. No doctor analogue as such though.

Legends of Tomorrow (2016) seems like a Doctor rip-off because of Arthur Darvill but the comic predates Dr Who by 4 years. Rip Hunter is another human with some Doctor-like attributes. The TV version dresses much more like the Doctor than the comic version.

There are other DW-like series in the pipeline that have yet to air here.
 
Asbo Zaprudder said:
I don't hate all the modern era stuff -- just the very silly episodes that make no logical sense or contradict well established scientific fact too much.

There are, of course, many time travel stories -- some dating back to the 18th century.

Some works of SF literature that likely inspired DW to some extent:

The Chronic Argonauts by H G Wells (1888) -- Dr. Moses Nebogipfel is the main protagonist.


The Time Machine by H G Wells (1895) -- An improvement on The Chronic Argonauts. The time traveller is perhaps somewhat doctor like in his erratic behaviour and his name is not revealed.

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (1955) -- Time guardians tweak reality to minimise suffering over human history. Possibly a prototype for the Time Lords?

There's also a French work of fiction about a time traveller that predates Dr Who (no, it's neither Docteur Qui dreamt up by Bill Bailey nor is it La Jetée) but I can't locate it in a search. I recall people around here mentioning that it might have had some influence on the series.
Click to expand...

You're probably thinking of Doctor Omega by Arnould Galoupin - though the modern English translation by the L'Officiers does actually add and embellish the DW-ish elements more than there is in the original story.
 
Lonemagpie said:
You're probably thinking of Doctor Omega by Arnould Galoupin - though the modern English translation by the L'Officiers does actually add and embellish the DW-ish elements more than there is in the original story.
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That's probably the one -- although it seems to be more about adventuring in space than in time.
 
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