Doctor Who: The problem with multi-Doctor stories

At Doctor Who Watch, we’re continuing to celebrate the fifty-fifth anniversary all weekend! Today, we look at the multi-Doctor specials. They can be enjoyable, but can they also be problematic?

First things first, let me make something very clear: I love a multi-Doctor story. There’s always something really fun about other Doctors meeting each other, especially when the original actors are involved and they can bounce off each other. For pure giddy nostalgia in Doctor Who, they can’t be beaten.

But what about a good story, though? We got one with The Three Doctors, admittedly. It’s not perfect, but like I said, it is fun seeing all three Doctors together. We’re not made aware of where each Doctor is from in their own personal timeline, but it’s fun watching Two and Three together. And we get some great Time Lord mythology too with Omega.

Then there’s The Five Doctors a decade later. It’s an enjoyable story, don’t get me wrong. It’s fun to see not just so many Doctors together, but also old enemies like the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Master and so many others in one story. As a special that’s designed to celebrate twenty years of the show, it doesn’t do a bad job, overall.

Still, it’s not without its problems. The key thing to remember is that, while they all look and act different, the different incarnations of the Doctor are supposed to be the exact same person at different stages of their life. And, despite the occasional jokes, such as, “Ah, there I am, I mean, there you are!”, there are moments when the writing seems to forget this.

Borusa and the Doctor

One key example is Borusa. At times, it feels like only the Fifth Doctor has a personal connection to the character. Certainly, when the First, Second, and Third Doctors meet him, it feels less personal for each of them.

This is in some ways understandable. After all, Borusa wasn’t introduced until the Fourth Doctor story The Deadly Assassin. But even in that story, it was made very, very clear that the Doctor had known him as a former tutor during his days as a student of Prydon Academy.

So the First, Second and Third Doctor should have reacted in exactly the same way – more or less – as Five did. But they act like they hardly know him.

More from Winter is Coming

• For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
• Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
• Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
• Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
• Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”

This is the problem with multi-Doctor stories. When the Doctors are written as different characters, it can be harder for the writers to remember – truly remember – that they’re the same person.

It can also risk ruining continuity. For a perfect example of this, check out The Two Doctors. While initially, it looks like they’re trying hard to recapture the Second Doctor’s era, there are just so many continuity problems inherent in the story – including the fact that the Doctor and Jamie are working for the Time Lords, when the companion had absolutely no clue about them until his final story The War Games – that a huge fan theory was created to explain it!

But sometimes, the writers can get the balance right. Sometimes, a multi-Doctor story can work perfectly. It can have fun with the different Doctors interacting with each other, but it can also remember that they are the exact same person, too. And we’ll be discussing one of the best examples of that very soon…

What do you think of the multi-Doctor specials? Do you enjoy them? Do you think they remember enough that each of the Doctors are the same person? Let us know in the comments below.