Doctor Who - Jon Pertwee - The Third Doctor (1970 - 1974)

Reverse the Polarity: Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor

At the end of the serial 'The War Games' The Doctor was forcibly regenerated by the Time Lords and sentenced to exile on Earth. We never saw the regeneration on screen, just Troughton disappearing in the War Games in 1969 and then in 1970 at the beginning of Spearhead From Space, Jon Pertwee emerging from the TARDIS and face-planting in a field.



Pertwee's Doctor became a favourite with the fans, the first Doctor to be in colour and with most of the action taking place on Earth, The Third Doctor became a little like James Bond in that he had various modes of transport at his beck and call. Also during Pertwee's tenure, memorable villains such as the Autons, the Sontarans the Silurians and the Sea Devils made their first appearances. Of course, old foes the Daleks appeared too and the Doctor's deadly enemy, the Master.

In 'Planet of the Spiders', after being poisoned by the radiation on Metebelis Three, the Third Doctor regenerates in view of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Doctor's companion Sarah Jane Smith.

Pertwee's decision to leave the role was because of type casting and the death of his good friend Roger Delgado, who played the Master. Also, Katy Manning who played the Doctor's companion Jo Grant had left so Pertwee felt the family was breaking up. His tenure as the Doctor was somewhat overshadowed by his successor, Tom Baker, who went on to play the Doctor for seven seasons, to date the longest any actor has played the role.

Jon Pertwee died of a heart attack in 1996 at the age of 76.