[j22kh]

... to explain where he came from, who he was before he became known as 'The Doctor' and to find out why the Master and the Doctor have this ever growing hate for each other.

Just curious.

In my opinion, it would make the show much more interesting if we found out a lot more about him and what he was before he became the 'hero'.

[CD93]

Like the Time War, best left unseen I think.

[TEDR]

Like Torchwood, best left unseen I think.*

(* i.e. I'm sure some people would love it and therefore it'd be a good thing; not me though)

[sohoguy]

I suspect this may be what we get for the 50th. I dunno why. I just get the feeling this could be the moment to have that origin story told

[November_Rain]

It would just spoil the whole mystery behind The Doctor, diminishing a fundamental aspect of the series which makes it so enjoyable.

A nice idea in theory, but probably best left undone in practice.

[Hot Dogg]

Kind-of agree with most of the people above..
Don't know how it could be done without destroying the essential mystery of the show.
Do we really want to know who the Doctor was?
Could it be anything other than an anti-climax?

[j22kh]

Well, for me, I'd like to see it happen.

Here's why.

The writer would HAVE to keep his name still hidden and use his code name 'Theta Sigma' and do the prequel during his time at the Time Lord Academy. And still keep his character mysterious and hidden, not revealing anything, just how he became the man he is today.

Just my theory...

Loving your responses though, fellow fans! Keep them coming!

[Corwin]

I wouldn't want to see a full Origin Story with the Doctor going off to Hogwarts (AkA The Acadamy), meeting his new best friend Koschei and being mocked for being half Human by the Purebloods as it would just be silly (even RTD thought this).

However I wouldn't be totally opposed to seeing a one off story with a Youngish First Doctor (long after the Acadamy) showing how he and the Master first became enemies (though this has been explored in the Novels and Audios).

[GDK]

I've said before I'd like to see what happened to lead the Doctor to take the TARDIS. The crisis that led to that. Seeing the start of the love/hate relationship with the Master could be part of that. They'd need to cast someone to be a younger version of both. The young Master could look like anyone, since we dont know Roger Delgado's was the first, but the young Doctor would have to look like a younger version of William Hartnell's Doctor. Maybe part of it could also explain why the Doctor we first met appeared so (relatively) old. Did something age him unnaturally? It would also need a framing story involving Matt Smith's Doctor. Perhaps he needs to return to those events to protect his timeline a la DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations".

[JohnnyForget]

I think I'm (just) coming down on the side of those who think it's probably not a good idea.

On the other hand, if it were done, why not go the whole hog, and as well as showing how he first fell out with his friend, the Master (as others have suggested), also show his first wife (Susan's grandmother) and his children, one of whom would be Susan's mother or father. Did something really bad happen to all of them (and was the Master reponsible?), leaving a grieving Doctor and Susan to leave Gallifrey and go travelling in a stolen Tardis?

[nebogipfel]

Originally Posted by GDK

I've said before I'd like to see what happened to lead the Doctor to take the TARDIS. The crisis that led to that. Seeing the start of the love/hate relationship with the Master could be part of that. They'd need to cast someone to be a younger version of both. The young Master could look like anyone, since we dont know Roger Delgado's was the first, but the young Doctor would have to look like a younger version of William Hartnell's Doctor. Maybe part of it could also explain why the Doctor we first met appeared so (relatively) old. Did something age him unnaturally? It would also need a framing story involving Matt Smith's Doctor. Perhaps he needs to return to those events to protect his timeline a la DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations".

In my head, the first Doctor was relatively old when we first met him because he was fairly old when he stole the Tardis. Which wasn't necessarily all that much before we first met him in Totters Lane. He rescued his granddaughter from something or other, something that killed his own child and such, and was not keen to run into the Time Lords. Some political crisis on Gallifrey.

Why it took so long for him to branch out on his own I don't know. Maybe he got more radical with age. Or maybe he stole the tardis when he was young, but returned to Gallifrey to involve himself with the crisis and ended up fleeing with Susan, the rest of his family dead.

I don't really care to see this on screen. But depends how It's done.

Alternatively young Doctor and his buddy young Master. Maybe. Sounds a bit cliched. No thanks. I haven't really recovered from seeing the young Darth Vader(s) botching up all the magic and mystery.

[mccollough]

I'd quite like to see a young first doctor becoming enemies with the master and running off in the TARDIS. Shaun Evans would make a good first doctor!

[pajs1000]

Originally Posted by November_Rain

It would just spoil the whole mystery behind The Doctor, diminishing a fundamental aspect of the series which makes it so enjoyable.

A nice idea in theory, but probably best left undone in practice.

I agree. We need to keep the mystery. I hated it when we found out that he was from Galifrey and a Time Lord.

[Bruce Wayne]

Originally Posted by mccollough

I'd quite like to see a young first doctor becoming enemies with the master and running off in the TARDIS. Shaun Evans would make a good first doctor!

Here's a comparison photo of Shaun and a young William Hartnell. It's a bit small because I rushed it.

[Bruce Wayne]

Originally Posted by nebogipfel

No thanks. I haven't really recovered from seeing the young Darth Vader(s) botching up all the magic and mystery.

I'm with you on this bit

[DICKENS99]

There's the scene in The Beast Below where Amy asks if he ever ran away from something "because you were scared or not ready or just because you could", and the Dr responds in a way that implies that that is how he got started...so finding out what is was he's been running away from could be good.

Hate the idea of a Teen Doctor and Master, though if you played with the conventions and took account of the unique Timelord relationship between bodies and aging you could have some fun with them being played as stroppy annoying and rebellious by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan.

[pajs1000]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

Here's a comparison photo of Shaun and a young William Hartnell. It's a bit small because I rushed it.

Shaun whould pass. Good likeness.

[Bruce Wayne]

Originally Posted by pajs1000

Shaun whould pass. Good likeness.

Bit of makeup and hair gel would do it I think. However, I still wouldn't want to see it happen.

[Corwin]

Originally Posted by nebogipfel

Or maybe he stole the tardis when he was young, but returned to Gallifrey to involve himself with the crisis and ended up fleeing with Susan, the rest of his family dead.

I think this has to be what happened as dates given in the Classic series let us know the Doctor was 236 when he stole the TARDIS but was probably in his mid four hundreds when we first see him on screen.

So unless Susan was a couple of centuries old then she can't have been travelling with him since he first stole the TARDIS but only joined him later.

[kyllerbuzcut]

They could have a Gallifrey story that doesn't involve the doctor. Maybe he could bump into the story's main character(s) in a corridor or something at one point. Or.... you know- there are possibilities that show part of that story that don't tell the whole thing and don't spoil his mystery.

The story could just involve other characters who happen to be around on Gallifrey when stuff is happening. Maybe at the end they decide to all choose psuedonyms and one of them says "After all the stuff thats happened I want to only heal and fix things from now on" It would be a character that hasn't been involved much in the story. And the main character would say "you mean like a doctor?".


Anyway- we all KNOW he was bitten by a tardis when he was just a child and that's how he got his superpowers

[pajs1000]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

Bit of makeup and hair gel would do it I think. However, I still wouldn't want to see it happen.

I agree.

[nebogipfel]

Originally Posted by Corwin

I think this has to be what happened as dates given in the Classic series let us know the Doctor was 236 when he stole the TARDIS but was probably in his mid four hundreds when we first see him on screen.

So unless Susan was a couple of centuries old then she can't have been travelling with him since he first stole the TARDIS but only joined him later.

Thanks Corwin. That fits neatly then. I like that. He returned reluctantly, risking curtailment to his travels and maybe trial for tardis theft etc, and ended up having to flee with his young granddaughter and hide out on a backwards little planet tens of centuries in the past. Pity his tardis was a bit knackered.

[AdelaideGirl]

Umm not really to be honest I've always thought that the story of why he started traveling is less interesting that what he gets up to on his travels. Why he keeps traveling.

[TRT1968]

Originally Posted by AdelaideGirl

Umm not really to be honest I've always thought that the story of why he started traveling is less interesting that what he gets up to on his travels. Why he keeps traveling.

He started at the Bureaux of Temporal Observation and Monitoring (BOTOM) and worked his way up to Temporal Operations (TOp).

[November_Rain]

Originally Posted by pajs1000

I agree. We need to keep the mystery. I hated it when we found out that he was from Galifrey and a Time Lord.

I don't mind knowing that he is a Time Lord from Gallifrey, but if the series were to start delving into his exact background and revealing his true identity I would be very disappointed.