When the Ninth Doctor mentioned he was 900 years old, some fans with good memories asked "How can the Ninth Doctor be 900 when the Seventh Doctor said he was 953?".

How indeed.

Of course, in Series 6 much was made of the fact that there is a 200 years old age gap between the two versions of the Eleventh Doctor we see in "The Impossible Astronaut" with the one who is "killed" being over 1100 years of age.

In "The Bells Of Saint John" and "The Rings of Akheten (and, I believe, also in "The Snowmen") it is mentioned that the Doctor is 1000 years old. So once again we have the Seventh Doctor-Ninth Doctor age anomaly - the Doctor has grown younger!

Is there a relevance to this "age loss"? For example, are the events of Series 7 actually taking place 100 years before the final episode of Series 6 - i.e. is the Moff once again doing a timey-wimey on us?

Or, is is simply a case of the Doctor not having a clue how old he actually is, and is just pulling a figure out of the air (as some have suggested he always did)?

Its simple. The new series writers just make up the rules as they go along.

I thought any reference to his age these days was "over 1000 years old" I have trouble remembering my age and I'm only 37 so it must be difficult if you're as old as the Doctor.

I think its just rounding up or down isn't it! I don't think it has any relevance really!

I have seen a theory that before he was using Gallifrey years and after it's destruction he started using Earth years

Yes, and it's good theory, which would explain the Seventh Doctor-Ninth Doctor anomaly, but not for losing 100 years between the end of Series 6 and the middle of Series 7.

I prefer not to know his exact age anyway because I think it adds to the mystery of the character. I wasn't really keen when they started off at 900 at the beginning of nuwho and then added on a year each year after.

Must be very difficult for a time-traveller to measure his personal biological age anyway. He'd have to add up the time he spent in each and every time-zone, converting to whichever units of age he uses, not to mention the time spent in the Vortex, or relativistic effects, or time-dilation when near a black hole, etc. Maybe the only measure is how old you feel - and that can go up and down (and probably sideways, too).

Well TBF she said over 1000 years old he may have just said I'm over a 1000 like some people say I'm over 50 even though they maybe 57

He's just rounding down.


Amy and Rory knew he was over 1100 (1200 by the time they parted) but since they have gone he can knock a couple of hundred years off his age without anyone correcting him.



When Clara leaves he may even revert back to his "default setting" of 900

I think he's just rounding to one significant figure for the sake of simplicity. Both times he's mentioned his age, he was in a high pressure situation.
Either that or he was lying when he said he was 1100 in The Impossible Astronaut.

Honestly, how does he even keep track?

Even if the Doctor doesn't know I think the TARDIS would have the ability to know how much "time" actually passes so could keep track.


I suppose even the TARDIS could lose track if the Doctor is away from it for long periods from his PoV but only a short time from her PoV (or vice versa).

Time travel must play havoc with your body clock.
Jet lag wouldn't even come close!
I guess Time Lords have evolved to cope with it somehow.

It depends what planet he is on, and how flippant he feels.

With all that toing and froing through time zones, I don't suppose he knows what day it is, never mind how old he is! he's looking good on it though

As opposed to the old series writers who did no such thing.

I think the Doctor just gives an approximate age - maybe knocking a few years off, or adding a few if the occasion demands it. I do the same thing myself.

To be fair there was always a lot of confusion about the Doctor's age in the old series

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor%27s_age