The Doctor sure dies a lot these days...

[Lord Shiva]

If you think about it, his first incarnation was that of an old man. Why, you ask? Because he survived to old age! I find it ironic given if you watch the "first Doctor" episodes, he and his group get into so much trouble that you wonder how the Doctor and his granddaughter even survived up until that point! I guess that's TV for you, you just have to relax, enjoy, and believe (what I try to tell all Stargate Season 9 nay-sayers).

Since then, he's Regenerated 9 or 10 times in a reletively short period of time... poor guy lol

[Flyboy]

We have no idea how many adventures there have been offscreen. He could be living very full lives.

On top of this, I don't think the Doctor actually went looking for trouble in his first form in the manner that he did later on when he was joined by Ian and Barbra.

[Willow'sCat]

If you think about it, his first incarnation was that of an old man. Why, you ask? Because he survived to old age! I find it ironic given if you watch the "first Doctor" episodes, he and his group get into so much trouble that you wonder how the Doctor and his granddaughter even survived up until that point! I guess that's TV for you, you just have to relax, enjoy, and believe (what I try to tell all Stargate Season 9 nay-sayers).

Since then, he's Regenerated 9 or 10 times in a reletively short period of time... poor guy lol

Soooooooooooo what is the point of this thread? I can guess.

[TheAncient1]

well, he hasnt "died" yet, he was just rejuvinated nine times. the thirteenth doctor will die if he doesnt get another regeneration cycle.

[Darkseid]

If you think about it, his first incarnation was that of an old man. Why, you ask? Because he survived to old age! I find it ironic given if you watch the "first Doctor" episodes, he and his group get into so much trouble that you wonder how the Doctor and his granddaughter even survived up until that point! I guess that's TV for you, you just have to relax, enjoy, and believe (what I try to tell all Stargate Season 9 nay-sayers).

Since then, he's Regenerated 9 or 10 times in a reletively short period of time... poor guy lol

Ya know, I have always thought the same thing.

However, he could have spent his whole first life behind a desk as an insurance claimer for all we really know. Then, all of a sudden, he's running for Daleks, Cybermen and Mel.

[creed462]

The 7th doctor was pertty old when he regenerated, also we don't know how old the sixth and eighth were at regeneration

[Deputy-Assistant-Second-Prime]

We have no idea how many adventures there have been offscreen. He could be living very full lives.

On top of this, I don't think the Doctor actually went looking for trouble in his first form in the manner that he did later on when he was joined by Ian and Barbra.

The first time I recall him "looking for trouble" was in The Savages, towards the end of Season 3, shortly after Innes Lloyd took over as producer and Gerry Davis took over as script editor. That is the first story I can think of where he had the opportunity to leave unharmed, yet he risks safety by opposing the Elders on moral grounds. This selfless heroism would become a central theme of Troughton's stories and be adopted as one of the Doctor's main character traits.

Prior to The Savages, he was an anti-hero, relunctantly getting involved in the affairs of others, just trying his best to untangle himself from whatever mess he got into.

It can be argued that this happens again in the next story, The War Machines, the last story of Season 3. The Doctor could have retreated to the TARDIS and avoided facing WOTAN. Instead, he choose to get involved. It could be argued that he felt obligated to help since it was Ian, Barbara, and Dodo's home.

In Season 4, The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet revert back to the "tangled mess" theme which is indicative of Hartnell's era, but The Power of the Daleks begins the heroic theme in earnest with the introduction of the Second Doctor.

I suppose it could be argued that The Daleks' Masterplan is the actually the first time the Doctor acts selflessly...to defend the Galaxy from the threat of the Daleks, but I would disagree. I think the threat of the Daleks' Masterplan was so great, he had no choice but to play the part of the hero. If he hadn't, the Daleks would have become too powerful. They would have conquered the Galaxy and would have built a Time Destructor, which would have enabled them to manipulate time. He really had no choice.

In the case of The Savages, the consequences were very small in scale, yet he took a moral stand when it would have been much much easier to mind his own business.

[The Signal]

If you think about it, his first incarnation was that of an old man. Why, you ask? Because he survived to old age! I find it ironic given if you watch the "first Doctor" episodes, he and his group get into so much trouble that you wonder how the Doctor and his granddaughter even survived up until that point! I guess that's TV for you, you just have to relax, enjoy, and believe (what I try to tell all Stargate Season 9 nay-sayers).

Since then, he's Regenerated 9 or 10 times in a reletively short period of time... poor guy lol

Erm *waves hand* You are assuming that the regenerations occured 3/4 years apart as they seem to. The Doctor, during his 2nd incarnation was around 450 years old (Tomb of the Cybermen), and by his 10th he has been traveling for 900 years (The Empty Child), which with other bits and pieces of information places him at around 1200 years old. The reason for him not regenerating before, well he only puts himself in harms way now because he feels obliged to, which as DASP said was a change to his character that occured during the shows run. I believe he was about 300 when he began travelling, so each incarnation (minus the 10th) is about 150 years, so all the figures seem to add up. the only Doctor that did age about as much as he did on-screen in the 9th, as it would seem that he regenerated shortly before his on-screen debut, however we have no way of knowing how long he and Rose were travelling for, we can only assume it was approximately 1 year.