Has the Doctor really saved the whole universe?

[rushy]

In a lot of 2010s Doctor Who, the Doctor brings up the fact that he's practically saved every planet in the universe and told Amy that he brought her along because he was bored of knowing everything.

How is that possible? In 900 years/2000 years/thousands of years, especially with the constant visits to Earth, there's no plausible way he could've explored anything beyond maybe 2-3 galaxies. You can't say "maybe he learned it on Gallifrey", because as we know from early Who, the First Doctor was pretty clueless most of the time. And I doubt he'd even want to, since he liked to have hands-on experience. I can imagine the Third Doctor maybe doing it while stuck on Earth, but then he's never actually been to all those places and wouldn't need a "fresh set of eyes".

Having recently watched The War Games, I'm pretty sure the Doctor implied that he's never actually left the Milky Way galaxy in all his travels(trips to alternate universes a la The Celestial Toymaker and The Mind Robber not included) That would make much more sense in terms of plausibility, but still wouldn't add up with the Eleventh Doctor's claims.

[P-90_177]

It's not meant to be taken literally. The point is that he has travelled all over the place and seen so much that he's got bored of everything other than anything that isn't absolutely brand new to him. It's why he like humanity so much, because they always find ways to continually surprise him.

[rushy]

Yeah, but the universe is like... FULL of changes and new things. Every planet, every star is completely different.
I find it hard to imagine getting bored when you can go anywhere.

[P-90_177]

Yeah, but the universe is like... FULL of changes and new things. Every planet, every star is completely different.
I find it hard to imagine getting bored when you can go anywhere.

Are they all different? We can catagorise stars and planets into different types which share distinct sizes and characteristics. And of course they will all be made of the same basic elements. Plus out of all those planets, how many are simply lifeless lumps of rock with no chance of supporting life or giving rise to anything overly interesting. Somehow I doubt that diamond planets called Midnight and Woman Wept are the norm. Yes there are some very interesting places out there, and even more interesting races we can assume, but even in the Doctor Who universe, Space is going to be a very empty place.

[rushy]

Which is why he has the TARDIS to avoid that.
Remember the Troughton era? Every single time he landed, something interesting happened.

[cosmichobo]

Has he saved the whole universe?

At least once - Logopolis.

But I get the feeling you're asking a rather more complex question than my brain can currently handle...

[Annoyed]

It's not meant to be taken literally. The point is that he has travelled all over the place and seen so much that he's got bored of everything other than anything that isn't absolutely brand new to him. It's why he like humanity so much, because they always find ways to continually surprise him.

Another way of saying "Never underestimate Human stupidity, it will surprise you every time" ?