Fifteenth Doctor

This page is a collection of quotations from the era of the fifteenth official incarnation of The Doctor from the BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who, during which the role of the Fifteenth Doctor was played by Ncuti Gatwa, who played the role during a series of specials aired over the course of November 2023. He is the second actor of color to take on the role of the Doctor, with the first being Jo Martin.

(9 December 2023)

The Fifteenth Doctor: [first words] No way!

---

The Fourteenth Doctor: You're me!

The Doctor: No, I'm me... I think I'm really, really me! Oh-ho, I am completely me!

---

The Doctor: Hello! So good to see you! So good! Now... someone tell me what the hell is going on here?!

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The Doctor: Our whole lifetime... That first Doctor that met the Toymaker never, ever stopped. Put on trial. Exiled. Key to Time. All the devastation of Logopolis...

The Fourteenth Doctor: Adric...

The Doctor: Adric. River Song. All the people we lost... Sarah Jane is gone, can you believe that for a second?

The Fourteenth Doctor: I loved her.

The Doctor: I loved her. And Rose. But the Time War, the Pandorica, Mavic Chen... We fought the Gods of Ragnarök, and we didn't stop for a second... to say "what the hell?"

The Fourteenth Doctor: But you're fine!

The Doctor: I'm fine because you fix yourself. We're Time Lords, we're doing rehab out of order.

---

The Doctor: Now, you two, if you don't mind, there is a great big universe out there calling, and I've gotta get going. So off you pop, old man.

The Fourteenth Doctor: You're the old man; you're older than me!

Donna: Actually, that is true. He's younger, 'cause you came after him, so you're the older Doctor.

The Doctor: Okay, kid. I love you, get out.

(25 December 2023)

The Doctor: Okay. Name: "The Doctor". Occupation: "Not a doctor". Current status: "Just passing by". Employer: "Myself". Address: "That blue box over there". Now, if you don't mind, I just got snowmanned, and I would like to go home.

Police Officer: Um... Uh, Doctor what would that be?

The Doctor: Just the Doctor!

---

The Doctor: Who sees a ladder and just hops on? A ladder in the sky, and you thought "Yeah, I'll give that a go, babes!"

---

The Doctor: What's your name?

Ruby: Ruby. Ruby Sunday.

The Doctor: Hello, Ruby Sunday. And it's a Sunday right now! That's a coincidence. I'm the Doctor. Hi!

---

Ruby: No, but who are you? Why are you an expert in time-traveling goblins and--

The Doctor: Oh! Pssh... They are not time-travelers, excuse me! Time travelers are great. Like, the best -- like, wow. This lot's just bimble.

---

The Doctor: I am learning the vocabulary of rope!

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The Doctor: I'm adopted.

Ruby: Were you?

The Doctor: Yeah! Yeah, I, uh... I only found out recently.

Carla: That's a coincidence!

Ruby: Oh, don't be saying that!

Carla: So, uh you know who your parents are?

The Doctor: No. No, I was, uh, I was abandoned.

---

Mrs. Flood: Busy man, sweetheart! You and your box of tricks... You look like you've lost a pound and found a sixpence. What's wrong?

The Doctor: Just wondering... Maybe I'm the bad luck.

---

Ruby: Who are you?

The Doctor: I'm the Doctor!

---

Mrs. Flood: Never seen a TARDIS before?

(11 May 2024)

The Doctor: My world is called Gallifrey.

Ruby: "Gallifrey"! And where's that?

The Doctor: Gone! Ruby, it's gone. It's gone. They died. It was a genocide, and they died. So the one that was adopted was the only one left. I am the last of the Time Lords. And I am so, so glad to be alive.

---

Ruby: How do you keep going?

The Doctor: For days like this, Ruby Sunday. I don't have a people, I don't have a home... But I don't have a job, either. I don't have a boss, or taxes, or rent, or bills to pay. I don't have a purpose, or a cause, or a mission, but I have... freedom. That's why I keep moving on, to see the next thing, and the next, and the next. And sometimes... It looks even better through your eyes.

---

Ruby: Is that a monster?!

The Doctor: No. No, don't be silly -- There's never any such thing as monsters, they're just... Just creatures you haven't met yet.

---

Captain Poppy: We're not meant to be like this; did we grow up wrong?

The Doctor: Oh, Poppy... Oh, Popsicle. Look at me, look at me. Nobody grows up wrong. You are what you are, and that is magnificent.

Captain Poppy: But Mummy and Daddy left us...

The Doctor: That's okay! Mine did, too.

Captain Poppy: What happened?

The Doctor: Well, I was found.

Captain Poppy: Hooray!

The Doctor: Little baby me was left alone in the middle of outer space, and guess who took me in?

Captain Poppy: I don't know!

The Doctor: The Time Lords!

Captain Poppy: Oooooh...

The Doctor: Can you say it like me?

Captain Poppy: "Time Lords"!

The Doctor: That's in! Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah! But the point is... that it doesn't matter where I come from, because I am absolutely lovely, aren't I? [Poppy yawns] That wasn't rhetorical, Pops.

Captain Poppy: Yes, you are!

The Doctor: And you wanna know my secret? There's no one like me in the whole wide universe. No one like me exists, and that's true of everyone. That's not a problem, Captain Pops. It's a superpower.

(11 May 2024)

Timothy Drake: Who are you?

Maestro: My notation is... Maestro.

Timothy Drake: But... what are you?

Maestro: I am music.

---

The Doctor: In the past, right now, I live in a place called Totter's Lane. 1963, I parked the TARDIS in a junkyard, and I lived there with my granddaughter, Susan.

Ruby: Oh...!

The Doctor: Okay?

Ruby: Your what?

The Doctor: My granddaughter.

Ruby: Susan?

The Doctor: We could go and have a look, but y'know... timelines, [mimics explosion]

Ruby: Well, y-- you've got children?

The Doctor: I did have -- I will have. Time Lords get a bit complicated.

Ruby: Yeah, but you've got a granddaughter! Like, now? Like, today? Back in our time? My time. Gah! Where is she?!

The Doctor: I don't know.

Ruby: How do you not know?

The Doctor: Time Lords were murdered. Genocide rolled across time and space like a great big cellular explosion; maybe it killed her, too.

Ruby: Doctor! God...

---

Maestro: Can you find it? The lost chord? Are you enough of a genius?

The Doctor: Oh, I would never call myself that, Maestro. But I have lived. And I have loved. And I can only smile like this because I have lost so much. I've experienced everything. Every single thing. And if that's where music comes from... I can find the chord to banish you.

(18 May 2024)

Ruby: Where are we?

The Doctor: In the middle of a war.

Ruby: Oh. I was kind of hoping for a beach.

The Doctor: Ah! What do you think this is?

Ruby: It's not a beach!

The Doctor: Give it time. Everywhere's a beach eventually.

---

The Doctor: You are brave. And you are wonderful. And I forgive you for being incredibly stupid.

Ruby: Good, then.

The Doctor: And if it does work... I'm going to be very cross at you, for a very, very long time.

Ruby: Not that long, babes; you're standing on a land mine.

---

The Doctor: War is business, and business is booming.

---

The Doctor: I'm a Time Lord! Not a human, I'm a Time Lord!

[Mundy shoots.]

Ruby: Doctor!

The Doctor: I am a higher dimension lifeform. I am a complex space-time event!

Mundy: I'm Anglican.

[Mundy shoots again, twice.]

Ruby: No! No, stop it!

[The ambulance turns towards him.]

The Doctor: I'm a much bigger bang than you bargained for. I'm a lot more explosive than I look, and, honey, I know how I look. Put a quantum chain reaction through me, and I will shatter this silly little battlefield of yours into dust. All of it, in a heartbeat, into dust.

Mundy: That's not possible.

The Doctor: Everything is possible! Everything is possible. Everywhere is a beach eventually. Scan me! Scan me, see for yourself!

[Mundy drops her gun, scans:]

Mundy: You could blow up half of this planet!

---

The Doctor: I mean, most armies would notice that they were fighting smoke and shadows, but not this lot, Ruby! You know why? 'Cause they have faith.

Mundy: Shut up!

The Doctor: "Faith"! The magic word that keeps you never having to think for yourself! Just surrender, Mundy. Just stop... and it's all over.

Mundy: Prove it.

The Doctor: What, seriously? Now you need proof, faith girl?

---

Ruby: Do you think she'll be alright.

The Doctor: Splice? I'm thinking future President of something. 'Til then, she's got Mundy and her dad.

Ruby: But her dad's dead. No, I know-- I know he's not gone, and that's sweet and everything, it's just-- he is, he's just really, actually, he's dead.

The Doctor: We're all dead eventually. There's hardly any time that we're not dead. Which is a a good thing, too! We've got to keep the pace up, otherwise nothing would get done. Dying defines us. Snow isn't snow until it falls.

Ruby: Snow?

The Doctor: Yeah, snow. We all melt away in the end. But something stays. Maybe the best part. A sad old man once told me, "What survives of us, is love."

(25 May 2024)

The Doctor: O-ho, yes! We are in Wales! Spectacular!

Ruby: How can you tell?

The Doctor: Ohhh... That smell! That green, that coastline, Ruby! Oh, the rocks and the water, it never ends -- the war between the land and the sea.

Ruby: Oh, you know what, I’ve been to Wales twice! I went to see Shygirl in Cardiff. And then I went to Mumbles when I was about 16, because of a boy, I think I broke his heart, but there you go.

The Doctor: Oh, bless him. Mind you, Roger ap Gwilliam. That's a bad example of the Welsh, terrifying.

Ruby: Oh, yeah?

The Doctor: The most dangerous Prime Minister in history. He led the world to the brink of nuclear... Wait, what year are you from?

Ruby: 2024!

The Doctor: Oh. Yikes, sorry, he was 2046. Sorry, spoilers! Forget I said anything.

---

Ruby: Mum, what does she look like?

Carla: She looks like what she looks like.

Ruby: What does that mean?

Carla: She looks like what she is.

---

Amol Rajan: Yes, but the government says that--

Roger ap Gwilliam: What government? The government has collapsed in shame. In absolute shame, Amol! Now's the time to vote, y'know? For Britain to find its voice, to find its pride, its future.

Amol Rajan: Yes, but the point is that if people are worried about anything, it's the cost of living. It's inflation. It's a price-cap at fifteen thousand pounds, and you want to spend billions. Indeed, you committed to spending sixty-five billion pounds on nuclear weapons.

Roger ap Gwilliam: Amol, I'm a Welshman; I was born in Wales. And that's what the "ap" in my name means. It's not one of those apps you used to have on your phone in the old days. It means "son of". I am a son of Wales. And the Welsh don't always like to be oppressed. And that has taught me to say "no more". And that's what I am saying: "No more". I want Great Britain to say "No more", so yes! I have pledged to defend our borders and set us up on high as one of the greatest nations in the world.

Amol Rajan: But we're members of NATO.

Roger ap Gwilliam: When did NATO ever, y'know, fire a nuclear missile? Ever? 2031, the Great Russian War -- not a single rocket.

Amol Rajan: Excuse me, I'm sorry-- Are you saying that you actually want to fire a nuclear missile?

Roger ap Gwilliam: We'll cut that bit out, right?

---

Old Ruby: I presume she must be gone, my mother. No one ever told me. And I didn't find my birth mother. It never snowed again. But I keep thinking I know why. The woman! And I've been thinking about it my whole life. Why is she here? And I think, at the end, I have hope. 'Cause that's very you, isn't it, my old friend? I dare to hope.

The Doctor: You don't know me, but my name is the Doctor, and you life is in danger, okay? There are creatures out there in the real world; there are monsters, and they are coming to get you. No. No, Lindy, don't--!

---

Penny Pepper-Bean: We miss you so much, darling. But I'd pay for the whole moon to make you happy. Just look up at the sky and wave to us on the Homeworld. Happy Finetime, Lindy-Loo! And don't forget, you're only a Bubble away.

The Doctor: ...who is that?

Lindy Pepper-Bean: I told you, it's Mummy.

Ruby: Hold on, I've seen her before.

The Doctor: Yeah, she's, like, she's the face of the ambulance on Kastarion III.

Ruby: No, no, no, I've seen her somewhere else...

---

The Doctor: I-- I have a ship, it's called the TARDIS. That blue box. It harnesses technology that makes it bigger on the inside than the outside. I could take you all! I could carry you to the stars, I could find you a home that is safe, and-- and clean, and everything you want.

Lindy: But... It's-- We couldn't travel with you.

Ruby: What? Wh-- Why not?

Lindy: [to the Fifteenth Doctor] Because you, sir, are not one of us. I mean, sir, you were kind. But it was your duty to save me, obviously. I mean, screen-to-screen contact is just about acceptable, but in person? That's impossible.

Hoochy Pie: Ay. You have a magic box? Seriously...

Brewster: "Bigger on the inside"?

Hoochy Pie: Excuse me, sir -- that's Voodoo. And it doesn't matter where we end up living, because it is our God-given duty to maintain the standards of Finetime, forever. Now thank you. And goodbye.

Ruby: Ugh, I can't even...

The Doctor: I don't care what you think! Look, you can say whatever you want. You can think absolutely anything. I will do anything if you just allow me to save your lives.

Brewster: You should turn away, ladies. Before we're contaminated.

The Doctor: But you will die! Out there! And I can save your lives! Now let me!

[Lindy turns away, getting on the boat out. The Doctor starts laughing, incredulous, and puts his hands on his thighs, doubling over, before screaming in frustration.]

The Doctor: DAMN!

The Doctor: Brooding. Good look. Do you practice in a mirror? Bit more frown, maybe. Yeah? Like this. Yeah? Like this, really. Really, like this.

Rogue: I didn't know the Dutchess employs a court jester.

The Doctor: Yeah, well I'm hilarious. And... you're kind of funny peculiar, standing here. Good vantage point. Keeping an eye out on the exits, like you're expecting trouble.

Rogue: Are you?

The Doctor: Honey, I'm here for fun.

Rogue: Then go and pursue your facile pleasures and leave me alone.

The Doctor: O-kay, rude! Lord...

Rogue: Not a Lord.

The Doctor: Does "Not a Lord" have a name?

Rogue: Rogue.

The Doctor: Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor.

Rogue: Just "the Doctor"?

The Doctor: Just "Rogue"?

---

The Doctor: Who did you lose?

Rogue: What?

The Doctor: You lost someone.

Rogue: How'd you know that?

The Doctor: Because I know.

Rogue: There was... Yeah. We traveled together, we had fun. You know? And then a day came along, and at the end of that day... I lost them. What about you?

The Doctor: I lost everyone.

Rogue: At the party, I saw you with that woman.

The Doctor: Mmm. My best friend.

Rogue: Do you ever wonder, "Why keep going"?

The Doctor: Because we have to. We have to live each day, because they can't. You don't have to stay a bounty hunter, Rogue. You could travel with me! Oh, the worlds I could show you, Rogue...

Rogue: And what if I like what I do? Would you travel with me?

The Doctor: That is quite an argument. Tell you what, when we both get out of this, let's argue across the stars...

Rogue: I'd like that.

The Doctor: Give me the lovin'!

---

Carla Sunday: Here it is, safe and sound. That's your story, darling. The legend of Ruby Sunday.

---

Cherry Sunday: I would love a cup of tea.

Mrs. Flood: Would you, sweetheart? Well, we'd all like a lot of things… that aren't going to happen.

Cherry: What that supposed to mean?

Mrs. Flood: I'd be very careful, Mrs. Sunday; there's a storm coming in. He waits no more.

---

Kate Stewart: My father... He'd tell me stories about you when I was a kid. We'd sit there in the firelight, telling tales of the Doctor, his eyes shining. But he never ever mentioned a granddaughter.

The Doctor: I was a different Doctor back then, Kate. Great enigma. Still can't shake it off. I'm trying.

Kate Stewart: If you've got a granddaughter, that means you've got kids!

The Doctor: Well, not quite. Not yet.

Kate Stewart: What? You mean... you can have a granddaughter before a granddaughter?

The Doctor: Life of a Time Lord.

Kate Stewart: ...Okay. The grandchild exists, and you've got the TARDIS, but you've never come back to see her. Why not?

The Doctor: You've seen my life. I bring disaster, Kate. Disaster. What if I go back and I ruin her?

Kate Stewart: For what it's worth, I think you bring joy.

---

The Doctor: Kate, do you have a Time Window?

Kate Stewart: What--? You expressly told us in the 1970s, UNIT was absolutely forbidden to experiment with any form of time technology.

The Doctor: Do you have a Time Window?

Kate Stewart: Ten floors down.

---

The Doctor: If time is memory, and memory is time, then what is a memory of a time machine?

---

Carla Sunday: Doctor, I think she's crying; she's given away her child. She's crying her heart out! I took her in, darling... and she's safe! And she's wonderful...

Ruby Sunday: I wish I could tell her I made it. Mum, you should see what I've done! I've traveled the universe...

---

The Doctor: I sent him forward.

Mel Bush: That thing killed him. Not you.

The Doctor: What was it? And Ruby's mother, why was she pointing at me?!

Mel Bush: Finished? Now stop grizzling and fix it. Because if Susan is your granddaughter, then she might be the key to this. Now come on.

---

The Doctor: Kate, get Ruby to the Time Window.

Ruby Sunday: Wh-- What for?

Kate Stewart: You do not question, you move!

---

Harriet: He is hidden in the howling void, he is hidden within the tempest...

Kate Stewart: What...?

Harriet: He has braved the storm, and the darkness, and the pain. And he whispered to the vessel.

Morris Gibbins: Wh-- Who has? What do you mean?

Harriet: For all this time, he whispered, and delighted, and seduced, and the vessel did obey, for none shall be more mighty and none shall be more wise than the king himself.

Kate Stewart: Harriet. What are you doing?

Harriet: And the Lord of Time was blind and vain and knew nothing.

---

Kate Stewart: Whatever it is... here it comes.

Harriet: For the God of all Gods has returned. And his names are many. His name has been Set. And Seth. And Sithifer. And his one true name for evermore is... Sutekh!

The Doctor: ...It was the wrong anagram.

---

Susan Triad / Sutekh: Did you think I was family, Doctor? I bring Sutekh's gift of death. For you... and for all in your tiny, vile, incessant universe!

Mrs. Flood: Do you believe in the power of prayer?

Cherry Sunday: I most certainly do.

Mrs. Flood: Then tell your maker I will come to storm down his gates of gold and seize his kingdom in my true name.

---

Sutekh: Every living thing is an abomination. I am come to release them into blessed death. And I find that good.

---

The Doctor: I'll tell you a secret, Sutes... This feeling that you have now, this doubt... have you ever felt so alive? And doesn't it feel good?

---

The Doctor: She's dead. She's dead, Ruby, I'm sorry. I loved you, Mel.

Melanie Bush: (now completely possessed by Sutekh) And what good did love do, Doctor? When did it ever help?

---

The Doctor: Sutekh the Destroyer, the Lord God of Death itself... You win! Because I pride myself! I pride myself that I am better than you! Because, if you're death, then I must represent life! Surely, that's what I am! Life?! And that's how you win, Sutekh... Because you turned me into this! I am the one that brings death...

---

Mrs. Flood: And that's how the story of the Church on Ruby Road comes to an end -- with a very happy ending for little Ruby Sunday! But life goes on, doesn't it? Ruthlessly! "And what happens", you might wonder... "oh, what happens to that mysterious traveler in time and space known as the Doctor"? I'm sorry to say his story ends in absolute terror. Night-night!

(25 December 2024)

Ruby: Everyone, just stay inside, call your friends, your family, and just tell them to stay indoors, alright?

Pub Patron: Sorry, love -- who put you in charge?

Ruby: Or go and get some fresh air, big man, see what happens.