A Biography of the Doctor
The Doctor's Childhood
“The Doctor knew exactly who he was, who he’d always been. He was a Time Lord, from the Noble House of Lungbarrow on the planet Gallifrey. He had been born of the Loom, son of the greatest explorer of his age and a human woman, Annalise… no… his mother’s name had been Penelope.”
- The Infinity Doctors page 259.
The Doctor's childhood is a period of his life about which we have very little information. What we do have is contradictory, in part because some of the facts have apparently been changed in-universe (see Unnatural History, particularly pages 168-171, for more details). This section of the Doctor's biography foolishly tries to put all the facts together as if they were a single, compatible, timeline. The order of events here is almost entirely arbitrary as most of these events are one-line references.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor was half human on his mother's side. His father was called Ulysses and his mother was Penelope Gate. Ulysses later travelled to Earth, and took the identity Daniel Joyce.
Notes: Half-human is from the TV Movie. Ulysses and Penelope are from The Gallifrey Chronicles, The Doctor refers to Daniel Joyce as "Dad" in Unnatural History. Given the connections between the names (the novel Ulysses was written by James Joyce), we can safely assume that they are the same character.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor was woven/born from the genetic loom in the house of Lungbarrow in South Gallifrey. He remembered being in the loom. His first memory after being woven was of his 44 cousins laughing at him because of his bellybutton. Cousin Satthrolope consequently smacked him very hard. This belly-button earned him the nicknames wormhole and snail from his cousins. He is almost certainly a reincarnation of a figure known as the Other from ancient Gallifreyan history
Notes: Lungbarrow p.5-6. This is clearly the first thing that happens to the Doctor, even though he has technically had at least one previous lifetime. On Lungbarrow p.212 Leela says that all Gallifreyans are loomed as full-grown adults with children's minds. However Leela is not a native of the planet and there is no actual description of the Doctor's physical age here. So it's possible that he is physically a child.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
As a small boy the Doctor witnesses a flutterwing being shot by Shobogans. He stabs his own hand with the arrow and feels pain for the first time.
Notes: Set Piece p.198.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
Sometimes the Doctor and some of his cousins leave the House and go on Lushberrying trips in the woods during the summer. Cousin Satthralope withholds dinner from anyone she catches doing this.
Notes: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible. This appears to happen several times.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor spent days with the House of Lungbarrow's hermit who lived on Mount Lung. Cousin Satthraolope got furious about it.
Notes: Lungbarrow p.302. The hermit is probably K'anpo Rimpoche from Planet of the Spiders.
Lungbarrow
(Prologue - p.5-9)
The Doctor goes through brain-buffing, a rapid learning programme, assisted by Badger, an Avatroid which Cousin Quences had given him. He is, however, a somewhat rebellious pupil, and skives off at times.
Notes: Lungbarrow pages 5-9. The Doctor mentions his age. The word "Avatroid" is from Divided Loyalties p.102-103.
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor watches a meteor storm on Gallifrey with his father.
Notes: The TV Movie
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor flies skimmers as a boy
Notes: The Paradise of Death episode 3
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
As a boy, the Doctor makes regular visits the sea, believing that’s where the dead go.
Notes: Matrix p.6
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor is caught skinny-dipping with a pretty female cousin. [Most likely Innocet from Lungbarrow.]
Notes: Unnatural History p.116
UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
The Doctor later liked to think of the universe as his foster family, as it took him in "when I was young". The universe taught him about life when his own parents opted out of their responsibilities.
Notes: Beltempest p.15. It's unclear what this refers to, but it could explain the Doctor's living circumstances in Listen.
Listen
(Barn scenes)
The Doctor sleeps outside in a barn because he does not want the other boys to know that he is crying. He encounters Clara Oswald, his future companion, who tells him that the encounter is a dream. At this point, an older man thinks the Doctor will join the army.
Notes: A Gallifreyan man suggests that the Doctor is going to join the army. This appears to be before his time at the academy, but the barn is clearly not near the House of Lungbarrow.
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