Editing Third Doctor (section)

{{Short description|Fictional character from Doctor Who}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox Doctor Who doctor
| nth          = Third
| doc_image    = Third Doctor (Doctor Who).jpg
| caption      = Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor
| start        = ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'' (1970)<!--This parameter is for their regular appearances; guest appearances are in the article as prose-->
| finish       = ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'' (1974)<!--This parameter is for their regular appearances; guest appearances are in the article as prose-->
| introduced   = [[Derrick Sherwin]]
| portrayed    = [[Jon Pertwee]]
| preceding    = [[Patrick Troughton]] ([[Second Doctor]])
| succeeding   = [[Tom Baker]] ([[Fourth Doctor]])
| period_start = 3 January 1970
| period_end   = 8 June 1974
| no_series    = 5
| no_stories   = 24
| no_episodes  = 128
| companions   = {{Plainlist|
* [[Liz Shaw]]
* [[Jo Grant]]
* [[Sarah Jane Smith]]}}
| series_list  = {{Plainlist|
* [[Doctor Who season 7|Season 7 (1970)]]
* [[Doctor Who season 8|Season 8 (1971)]]
* [[Doctor Who season 9|Season 9 (1972)]]
* [[Doctor Who season 10|Season 10 (1972–1973)]]
* [[Doctor Who season 11|Season 11 (1973–1974)]]
* [[Doctor Who season 20|Season 20 (1983)]]
}}
}}
The '''Third Doctor''' is an incarnation of [[The Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]], the [[protagonist]] of the British [[Science fiction on television|science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. He was portrayed by actor [[Jon Pertwee]]. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old [[Extraterrestrials in popular culture|alien]] [[Time Lord]] from the planet [[Gallifrey]] who [[Time travel in fiction|travels in time]] and space in the [[TARDIS]], frequently with [[Companion (Doctor Who)|companions]]. At the end of life, the Doctor [[regeneration (Doctor Who)|regenerates]].  Consequently, both the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes. Preceded in regeneration by the [[Second Doctor]] ([[Patrick Troughton]]), he is followed by the [[Fourth Doctor]] ([[Tom Baker]]).

Pertwee portrays the Third Doctor as a dapper man of action, in stark contrast to his wily but less action-orientated predecessors. While previous Doctors' stories had all involved time and space travel, for production reasons Pertwee's stories initially depicted the Doctor stranded on Earth in exile, where he worked as a scientific advisor to the international military group [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]]. Within the story, the Third Doctor came into existence as part of a punishment from his own race, the Time Lords, who forced him to regenerate and also disabled his TARDIS. Eventually, this restriction is lifted and the Third Doctor embarks on more traditional time travel and space exploration stories.

His initial companion is UNIT scientist [[Liz Shaw]] ([[Caroline John]]), who leaves the Doctor's company between episodes to be replaced by [[Jo Grant]] ([[Katy Manning]]), who then continues to accompany the Doctor after he regains use of his TARDIS. His final companion is journalist [[Sarah Jane Smith]] ([[Elisabeth Sladen]]).