ESSAY: The Doctor's Trauma Buttons and you!
So. Since it's something that has been described before as the "most emo backstory in Camp", I thought I'd elaborate some on the emo part of the Doctor's backstory for all the folks who haven't seen my canon yet/don't intend to see it. This will contain SPOILERS, so look away, particularly if you haven't finished seeing Series 1 or 2 of New Who. Series 3 is less consequential since the Doctor's taken from before that particular big climax.
Mmm. Well, the first thing is to explain what the Doctor is, and what he does. The Doctor is a nine hundred or so year old extra-terrestrial from the planet Gallifrey (destroyed), who wanders time and space in his T-A-R-D-I-S TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension In Space. He's a nomad, a traveller with no home, wandering the planets and temporal threads because he's got nowhere to stay, he just has to keep moving. Anyone who's threaded with the Doctor has likely gathered that he's an alien, that he travels in time and space in the TARDIS, because he's fairly free with that information - he knows there are some people who know about him from this TV business, and there's no point keeping it under wraps.
Also. Despite Time Lords resembling humans, the Tenth Doctor doesn't like to be thought of as a human being, and will correct people when they believe him to be one. However, when it comes to actually telling people what he is - despite the fact he's gotten to know some people to a small extent here, the only person he would ever discuss his home with is Rose, and she already knows about it. That is the extent to which you have to know the Doctor, before he'll tell you anything about himself. He's usually particularly subtle about it - however, a few people have attempted to back him into a corner about it, already. When pushed, he will just flat out tell you no. He doesn't want to talk about it. Don't Mention Gallifrey are his watchwords.
So, the aim is to tell you all what happened. Basically, at the beginning of the first series of NEW Doctor Who, the first reference is made to the Last Great Time War. The Time Wars were wars fought between the dark races of the universe and the Time Lords, who were responsible for protecting the fabrics of time and space. The most prominent of all the dark races were the Daleks, otherwise known as the pepperpot monsters. Most people have heard about the Daleks, but I'll describe them anyway - they're killing machines, genetically modified to have all of the kindness taken from them. There remains then only an instrument for killing, inside a death machine. It's said that a Dalek ray is the only thing that can instantly KO a Time Lord, no regeneration save.
So. The Time Wars had been going down for hundreds and hundred of years. The Last Great Time War, meanwhile, is named such because of what happened in it - it was the war to end all wars, and the Doctor was a soldier. In his own words he "fought on the front lines", and he was present at the fall of Arcadia. The crux of the battle came thusly - the Dalek fleet reached the planet Gallifrey and began to invade, taking control of something called the Cruciform (no one's sure exactly what this is, but I'm sure we'll find out eventually.) The Doctor, seeing that his people were going to lose the war, and knowing that if the fighting continued, it would destroy the universe, destroyed both sides in one fell swoop. He destroyed all of the Daleks (aside from a few that keep cropping up, notably), a surely positive thing for the universe, but.
He also destroyed the entirety of his own race (with the notable exception of the Master, the Doctor's great rival APP HIM APP HIM who, terrified of the battle, fled and became human for a time) and his own home planet, Gallifrey. The Doctor performed double genocide to save the universe, which probably reveals exactly what sort of man he is. He is the last of the Time Lords, at least to his knowledge.
This doesn't explain his attachment to the universe, to Earth in particular, but the Doctor has always had a tendency of getting involved, and the Tenth Doctor in particular has designated himself as the defender of planet Earth. Whether this is because of all species of the universe, humanity is the one that looks most like Time Lords, whether the Doctor sees something in humans that he loves, or whether he just wants a place to belong, nobody can be sure. All are true. He's a very lonely creature - the Tenth Doctor in particular thrives on the approval of the people around him.
So! If you ask the Doctor what happenin' planet he's from, and he won't bloody well tell you where, this is why.
All the references made to the Last Great Time War in Doctor Who are listed here at Wikipedia.
Mmm. Well, the first thing is to explain what the Doctor is, and what he does. The Doctor is a nine hundred or so year old extra-terrestrial from the planet Gallifrey (destroyed), who wanders time and space in his T-A-R-D-I-S TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension In Space. He's a nomad, a traveller with no home, wandering the planets and temporal threads because he's got nowhere to stay, he just has to keep moving. Anyone who's threaded with the Doctor has likely gathered that he's an alien, that he travels in time and space in the TARDIS, because he's fairly free with that information - he knows there are some people who know about him from this TV business, and there's no point keeping it under wraps.
Also. Despite Time Lords resembling humans, the Tenth Doctor doesn't like to be thought of as a human being, and will correct people when they believe him to be one. However, when it comes to actually telling people what he is - despite the fact he's gotten to know some people to a small extent here, the only person he would ever discuss his home with is Rose, and she already knows about it. That is the extent to which you have to know the Doctor, before he'll tell you anything about himself. He's usually particularly subtle about it - however, a few people have attempted to back him into a corner about it, already. When pushed, he will just flat out tell you no. He doesn't want to talk about it. Don't Mention Gallifrey are his watchwords.
So, the aim is to tell you all what happened. Basically, at the beginning of the first series of NEW Doctor Who, the first reference is made to the Last Great Time War. The Time Wars were wars fought between the dark races of the universe and the Time Lords, who were responsible for protecting the fabrics of time and space. The most prominent of all the dark races were the Daleks, otherwise known as the pepperpot monsters. Most people have heard about the Daleks, but I'll describe them anyway - they're killing machines, genetically modified to have all of the kindness taken from them. There remains then only an instrument for killing, inside a death machine. It's said that a Dalek ray is the only thing that can instantly KO a Time Lord, no regeneration save.
So. The Time Wars had been going down for hundreds and hundred of years. The Last Great Time War, meanwhile, is named such because of what happened in it - it was the war to end all wars, and the Doctor was a soldier. In his own words he "fought on the front lines", and he was present at the fall of Arcadia. The crux of the battle came thusly - the Dalek fleet reached the planet Gallifrey and began to invade, taking control of something called the Cruciform (no one's sure exactly what this is, but I'm sure we'll find out eventually.) The Doctor, seeing that his people were going to lose the war, and knowing that if the fighting continued, it would destroy the universe, destroyed both sides in one fell swoop. He destroyed all of the Daleks (aside from a few that keep cropping up, notably), a surely positive thing for the universe, but.
He also destroyed the entirety of his own race (with the notable exception of the Master, the Doctor's great rival APP HIM APP HIM who, terrified of the battle, fled and became human for a time) and his own home planet, Gallifrey. The Doctor performed double genocide to save the universe, which probably reveals exactly what sort of man he is. He is the last of the Time Lords, at least to his knowledge.
This doesn't explain his attachment to the universe, to Earth in particular, but the Doctor has always had a tendency of getting involved, and the Tenth Doctor in particular has designated himself as the defender of planet Earth. Whether this is because of all species of the universe, humanity is the one that looks most like Time Lords, whether the Doctor sees something in humans that he loves, or whether he just wants a place to belong, nobody can be sure. All are true. He's a very lonely creature - the Tenth Doctor in particular thrives on the approval of the people around him.
So! If you ask the Doctor what happenin' planet he's from, and he won't bloody well tell you where, this is why.
All the references made to the Last Great Time War in Doctor Who are listed here at Wikipedia.