Every Major Event That’s Happened Between The Tenth & Fourteenth Doctors

Warning! Spoilers for Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary specials are ahead.

Doctor Who is an ever-changing show, and practically every season, some major life-altering event takes place. The second 60th-anniversary special, “Wild Blue Yonder,” emphasizes exactly how much has happened to the Doctor since they last saw Donna. 13 years has passed in the real world, but for the Doctor, this number is even higher — they have lived for thousands of years in the meantime. In the first anniversary special, “The Star Beast,” Donna explains how the Fourteenth Doctor’s age is the only thing that sets them apart from their Tenth incarnation, and in fact, she could not be more right.

The Tenth Doctor still believed that their home planet, Gallifrey, was obliterated during the Time War and that they were the last of the Time Lords. Since then, Gallifrey has been destroyed and retconned multiple times within Doctor Who, and that has had quite an impact on the Doctor themselves. From the events on the Time Lord’s home planet to the Doctor learning that they aren’t a Time Lord at all, a lot of major crises have taken place before the Fourteenth Doctor’s regeneration and subsequent reunion with Donna in Doctor Who‘s anniversary special that left more questions than it answered.

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7 There Have Been Three Incarnations Of The Doctor Since Donna Last Met Them

Nine seasons of Doctor Who aired in 13 years

In Doctor Who, there have been three incarnations of the Doctor since Donna Noble said goodbye to the Tenth Doctor. Saving Wilfred from radiation, the Tenth Doctor regenerated into the Eleventh Doctor in the 2010 special, “The End of Time — Part Two.” The Eleventh Doctor almost died of old age, but the Time Lords gave them a new regeneration cycle in the 2013 Christmas special, “The Time of the Doctor.” The Twelfth Doctor fought off the Cybermen and was mortally wounded, finally regenerating into the Thirteenth Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special, “Twice Upon a Time.” The Thirteenth Doctor’s latest encounter with the Master forced them to change form once more in the 2022 special, “The Power of the Doctor.”

6 The Universe Was Rebooted By The Doctor

“The Big Bang” (season 5, episode 13)

Doctor Who season 5 dealt with cracks in the walls, and as it turned out, it was the Doctor’s TARDIS that caused them. In season 5, episode 13, “The Big Bang,” the universe was ending, and time was being erased, so the Doctor had to reboot the universe altogether. The event put everything back in place and even restored Amy’s parents who were wiped by the cracks in the previous version of the universe. Since the Doctor was on the other side of the explosion, they weren’t supposed to survive, but Amy managed to save them. The episode also provided a satisfying conclusion to Amy and Rory’s relationship timeline since the two finally got married.

5 The Doctor Married River Song & Cheated Death

“The Wedding of River Song” (season 6, episode 13)

The Doctor might have had quite a few love interests throughout Doctor Who, but River Song, the Doctor’s wife, was a special case. After River refused to kill the Doctor as she was ordered by Madame Kovarian and the Silence Order, she put the whole of time at risk, so the Doctor had to get creative and convince River to play her role in the established event. In season 6, episode 13, “The Wedding of River Song,” the Doctor used the Teselecta to escape their own death, despite it being a fixed point in time. In the same episode, the Doctor married River in a simple ceremony amidst unraveling time.

4 Gallifrey Was Brought Back & Destroyed Again

“The Day of the Doctor” (50th-anniversary special) & “Spyfall, Part Two” (season 12, episode 2)

In Doctor Who, Gallifrey’s history was rewritten a few times. After Donna and the Doctor parted ways, Gallifrey almost came back with the help of the Master in the 2010 two-part special, “The End of Time.” Later on, the 50th-anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor,” revealed that Gallifrey wasn’t destroyed after all — the War Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, and the Tenth Doctor put their minds together and saved it by hiding it in a pocket universe. Eventually, the Doctor’s home planet was returned to its rightful place, but then the Master destroyed Gallifrey, as they confessed to the Doctor in season 12, episode 2, “Spyfall, Part Two.”

3 The Doctor & Clara Fulfilled The Hybrid Prophecy

“Hell Bent” (season 9, episode 12)

Doctor Who season 9’s Hybrid was another major story arc that changed the Doctor’s perception of the world. There were quite a few potential Hybrids — Me, aka Ashildr; the Time Lord Daleks, created by Davros; and even the alliance between the Zygons and humans. In the season 9 finale, “Hell Bent,” the Doctor-Clara duo ended up being the Hybrid that the Time Lords were so terrified of. Even though the Hybrid arc didn’t have a big impact on the outside world, it did influence the Doctor, as it prompted the Time Lord to reevaluate their relationship with their companions in a drastic fashion.

2 The Doctor Learned They Aren’t A Time Lord At All

“The Timeless Children” (season 12, episode 10)

The biggest event in the Doctor’s life since their last encounter with Donna was the day they found out about the Timeless Child. In Doctor Who season 12, episode 10, “The Timeless Children,” the Master told the Doctor that they weren’t a Time Lord at all. In reality, the Doctor was a being from another planet or even universe who an ancient Gallifreyan called Tecteun used to give the Time Lords their ability to regenerate. The Doctor learned that they had more lives than they remembered and that their entire existence was one big lie. Sadly, the Doctor’s true origins remain a mystery to this day.

1 The Flux Destroyed Half The Universe

“Flux” (season 13)

In Doctor Who season 13, the Doctor had to face the Flux, an anomaly of an epic scale that threatened to destroy everything. Even though the Time Lord managed to stop the Flux in the end, this phenomenon still wiped out half the universe. In season 13, episode 5, “Survivors of the Flux,” Tecteun taunted the Doctor by saying that they were the reason why Division decided to destroy the universe and engineer the Flux, which led to the Doctor’s subsequent guilt for the grand massacre. Interestingly enough, Doctor Who‘s second 60th-anniversary special was the first time the Flux’s aftermath was felt in such a major way.