A four-part Doctor Who fan serial created by Fandom VIP Stuart Humphryes, also known as Babelcolour.
Created using Stock Footage, (mostly from Doctor Who, naturally) Manipulative Editing, and some original audio, The Ten Doctors puts all the ten Doctors that existed when the first episode was created in a single adventure together, with the rest appearing later on.
When the first two Doctors are kidnapped under mysterious circumstances, the Third Doctor is contacted by a voice claiming to be Lord President of Gallifrey, who tells him that he and his other selves must rescue his first two incarnations or they might all cease to exist. The Seventh Doctor is given the job of contacting the rest of his incarnations, which is easier said than done as it requires a very powerful signal. Fortunately, it works. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Tenth Doctors are sent to UNIT HQ to rescue the Second Doctor from his battle against Omega's anti-matter monsters. The Tenth Doctor is driven away in a jeep by a random UNIT soldier while the rest of the Doctors flee from the crossfire, uncertain how to deal with the situation. Suddenly, a new enemy enters the battlefield...
- Dalek: Exterminate!
The Daleks recognise the Doctors and open fire on them. They respond by picking out red lightning guns to shoot the portal from which the Daleks have emerged. The Tenth Doctor arrives in his jeep with a strange device which, once activated, shoots out an energy beam that destroys all the Daleks. Even he is surprised that it was so easy. With the Second Doctor now safe, The man claiming to be Lord President sends the Doctors to rescue the First Doctor, who has been found by the Third, Eighth, and Ninth Doctors in Cardiff Castle, 1415. Unfortunately, they arrive just as the castle is attacked by Sontarans. The First Doctor has returned to the safety of his TARDIS and watches on his scanner screen as the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eight, Ninth and Tenth Doctors are all shot by Sontaran troopers.
The First Doctor activates a teleport to bring the other Doctors into his ship, where they wake up uninjured. He also causes a TARDIS exterior (containing all of the Doctors' TARDIS interiors) to materialise in the console room. Ian and Barbara just look on, puzzled by the whole thing. The Doctors go to their respective console rooms, Reverse the Polarity, and zap the Sontarans' probic vents with temporal energy, killing them and blowing up their mothership. The Doctors are once again contacted by "the Lord President", who tells them that it is time for them to finish their mission. However, they notice an anomaly in the President's signal and trace it to a space portal which they decide to investigate, despite "the Lord President" calling it irrelevant. It leads them to the planet Raston, heart of the Dalek-Cyber war, which looks very much like a quarry. They arrive in the middle of a three-way battle between Daleks, Cybermen, and Raston Warrior Robots. The Doctors are, once again, recognised and shot at by the Daleks and Cybermen, who are themselves obliterated by the Raston Warrior Robots. Interestingly, the robots don't target the Doctors and fly away. The Doctors realise that the portal is hidden above them and use their Sonic Screwdrivers to destroy the invisible barrier covering it and enter the dark dimension that lies on the other side. They find themselves in a dark, empty void, where they are greeted by the voice of "the Lord President", who reveals that he is actually from a parallel reality created by the Doctor when he ended the Time War by activating The Moment and destroyed Galifrey. His plan has actually been to gather the Doctors in one place so that he can steal their life force. He also reveals who he really is.
- "Lord President": I am the Doctor.
The Evil Doctor tells the Doctors that they wont live to see their successor. The Third Doctor then reveals that they've already met him. He contacted them all before the adventure began, warning them of the Evil Doctor's plan. He then aided the other Doctors behind the scenes, making sure that there was a jeep with an anti-Dalek device at UNIT HQ, altered the Sontaran weapons so they wouldn't kill the Doctors, and reprogrammed the Raston Warrior Robots to ignore Time Lord physiology. The whole story was just an attempt by the Doctors to rescue the future versions of the first two Doctors, which the Evil Doctor had kidnapped. The Eleventh Doctor arrives in his TARDIS, along with the War Doctor and a future version of the Tenth Doctor (counting as a separate incarnation, as he once regenerated while keeping the same face). The Evil Doctor reveals the absorption chambers, causing the Third Doctor to lose confidence for the first time in his life, which he says goes back "several thousand years." This surprises the Fourth and Tenth Doctors, as they believe they are nowhere near that old. However, they decide to ignore this revelation and send the two kidnapped Doctors back to their own time, hoping to avert the absorption...but it has already begun.
The Doctor had ten more incarnations before his childhood on Gallifrey. It was the last of these Doctors who sealed the rift in the Medusa Cascade, saving all of creation. He was then attacked by the Medusoid swarm, described by the Third Doctor as "a hairy jellyfish", and injured beyond regeneration. But he was saved by the Time Lords, who gave him a new regeneration cycle, de-aging him into a young child. The Doctors are understandably confused by their lack of recollection of these events. Turns out that the Evil Doctor has already absorbed his first regeneration cycle, erasing it from history.
- Evil Doctor: Do you miss them, Doctor? Do you feel their loss? Did you spend your nights alone in the dark crying for what you had lost?
The Doctors activate their Sonic Screwdrivers, forcing the Evil Doctor to show himself as a huge, holographic head. They are suddenly contacted by the Twelfth Doctor, who - with the help of K-9 - has managed to bring all of The Doctors' TARDISes into the Dark Dimension and temporarily immobilise the Evil Doctor. They now have exactly 11:05 minutes to stop him. The Eleventh Doctor reveals that he has a plan: Avoid the destruction of Gallifrey by freezing the planet in another universe. It works. Gallifrey is saved, the fracture of realitywhich created the Evil Doctor is averted and he ceases to exist. As they celebrate their victory, the Fourth Doctor and K-9 receive a message from one of the Doctor's future incarnations.
The series is not related to the webcomic The 10 Doctors, though it has a similar premise. It doesn't have anything to do with the trope Nine out of Ten Doctors Agree, either.
In 2020, it was announced by Babelcolour that the series would be remade into a feature length film with improved VFX , and that the story would be updated to include elements of the controversial Timeless Child backstory introduced by the Chris Chibnall era of the programme. The film, now under the title "The Timeless Doctors" , was originally intended to be released in late 2023 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, but wound up being delayed until 2024.
Tropes used:
- Adaptation Expansion: The scene where the Doctors save Gallifrey is much longer here than in the original show, and shows more of the classic Doctors.
- It is also an expansion of a corresponding scene from Babelcolour's Time War Chronicles videos. Also a case of Once More, with Clarity.
- Alien Geometries: After the First Doctor has beamed Doctors 2-10 aboard his ship, another TARDIS materialises in the console room. It is revealed to contain the interior of every present Doctor's TARDIS, allowing them all to board their separate ships by entering a single police box.
- Aliens in Cardiff: The Sontarans literally try to invade Cardiff while the Doctors happen to be there. Though it's Cardiff in medieval times, so it's a slightly unusual version of this trope.
- Ambiguous Time Period: As a subtle joke about the UNIT dating controversy, the battle against Omega is merely dated as "The 20th Century".
- BBC Quarry: The planet Raston is portrayed with footage of all the various planets from the show that have been shot in these.
- Big Damn Heroes: Happens quite a few times. It is basically the Doctors' role throughout the story. They end up in the middle of ongoing conflicts, defeat the bad guys, and save themselves by saving their earlier incarnations. Some specific examples:
- The Tenth Doctor arriving at the Omega-battle with an anti-Dalek device.
- The First Doctor saving his future incarnations from the Sontarans.
- The Raston Warrior Robots which show up and take out the Daleks and Cybermen just seems like a case of Villainous Rescue at first, but they are eventually revealed to be an example of this trope.
- The Twelfth Doctor and K-9 bringing the other Doctors' TARDISes to the Dark Dimension and immobilising the Evil Doctor.
- And finally the biggest one: the Doctors saving Gallifrey.
- Big "WHAT?!": The Fourth and Tenth Doctors get to do this back and fourth between themselves.
- The Cameo: Steven Taylor, Dodo Chaplet, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, Jo Grant, Corporal Palmer, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, and the General (the Time Lord who served at Arcadia when it fell) appear throught the story in small roles.
- Some Ogrons appear during the first Dalek battle. Afterwards, they disappear with no explanation.
- Captain Obvious: Dodo's line "Doctor, you've vanished!" is exclaimed to the Doctor just after he has vanished. Also the Brigadier's line "This could be construed as an invasion" becomes this.
- Cerebus Syndrome: For the most part, the story has a pretty simple action plot, with some dramatic scenes. Once the Doctors enter the Dark Dimension, however, the plot becomes much darker.
- Changed My Jumper: While hiding in Cardiff Castle, the First Doctor and Ian have disguised themselves as a soldier and a knight, respectively. The Eightth Doctor also seems to wear a monk's robe.
- Cliffhanger: All episodes but the last one end with one of these.
- Episode 1: A Dalek enters the battlefield.
- Episode 2: The Doctors are apparently shot dead.
- Episode 3: The Big Bad reveals himself to be the Doctor.
- Create Your Own Villain: The Evil Doctor was accidentally created by the War Doctor when he destroyed Gallifrey.
- Credits Gag: The titles for Episode 1 start out in black-and-white before gaining colour when Jon Pertwee's name shows up.
- Deus ex Machina: The anti-Dalek device and the Sontarans' weapons being non-lethal initially appear to be this. However, the twist ending reveals that there actually is a logical reason for these.
- Enemy Civil War: The fight against Omega becomes this when the Daleks and Ogrons arrive, as they are just as willing to attack the anti-matter monsters as UNIT's soldiers.
- The Doctors later end up in the middle of a three-way shootout between the Daleks, Cybermen, and Raston Worrior Robots. Subverted when it turns out that the Robots are actually on the Doctors' side.
- Evil Twin: The Big Bad is an alternate, evil version of the Doctor. Complete with deep voice and Evil Laugh.
- Evolving Credits: Episode 4 has different opening credits than the rest. They seem to be partially based on the Twelfth Doctor's opening credits.
- Expy: An evil, alternate incarnation of the Doctor who tries to become real by stealing the life force of his other selves. Are we sure we're not talking about the Valeyard? Also, before his identity is revealed he seems very similar to Doctor Claw from Inspector Gadget.
- Flat "What": The Fourth and Tenth Doctors do this back to back. The Fourth Doctor points out that he is saying this way too often.
- In fact, this trope is pretty much a Running Gag.
- Foreshadowing: An accidental example, but Episodes 1-3 feature connections to all three multi-Doctor adventures of the Classic Series. What does the fourth episode include? Why, a tie-in to the big multi-Doctor adventure of the New Series, of course.
- Hijacked by Ganon: The first rescue mission starts out as a battle against Omega's anti-matter monsters. Once the Daleks enter the battlefield, they take over the role as the primary antagonists.
- Insult Backfire: This exchange."Lord President": It is beyond the comprehension of your puny mind.Fourth Doctor: Yes my pu- Well it may be puny, but it works!
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The first proper line in Episode 4, which came out after a lengthy
Schedule Slip.Evil Doctor: Years have passed and I have waited. - Meanwhile, in the Future…: The Sontaran invasion - which takes place in 1415 - is given the subtitle "Meanwhile". Though it's unclear when exactly the Doctors are at the moment (the "Lord President" only tells them where the First Doctor is), so this might not actually be inaccurate.
- Mr. Exposition: K-9, the Evil Doctor, the Twelth Doctor, and the Tenth Doctor are all this at various points, as they are all portrayed by impressionist Jonathon Carley and Babelcolour himself, not stock audio from the show. (Though Ten still has David Tennant's original voice in some of his scenes.)
- "Number of Objects" Title: Because it involves the ten doctors of Doctor Who.
- Once an Episode: The Doctors end up in the middle of a battle between two or three other sides, and make it out alive thanks to a solution devised by Eleven (though we don't know that he's involved until the last episode).
- Percussive Maintenance: We get a montage of the Second, Tenth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, and Twelfth Doctors all doing this.
- Pinball Protagonist: The various incarnations of the Doctor border on this, as they realise that part of the adventure is Already Done for You. Though this is a unusual example, as the man who went there and did it is their future self. We're just not seeing it from his perspective.
- Also, the Big Bad and his victims are alternate and previous versions of the same man, respectively. This means that aside from K-9, the Doctor is the only character with a major role in the story.
- Running Gag: The jelly babies make an appearance, albeit offered to Four (by Two). not by him.
- Stock Footage: The bulk of the story consists of this, taken from both Who and other sources. Notably, the Evil Doctor is portrayed by Stock Footage of Dr. Totenkopf from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, who was himself portayed by stock footage of Laurence Olivier.
- Unfazed Everyman: Ian and Barbara just kind of stand around and look bewildered as nine unknown men and another TARDIS (containing nine different TARDISes) suddenly appear in the console room.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Many medieval extras barely seem to react to the invading aliens who land around the castle. Or the teleporting police boxes, for that matter. Maybe they think it's just a trick with mirrors.
- Wham Episode: Episode 4, both for this story and the TV show (though, being a fan-made production, it's not canon). Let's count all the big reveals.
- Eleven contacted the other Doctors before the story began and warned them about the plans of "the Lord President". The entire story was their attempt to rescue their previous two incarnations from him.
- The Third Doctor says that he is thousands of years old, surprising his later incarnations, who are supposed to be younger.
- ...Which later leads to the reveal that the Doctor had ten incarnations before his childhood on Gallifrey - the Morbius Doctors.
- It is revealed what the Medusa Cascade has to do with the Doctor's name.
- We even find out why the Doctor was crying in that barn.
- There is a scene where the Doctor's life is shown in reverse. We see all of the Doctors before landing on the First Doctor who lands at Foreman's Junkyard, travels through the Time Vortex, steals a TARDIS, and has a nightmare as a child. Then it continues, showing footage of a young Doctor running across the fields of Gallifrey. Something that has never been shown in Doctor Who.
- Then there's the climax, where all the Doctors defeat the villain by... freezing Gallifrey. Yes, this story is a fan-made P.O.V. Sequel to "Doctor Who 50th AS "The Day of the Doctor"", meaning that some fans had already seen the story of how the Doctors met before they started asking how it happened. (Though this only applies if you watch it without having seen Babelcolour's Time War Chronicles videos, which revealed the same thing.)
