# Doctor Who question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465 "2016-11-30T16:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/1 "2016-11-30T16:46:13Z")
Does The Doctor actually hold a doctorate in some field of study? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/2 "2016-11-30T16:49:26Z")
No. The Doctor is a title that comes from the word for “healer/wise man” throughout the universe. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/3 "2016-11-30T16:53:21Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > No. The Doctor is a title that comes from the word for “healer/wise man” throughout the universe. Or, the word for “healer/wise man” throughout the universe comes from The Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/4 "2016-11-30T16:53:28Z")
Well, the Doctor’s always been evasive about it. Not confirmed either way, but his moniker of ‘Doctor’ is a nom-de-guerre rather than a title of office, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/5 "2016-11-30T16:56:51Z")
Per Fourth Doctor serial “The Ark in Space”, he has an honorary doctorate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/6 "2016-11-30T17:00:49Z")
He actually started out as a freelance accountant but fled Gallifrey in the blue box when the Bureau of Finance started to question some of his work. The chaos that ensued from all the books he had doctored resulted in the ultimate collapse of Gallifreyan society. His TARDIS was a late model, made by a company in severe distress, and his hasty departure is why the chameleon circuit was never properly installed. Or something like that. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/7 "2016-11-30T17:15:20Z")
Well, two years ago Glasgow University did issue an official statement attempting to clarify whether he holds a Glasgow doctorate. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/8 "2016-11-30T17:20:04Z")
IIRC the Second Doctor (?) said something about having a doctorate in butter-making. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/9 "2016-11-30T17:29:06Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Or, the word for “healer/wise man” throughout the universe comes from The Doctor. You’re right, I think I had that backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/10 "2016-11-30T17:59:21Z")
He has a Master’s degree… in science! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/11 "2016-11-30T17:59:38Z")
He did attend university on Gallifrey. It’s unclear whether he got his degree there, though. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/12 "2016-11-30T18:14:38Z")
The First Doctor specifically denied being a physician. The Second Doctor claimed to have studied for a medical degree, but does not say that he graduated. The Third Doctor claimed to be a doctor of “practically everything.” The Fourth Doctor claimed to be a doctor of “many things,” but also said that his degree was only honorary. In the story “The Armageddon Factor,” a fellow Time Lord congratulated the Fourth Doctor on receiving his doctorate. He doesn’t say in what. The Sixth Doctor was planning to write a book, which would be “by Doctor–”. He is interrupted before he can give any other name, there is no definite article there. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/13 "2016-11-30T18:44:34Z")
And the Master just has a lousy MBA. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/14 "2016-11-30T18:54:00Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Or, the word for “healer/wise man” throughout the universe comes from The Doctor. Except in the [Gamma Forests](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gamma_Forests), where it means “mighty warrior”. I understand that the idea that the English word “Doctor” derives from The Doctor’s title, rather than the other way around, was first proposed by a young man named Russel Davies on usenet in the 90s. That man then grew up to become a writer for the new Doctor Who and made that explanation officially canonical in “[A Good Man Goes to War](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/A_Good_Man_Goes_to_War)”. My person theory is that the original title is a nickname acquired one day at the Time Lord Academy where our hero forgot his key and had to sneak in through the Dog Door. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/15 "2016-11-30T19:11:01Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > My person theory is that the original title is a nickname acquired one day at the Time Lord Academy where our hero forgot his key and had to sneak in through the Dog Door. Actually his student nickname was Theta Sigma. And I think the 11th Doctor claimed his doctorate was in cheesemaking. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/16 "2016-11-30T19:33:08Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I understand that the idea that the English word “Doctor” derives from The Doctor’s title, rather than the other way around, was first proposed by a young man named Russel Davies on usenet in the 90s. That man then grew up to become a writer for the new Doctor Who and made that explanation officially canonical in “[A Good Man Goes to War](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/A_Good_Man_Goes_to_War)”. Close. It was Stephen Moffat, not Russell T. Davies. According to wikipedia, Moffat even said at the time that it was “a very silly idea,” not that that stopped him from making it canonical when he got the chance. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/17 "2016-11-30T19:47:41Z")
Harry Sullivan is an imbecile! ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/18 "2016-11-30T20:13:52Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Close. It was Stephen Moffat, not Russell T. Davies. According to wikipedia, Moffat even said at the time that it was “a very silly idea,” not that that stopped him from making it canonical when he got the chance. We’re talking, of course, about the same man who greenlit a story in which the Moon is revealed to be a giant egg. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/19 "2016-12-01T03:03:02Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Harry Sullivan is an imbecile! You might be _a_ doctor but I am _The_ Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465/20 "2016-12-01T03:21:56Z")
According to _[Terror of the Autons](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/8-1.htm)_, he has a degree in Cosmic Science. According to [The Ribos Operastion](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/16-1.htm)he scraped through with fifty one percent at the second attempt. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-question/773465.md?page=2)