Anything the Doctor deactivates or wipes from existence entirely isn’t considered part of the final number either. This count is based on just the TV show, too, as Doctor Who’s audio dramas, prose stories, and comics often blur timelines and canon. Several of the greatest Doctor Who TV stories of all time see others die, but it’s surprising how often this is at the hands of other people, rather than the Doctor themself.
Surprisingly, Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor has a kill count of zero. While he causes the Tremas Master to be sucked into the Eye of Harmony in the 1996 Doctor Who movie, the villainous Time Lord technically survives and is later revived, so this doesn’t count as a kill.
Despite what the early seasons after the 2005 reboot allow viewers to believe, the Eighth Doctor isn’t responsible for any killings during Doctor Who’s first Time War. This is because of the introduction of John Hurt’s War Doctor in “The Day of the Doctor.” However, it is unclear how many of these Doctors kill during the war, regardless of species, especially as so little about the events between “The Night of the Doctor” and “The Day of the Doctor” is known.
Because of the canon changes surrounding the Time War, the Ninth Doctor’s kill count initially seems higher than it actually is. While Christopher Eccleston’s singular season as the Time Lord is quite dark, the Ninth Doctor himself doesn’t actually kill any living thing. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t try, however, as he is constantly so angry about his past.
The Ninth Doctor’s bitterness after the Time War is a huge part of his characterization, but Rose Tyler helps with his grief, and stops him from killing again, like in “Dalek.” He also tries to stop the Nestene Consciousness with anti-plastic, but it’s only a bargaining chip, and it’s actually Rose who causes this death when she kicks it onto the creature while trying to save the day.
The Doctor always tries to be a pacifist, but Fourteen is easily the most peaceful of them all.
Many consider the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor’s game of catch to defeat the Toymaker a kill, but it’s not. After the Pantheon God in Doctor Who is beaten, he is technically banished from existence and folds up into a box, which is now under the watch of UNIT. The Doctor always tries to be a pacifist, but Fourteen is easily the most peaceful of them all.
William Hartnell’s First Doctor is one of the grumpiest regenerations, but he only actually kills one being. The First Doctor’s only official kill comes in the classic era serial “The Daleks,” when he removes one of the creatures from its casing. The First Doctor also appears to cause the deaths of some of the Toymaker’s deadly pawns in “The Celestial Toymaker.”
One incarnation that stands out for being quite violent is Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, and not just because he tries to strangle Peri. Throughout his tenure, the Sixth Doctor kills 22 two times. The first is when he dissolves Lord Mestor in “The Twin Dilemma” with Mosten acid, and the last is when he causes five Vervoids to wither using vionesium in “Terror of the Vervoids.”
There are quite a few others that the Sixth Doctor kills by disintegration, interestingly enough, such as the Varos guards in “Vengeance on Varos.” However, one of his most fatal serials is “Attack of the Cybermen,” in which he stabs, blows up, and even shoots several different versions of the legendary recurring Doctor Who villains.
The Fifth Doctor kills a total of 31 times in his lifetime. He kills the Sea Devils in “Warriors of the Deep” by exposing them to Hexachromite gas, accidentally burns two Terileptils alive in “The Visitation,” and shoots various Cybermen and Leaders in “Earthshock.” Technically, the Doctor kills the Mara with a replica of the Great Crystal in the serial “Snakedance,” but as the god has yet to return to Doctor Who, it can be assumed it’s dead.
One of the first villains the Fifth Doctor faces in Doctor Who is the Minister of Persuasion, who doesn’t survive, either. Although the Doctor technically deactivates the android, it’s heavily implied the Minister’s original form is biological, and his consciousness is transferred into a robotic body.
Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor kills 53 times during his run. This incarnation of the Doctor is rather brutal, surprisingly. He electrocutes six Cybermats with a cable in “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” and he also kills several Quarks in “The Dominators” by blowing them up, for example.
It’s hard to narrow down the Third Doctor’s kill count to a specific number, mainly because there are several instances in which the final death toll isn’t clear. For example, the Third Doctor kills at least nine Sea Devils in “The Sea Devils” by blowing up their base, but it’s unclear how many are actually inside. This is the same for the serials “Colony in Space” and “The Monster of Peladon,” as it’s unknown how many Uxariean and Ice Warriors die in these stories.
The Third Doctor kills a Sontaran Commander, several Daleks, and even a giant fly in different stories, too. Even though he doesn’t always look capable, the Third Doctor is still guilty of killing when needed.
Although Charlie Duffy decides to stay beside the exploding Ker!am Men in “Kerblam!,” and so seals his own fate, it’s still the Doctor who orders the robots to detonate. One of the most notable, however, is when the Doctor recalibrates the laser rifle that Commander Gat tries to shoot Doctor Who’s Fugitive Doctor with, causing herself to disintegrate.
It’s shocking how many villains Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor blows up, and out of the Time Lord’s 57 kills, an astonishing 32 die by explosion. However, many of the Doctor’s other kills are rather inventive. The Fourth Doctor kills a Fendahleen by using a shotgun to rock salts at it in “Image of the Fendahl,” which is one of the times Doctor Who proves the Doctor does use guns.
He also leads an Ogri off a cliff in “The Stones of Blood,” stabs the King Vampire in the heart in “State of Decay” which also causes its followers to disintegrate. One hilarious death sees the Fourth Doctor kick a Tesh into an electrified wall in “The Face of Evil,” as well.
The Goblin King’s fate in Doctor Whoends rather badly after its first encounter with the Fifteenth Doctor. Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor has killed 71 times, so far, although a majority of these deaths are the Goblins from the Christmas episode “The Church on Ruby Road,”which is a rather wild start for this incarnation, especially in his first full episode.
“The Church on Ruby Road” has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Fifteenth Doctor also causes the death of Harriet Arbinger in “Empire of Death” when he uses the heart of the TARDIS to vaporize her. The Time Lord also disintegrates Sutekh by tying the Pantheon god to the TARDIS and dragging it through the Space-Time vortex. However, there’s a chance the upcoming Doctor Who season 15 will see the Fifteenth Doctor kill some more.
The Twelfth Doctor also causes the Foretold to disintegrate in “Mummy on the Orient Express,” destroys the crab-like Kantrofarri in “Last Christmas,” and even shoots an incredible 24 Dalek Handmines in “The Witch’s Familiar.” His most dramatic, however, is when he drowns the Fisher King in “Before the Flood,” the second half of one of the best Doctor Who two-part stories.
The Seventh Doctor kills an incredible 755 times throughout his tenure. The first happens in the serial “Time and the Rani,” when he blows up a Tetrap after he shoves it into a force-bubble trap, and the last is when he destroys General Tannis in “Death Comes to Time” for breaking the laws of time. In between these events, however, the Seventh Doctor kills in some incredibly odd ways.
While Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is depicted as a hero, albeit a harmless one, many of his 2027 various kills show the Time Lord at his most unhinged. For example, even though the Dalek he finds in “The Wedding of River Song” is already damaged without repair, he disassembles it and ensures its deathto find information on the Silence. Strangely, the Eleventh Doctor kills more Daleks than any other species, and the explosion of several Daleks in “Asylum of the Daleks” is a shocking moment, too.
Before his regeneration, this incarnation of the Doctor ensures the death of multiple Sontarans, Daleks, Cybermen, and other different species that gather in the atmosphere of Trenzalore.
The Eleventh Doctor’s final episode, “The Time of the Doctor,” is his most murderous, however. Before his regeneration, this incarnation of the Doctor ensures the death of multiple Sontarans, Daleks, Cybermen, and other different species that gather in the atmosphere of Trenzalore.
Even though the Tenth Doctor is easily the most anti-violence out of all the Time Lord’s incarnations, he has a surprisingly high kill count. His first kill is in his debut episode, “The Christmas Invasion,” in which he sends the Sycorax Leader falling to his death after a sword fight. The Tenth Doctor shockingly causes the death of a werewolf, thousands of Cybermen, an experimental scientist, and even the civilians of Pompeii during his run.
His most surprising, and scariest, kill is as Doctor Who’s Time Lord Victorious in “The Waters of Mars,” however. Although the Bowie Base One crew members infected by the Flood will die anyway, the Tenth Doctor prematurely kills Andy when he electrocutes the door to keep everyone safe. This was one of the Tenth Doctor’s many canonical kills in Doctor Who.
