23

The types of stories told in Doctor Who usually happen quickly, one event after another. For instance The Unicorn and the Wasp seems to happen in one afternoon running into the evening.

These stories rarely show anything happening over days where the characters are asleep.

Do Timelords sleep? Do they need to, or is it a choice? Is there anything that brings up whether they need sleep or how often they need to eat or just what their needs are to survive physically?

And, on the sleep issue, I don't mean in something like Family of Blood, where the Doctor has changed himself into a human, or in situations like right after a regeneration where a Timelord may need time to deal with the regeneration. I mean in general, as in day-to-day living when not under extreme conditions.

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    I believe one of the minisodes on the S6 DVD released had the Doctor state that he needs to sleep less than humans, which would imply that Time Lords need at least some level of sleep (though how much, I have no idea). I'll try to find that reference if I can. – waiwai933 May 29 '12 at 4:03
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    He seems to have a fondness for bunk beds and hammocks, at least. He also falls asleep several times in "Amy's Choice", and although the sleep itself was unnatural, I find it interesting he didn't complain about it in a "so this is what humans do for 8 hours a night" sort of way like he does for things like waiting around or observing time in proper order (and proper speed). Neither is conclusive, but given that and other comments/answers it seems the likely conclusion that he does sleep (though not whether that is out of necessity, or how much) – PeterL Sep 28 '12 at 16:02
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    After regenerating into David Tennant, didn't The Doctor sleep for multiple days in Rose's home.. – Baby Yoda Dec 29 '18 at 14:58

10 Answers 10

24

The Season 6 'mini-episode' "Good Night" contains the following exchange:

Amy: Do you do this every night?

Doctor: Oh, Hello.

Amy: You're trying to conceal a euphonium. Guiltily. Has that ever been attempted before?

Doctor: What? Oh, this. Oh, yeah, it's just one of those euphoniums.

Amy: Okay, so is this what you do at night when we're sleeping. Have extra adventures?

Doctor: I don't sleep as much as you. I keep busy.

So apparently the Doctor does sleep, just not as much as a human.

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    You shouldn't take everything the Doctor says at face value. I'm pretty sure if confronted he would say that "not at all" would count as "not as much as you". – DJClayworth May 29 '12 at 13:35
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    Similarly, he could just be saying Amy sleeps a lot. He may still sleep 6-8 hours or so, but Amy tends to sleep in or sleep 6-9 hours. Or he could just be making an excuse. – PeterL Sep 28 '12 at 15:58
  • @PeterL - The clear implication of the episode is he sleeps very little, sufficiently little that he can live an entire other-life without his companions knowing about it. – Valorum Apr 27 '14 at 19:48
  • @Richard: Doctor Who doesn't really work that way :P – Lightness Races with Monica Nov 15 '15 at 13:45
18

I know this is an old question, but I just wanted to add this interaction from the 9th episode of season 9, Sleep No More:

DOCTOR: Sleep is vital. Sleep is wonderful. Even I sleep.

CLARA: When?

DOCTOR: Well, when you're not looking.

Later in the episode, the Doctor discusses the importance of sleep to every living creature (which of course includes Time Lords) (emphasis mine):

DOCTOR: Sleep is essential to every sentient being in the universe . . . Sleep isn't just a function. It's blessed. Every night we dive deep into that inky pool, deep into the arms of Morpheus. Every morning we wake up and wipe the sleep from our eyes.

  • In the first quote, he clearly states that sleep is vital (even to him), and that he enjoys it (sleep is wonderful).
  • In the second quote, he essentially admits to sleeping every night and waking up every morning, by using the pronoun we when he could have easily used another.

And there you have it. I felt I should add my answer despite the existing ones because unlike the Doctor-Amy interaction, this time the Doctor leaves no room for interpretation. When he said "I don't sleep as much as you", he could have meant that he doesn't sleep at all, because 0 hours is not as much as 8 hours. In other words, he was being too vague to provide any actual facts to back up a claim.

But if the Doctor sleeps as night, how come we believed he only sleeps very little? Because he has a time machine, and because no one would watch a show about a man sleeping.

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7

I couldn't find or remember if it is ever explicitly stated that the Doctor, or Timelords, sleep, but it is implied heavily throughout the series when he talks about dreams, or is forced into one through whatever means.

On 'The Day Of The Doctor', the 50th anniversary special, at the 1:14:30 mark, The Doctor says:

"Clara sometimes ask me if I dream. 'Of course I dream', I tell her. 'Everybody dreams'. 'What do you dream about?' she'll ask. 'Same thing everybody dreams about', I tell her. 'I dream about where I'm going.'"

On the Christmas special of 2014 'The Last Christmas', The Doctor explains several times how dreams are funny, how the mind works to fill the gaps so we don't realize it's a dream, he asks Clara:

"Have you ever woken from a dream and discovered you're still dreaming?"

which sounds like he's talking from personal experience. And there's that sentence which he says later on the episode:

"No one knows they're not dreaming. Not one of us. Not ever. Not for one single moment of our lives."

Plus, there is the fact that the psychic manifestation of the evil side of the Doctor in the episode 'Amy's Choice' (S05E07) chose to call itself The Dream Lord after being awoken by psychic pollen and used dreams to torture The Doctor, Amy and Rory.

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    The first quote could be talking about day dreaming to of course but the second two are more explicit. – TheLethalCarrot Oct 3 '18 at 9:22
4

We see the doctor asleep as a child in Listen, or at least waking up.

Clara holding the doctor's leg add a child

Furthermore, the discussion that we hear implies that this is normal for them to sleep.

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    Nice catch, but at that time he was merely a Gallifreyian, not a Time Lord. – Baby Yoda Nov 15 '15 at 20:00
3

If you watch the original series, especially the first series with William Hartnell, they (the doctor and his grand daughter) go to sleep.

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1

In the Big Finish audio story "Davros", the Doctor claims that Time Lords only require an hour of sleep, as opposed to the six to eight hours that the average human requires.

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    Can you provide a quote? – Rogue Jedi Nov 17 '15 at 22:47
0

After his regeneration into David Tennant, IIRC, he had to sleep for a while, to recover. This is not conclusive, but at least indicates that Time Lords do get weary, which implies that they would need sleep. Although, as @BobWarwick points out, not as much as us mere humans.

Which probably explains why they choose increasingly hyperactive actors for the role. William Hartnell excluded.

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  • Re-read the last paragraph of the question -- I addressed this and specifically reference this as a possible exception. – Tango May 29 '12 at 18:12
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    @TangoOversway - re-read, and I accept that after a regeneration is exceptional, but it does indicate that Time Lords get weary. That was my point. It may be that only regenerations weary them, but is suggests that some of their other work might also, therefore that they need some sleep. – Schroedingers Cat May 30 '12 at 8:06
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I've noticed several things about the Doctor. 1: He does keep his personal needs and such to himself. He did, although, in the newest season 8, he confessed that he forced himself into a dreamstate. 2: Regeneration. I've noticed that as the doctor regenerates the power of the regeneration becomes greater. When he first regenerated he slowly and peacefully changed his face, although when he last regenerated (from Smith to Capaldi) he blew a Dalek armada ship the size of a town out of the sky, plus great damage to the buildings.

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    I dispute that regenerations are getting more violent simply as the Doctor gets older. 10 to 11 was extremely violent because he'd held off for hours to say goodbye to lots of people; 11 to 12 was extremely violent because it was a fresh regeneration cycle and/or his body had a lot of regenerating to do, having grown so very very old as 11. 8 to W wasn't violent but sounded painful, probably because it was unnatural and 8 was only alive at that point by artificial means (thanks, Sisterhood of Karn!). In all other scenarios, e.g. W to 9, 9 to 10, it just looks like a special effects change. – Lightness Races with Monica Nov 15 '15 at 13:49
-1

When looking at this question you are forgetting several key things. One is how Timelords and all other species are portrayed on the screen. Second is the general time flow of the show.

When looking at how Timelords and other species are portrayed on the screen you need to remember that in general biological functions are pretty boring. What that means is that unless it is needed for a plot point you won't see any of them on the screen. This includes sleeping, eating, removing of biological waste (think restroom) or general hygiene matters. Unless there was a need for it to be on screen you will not see it.

The timeline of the stories is also important. It should be remembered as it has been stated and talked about many times in the stories that time passing for the companions is not the same as for the doctor. What I mean by this is that while there may be a new adventure for the companion each day that is not the case for the doctor. From what we are able to determine on the screen is that there is generally a much longer time lapse between events from the doctors perspective then the companions. At times it has been over a hundred years and at other times it is the same. It should be remembered that in a show that deals with time travel it is very easy to get around the boring aspects of it such as sleep.

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-3

To quote 'The Lying Poet' who answered up top, "In the Big Finish audio story "Davros", the Doctor claims that Time Lords only require an hour of sleep, as opposed to the six to eight hours that the average human requires." Edit: here is the Audio clip of the story where this is mentioned by The Sixth Doctor

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  • This would have been better as an edit to his answer rather than an answer in its own right. – Valorum Oct 11 '18 at 7:05

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