Portrayed by:
- -
Biology[]
The Portreeve was an entity created "somewhere between the Doctor's eighth and final incarnations", perhaps the essence of the Doctor's negative emotion from that time.
Appearence[]
The Portreeve wore a blue suit, glasses and a trench coat.
Personality[]
In certain aspects, the Portreeve was similar to several of the Doctor's incarnations, quite cunning and verbal, with a knack for manipulation. He had a bit of a temper, and was prone to outbursts, but generally calm and collected, a trait numerous incarnations of the Doctor exhibited. However, his actions were constantly defined by his focus on himself, with the Portreeve willing to risk or sacrifice anything if it meant ensuring his own existence, as seen in his willingness to break the Laws of Time and kill his own pastselfs and his attempt to control the Matrix despite the dangers its presence would pose to established history.
The Portreeve drew his personality and observations from the 'dark' dimensions of the Doctor's subconscious. This included his innermost thoughts and doubts about the course of his life and perhaps 'cavalier' treatment of others, including self-loathing, guilt, arrogance, selfishness and even lust. The Sixth Doctor said to the Psychic Pollen Portreeve that only one person hated the Doctor as much as the Portreeve did: Himself.
Vain, manipulative and ruthless, he could be slyly influentual towards other. The Portreeve had a twisted sense of humour and could be extremely sadistic. He usually maintained a calm and controlling demeanour but was prone to violent mood swings with a fiery temper that often bordered on psychosis. His true demonic nature was alluded to by his dim, humid IDRIS.
History[]
Psychic Pollen Portreeve[]
A "Proto-Portreeve" was "awoken" by specks of Psychic Pollen from the Candle Meadows of Karass Don Slava that had got stuck in the time rotor of the Doctor's IDRIS console, and induced a collective dream state for the Doctor and his companions as they were warmed up. After his creation, the Portreeve trapped the Sixth Doctor, Bob Price and Neville Sucrow between two worlds, one in a seemingly idyllic Lytaroue three years in Bob and Neville's personal futures and the other in an IDRIS hurtling toward a "cold star". The Portreeve told them that one reality was dream and the other was real, and that they would have to choose between them. Both involved deadly danger. Dying in the dream world would cause them to wake up in reality. The Portreeve would appear to the Doctor and his companions in both worlds, taunting the Doctor on his insecurities and defects and pressuring Bob to assess her own priorities and 'dreams' for the future - whether she wanted a life of adventure with the Doctor or to be settled safely with Neville and start a family. He seemed to relish attempting to bait the Doctor and his companions with remarks about their relationships to one another. The Doctor eventually realised that neither world was real, and managed to return them all to the waking world by destroying the dream IDRIS and seemingly killing them after they all died in the Lytaroue dream.
Whether or not the Portreeve was truly defeated is open for interpretation. After he had found and removed the Psychic Pollen, the Doctor saw the Portreeve's face in his reflection in the EDIFICE's console, smiling slyly at him. Being a representation of the Doctor's inner darkness, the Portreeve may only be hiding within the Doctor.
Birth[]
Other than a cryptic hint, the exact origins of the Portreeve are unknown.
According to the Master, the Portreeve was the personification of all that was evil within the Doctor, estimated to have been taken from somewhere between his eighth and final incarnations.
The Doctor vs. Time Trial[]
The Portreeve served as the prosecutor during the trial of the Fifth Doctor. He presented extracts from the Matrix, depicting past events in the Doctor's life as evidence of the Doctor violating the Time Lords' non-interference policy. The Portreeve had secretly tampered with the Matrix extracts to show the Doctor in the worst possible light and steer the trial to a guilty verdict, such as creating the impression that the Fourth Doctor had betrayed his companion George Lazarus to save himself. If the Doctor lost the trail, the Portreeve was to have received the Fifth Doctor's remaining four incarnations. However, the Third Master eventually stepped in and revealed the Portreeve's true motives.
The Portreeve escaped into the Matrix via the Seventh Door, which he opened using a copy of the Key of the Other. Using it to attack Earth, the Portreeve was pursued and finally defeated by the actions of the Doctor's fifth incarnation of feeding the effect of an explosion, intended by the Portreeve to destroy the court, back into the Matrix.
However, as the Doctor and his companions departed, the Portreeve was secretly still present, disguised as the Keeper of the Matrix.
Vendetta[]
The Portreeve returned and tangled with the Fifth Doctor again, revealing his mastery of the Matrix and now having his own IDRIS. During this time he assumed the identity of Jim Keats and was unconcerned about the dangers that his actions posed to history. He used the Matrix's power to reach out into his past to corrupt the Doctor's other selves to do his work, such as provoking the First Doctor to kill other Time Lords while he was on Gallifrey, the Second Doctor into destroying the Toltems at their beginning in the Fifth Doctor's place, the Third Doctor into strangling Charmaine Mansfield to death and the Fourth Doctor into allowing Molly Riddle to die in his place. Fortunately, the Fifth Doctor escaped the Portreeve's influence by sealing his conscious mind in the IDRIS's telepathic circuits while investigating the new history created by the Portreeve's actions- having arrived in the alternate 1963 that would result from the Portreeve's presence in London while attempting to leave his companions with his mother for safety, subsequently learning the full details of the new timeline. Provoking the Matrix into rebelling against the Portreeve's control of it, the Doctor and the Portreeve clashed on top of the church where the Portreeve had hidden his IDRIS, until the destruction of the IDRIS/Matrix released a burst of energy that struck and killed the Portreeve and merged him with the Doctor.
When in the Medusa Cascade, Deagon forced the Fifth Doctor to feel guilt and remorse, unwittingly helping the Portreeve emerge. When the Toltems were defeated and the Doctor was alone, the Portreeve attacked, attempting to take over the Doctor's mind. The Doctor's link with the IDRIS saved him and in an attempt to fight back, they were all pulled into the IDRIS's Matrix. Within the Matrix, the three minds were able to form a world, creating a museum based on the Doctor's past. The Portreeve tried to steal the Doctor's memories, while the IDIRS helped the Doctor regain them. The Doctor was eventually able to regain all his memories and confront the Portreeve. Using the memories and will-power from his previous regenerations, the Fifth Doctor was able to take back the Matrix and remove the Portreeve from him, throwing him into the grounds of Gallifrey for trial.
Alternate Timeline(s)[]
.
Appearences[]
Time and Space: Series 3[]
- "A Trial During Christmas"
- "Forever After"
Time and Space: Series 4[]
- "A Christmas Memory"
Time and Space: Series 5[]
- "The Final Days of Planet Earth" (Mentioned only)
Time and Space: Series 6[]
- "The Sixth Day of Christmas" (Mentioned only)
- "Nightmare at Lytaroue"
- "Saving the Universe" (Briefly spotted during the Doctor's Timeline Rewind)
Trivia[]
- .