Do you ever wonder what if the Doctor exists and walks among us? That ‘Torchwood’ is real and the television show ‘Doctor Who’ is just an elaborate cover up? If the answer to that is yes, ever wonder who he might be?

Well, in the grand tradition of me not wanting to discern between fact and fiction, let me tell you exactly who I think the Doctor is. Last month I told you who I thought the Seventh Doctor was in real life. Well, this month I’ve chosen someone just as worthy.

Eighth Doctor: Nikola Tesla

Tesla was going to be on this list one way or another, so why not put him in the place of the Doctor that has the same vague period of dress style? Really, it’s because the Eighth Doctor is one of the most neglected – and wrongfully so – Doctors, much like Tesla is often relegated to those who like obscure science trivia. It’s not fair, but it’s the way it is.

The Eighth Doctor is actually my favorite Doctor, and this is largely because of the Big Finish radio plays. It’s because of these radio plays that I naturally assume anyone who hates the Eighth Doctor simply hasn’t listened to them. I honestly think it’s impossible to hate that incarnation.

But let’s get back to the under-appreciated Tesla, shall we?

So, you can’t be the Doctor without having some serious MacGyver qualities, and I think that  if Tesla needed to defeat errant terrorist organizations, he could do so by somehow electrifying a pair of suspenders and a bit of wood. Though, seriously, he wouldn’t have to. He can do stuff like this:

Tesla’s contributions to the world were many and varied, but none so important as Alternating Current electricity. Oh, and the radio. Yeah. The radio. The story behind it is long, dramatic, and well worth the read, but the TLDR is that Tesla was broadcasting earlier than Gyglielmo Marconi, and lost his data and research to a fire which gave time for Marconi to file the patents. Decades later, the patents would be overturned the year Tesla died, 1943.

And really, Nikola had a lot of Doctor-like qualities (well, Doctor-like if you ignore all the reboots) aside from being a brilliant scientist. He was completely celibate assexual, believed he received radio transmissions from Mars AND talked to pigeons. How seemingly mentally-unbalanced and adorably kooky is that? He really is the Doctor. No further proof needed.

Test out your time traveling skills. Who do you think is going to be the Ninth Doctor?