What historical figures should Moffat/Smith meet?

[Dinosauricon]

So far in the new series we've had Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Shakesphere (and by extension Queen Elizabeth) and Agatha Christie. I might be missing one or two but I'm pretty sure that's it.

In the classic series the Doctor met a number of historical figures as well, or was at least familiar with them. The novels/audios have also had plenty of historical personalities. There's a bit of the running joke of the Doctor being a name dropper...


So who should Smith's Doctor meet. Will Moffat keep the tradition of the celebrity historical?

 

[Mr Light]

Winston Churchill!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Amelia Earhardt.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Amelia Earhardt.

I'll have to dig out my copy of The nth Doctor to make sure, but I'm pretty sure that she was going to be the companion in one of the Johnny Byrne-written films of the late '90s.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Amelia Earhardt.

I'll have to dig out my copy of The nth Doctor to make sure, but I'm pretty sure that she was going to be the companion in one of the Johnny Byrne-written films of the late '90s.

Oh, that would have been cool, although I'm not a fan of the stories he wrote for Doctor Who (although The Keeper of Traken was at least enjoyable).

 

[captcalhoun]

Sir Terry Pratchett
Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle
JK Rowling
Colin Dexter

Henry VIII (played by Omid Djalili)

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Evolution, by John Peel, has the 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane meeting Doyle (and Rudyard Kipling, too).

Henry VIII (played by Omid Djalili)

According to "The Sensorites," Henry threw the first Doctor and Susan in the Tower of London. Ahistory lists a number of other references to the Doctor's encounters with Henry VIII. For instance, the Doctor witnessed the execution of Anne Boleyn.

The only story I can think of where the Doctor meets Henry in-story (rather than as a reference to an unseen adventure) is the fifth Doctor story, "God Send Me Well To Keep," by Linnea Dodson in Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership.

As for the celebrity historical, despite writing one myself, I'd like to see the genre put away for a few years, unless there's an amazing spin on it. Like a celebrity pure-historical, rather than the celebrity pseudo-historical as we've had.

Of course, I'd like to see a pure-historical anyway. It's the most conspicuous thing out of the Who playbook that RTD didn't try during his era.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Alexander the Great

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Alexander the Great

Try Campaign, by Jim Mortimore.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

John Merrick, the Elephant Man.

 

[Stevil2001]

Winston Churchill!

Allyn, you're slacking off. I can't believe you failed to mention that the second and sixth Doctors both meet Churchill in the novel Players by Terrance Dicks.

 

[danjamesb]

Winston Churchill!

Allyn, you're slacking off. I can't believe you failed to mention that the second and sixth Doctors both meet Churchill in the novel Players by Terrance Dicks.

Or that he was removed from Dicks' Revenge of the Judoon because the production team liked the idea of using Churchill on screen at a later date.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Alexander the Great

Try Campaign, by Jim Mortimore.

I'll give that a whirl.

Thanks!

 

[Worf2DS9]

Winston Churchill!

Allyn, you're slacking off. I can't believe you failed to mention that the second and sixth Doctors both meet Churchill in the novel Players by Terrance Dicks.

Or that he was removed from Dicks' Revenge of the Judoon because the production team liked the idea of using Churchill on screen at a later date.

Hm, maybe if they do they can get Brenden Gleeson to reprise the role.

 

[Starkers]

Richard III
Churchill (young Boar war Churchill at that I reckon)

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Freddie Mercury

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Richard III

The Kingmaker, from Big Finish, with the Fifth Doctor, Peri, and Erimem.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Alexander the Great

Try Campaign, by Jim Mortimore.

I'll give that a whirl.

Thanks!

Do you have drugs handy? You may need them...

 

[Chaos Descending]

Try Campaign, by Jim Mortimore.

I'll give that a whirl.

Thanks!

Do you have drugs handy? You may need them...

Alcohol's my only drug. Will it suffice?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

You should be fine. Campaign can be... umm... a little trippy.