Now is as good a time as ever to get into Doctor Who, but the show's long and rich history
may seem a little daunting if you're a beginner. So, before you step into the TARDIS, here's
a primer on some of the small details that the show's most dedicated fans would catch.
And now you can too.
Doctor Who's lengthy first run ended in 1989, and while an attempt was made to resuscitate
the series in 1996, it wasn't until 2005 that it finally returned under the leadership of
executive producer Russell T. Davies. The first season of the revival focused mainly
on introducing Christopher Eccleston's ninth iteration of the Doctor and his familiar foes
like the Daleks, but also added fan favorite companion Rose, and a new season-long mystery.
Rose's adventures on the TARDIS took her to many far-flung locations, but wherever she
and the Doctor went, the words "Bad Wolf" always seemed to follow. It appears as graffiti
across numerous episodes. The Bad Wolf Corporation shows up in "Bad Wolf" and Bad Wolf TV features
in "The Long Game."
Finally, in the season one finale "The Parting of the Ways," it's revealed that the "Bad
Wolf" is Rose herself. Having looked into the heart of the TARDIS, she absorbs its energy,
destroys the Daleks, and scatters the words "Bad Wolf" throughout the universe, as clues
to help direct her to that moment. Unfortunately, the Ninth Doctor is forced to absorb her energy
into himself to save her, causing him to regenerate into the Tenth Doctor.
Other subtle "Bad Wolf" references popped up during season two in episodes like "Tooth
& Claw" and "Love & Monsters." During what many fans consider the most heartbreaking
moment in the show's history, the Doctor and Rose say a tearful goodbye in Darlig Ulv Stranden,
also known as Bad Wolf Bay.
The "Bad Wolf" reappeared in clues throughout season four as well, hinting at Rose's eventual
reappearance. Finally, in the 50th anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor," the Moment
takes the form of Rose as the "Bad Wolf." It's a nice touch, and one that brings the
series full circle, all the way back to season one of NuWho.
The Doctor just wouldn't be the Doctor without his trusty blue police box, the TARDIS, which
stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It has the ability to travel anywhere
in time or space, and can blend into its surroundings using a chameleon circuit. Of course, the
circuit broke on the Doctor's TARDIS, leaving it forever fixed in the shape of a blue police
box. Blame the show's original budget.
But while the outside of the TARDIS may appear unassuming, the inside, like its owner, is
always changing its appearance. There is one design feature, however, that has remained
the same through basically every regeneration. These roundels are typically either circular
or hexagonal in shape, and line the walls of the console room.
"Look, the round things!"
"I love the round things."
"What are the round things?"
"No idea."
While they generally function as a decorative element, sometimes they've been used for more
functional purposes. One was used as a scanner during the season five episode "The Beast
Below," and in "The Husbands of River Song," a roundel was used, without his knowledge,
to store liquor inside the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS.
"Would you like a drink? Alderbran brandy. Help yourself, don't tell dad."
Most people tend to point out the same thing the first time they walk through the doors
of the TARDIS.
"It's bigger inside than out."
"The inside's bigger than the outside?"
"It's bigger on the inside!"
"Is it? I hadn't noticed."
This is because of an effect called dimensional transcendentalism, essentially, the interior
literally exists in a different dimension than the exterior, due to some nifty trans-dimensional
engineering. In fact, the TARDIS contains countless rooms, including a library and even
a swimming pool. The main console room, which contains the control panel, usually undergoes
the most physical changes during the Doctor's regeneration, but since the TARDIS is partially
sentient, it can also change itself by choice.
The Doctor can also redesign certain elements of the interior. The Eleventh Doctor completely
switched up the console room between the sixth and seventh season. Shortly after, the Twelfth
Doctor made a few slight modifications to this new interior.
"Not entirely convinced, myself. I think there should be more round things on the walls.
I used to have a lot of round things. I wonder where I put them."
These changes have prompted other incarnations of the Doctor to voice their distaste in the
same way.
"Oh, you've redecorated! I don't like it."
"Oh, you never do!"
The line has become a long-running joke on the show, ever since the Second Doctor first
uttered it to the Third Doctor during the first multi-Doctor episode, "The Three Doctors."
"I can see you've been doing the TARDIS up a bit. I don't like it."
The Doctor's real name is one of the oldest mysteries on the show, and has been an oft-discussed
topic among various characters over the years. Much of the revival's messy seventh season
grapples with the Doctor's true identity, including the aptly titled season finale,
"The Name of the Doctor."
River Song apparently knew the Doctor's real name, having whispered it in the Tenth Doctor's
ear in the Library during the fourth-season episode "Forest of the Dead." She also silently
transmits it to the TARDIS on Trenzalore in order to open the doors for the Great Intelligence
during "The Name of the Doctor."
While "The Doctor" is an alias itself, he often uses other names during his adventures
to conceal his identity. One of his oldest and favorite aliases is John Smith, which
he has used frequently during visits to Earth, going all the way back to William Hartnell's
First Doctor in 1963. John Smith has made many appearances during NuWho. The Ninth Doctor
calls himself "Dr. John Smith" on a visit to London in 1941 during "The Empty Child",
while the Eleventh Doctor uses the name in an attempt to infiltrate Sweetville during
"The Crimson Horror".
But no Doctor uses the "John Smith" alias more frequently than David Tennant's Tenth
Doctor. Most famously, he lives as a human teacher named John Smith at Farringham School
for Boys in "Human Nature." In this episode, the Doctor uses a chameleon arch to rewrite
his biology to become human, concealing his true Time Lord self inside a fob watch.
Turns out, the universe's favorite Time Lord is pretty bananas for bananas. Though his
tastes usually change depending on the regeneration, it seems like his love for the Earth fruit
has remained constant throughout his very long life.
The Third Doctor and companion Jo Grant give a banana to a captive in the episode "Frontier
in Space". The Sixth Doctor finds a banana in his pocket and gives it to Peri in "The
Two Doctors". During "The Doctor Dances," the Ninth Doctor tells companion Rose how
much he loves bananas, and swaps Jack Harkness' gun for one to prevent him from shooting a
child. The Eleventh Doctor plays the same trick on River Song so she wouldn't kill him
in "Let's Kill Hitler" during season six.
But it was Ten who showed the most love for the yellow fruit. In one of Who's creepiest
episodes, season four's "Midnight," the Doctor attempts to stop the possessed Sky from copying
him by mentioning something about bananas. It's also revealed during "The Girl in the
Fireplace" that the Tenth Doctor invented the banana daiquiri, all the way back in 18th
century France.
"They'd never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are
good."
Although he has two hearts and a special respiratory bypass system, the Doctor sometimes needs
to wear a protective spacesuit on his adventures on alien worlds. Thankfully, he always keeps
one to on hand, and it's usually the same one.
The Doctor first acquired his signature orange spacesuit in season two's "The Impossible
Planet", as he traveled from the surface base of Sanctuary 6 down towards the core of planet
Krop Tor. Safely back aboard the TARDIS at the conclusion of "The Satan Pit," the suit
found a permanent home and owner. The Tenth Doctor donned it again for "The Waters of
Mars," but he damaged the helmet while trying to escape the planet. The suit's next appearance
was "Hide".
"Color's a bit boisterous."
"I think it brings out my eyes."
"Makes my eyes hurt."
Luckily, Clara seemed to get over it: she wore the suit at least twice during her travels
with the Twelfth Doctor, in both "Kill the Moon" and "The Girl Who Died."
The Doctor may be over 2,000 years old, but it took until 2018 for the Time Lord to take
on a female form. Jodie Whittaker joined the series as the Thirteenth Doctor, right when
Chris Chibnall took over as showrunner from longtime Who helmer Steven Moffat. According
to Chibnall, he never planned on casting anyone but a woman. But Moffat himself may have been
working on getting longtime Who viewers used to the idea of a woman in the title role.
The character of Missy was introduced in 2014 as the latest incarnation of the Master, the
Doctor's closest friend and oldest enemy. The last time the Master had appeared was
in a 2009-2010 arc, having been presumed killed in a fight with a Time Lord named Rassilon.
The character's return was a double-whammy, not just because she was revealed to have
survived, but because she had switched gender, too. Then, in the 2015 episode "The Magician's
Apprentice," Missy reveals that she has known the Doctor since the Doctor was a little girl.
The rest, as they say, is history.
By the show's seventh season, viewers were beginning to learn more about Clara Oswald,
the mysterious new companion to the Doctor. In 2013's "The Rings of Akhaten", it's revealed
that her mother died when she was a child, and that Oswald's mother died on March 5th,
2005.
That date is significant to Doctor Who fans for a couple of reasons. First: The revival
of the series hit the airwaves in March 2005. Second: The specific date of March 5th, 2005
is the day in that first episode, "Rose," when Earth was invaded by Autons, and when
the Doctor met Rose. That makes it a significant day in the lives of two Who companions, particularly
for Clara, whose mother, it's suggested, died during that Auton onslaught.
Since he can travel through time as well as space, the Doctor has met many historical
figures, such as Charles Dickens, Richard Nixon, Vincent Van Gogh, and, memorably and
frequently, Queen Elizabeth the first, who sat on the English throne from 1558 to 1603.
Her Majesty is something of a recurring character on Doctor Who, first appearing in the 1965
episode "The Chase". Here, companion Barbara asks to travel to the Elizabethan Era, where
she witnesses the Queen chatting with Shakespeare. The monarch later makes a comeback, as the
subject of a slowly unfolding, time-hopping running joke. In the 2007 episode "The Shakespeare
Code," the adventure ends with the Queen ordering the Doctor's execution.
"What have you done to upset her?"
"How should I know, I haven't even met her yet. That's time travel, for you. Still, can't
wait to find out. That's something to look forward to."
Flash forward to Tennant's last original appearance as the Time Lord, in the 2009 Christmas special
"The End of Time."
"Named a galaxy Alison. Got married! That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. Let me tell
you, her nickname is no longer…"
Notably, one of Queen Elizabeth's nicknames was "The Virgin Queen", which is quite the
implication for the show to make. The two characters finally meet on screen in 2013's
"The Day of the Doctor".
"Hello, ladies."
"Don't start."
"Listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business."
"One of them is a Zygon."
"Ew. I'm not judging you."
A quaint little school named Coal Hill figures prominently in Clara's era of Doctor Who.
The 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor," makes a brief stop at the school,
while Clara and her love interest Danny Pink both work as teachers there. It's even the
setting for the short-lived 2016 spinoff series Class.
But this isn't any old random school, it's part of the show's extensive continuity, and
goes all the way back to "An Unearthly Child," episode number one of the original series,
way back in 1963. During this era, William Hartnell's Doctor travels with his quirky
granddaughter, Susan. Susan attends Coal Hill School, and since she apparently lives in
the old blue police box, she arouses the curiosity of two teachers there: Ian Chesteton and Barbara
Wright.
Ian and Barbara quickly become TARDIS companions, just as Clara would fifty years later. They
might even have known each other, too. During the modern era, a sign at Coal Hill lists
"I. Chesterton" as its chairman of governors, suggesting the Doctor's first ever companion
is still alive and kicking during the time of the Twelfth Doctor.
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