- yesterday
Doctor Who does history lessons better than any other show.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00from sexy fish vampires to flesh-eating shadows there is no denying that the doctor has encountered
00:06some truly incredible creatures in doctor who and while it is always exciting to see which
00:11new creature will be appearing each week it's equally just as exciting and also very moving
00:16when we see the doctor and particularly the companions encounter real-life historical figures
00:22well with that in mind then i'm ellie with who culture here with the 10 best historical figures
00:28who have appeared in new who number 10 madame de pompadour now series 2's the girl in the fireplace
00:35is a perfect example of the doctor accidentally stumbling into history when he somehow manages to
00:40place himself into the life of a young renette poisson now it is really entertaining when you
00:45see the doctor suddenly discover that he's just encountered someone significant and of course
00:50this episode adds that extra layer of comedy by him only realizing that after he's just snogged her
00:56although there is no written rule it is a common known law in the doctor who universe that history
01:02is not to be tampered with and accidentally becoming the love obsession of the future mistress to the
01:07king of france just seems a little bit risky on the course of history his unintentional intrusion
01:12actually eliminates a far greater threat on the timeline of madame de pompadour and it means that
01:18the doctor can do what he does best which is stop the baddies from destroying history now doctor who has
01:23a really clever way of being both entertaining but also educational and those windows into the
01:29different stages of madame de pompadour's life mean that this episode not only calls for an epic shot
01:35of the doctor smashing through a mirror on horseback but it also offers an almost accurate biography on
01:42madame de pompadour's life number nine william shakespeare even when the doctor just simply intends
01:48to impress his new companion with a quick trip to the past he somehow manages to sniff out trouble
01:54while meeting shakespeare wasn't a complete accident fighting off the carrionites definitely
01:58wasn't part of the original plan now what's really interesting about this episode is that the doctor
02:02and martha use their knowledge of history to figure out that something's not right the works of
02:07shakespeare are famous throughout the world throughout history so when there's a random play that doesn't
02:12exist in the future that obviously raises some questions also interesting about this episode is the
02:17subtle touches upon a long-standing myth that shakespeare was actually bisexual now they explore this
02:24through his attitudes towards both martha and the doctor and even the doctor remarks that 57 academics
02:31just punched the air in response to his flirtatious remarks towards him it is sometimes easy to forget
02:36that this is simply a fictional answer to a real-life mystery and yet somehow you still feel like you're
02:42satisfied regardless as it so happens shakespeare isn't the only historical figure to appear in this
02:48episode but we'll get to that one later number eight charles dickens charles dickens was the first
02:54historical figure to appear in the 2005 reboot we'd already seen the doctor and rose travel literally to
03:00the end of the world but this was the first time that christopher eccleson's ninth doctor ventured into the past
03:07now like the shakespeare code had a fitting theme for its titular playwright the unquiet dead aptly
03:13followed the most appropriate dickens theme of ghosts but while we're still on the subject of
03:18shakespeare one of the clever adjustments that mark gatis made to the script here is taking the common
03:24phrase of what the dickens but having charles dickens himself say what the shakespeare and it's just
03:30simple changes like this that make these characters seem so much more realistic even though there are ghosts and
03:36zombies and a possessed maid but it is doctor who so you have to have a little bit of leeway
03:40charles dickens did then reappear in the wedding of river's song but this time his purpose was to
03:45highlight the displacement of time having charles dickens sat on bbc news talking about his new book
03:51about ghosts and christmas and the past and the present and the future but the story of a christmas
03:57carol is so appropriate and fitting for that episode which is essentially the doctor and river getting
04:03their glimpse at christmas future if they didn't fix the paradox showing them what could happen if they
04:09didn't change things number seven nikola tesla nikola tesla appeared in the series 12 episode nikola
04:15tesla's night of terror and this episode really put a focus on how the success and significance of these
04:22historical figures could attract the attention of other alien races throughout time and space now in this
04:28instance it was the queen of skithra who had sought out the engineering genius of nikola tesla to help fix
04:34her ship but probably more significant in this episode is the exploration of the rivalry between
04:41nikola tesla and thomas edison and the reality of his legacy now obviously the real nikola tesla didn't
04:48fight aliens but he did dedicate his life to a vision that was never truly realized or appreciated in his lifetime
04:56and the hope and optimism that's portrayed by actor goran viznich i think that's how you say his name
05:02it's a very hard name to say but the hope and optimism that he portrays just makes it so much more
05:07heartbreaking when we as an audience know that he never got the recognition that he deserved and
05:13actually this is emulated in yaz's disappointment that his heroic efforts within this episode had no
05:19positive impact on his future and this man fundamentally changed the way we live and yet
05:27never knew how successful he actually was in his endeavors now also the casting here of goran viznich was
05:34absolutely perfect because nikola tesla who although serbian by blood was actually born and raised in what
05:41would become croatia which is where goran viznich is also from and it's just little attentions to detail
05:47like this that just show how much research and effort went into telling this historical story
05:54number six winston churchill when winston churchill made his on-screen debut in series five's victory
06:00of the daleks he seemed to already have an established acquaintance and friendship with the doctor
06:06now while this was the first time we'd seen it on screen there are several publications documenting
06:10encounters between the pair dating back to 1986. now because of this pre-existing relationship it meant
06:16that this episode could explore a completely different dynamic between the doctor and the
06:21historical figure rather than being fearful or showing disbelief winston churchill kind of had the
06:27confidence here to utilize his friend and try and gain the upper hand use his foreknowledge of the
06:33future and history to try and win the second world war faster now of course the doctor maintains that
06:39there are certain points in history that have to be fixed and cannot be interfered with apparently the
06:45darlings didn't get that memo winston churchill appeared a few more times throughout series five
06:50and six first to just emphasize the vast number of people who are connected to and rely on the doctor
06:56in the pandorica opens and then again alongside charles dickens in the wedding of river song to just
07:01highlight that topsy-turvy displacement of time now the inclusion of winston churchill here and hitler
07:08in let's kill hitler managed to educate the targeted younger audience on those significant figures
07:13during world war ii without branching into anything more sinister or unsuitable for the younger audience
07:20just highlighting that there is a history lesson here but it's also for children and entertaining at
07:25the same time number five queen victoria tooth and claw is an episode that really upped the fear factor
07:33of doctor who you have the ninja monks the lycanthropic possession and of course the alien werewolf and
07:39queen victoria's presence only really adds to that serious tone of the episode unlike most people who
07:44encounter the doctor she really doesn't appreciate his daredevil energy and she really doesn't
07:49appreciate rose's immature attempts to get her to say we are not amused now while she does honor them
07:55for saving her life she's also very eager to eliminate this threat on her empire so much so that
08:01the events of this episode actually result in queen victoria establishing the torchwood institute to
08:07protect the earth not only from aliens but also primarily from the doctor himself now this episode
08:14is also a really good example of the doctor who creatives giving a supernatural explanation for a real
08:20life mystery and in this instance it's the suggestion that prince albert's obsession with having the
08:26koinor diamond recut and resized is because he knew of the existence of this werewolf and was going to
08:33use the diamond as a tool to destroy it it also offers a rather ambiguous question surrounding
08:40the real life blood condition that queen victoria suffered from suggesting that it was actually the
08:46result of being bitten by a werewolf with the doctor saying that this unexplained haemophilia diagnosis
08:53was actually just a victorian euphemism for lycanthropic mutation number four rosa parks series 11's episode
09:01rosa explored a different side to the doctor's moral compass of course it didn't come without its
09:07hardship and heartbreak but it really was a poignant predicament to portray so often we see the doctor
09:13helping historical figures to overcome obstacles or alien anomalies in their timeline but in this instance
09:20the obstacle was 100 human and yet integral to the progression of humanity what started as simply an
09:28effort to stop the time traveling criminal crasco from preventing the montgomery bus boycott led to
09:34the doctor yaz ryan and graham becoming vital parts in rosa park's story and that moment where
09:41they are forced to stay seated on the bus in order to ensure that rosa parks gets arrested is one of
09:48those rare occasions where the doctor has to allow or even cause something awful to happen in order to
09:54maintain the future now of course we have seen other moments of moral questioning in doctor who
10:00in episodes such as the fires of pompeii and the waters of mars moments where the doctor really must
10:06adhere to those laws of a fixed point in time and use that as their justification for not helping
10:12number three agatha christie the unicorn and the wasp is another example of the doctor who creatives
10:18offering a timey-wimey explanation for a real life historical mystery and in this instance it offers
10:25an explanation to the 10-day disappearance of agatha christie in 1926. the episode plays out in the style
10:32of an agatha christie murder mystery which subsequently turns out to be more than just a coincidence lady
10:38edison a big fan of agatha christie's novels had unknowingly filled the mind of her long lost son with the
10:44notion of murder mysteries through a necklace which linked the pair telepathically the power of agatha
10:49christie's writings was so strong that they became embedded within the psyche of this newly transformed
10:56vespa form alongside his true identity and resulted in his fictional misconception of the world agatha
11:02determines that the only way to stop the giant wasp-like creature from killing people was to lure it away
11:07and drown it by throwing the telepathic necklace into silent pool lake but her own connection to the jewel and
11:13the vespa form resulted in her losing consciousness and being taken to a hotel by the doctor and donna
11:19waking up 10 days later with total amnesia about the events now of course the real explanation as to
11:26the amnesia and the disappearance is still a mystery but we have here an example of doctor who creatives
11:32going you know what i'm gonna put my own supernatural spin on this story number two elizabeth the first
11:38when elizabeth i entered the globe theater in the shakespeare code she was not only aware of who the
11:44doctor was but she seemed to be extremely agitated by his presence now at the time both the doctor and
11:51the audience were very confused about why she hated him so much and in the subsequent series between then
11:57and 2013's the day of the doctor there were several hints made that the doctor was actually married to
12:03elizabeth the first he boasts about his nuptials to oud sigma in the end of time liz 10 teases him
12:09about his less than virtuous activities with the so-called virgin queen in the beast below and he
12:14mentions in the wedding of river song that elizabeth the first is still waiting on a glade to elope with
12:19him now the events of the day of the doctor would eventually confirm these boastful remarks to be the
12:25truth the proposal was supposed to just unveil a zygon but he unintentionally became the fiance to elizabeth
12:31the first and he did fulfill his promise in a private ceremony witnessed by the 11th doctor
12:36the war doctor and clara oswald as well he then promised that he would be right back judging by
12:43her animosity towards him almost 40 years later i'm going to go out on a limb here and say he did not
12:49come right back number one vincent van gogh vincent and the doctor is equally one of the most heartbreaking
12:56and heartwarming episodes of the matt smith era now unlike most encounters with historical figures the
13:01doctor purposely sought out vincent rather than just stumbling across him now similarly to sensing
13:08trouble when shakespeare mentions a play that doesn't exist in the future the doctor and amy notice
13:13a suspicious creature lurking in the background of one of his paintings that shouldn't be there
13:18now the exploration of vincent's depression in this episode is particularly beautiful rather than
13:24suggest that the crepheus creature is the cause of vincent's troubled life it instead suggests that
13:29his alternative views on life are what give him the power to see things that others can't the whole
13:36premise of the storyline is just this beautiful metaphor for the inner demons of depression and how
13:43they very much do exist despite the fact that they appear invisible or non-existent to the naked eye
13:49it even goes as far as to explore how people trying to help can make the day that much better but can
13:55also make it much worse and this is one of those very rare occasions where the doctor actually breaks
14:00his own rules and shows vincent his future legacy that moment where bill naï is delivering his beautiful
14:07monologue about the importance of van gogh's work and vincent himself is standing there becoming completely
14:13overwhelmed by what he's hearing and what he's seeing is arguably one of the most beautiful and
14:20greatest scenes in doctor who and that concludes our list obviously we couldn't cover every historical
14:27figure that has appeared in doctor who since 2005 but if you think we've missed one that's really
14:32important then do let us know in the comments below and while you're there don't forget to like
14:36and subscribe and tap that notification bell make sure you head over to twitter and follow us there at
14:42who culture and instagram as well and i can be found across various social medias just by searching ellie
14:47littlechild i've been ellie with who culture and in the words of riversong herself goodbye sweeties
Recommended
1:51
|
Up next
1:58
10:20
10:35
3:52
11:49
12:10
12:10
10:34
13:12
2:05
10:53
12:57