Connect with us

ATV Today

What we learned from Death of the Doctor

What we learned from Death of the Doctor

Sarah Jane and Jo GrantThe two-part Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor was brimming with continuity references and nods to the past for long-term Doctor Who fans so we’ve decided to write down all the ones we remember from the two episodes!

 

Matt Smith and Elisabeth SladenThe two-part Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor was brimming with continuity references and nods to the past for long-term Doctor Who fans. There was also mentioned that little controversial reference to how many times the Doctor can regenerate, what happened to some of his other companions and where Amy and Rory are. So we’ve decided to put together everything we learned from Death of the Doctor into one article.

The “short-notice” for the Doctor’s “funeral” meant UNIT were unable to get Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) back from Peru in time. The Brigadier cropped up in the season two finale of The Sarah Jane Adventures back has yet to meet any of the new Doctor’s since the series was revived in 2005. His stay in Peru was mentioned in season four of revived Doctor Who; The Sontaran Stratagem. It is also noted that Doctor Liz Shaw (Caroline John) is stuck on the Moon-base (how Space 1999!) and can’t return in-time. As with Jo Grant and Sarah Jane, Liz Shaw was a companion of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee). Oddly there is no mention – unless we somehow completely missed it – of other UNIT personnel such as Benton (John Levene) or Mike Yates (Richard Franklin). It is also odd that they mentioned to track down Jo Grant (Katy Manning) for the funeral despite her having travelled all over the world and even the Doctor noting she was “hard to pin down” but not other former companions such as Barbara and Ian ect.

The Doctor mentions that following the events of The Big Bang he has dropped Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) off on a honey-moon planet hence their absence from the episode. Jo Jones, upon hearing this, remarks she had to stop travelling with the Doctor because she got married to Professor Clifford Jones (Stewart Bevan) – The Green Death. During a trip in the Amazon Jo once tried to call the Doctor but was informed by UNIT that he’d left and was travelling again. Jo, like Sarah before her, always expected the Doctor to come back for her one day. Jo has travelled the world since leaving the Doctor but has still found time to have seven children, 12 grandchildren with a 13th on its way. Jo and Clifford have protested for human rights and environment issues all over the world taking their children, and grand-children, with them. Sarah knows enough about Jo to recognise her when she arrives at the funeral and explains that her friends at UNIT often spoke off her when Sarah first arrived at UNIT.

When Clyde asks the Doctor how many times he can regenerate the reply is 507. This contradicts information given during the original series which stated – on several occasions – that a Time Lord can only regenerate 13 times before dying. However, the Master was noted to have flaunted this “rule” and was well beyond his 13th regeneration suggesting it was a legal thing and not biological. In Underworld the Minyans have the ability to regenerate many times – acquiring the ability from the Time Lords. It should be noted though that the figure 507 seemed to be randomly plucked out the air by the Doctor and may not be a true figure – just an indication that he can change many times and regenerate into anything.

When the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) was regenerating in The End of Time he revisited all of his former companions. On-screen we saw the Doctor visit his own companions such as Rose (Billie Piper), David TennantMartha (Freema Agyeman), Jack (John Barrowman) and Donna (Catherine Tate) but Death of the Doctor reveals he also revisited the companions of his former incarnations as well suggesting the regeneration was far more traumatic for him this time. When the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) regenerated they had visions of their former companions but they didn’t visit them. The Doctor’s statement throws up a few interesting questions though; did he visit companions that died such as Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) or Time Lords such as Susan (Carol Ann Ford) and Romana (Mary Tamm/Lalla Ward) who travelled with him but supposedly have died since he claims to be the “last Time Lord”.??

At the end of the episode Sarah Jane mentions have researched some of the Doctor’s other former companions to find out what happened to them. Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) who Sarah travelled with in the Tardis is said to have found cures for diseases and saved lives. Given the tone of Sarah’s voice while speaking about Harry its possible be has since died. Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), companions of the First Doctor (William Hartnell) are said to be Cambridge Professors and haven’t aged since the 1960s. It is also hinted that the two are married but specifically confirmed in a nod to various spin-off novels and fan stories in which the two indeed married.

Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben Jackson (Michael Craze) are said to run an Orphanage together in India – a nod perhaps to the fact that actress Anneke Wills spent time in India during the 1970s and 1980s. Janet Fielding as TeganTegan Jonvanka (Janet Fielding) has returned to her native Australia where she fights for aborigine rights. When discussing Tegan the words Sarah uses suggests she has not met Tegan before giving further evidence she does not remember the events of The Five Doctors. In the 20th anniversary story Sarah meets Tegan, and other companions of the Doctor, when they are all kidnapped by a rogue Time Lord and placed in the “death zone” on Gallifrey. It has since been suggested that the Time Lords wiped the memories all of involved afterwards.

Reference is also made to one final companion “Dorothy” who has set up a charity that has raised billions. It is most likely a reference to Seventh Doctor companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) who used the nickname as she disliked her real name of Dorothy. However, the First Doctor also had a companion who was named Dorothea but preferred Dodo (Jackie Lane). Interestingly when Dodo was introduced at the end of The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve the original plan by producers was to have cameo appearances by Ian & Barbara giving her a lift to report an accident. In the end of this cameo appearance was scrapped but Dodo did meet Polly and Ben in her final story, The War Machines. Given Ian, Barbara, Ben and Polly are all mentioned by Sarah it’s entirely possible that the “Dorothy” mentioned here is in fact Dodo.

There are probably a few references we missed out so if you remember ones not here feel free to post them below.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

More in

To Top