Doctor Who & Spin-Offs A-Z Game

[Alan]

T ~ Time Meddler, The - 1965 story starring William Hartnell as "The Doctor", Maureen O'Brien as "Vicki Pallister", & Peter Purves as "Steven Taylor".

Synopsis
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The TARDIS lands on a beach in England. The Doctor, Vicki and new companion Steven discover a Viking helmet, and deduce they have arrived in the past. Whilst Steven and Vicki scale the cliff, the Doctor opts for a far more gentle path...

In the woods above the cliffs, Steven and Vicki find an abandoned modern wristwatch. The Doctor investigates a nearby monastery, only to discover more anachronisms...

As the local villages are attacked by invading Vikings, the Doctor realises that they are a few weeks away from the famous battle of Hastings in 1066. Who is the Monk, and what is his interest in the time travellers?

[Spimman]

U ~ Umbrella The 6th Doctor occasionally carried with him a multi-coloured umbrella which the 7th Doctor briefly inherited after the regeneration in Time and the Rani. He later swapped that for a black umbrella with a wooden cain-style handle seen in Paradise Towers. In the following story Delta and the Bannermen, the 7th Doctor began carrying a black umbrella with a red handle in the shape of a Question Mark which would be used from then on out. This umbrella did not feature in the 1996 TV movie Enemy Within for the 7th Doctor's final appearance. It can, however, be just about seen in the long shot of the TARDIS wardrobe in the 2005 TV movie The Christmas Invasion.

[Guest]

V ~ Vashta Nerada - (Literally: the shadows that melt the flesh) Microscopic swarm creatures which, when present in a high enough concentration, are totally indistinguishable from shadows, and use this to their advantage in approaching and attacking prey. They are described as the "piranhas of the air", able to strip their victims to the bone in an instant in high enough densities. The Doctor says that almost every planet in the universe has some, including Earth, and claims that they can be seen as the specks of dust visible in unusually bright light. On most planets, however, Vashta Nerada exist in relatively low concentrations, and are carrion eaters (on Earth, Vashta Nerada are said to subsist largely on roadkill), with attacks on people being comparatively rare (although the Doctor does attribute the seemingly irrational fear of darkness common to many species as a perfectly rational fear of the Vashta Nerada).

[Spimman]

W ~ Wright, Barbara Companion to the 1st Doctor. She first appeared in the very first Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child. Barbara was a History Teacher at Coal Hill School in London. She comes from the year 1963. She and her fellow teacher Ian Chesterton accidentally discovered the TARDIS at a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane when curiosity about the unusual behaviour of their pupil and the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman led them to investigate her. They were forced to join the Doctor and Susan in their travels. In the 1965 story The Chase, Barbara and Ian eventually left the TARDIS to return to Earth in 1963 by using a Dalek time machine but ended up returning to Earth in 1965 instead. Barbara Wright was played by the late actress Jacqueline Hill.

[Guest]

X ~ Xeraphin - The Xeraphin were an ancient species encountered by the Fifth Doctor in the serial 'TimeFlight'. Originating from the planet Xeriphas, they possessed immense psychokinetic and scientific powers. The Doctor believed the race to have been wiped out during the crossfire during the Vardon/Kosnax war. Instead, the entire race fled to Earth in an escaping spacecraft. The ship crashed near present day Heathrow some 140 million years ago. When the Xeraphin emerged they built a Citadel to mark their new home but the Xeraphin were so plagued with radiation that they abandoned their original humanoid bodies and transformed into a single bioplasmic gestalt intelligence within a sarcophagus at the heart of the Citadel.

[Spimman]

Y ~ Yana Human personality that the Master hid behind to save himself from the Time Lords' Time War with the Daleks. Yana ceased to exist after the Master's personality reasserted itself after he opened his Chameleon Arch in the 2007 story Utopia. Yana was played by Derek Jacobi.

[Alan]

Z ~ Z-Bomb - The Z-Bomb was a doomsday weapon of which by 1986 two or three were available at strategic positions around the Earth. One of them was in the hands of the International Space Command, and their secretary general had the authority to order it used. This particular Z-bomb was located at Snowcap base in Antarctica.

When activated, it caused a nuclear explosion that was said to be powerful enough to split an Earth-sized planet in half.

When Cybermen ships were heading for Earth, General Cutler wanted to use the bomb to destroy Mondas, despite concerns that the radiation effects might kill everyone on the side of the Earth facing the explosion, and that the planet targeted might even turn in a supernova. Cutler considered this an acceptable risk, but his personnel sabotaged the missile.

However, once the Cybermen took control of the base, they planed to use the bomb to blow up the Earth, thus saving their own planet from the effects of the energy transfer between the two worlds. They failed and Mondas was destroyed.

[Spimman]

A ~ Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri is an alien delegate for the Galactic Federation.

Alpha Centauri is a hermaphroditic hexapod from Alpha Centauri. It is tall, green, has one large blue eye, six arms and a high-pitched voice, wears a long yellow cape and walks with a nervous gait. It is prone to cowardice and hysterics. It has a low opinion of Earth, describing it as a "'remote and unattractive" planet, but regrets that its appearance can frighten humans. It regards females as unimportant.

[Alan]

B ~ Blink - 2007 story starring David Tennant as "The Doctor" and Freema Agyeman as "Martha Jones".

Synopsis
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A young woman called Sally comes to regret breaking into an old, abandoned house. There the Weeping Angels wait. As people begin disappearing, Sally intercepts cryptic messages from a mysterious stranger known as the Doctor, who's trapped in the year 1969. But can she make sense of them before the Angels claim their prize?

[Spimman]

C ~ Chameleon Circuit A component of a TARDIS which allows it to change shape to match its surroundings and remain inconspicuous. The circuit on the Doctor's TARDIS has malfunctioned, leaving it stuck in the shape of a 1950s-style British police box. Attempts to repair the circuit have led to unpredictable results, including the TARDIS taking on the form of a pipe-organ (on which The Doctor sarcastically plays a few notes of J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor). Since these episodes, the Doctor has said that he has become fond of the Police Box form ('Boom Town'), and so has stopped trying to repair it. The TARDISes owned by the Master, the Rani, and the Meddling Monk had fully functioning chameleon circuits.

[Alan]

D ~ Davros -

"Few people can be said to have changed the course of history, how many people have saved their own race from destruction? ensured the survival of their people to the very end of time itself? created life itself? And been responsible for the deaths of billions of people throughout all eternity? One person has done all that, and more... Davros!"
- Captain Jack Harkness, Davros Monster File

Davros, originally the head of the Kaled Scientific Elite on the planet Skaro, presided over the creation of the Daleks. During the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War, he served as Emperor of the Imperial faction and later of the Dalek race itself.

[Spimman]

E ~ Earthshock The TARDIS arrives on Earth in the 26th Century in a cave system containing numerous dinosaur fossils. The Doctor's party comes under suspicion from a military force, led by Lieutenant Scott, who are investigating the disappearance of a group of palaeontologists and geologists. They are all then attacked by androids - the true culprits - under the control of the Cybermen.

The Doctor manages to deactivate a bomb intended by the Cybermen to destroy an imminent peace conference. He then follows the bomb's activating signal to an approaching space freighter, commanded by Captain Briggs, on board which it transpires that an army of Cybermen are concealed.

An attempt by Adric to thwart the Cybermen's plans result in the freighter being inadvertently sent millions of years into the past, where it explodes and causes the extinction of the dinosaurs - and also the death of Adric. The Doctor destroys the Cyber Leader by forcing into its chest unit some gold fragments from a badge previously worn by Adric.

[Alan]

F ~ Fifth Doctor, The - This was probably the most human and vulnerable of all the Doctors, less pretentious and selfish, often reacting to situations rather than initiating them and openly expressing his hopes and fears to his companions. His young appearance was reflected in the youthfulness of his companions as well, whom he treated more like parts of a team than their usual subordinate role under previous incarnations. The death of Adric affected him and the rest of his companions deeply.

Despite his youthful body and love of cricket, he was one of the least physical Doctors, preferring to use communication and diplomacy to solve a problem. In contrast to some of his more aggressive predecessors, he preferred to gain people's trust by honestly proving himself, instead of using his vast experience as an excuse to take charge, Indeed, he often willingly participated in situations under the leadership of someone else who had the strong command presence that he lacked, However this does not mean to say that he does not take charge in moments of frustration as demonstrated during his encounter with "that skinny idiot". In an occasional reminder of his actual age, this Doctor would sport a pair of glasses when examining something (though these would later be revealed by the his future self to be vanity "brainy specs", which he wore just to make him look "a bit clever".

At the same time, this humanity made him prone to panic under pressure and become occasionally indecisive. He was unable to execute Davros in cold blood, and reluctantly killed Kamelion only at the android's request.

Of all the Doctors, the 5th Doctor was the one who showed the greatest abhorrence for violence and needless bloodshed as well as the pain and suffering of others. Despite this, violence and bloodshed continued to dog his footsteps, as in the massacre in Sea Base Four and the number of deaths of anonymous soldiers which led to Tegan's departure. The Doctor acknowledged that he perhaps had to mend his ways.

It was perhaps a combination of realizing that his lifestyle begot violence and the weighing of Adric's death on his mind that led him ultimately to sacrifice his own existence to save Peri. It is telling that this Doctor's last word before his regeneration into his sixth incarnation was "Adric."

[Spimman]

G ~ Grant, Jo Associated with the Doctor between 'Terror of the Autons' and 'The Green Death'.

Josephine "Jo" Grant had only just completed a brief training period as a spy when she had her uncle use his influence to assign her to UNIT. As the Doctor's assistant, Jo's knack for getting into trouble was immediately apparent.

Ditzy, but fiercely independent, Jo's confidence and bravery grew with experience. As well as facing a series of adventures on Earth, during the Doctor's exile, she also visited a number of alien planets, including Skaro and Peladon.

After disappointing a series of would-be suitors, Jo finally fell in love with Eco-warrior Professor Clifford Jones, and left the Doctor to explore the Amazon with her new fiancé.

[Guest]

H ~ Huon particles - Ancient particles from the Dark Times, created independently by Time Lords and later the Torchwood Institute. They are potentially deadly and contain a great amount of energy. Huon particles will magnetise with other sets of Huon particles, causing people to inadvertently teleport. A remnant of them exists in the heart of the TARDIS.