One of the three Books of Knowledge of Ravolox (The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet)
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (William Heinemann 1898)
The Master’s reading matter of choice after imprisoning the Third Doctor and Jo Grant. (Frontier in Space) Possibly inspired by Herbert’s encounter with the Sixth Doctor (Timelash)
The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley (MacMillan and Co, 1863)
One of the three Books of Knowledge of Ravolox (The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet)
Charles Dickens gave a reading from A Christmas Carol in The Unquiet Dead.
The Eleventh Doctor riffed on Dickens’s plot in A Christmas Carol.
In the world created when River Song refused to kill the Doctor, Charles Dickens was interviewed about his new Christmas special on BBC Breakfast. All he would say was that it involved ghosts and the past, present and future all at the same time.
The first draft of the Doctor Who format guide suggested that a Christmas episode could be made in which Jacob Marley was in fact a ‘slightly tipsy’ Doctor!
Simon Callow, who played Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and The Wedding of River Song, also played the novelist in the 2001 animated film Christmas Carol: The Movie. The same film also featured Michael Gambon (Kazran Sardick in the 2010 Christmas special) as the voice of the Ghost of Christmas Present.
David Collings – who appeared in Doctor Who three times, as Vorus in Revenge of the Cyberman, Poul in The Robots of Death and Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead – played Bob Cratchit in the 1970 musical Scrooge.
Jon Pertwee played Jacob Marley in the 1992 stage revival of Scrooge. The cast also included Stratford Johns (Four to Doomsday) as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
Richard E. Grant, who played Dr Simeon in The Snowmen and the Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death and Scream of the Shalka, played Bob Cratchit in the 1999 TV movie A Christmas Carol. Ian McNeice (Victory of the Daleks) also appeared in the cast as Mr Fezziwig.
Mark Strickson played young Ebenezer in the 1984 TV movie A Christmas Carol. The film also featured David Warner, the voice of Lord Azlok in Dreamland, as Bob Cratchit.
Nicola Bryant played Ebenezer Blackadder’s niece in 1988’s Blackadder’s Christmas Carol. The comedy special starred Rowan Atkinson and Jim Broadbent, and both later appeared in the 1999 Comic Relief Doctor Who spoof, The Curse of Fatal Death.
A number of Doctor Who alumni have recorded audiobooks of A Christmas Carol, including Martin Jarvis, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Wilson and Tom Baker.
SONGS FOR ELEVEN
‘I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first anti-gravity Olympics, Caesar crossing the Rubicon, or Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21 November 1979.’
The Doctor, Tooth and Claw
Music – from pop to classical – has always played an important part in Doctor Who. One of the earliest scenes in the series is a discussion of the merits of popular beat combo, John Smith and the Common Men (the fictional band had gone from 19 to 2 in the hit parade), and neatly provides the first mention of ‘John Smith’. Here’s a list of some of the songs featured in the series.
ORIGINAL SONGS
Songs written and composed especially for Doctor Who.
DOC OF THE POPS
‘It’s John Smith and the Common Men. They’ve gone from 19 to 2.’
Susan, An Unearthly Child
Pop singles released by Doctors and companions.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
Pop singles with a Doctor Who theme – sometimes literally…
POP PICKS
In addition to their chart single success, Doctor Who co-stars Billie Piper and John Barrowman have several albums on their discographies. Billie released Honey To The B in 1998, followed up with Walk Of Life in 2000. The Best of Billie was released in August 2005, shortly after Doctor Who’s return to television.
Tying into his career in stage musicals, John Barrowman released the albums Songs From Grease (1994), Aspects Of Lloyd Webber (1997), Reflections From Broadway (2003) and Swing Cole Porter (2004). Since his debut as Captain Jack Harkness in 2005, John has released a further three albums – Another Side (2007), Music Music Music (2008) and John Barrowman (2010), plus a best-of album, Tonight’s The Night in 2011.
And not to be outdone, even a Doctor put his name to an album. Who could possibly forget 1962’s Jon Pertwee Sings Songs For Vulgar Boatmen? No, we’re not making that up.
The B-side to the Human League’s 1981 single ‘Boys and Girls’ was titled ‘Tom Baker,’ in tribute to the actor’s time on Doctor Who. The cover featured an image of Tom, with the vinyl inscribed: ‘Thanks Tom’.
Hans Zimmer, famous for composing blockbuster film scores including Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes and The Dark Knight, played keyboards on the 1985 charity single ‘Doctor In Distress’.
English electronic dance duo Orbital included a version of the Doctor Who theme on their album Altogether (2001), entitled ‘Doctor?’ They regularly perform the track live. Matt Smith joined them on stage at the Glastonbury festival in 2010.
Kylie Minogue (Astrid Peth in Voyage of the Damned) has released 11 albums since 1988, and 51 singles, seven of which have charted at number one. Her stage shows have featured Doctor Who elements, including a section titled ‘Silvanemesis’ in her 2002 Fever tour.
In 1998, at the age of 15, Billie Piper became one of the youngest artistes ever to have a debut number one single in the UK when ‘Honey To The B’ went straight to the top of the charts.
Doctor Who incidental music composer Keff McCulloch was one of the minds behind novelty record ‘The Birdie Song’, released by The Tweets in 1981.