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Doctor Who does history lessons better than any other show.
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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 two's the girl in the
00:34fireplace is a perfect example of the doctor accidentally stumbling into history when he
00:39somehow manages to place himself into the life of a young renette poisson now it is really entertaining
00:45when you see 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 wasn't part
01:59of the original plan now what's really interesting about this episode is that the doctor and martha use
02:03their knowledge of history to figure out that something's not right the works of shakespeare are
02:08famous throughout the world throughout history so when there's a random play that doesn't exist in the
02:12future that obviously raises some questions also interesting about this episode is the subtle
02:17touches upon a long-standing myth that shakespeare was actually bisexual now they explore this through
02:24his attitudes towards both martha and the doctor and even the doctor remarks that 57 academics just
02:31punched the air in response to his flirtatious remarks towards him it is sometimes easy to forget that
02:36this is simply a fictional answer to a real life mystery and yet somehow you still feel like you're satisfied
02:43regardless as it so happens shakespeare isn't the only historical figure to appear in this episode
02:48but we'll get to that one later number eight charles dickens charles dickens was the first historical
02:54figure to appear in the 2005 reboot we'd already seen the doctor and rose travel literally to the end of
03:01the 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
03:13aptly followed 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
03:29just simple changes like this that make these characters seem so much more realistic even though
03:35there are ghosts and zombies and a possessed maid but it is doctor who so you have to have a little bit of
03:39leeway charles dickens did then reappear in the wedding of river's song but this time his purpose
03:44was to highlight the displacement of time having charles dickens sat on bbc news talking about his new
03:51book about 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 knight of terror and this episode really put a focus on how the success and significance of
04:21these historical figures could attract the attention of other alien races throughout time and space
04:28now in this instance it was the queen of skithra who had sought out the engineering genius of nikola tesla
04:33to help fix her ship but probably more significant in this episode is the exploration of the rivalry
04:40between nikola tesla and thomas edison and the reality of his legacy now obviously the real nikola
04:47tesla didn't fight aliens but he did dedicate his life to a vision that was never truly realized or
04:54appreciated in his lifetime and the hope and optimism that's portrayed by actor goran
04:59viznich i think that's how you say his name it's a very hard name to say but the hope and optimism
05:05that he portrays just makes it so much more heartbreaking when we as an audience know that
05:10he never got the recognition that he deserved and actually this is emulated in yaz's disappointment
05:16that his heroic efforts within this episode had no positive impact on his future and this man
05:23fundamentally changed the way we live and yet never knew how successful he actually was in his
05:30endeavors now also the casting here of goran viznich was absolutely perfect because nikola tesla who
05:37although serbian by blood was actually born and raised in what would become croatia which is where
05:43goran viznich is also from and it's just little attentions to detail like this that just show how much
05:49research and effort went into telling this historical story number six winston churchill
05:56when winston churchill made his on-screen debut in series five's victory of the daleks he seemed to
06:02already have an established acquaintance and friendship with the doctor now while this was
06:06the first time we'd seen it on screen there are several publications documenting encounters between
06:11the pair dating back to 1986. now because of this pre-existing relationship it meant that this episode
06:17could explore a completely different dynamic between the doctor and the historical figure
06:22rather than being fearful or showing disbelief winston churchill kind of had the confidence here
06:28to utilize his friend and try and gain the upper hand use his foreknowledge of the future and history
06:34to try and win the second world war faster now of course the doctor maintains that there are certain
06:40points in history that have to be fixed and cannot be interfered with apparently the daleks didn't get that
06:46memo winston churchill appeared a few more times throughout series five and six first to just
06:51emphasize the vast number of people who are connected to and rely on the doctor in the pandorica opens
06:58and then again alongside charles dickens in the wedding of river song to just highlight that
07:02topsy-turvy displacement of time now the inclusion of winston churchill here and hitler in let's kill hitler
07:09managed to educate the targeted younger audience on those significant figures during world war ii
07:15without branching into anything more sinister or unsuitable for the younger audience just
07:21highlighting that there is a history lesson here but it's also for children and entertaining at the
07:26same time number five queen victoria tooth and claw is an episode that really upped the fear factor of
07:33doctor 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 is also very eager to eliminate this threat on her empire so much so
08:01that the events of this episode actually result in queen victoria establishing the torchwood institute
08:07to protect the earth not only from aliens but also primarily from the doctor himself now this episode is
08:14is also a really good example of the doctor who creatives giving a supernatural explanation for a
08:20real life mystery and in this instance it's the suggestion that prince albert's obsession with having
08:25the koinor diamond recut and resized is because he knew of the existence of this werewolf and was
08:32going to use the diamond as a tool to destroy it it also offers a rather ambiguous question surrounding the
08:41real life blood condition that queen victoria suffered from suggesting that it was actually
08:45the result of being bitten by a werewolf with the doctor saying that this unexplained haemophilia
08:52diagnosis was actually just a victorian euphemism for lycanthropic mutation number four rosa parks
09:00series 11's episode rosa explored a different side to the doctor's moral compass of course it didn't
09:06come without its hardship and heartbreak but it really was a poignant predicament to portray so
09:12often we see the doctor helping historical figures to traveling criminal crasco from preventing the
09:17montgomery bus boycott led to the doctor yaz ryan and graham becoming vital parts in rosa park's story
09:25and that moment where they are forced to stay seated on the bus in order to ensure that rosa parks gets
09:31arrested is one of those rare occasions where the doctor has to allow or even cause something awful
09:38to happen in order to maintain the future now of course we have seen other moments of moral
09:44questioning in doctor who in episodes such as the fires of pompeii and the waters of mars moments where
09:50the doctor really must adhere to those laws of a fixed point in time and use that as their justification
09:56for not helping number three agatha christie the unicorn and the wasp is another
10:01example of the doctor who creatives offering a timey-wimey explanation for a real life historical
10:08mystery and in this instance it offers an explanation to the 10-day disappearance of
10:13agatha christie in 1926. the episode plays out in the style of an agatha christie murder mystery which
10:19subsequently turns out to be more than just a coincidence lady edison a big fan of agatha christie's
10:25novels had unknowingly filled the mind of her long lost son with the notion of murder mysteries
10:30through a necklace which linked the pair telepathically the power of agatha christie's writings was
10:36so strong that they became embedded within the psyche of this newly transformed vespa form
10:42alongside his true identity and resulted in his fictional misconception of the world
10:47agatha determines that the only way to stop the giant wasp-like creature from killing people was to
10:51lure it away and drown it by throwing the telepathic necklace into silent pool lake but her own
10:57connection to the jewel and the vespa form resulted in her losing consciousness and being taken to a
11:02hotel by the doctor and donna waking up 10 days later with total amnesia about the events now of
11:08course the real explanation as to the amnesia and the disappearance is still a mystery but we have
11:14here an example of doctor who creatives going you know what i'm gonna put my own supernatural spin on
11:20this story number two elizabeth the first when elizabeth the first entered the globe theater in
11:26the shakespeare code she was not only aware of who the doctor was but she seemed to be extremely agitated
11:33by his presence now at the time both the doctor and the audience were very confused about why she hated
11:39him so much and in the subsequent series between then and 2013's the day of the doctor there were several
11:45hints made that the doctor was actually married to elizabeth the first he boasts about his nuptials
11:50to oud sigma in the end of time liz 10 teases him about his less than virtuous activities with the
11:56so-called virgin queen in the beast below and he mentions in the wedding of river song that elizabeth
12:02the first is still waiting on a glade to elope with him now the events of the day of the doctor would
12:07eventually confirm these boastful remarks to be the truth the proposal was supposed to just unveil a
12:13zygon but he unintentionally became the fiancee to elizabeth the first and he did fulfill his promise
12:18in a private ceremony witnessed by the 11th doctor the war doctor and clara oswald as well he then
12:24promised that he would be right back judging by her animosity towards him almost 40 years later
12:31i'm going to go out on a limb here and say he did not come right back number one vincent van gogh
12:37vincent and the doctor is equally one of the most heartbreaking and heartwarming episodes
12:42of the matt smith era now unlike most encounters with historical figures the doctor purposely sought
12:48out vincent rather than just stumbling across him now similarly to sensing trouble when shakespeare
12:54mentions a play that doesn't exist in the future the doctor and amy notice a suspicious creature
12:59lurking in the background of one of his paintings that shouldn't be there now the exploration of
13:04vincent's depression in this episode is particularly beautiful rather than suggest that the crepheus
13:10creature is the cause of vincent's troubled life it instead suggests that his alternative views on
13:16life are what give him the power to see things that others can't the whole premise of the storyline is
13:23just this beautiful metaphor for the inner demons of depression and how they very much do exist despite
13:30the fact that they appear invisible or non-existent to the naked eye it even goes as far as to explore how
13:36people trying to help can make the day that much better but can also make it much worse and this
13:42is one of those very rare occasions where the doctor actually breaks his own rules and shows vincent his
13:48future legacy that moment where bill nighy is delivering his beautiful monologue about the
13:53importance of van gogh's work and vincent himself is standing there becoming completely overwhelmed by what
13:59he's hearing and what he's seeing is arguably one of the most beautiful and greatest scenes in doctor
14:07who and that concludes our list obviously we couldn't cover every historical figure that has appeared
14:13in doctor who since 2005 but if you think we've missed one that's really important then do let us
14:18know in the comments below and while you're there don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that
14:23notification bell make sure you head over to twitter and follow us there at who culture and instagram as
14:29well and i can be found across various social medias just by searching ellie little child
14:33i've been ellie with who culture and in the words of riversong herself goodbye sweeties
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