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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 new
00:12creature 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
00:21figures. Well, with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with the 10 best
00:26historical figures who have appeared in New Who. Number 10, Madame de Pompadour. Now, Series 2's
00:34The Girl in the Fireplace is a perfect example of the Doctor accidentally stumbling into history when
00:39he somehow manages to place himself into the life of a young Renette Poisson. Now, it is really
00:44entertaining when you see the Doctor suddenly discover that he's just encountered someone
00:49significant, and of course this episode adds that extra layer of comedy by him only realising that
00:54after he's just snogged her. Although there is no written rule, it is a common known law in the
01:00Doctor Who universe that history is not to be tampered with, and accidentally becoming the love
01:05obsession of the future mistress to the King of France just seems a little bit risky on the course
01:10of history. His unintentional intrusion actually eliminates a far greater threat on the timeline of
01:16Madame de Pompadour, and it means that the Doctor can do what he does best, which is stop the
01:20baddies from destroying history. Now, Doctor Who has a really clever way of being both entertaining,
01:26but also educational, and those windows into the different stages of Madame de Pompadour's life mean
01:32that this episode not only calls for an epic shot of the Doctor smashing through a mirror on horseback,
01:38but it also offers an almost accurate biography on Madame de Pompadour's life.
01:43Number 9, William Shakespeare.
01:45Even when the Doctor just simply intends to impress his new companion with a quick trip to the past,
01:52he somehow manages to sniff out trouble. While meeting Shakespeare wasn't a complete accident,
01:57fighting off the Carrionites definitely wasn't part of the original plan. Now, what's really
02:01interesting about this episode is that the Doctor and Martha use their knowledge of history to figure
02:05out that something's not right. The works of Shakespeare are famous throughout the world,
02:09throughout history, so when there's a random play that doesn't exist in the future,
02:13that 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,
02:23they explore this through his attitudes towards both Martha and the Doctor, and even the Doctor
02:29remarks that 57 academics just punched the air in response to his flirtatious remarks towards him.
02:35It is sometimes easy to forget that this is simply a fictional answer to a real-life mystery,
02:40and yet somehow you still feel like you're satisfied regardless. As it so happens,
02:45Shakespeare isn't the only historical figure to appear in this episode, but we'll get to that one
02:50later. Number 8, Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was the first historical figure to appear in the
02:562005 reboot. We'd already seen the Doctor and Rose travel literally to the end of the world,
03:01but this was the first time that Christopher Eccleston's ninth Doctor ventured into the past.
03:06Now, like The Shakespeare Code had a fitting theme for its titular playwright,
03:11The Unquiet Dead aptly followed the most appropriate Dickens theme of ghosts. But while we're still on
03:18the subject of Shakespeare, one of the clever adjustments that Mark Gatiss made to the script
03:23here is taking the common phrase of what the Dickens, but having Charles Dickens himself say what
03:28the Shakespeare. And it's just simple changes like this that make these characters seem so much more
03:33realistic, even though there are ghosts and zombies and a possessed maid. But it is Doctor Who,
03:38so you have to have a little bit of leeway. Charles Dickens did then reappear in The Wedding
03:42of River's Song, but this time his purpose was to highlight the displacement of time, having
03:47Charles Dickens sat on BBC News talking about his new book about ghosts and Christmas and the past and
03:53the present and the future. But the story of A Christmas Carol is so appropriate and fitting for that
03:59episode, which is essentially the Doctor and River getting their glimpse at Christmas future if they
04:05didn't fix the paradox, showing them what could happen if they didn't change things.
04:10Number 7, Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla appeared in the series 12 episode Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror,
04:17and this episode really put a focus on how the success and significance of these historical figures
04:23could attract the attention of other alien races throughout time and space. Now, in this instance,
04:29it was the Queen of Scythra 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
04:47didn't fight aliens, but he did dedicate his life to a vision that was never truly realised or appreciated
04:54in his lifetime. And the hope and optimism that's portrayed by actor Goran Wisnich, I think that's
05:01how you say his name. It's a very hard name to say. But the hope and optimism that he portrays just makes
05:06it so much more heartbreaking when we as an audience know that he never got the recognition that he
05:12deserved. And actually, this is emulated in Yaz's disappointment that his heroic efforts within this
05:18episode had no positive impact on his future. And this man fundamentally changed the way we live
05:26and yet never knew how successful he actually was in his endeavours. Now, also, the casting here of
05:32Goran Wisnich was absolutely perfect because Nikola Tesla, who, although Serbian by blood, was actually
05:40born and raised in what would become Croatia, which is where Goran Wisnich is also from. And it's just
05:46little attentions to detail like this that just show how much research and effort went into telling
05:52this historical story. Number six, Winston Churchill. When Winston Churchill made his on-screen debut in
05:59series five's Victory of the Daleks, he seemed to already have an established acquaintance and
06:04friendship with the Doctor. Now, while this was the first time we'd seen it on screen, there are
06:08several publications documenting encounters between the pair dating back to 1986. Now, because of this
06:14pre-existing relationship, it meant that this episode could explore a completely different
06:19dynamic between the Doctor and the historical figure. Rather than being fearful or showing
06:25disbelief, Winston Churchill kind of had the confidence here to utilise his friend and try
06:30and gain the upper hand, use his foreknowledge of the future and history to try and win the
06:35Second World War faster. Now, of course, the Doctor maintains that there are certain points
06:40in history that have to be fixed and cannot be interfered with. Apparently, the Daleks didn't
06:46get that memo. Winston Churchill appeared a few more times throughout series five and six,
06:50first to just emphasise the vast number of people who are connected to and rely on the Doctor in
06:56The Pandorica Opens, and then again alongside Charles Dickens in The Wedding of River Song to just
07:02highlight that topsy-turvy displacement of time. Now, the inclusion of Winston Churchill here and Hitler
07:07in 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
07:25at the same time. Number five, Queen Victoria. Tooth and Claw is an episode that really upped the fear
07:32factor of Doctor Who. You have the ninja monks, the lycanthropic possession, and of course the alien
07:38werewolf. And Queen Victoria's presence only really adds to that serious tone of the episode.
07:43Unlike most people who encounter the Doctor, she really doesn't appreciate his daredevil energy,
07:48and she really doesn't appreciate Rose's immature attempts to get her to say,
07:52we are not amused. Now, while she does honour them for saving her life, she's also very eager to
07:57eliminate this threat on her empire. So much so that the events of this episode actually result in
08:04Queen Victoria establishing the Torchwood Institute to protect the Earth not only from aliens, but also
08:11primarily from the Doctor himself. Now, this episode is also a really good example of the Doctor Who
08:16creatives giving a supernatural explanation for a real-life mystery. And in this instance, it's the suggestion
08:23that Prince Albert's obsession with having the Koh-I-Noor diamond recut and resized is because he
08:29knew of the existence of this werewolf and was going to use the diamond as a tool to destroy it.
08:36It also offers a rather ambiguous question surrounding the real-life blood condition that
08:42Queen Victoria suffered from, suggesting that it was actually the result of being bitten by a werewolf,
08:48with the Doctor saying that this unexplained haemophilia diagnosis was actually just a
08:54Victorian euphemism for lycanthropic mutation. Number 4, Rosa Parks. Series 11's episode Rosa
09:02explored 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
09:19instance, the obstacle was 100% human and yet integral to the progression of humanity.
09:27What started as simply an effort to stop the time-travelling criminal Krasko from preventing
09:32the Montgomery bus boycott led to the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham becoming vital parts in Rosa Parks' story.
09:40And that moment where they are forced to stay seated on the bus in order to ensure that Rosa Parks gets
09:46arrested is one of those rare occasions where the Doctor has to allow or even cause something awful
09:53to happen in order to maintain the future. Now, of course, we have seen other moments of moral
09:59questioning in Doctor Who in episodes such as the fires of Pompeii and the waters of Mars. Moments where
10:05the Doctor really must adhere to those laws of a fixed point in time and use that as their justification
10:11for not helping. Number three, Agatha Christie. The Unicorn and the Wasp is another example of the
10:17Doctor Who creatives offering a timey-wimey explanation for a real-life historical mystery.
10:23And in this instance, it offers an explanation to the 10-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926.
10:30The episode plays out in the style of an Agatha Christie murder mystery, which subsequently
10:35turns out to be more than just a coincidence. Lady Edison, a big fan of Agatha Christie's novels,
10:40had unknowingly filled the mind of her long-lost son with the notion of murder mysteries through
10:46a necklace which linked the pair telepathically. The power of Agatha Christie's writings was
10:51so strong that they became embedded within the psyche of this newly transformed Vesta form,
10:56alongside his true identity, and resulted in his fictional misconception of the world.
11:02Agatha determines that the only way to stop the giant wasp-like creature from killing people was
11:06to lure it away and drown it by throwing the telepathic necklace into Silent Pool Lake.
11:12But her own connection to the jewel and the Vesta form resulted in her losing consciousness
11:16and being taken to a hotel by the Doctor and Donna, waking up 10 days later with total amnesia about
11:22the events. Now of course the real explanation as to the amnesia and the disappearance is still a
11:28mystery, but we have here an example of Doctor Who creatives going, you know what, I'm going to put
11:33my own supernatural spin on this story. Number 2, Elizabeth I. When Elizabeth I entered the Globe
11:40Theatre in the Shakespeare Code, she was not only aware of who the Doctor was, but she seemed to be
11:46extremely agitated by his presence. Now at the time, both the Doctor and the audience were very
11:52confused about why she hated him so much. And in the subsequent series between then and 2013's
11:59The Days of Doctor, there were several hints made that the Doctor was actually married to Elizabeth I.
12:04He boasts about his nuptials to Oud Sigma in the end of time, Liz 10 teases him about his less than
12:10virtuous activities with the so-called Virgin Queen in The Beast Below, and he mentions in The Wedding of
12:15River Song that Elizabeth I is still waiting on a glade to elope with him. Now the events of the
12:21day of the Doctor would eventually confirm these boastful remarks to be the truth. The proposal was
12:26supposed to just unveil a Zygon, but he unintentionally became the fiancé to Elizabeth I, and he did
12:32fulfil his promise in a private ceremony witnessed by the 11th Doctor, the War Doctor, and Clara Oswald
12:38as well. He then promised that he would be right back. Judging by her animosity towards him almost 40 years
12:45later, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he did not come right back.
12:50Number 1. Vincent van Gogh. Vincent and the Doctor is equally one of the most heartbreaking and
12:56heartwarming episodes of the Matt Smith era. Now unlike most encounters with historical figures,
13:01the Doctor purposely sought out Vincent rather than just stumbling across him. Now similarly to
13:07Sensing Trouble when Shakespeare mentions a play that doesn't exist in the future,
13:11the Doctor and Amy notice a suspicious creature lurking in the background of one of his paintings
13:16that shouldn't be there. Now the exploration of Vincent's depression in this episode is particularly
13:22beautiful. Rather than suggest that the Crepheus creature is the cause of Vincent's troubled life,
13:28it instead suggests that his alternative views on life are what give him the power to see things that
13:34others can't. The whole premise of the storyline is just this beautiful metaphor for the inner demons
13:41of depression and how they very much do exist despite the fact that they appear invisible or
13:47non-existent to the naked eye. It even goes as far as to explore how people trying to help can make the
13:53day that much better but can also make it much worse. And this is one of those very rare occasions
13:59where the Doctor actually breaks his own rules and shows Vincent his future legacy. That moment where
14:05Bill Nighy is delivering his beautiful monologue about the importance of Van Gogh's work and Vincent
14:10himself is standing there becoming completely overwhelmed by what he's hearing and what he's
14:16seeing is arguably one of the most beautiful and greatest scenes in Doctor Who. And that concludes
14:23our list. Obviously we couldn't cover every historical figure that has appeared in Doctor
14:29Who since 2005. But if you think we've missed one that's really important then do let us know in the
14:33comments below. And while you're there don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
14:39Make sure you head over to Twitter and follow us there at WhoCulture and Instagram as well.
14:44And I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
14:48I've been Ellie with WhoCulture and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye sweeties.
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