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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
00:27who have appeared in new who number 10 madame de pompadour now series 2's the girl in the fireplace
00:35is a perfect example of the doctor accidentally stumbling into history when he somehow manages to
00:40place himself into the life of a young renette poisson now it is really entertaining when you
00:45see the doctor suddenly discover that he's just encountered someone significant and of course this
00:50episode adds that extra layer of comedy by him only realizing that after he's just snogged her although
00:56there is no written rule it is a common known law in the doctor who universe that history is not
01:02to
01:02be tampered with and accidentally becoming the love obsession of the future mistress to the king of
01:07france just seems a little bit risky on the course of history his unintentional intrusion actually
01:13eliminates a far greater threat on the timeline of madame de pompadour and it means that the doctor
01:18can do what he does best which is stop the baddies from destroying history now doctor who has a really
01:24clever way of being both entertaining but also educational and those windows into the different
01:30stages of madame de pompadour's life mean that this episode not only calls for an epic shot of the
01:35doctor smashing through a mirror on horseback but it also offers an almost accurate biography on madame
01:42de pompadour's life number nine william shakespeare even when the doctor just simply intends to impress
01:49his new companion with a quick trip to the past he somehow manages to sniff out trouble while meeting
01:54shakespeare wasn't a complete accident fighting off the carrionites definitely wasn't part of the
01:59original plan now what's really interesting about this episode is that the doctor and martha use their
02:04knowledge of history to figure out that something's not right the works of shakespeare are famous
02:08throughout 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
02:37this 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 but
02:49we'll get to that one later number eight charles dickens charles dickens was the first historical figure
02:55to appear in the 2005 reboot we'd already seen the doctor and rose travel literally to the end of the
03:01world but this was the first time that christopher eccleson's ninth doctor ventured into the past now like
03:07shakespeare code had a fitting theme for its titular playwright the unquiet dead aptly followed the
03:14most appropriate dickens theme of ghosts but while we're still on the subject of shakespeare one of
03:20the clever adjustments that mark gatis made to the script here is taking the common phrase of what the
03:25dickens but having charles dickens himself say what the shakespeare and it's just simple changes like
03:31this that make these characters seem so much more realistic even though there are ghosts and zombies and a
03:37possessed made but it is doctor who so you have to have a little bit of leeway charles dickens did
03:41then reappear in the wedding of river's song but this time his purpose was to highlight the displacement
03:46of time having charles dickens sat on bbc news talking about his new book about ghosts and christmas
03:53and the past and the present and the future but the story of a christmas carol is so appropriate
03:58and fitting for that episode which is essentially the doctor and river getting their glimpse at christmas
04:04future if they didn't fix the paradox showing them what could happen if they didn't change things
04:10number seven 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 it was
04:29the queen of skithra who had sought out the engineering genius of nikola tesla to help fix her ship
04:35but probably more significant in this episode is the exploration of the rivalry between nikola tesla
04:42and thomas edison and the reality of his legacy now obviously the real nikola tesla didn't fight aliens
04:49but he did dedicate his life to a vision that was never truly realized or appreciated in his lifetime
04:55and the hope and optimism that's portrayed by actor goran viznich i think that's how you say his name
05:02it's a very hard name to say but the hope and optimism that he portrays just makes it so much
05:07more
05:07heartbreaking when we as an audience know that he never got the recognition that he deserved and
05:13actually this is emulated in yaz's disappointment that his heroic efforts within this episode had no
05:19positive 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 endeavors now also the casting here of goran
05:33viznich was absolutely perfect because nikola tesla who although serbian by blood was actually born
05:40and raised in what would become croatia which is where goran viznich 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
05:59in series 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 several
06:09publications documenting encounters between the pair dating back to 1986. now because of this pre-existing
06:15relationship it meant that this episode could explore a completely different dynamic between
06:20the doctor and a historical figure rather than being fearful or showing disbelief winston churchill kind
06:27of had the confidence here to utilize his friend and try and gain the upper hand use his foreknowledge
06:33of the future and history to try and win the second world war faster now of course the doctor maintains
06:38that there are certain points in history that have to be fixed and cannot be interfered with
06:44apparently the daleks didn't get that memo winston churchill appeared a few more times throughout
06:49series five and six first to just emphasize the vast number of people who are connected to and rely
06:55on the doctor in the pandorica opens and then again alongside charles dickens in the wedding of river
07:01song to just highlight that topsy-turvy displacement of time now the inclusion of winston churchill here and
07:07hitler in let's kill hitler managed to educate the targeted younger audience on those significant
07:13figures during world war ii without branching into anything more sinister or unsuitable for the
07:20younger audience just highlighting that there is a history lesson here but it's also for children
07:24and entertaining at the same time number five queen victoria tooth and claw is an episode that really
07:31upped the fear factor of doctor who you have the ninja monks the lycanthropic possession and of course
07:37the alien werewolf 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 and
07:48she really doesn't appreciate rose's immature attempts to get her to say we are not amused now while she
07:54does honor them for saving her life she is also very eager to eliminate this threat on her empire
08:00so much so that the events of this episode actually result in queen victoria establishing the torchwood
08:06institute to protect the earth not only from aliens but also primarily from the doctor himself now this
08:14episode is also a really good example of the doctor who creatives giving a supernatural explanation
08:19for a real life mystery and in this instance it's the suggestion that prince albert's obsession with
08:25having the koinor diamond recut and resized is because he knew of the existence of this werewolf
08:31and was going to use the diamond as a tool to destroy it it also offers a rather ambiguous question
08:39surrounding the real life blood condition that queen victoria suffered from suggesting that it was
08:45actually the result of being bitten by a werewolf with the doctor saying that this unexplained
08:51haemophilia diagnosis was actually just a victorian euphemism for lycanthropic mutation
08:57number four rosa parks series 11's episode rosa explored a different side to the doctor's moral compass
09:05of course it didn't come without its hardship and heartbreak but it really was a poignant predicament
09:10to portray so often we see the doctor helping historical figures to overcome obstacles or alien
09:17anomalies in their timeline but in this instance the obstacle was 100 human and yet integral to the
09:25progression of humanity what started as simply an effort to stop the time traveling criminal crasco from
09:31preventing the montgomery bus boycott led to the doctor yaz ryan and graham becoming vital parts in rosa
09:39parkes story and that moment where they are forced to stay seated on the bus in order to ensure that
09:46rosa parks gets arrested is one of those rare occasions where the doctor has to allow or even
09:51cause something awful to happen in order to maintain the future now of course we have seen other moments
09:58of moral questioning in doctor who in episodes such as the fires of pompeii and the waters of mars moments
10:04where the doctor really must adhere to those laws of a fixed point in time and use that as their
10:10justification for not helping number three agatha christie the unicorn and the wasp is another example
10:16of the doctor who creatives offering a timey-wimey explanation for a real life historical mystery and
10:24in this instance it offers an explanation to the 10-day disappearance of agatha christie in 1926. the episode
10:31plays out in the style of an agatha christie murder mystery which subsequently turns out to be more
10:36than just a coincidence lady edison a big fan of agatha christie's novels had unknowingly filled the
10:42mind of her long-lost son with the notion of murder mysteries through a necklace which linked the
10:47pair telepathically the power of agatha christie's writings was so strong that they became embedded within
10:53the psyche of this newly transformed vestiform alongside his true identity and resulted in his fictional
11:00misconception of the world agatha determines that the only way to stop the giant wasp-like creature
11:05from killing people was to lure it away and drown it by throwing the telepathic necklace into silent
11:11pool lake but her own connection to the jewel and the vespa 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
11:22events now of course the real explanation as to the amnesia and the disappearance is still a mystery but
11:29we have here an example of doctor who creatives going you know what i'm gonna put my own supernatural
11:34spin on this story number two elizabeth the first when elizabeth the first entered the globe theater
11:41in the shakespeare code she was not only aware of who the doctor was but she seemed to be extremely
11:47agitated by his presence now at the time both the doctor and the audience were very confused about why
11:54she hated him so much and in the subsequent series between then and 2013's the day of the doctor
11:59there were several hints made that the doctor was actually married to elizabeth the first he boasts
12:05about his nuptials to ood sigma in the end of time liz 10 teases him about his less than virtuous
12:10activities with the so-called virgin queen in the beast below and he mentions in the wedding of river
12:15song that elizabeth the first is still waiting on a glade to elope with him now the events of the
12:21day of
12:21the doctor would eventually confirm these boastful remarks to be the truth the proposal was supposed
12:26to just unveil a zygon but he unintentionally became the fiance to elizabeth the first and he
12:32did fulfill his promise in a private ceremony witnessed by the 11th doctor the war doctor and
12:37clara oswald as well he then promised that he would be right back judging by her animosity towards
12:44him almost 40 years later i'm going to go out on a limb here and say he did not come
12:49right back
12:49number one vincent van gogh vincent and the doctor is equally one of the most heartbreaking
12:55and heartwarming 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 the doctor and amy
13:13notice a suspicious creature lurking in the background of one of his paintings that shouldn't be there
13:18now the exploration of vincent's depression in this episode is particularly beautiful rather than
13:24suggest that the crepheus creature is the cause of vincent's troubled life it instead suggests that
13:29his alternative views on life are what give him the power to see things that others can't the whole
13:36premise of the storyline is just this beautiful metaphor for the inner demons of depression and how
13:43they very much do exist despite the fact that they appear invisible or non-existent to the naked eye
13:49it even goes as far as to explore how people trying to help can make the day that much better
13:54but can
13:55also make it much worse and this is one of those very rare occasions where the doctor actually breaks
14:00his own rules and shows vincent his future legacy that moment where bill nighy is delivering his
14:06beautiful monologue about the importance of van gogh's work and vincent himself is standing there
14:12becoming completely overwhelmed by what he's hearing and what he's seeing is arguably one of the most
14:19beautiful and greatest scenes in doctor who and that concludes our list obviously we couldn't cover
14:26every historical figure that has appeared in doctor who since 2005 but if you think we've missed one
14:31that's really important then do let us know in the comments below and while you're there don't forget
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14:41there at who culture and instagram as well and i can be found across various social medias just by
14:47searching ellie little child i've been ellie with who culture and in the words of riversong herself goodbye
14:53sweeties
14:54you
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