Doctor Who: 10 Best Historical Figures Who Have Appeared In NuWho
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 when we see
00:17the Doctor, and particularly the companions, encounter real-life historical figures.
00:22Well, with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with the 10 best historical
00:27figures who have appeared in New Who. Number 10, Madame de Pompadour.
00:32Now, Series 2's The Girl in the Fireplace is a perfect example of the Doctor accidentally
00:38stumbling into history when he somehow manages to place himself into the life of a young Renette
00:43Poisson. Now, it is really entertaining when you see the Doctor suddenly discover that he's just
00:48encountered someone significant, and of course this episode adds that extra layer of comedy
00:53by him only realising that after he's just snogged her. Although there is no written rule,
00:57it is a common known law in the Doctor Who universe that history is not to be tampered with,
01:04and accidentally becoming the love obsession of the future mistress to the King of France just
01:08seems a little bit risky on the course of history. His unintentional intrusion actually eliminates a
01:14far greater threat on the timeline of Madame de Pompadour, and it means that the Doctor can do
01:19what 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
01:35the Doctor smashing through a mirror on horseback, but it also offers an almost accurate biography
01:41on Madame de Pompadour's life. Number 9, William Shakespeare.
01:46Even when the Doctor just simply intends to impress his new companion with a quick trip to
01:51the past, he somehow manages to sniff out trouble. While meeting Shakespeare wasn't a complete
01:56accident, fighting off the Carrionites definitely wasn't part of the original plan. Now what's
02:00really interesting about this episode is that the Doctor and Martha use their knowledge of history
02:05to figure out that something's not right. The works of Shakespeare are famous throughout the
02:09world, throughout 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,
02:22they 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
02:49one later. Number 8, Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was the first historical figure to
02:55appear 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 Eccleston's ninth Doctor ventured
03:06into the past. Now, 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
03:17while we're still on the subject of Shakespeare, one of the clever adjustments that Mark Gatiss
03:22made to the script here is taking the common phrase of what the Dickens, but having Charles
03:27Dickens himself say what the Shakespeare, and it's just simple changes like this that make
03:32these characters seem so much more realistic, even though there are ghosts and zombies and
03:37a possessed maid. But it is Doctor Who, so you have to have a little bit of leeway.
03:40Charles Dickens did then reappear in the Wedding of Rivers song, but this time his purpose was
03:44to highlight the displacement of time, having Charles Dickens sat on BBC News talking about
03:50his new book about ghosts and Christmas and the past and the present and the future.
03:55But the story of A Christmas Carol is so appropriate and fitting for that episode,
04:00which is essentially the Doctor and River getting their glimpse at Christmas future if they didn't
04:05fix 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
04:16Terror. And this episode really put a focus on how the success and significance of these
04:22historical figures could attract the attention of other alien races throughout time and space.
04:28Now, in this instance, it was the Queen of Scythra who had sought out the engineering
04:32genius of Nikola Tesla to help fix her ship. But probably more significant in this episode is
04:38the exploration of the rivalry between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison and the reality of his
04:44legacy. Now, obviously, the real Nikola Tesla didn't fight aliens, but he did dedicate his
04:51life to a vision that was never truly realized or appreciated in his lifetime. And the hope and
04:57optimism that's portrayed by actor Goran Viznich, I think that's how you say his name. It's a very
05:02hard name to say. But the hope and optimism that he portrays just makes it so much more
05:07heartbreaking when we as an audience know that he never got the recognition that he deserved.
05:13And actually, this is emulated in Yaz's disappointment that his heroic efforts
05:18within this episode had no positive impact on his future. And this man fundamentally
05:24changed the way we live and yet never knew how successful he actually was in his endeavors.
05:30Now, also, the casting here of Goran Viznich was absolutely perfect because Nikola Tesla,
05:36who although Serbian by blood, was actually born and raised in what would become Croatia,
05:42which is where Goran Viznich is also from. And it's just little attentions to detail like this
05:48that just show how much research and effort went into telling this historical story.
05:54Number six, Winston Churchill. When Winston Churchill made his on-screen debut in series
05:59five'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,
06:08there are several publications documenting encounters between the pair dating back to 1986.
06:14Now, because of this pre-existing relationship, it meant that this episode could explore a
06:18completely 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
06:34history to try and win the Second World War faster. Now, of course, the Doctor maintains
06:39that 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
06:49throughout series five and six, first to just emphasize the vast number of people who are
06:54connected to and rely on the Doctor in the Pandorica Opens, and then again alongside
06:59Charles Dickens in the Wedding of River Song to just highlight that topsy-turvy displacement of
07:04time. Now, the inclusion of Winston Churchill here and Hitler in Let's Kill Hitler managed
07:09to 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
07:26the 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,
07:37the alien werewolf, and Queen Victoria's presence only really adds to that serious tone of the
07:42episode. Unlike most people who encounter the Doctor, she really doesn't appreciate his daredevil
07:47energy, and she really doesn't appreciate Rose's immature attempts to get her to say,
07:52we are not amused. Now, while she does honor 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
08:04in Queen Victoria establishing the Torchwood Institute to protect the Earth not only from
08:09aliens, but also primarily from the Doctor himself. Now, this episode is also a really good
08:15example of the Doctor Who creatives giving a supernatural explanation for a real-life mystery,
08:21and in this instance, it's the suggestion that Prince Albert's obsession with having the Koh-i-Noor
08:26diamond recut and resized is because he knew of the existence of this werewolf and was going to
08:33use the diamond as a tool to destroy it. It also offers a rather ambiguous question surrounding
08:40the real-life blood condition that Queen Victoria suffered from, suggesting that it was actually the
08:46result 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.
08:58Number 4. Rosa Parks. Series 11's episode Rosa explored a different side to the Doctor's moral
09:05compass. Of course, it didn't come without its hardship and heartbreak, but it really was a
09:09poignant predicament to portray. So often we see the Doctor helping historical figures to overcome
09:15obstacles or alien anomalies in their timeline, but in this instance, the obstacle was 100% human
09:23and yet integral to the progression of humanity. What started as simply an effort to stop the
09:29time-travelling criminal Carrasco from preventing the Montgomery bus boycott led to the Doctor,
09:35Yaz, Ryan and Graham becoming vital parts in Rosa Parks' story. And that moment where they are
09:42forced to stay seated on the bus in order to ensure that Rosa Parks gets arrested is one of
09:48those rare occasions where the Doctor has to allow or even cause something awful to happen
09:54in order to maintain the future. Now of course we have seen other moments of moral questioning
09:59in 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
10:10justification for not helping. Number 3. Agatha Christie. The Unicorn and the Wasp is another
10:16example of the Doctor Who creatives offering a timey wimey explanation for a real life historical
10:23mystery. And in this instance, it offers an explanation to the 10 day disappearance of
10:28Agatha Christie in 1926. The episode plays out in the style of an Agatha Christie murder mystery
10:34which subsequently turns out to be more than just a coincidence. Lady Edison, a big fan of Agatha
10:40Christie's novels, had unknowingly filled the mind of her long lost son with the notion of
10:44murder mysteries through a necklace which linked the pair telepathically. The power of Agatha
10:49Christie's writings was so strong that they became embedded within the psyche of this newly transformed
10:56Vesperform alongside 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 Vesperform 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
11:22about the events. Now of course, the real explanation as to the amnesia and the disappearance
11:28is still a mystery, but we have here an example of Doctor Who creatives going, you know what,
11:32I'm going to put my own supernatural spin on this story. Number two, Elizabeth I. When Elizabeth I
11:40entered the Globe Theatre in the Shakespeare Code, she was not only aware of who the Doctor was,
11:45but she seemed to be extremely agitated by his presence. Now at the time, both the Doctor and
11:51the audience were very confused about why she hated him so much. And in the subsequent series
11:57between then and 2013's The Day of the Doctor, there were several hints made that the Doctor
12:02was actually married to Elizabeth I. He boasts about his nuptials to Ood Sigma in The End of
12:07Time, Liz 10 teases him about his less than virtuous activities with the so-called Virgin
12:12Queen in The Beast Below, and he mentions in the wedding of River Song that Elizabeth I is still
12:17waiting on a glade to elope with him. Now the events of The Day of the Doctor would eventually
12:22confirm these boastful remarks to be the truth. The proposal was supposed to just unveil a Zygon,
12:28but he unintentionally became the fiancé to Elizabeth I, and he did fulfill his promise
12:33in a private ceremony witnessed by the 11th Doctor, the War Doctor, and Clara Oswald as well.
12:39He then promised that he would be right back. Judging by her animosity towards him almost
12:4440 years later, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he did not come right back.
12:52Vincent and the Doctor is equally one of the most heartbreaking and heartwarming episodes of the
12:58Matt Smith era. Now unlike most encounters with historical figures, the Doctor purposely sought
13:03Vincent out rather than just stumbling across him. Now similarly to sensing trouble when Shakespeare
13:09mentions a play that doesn't exist in the future, the Doctor and Amy notice a suspicious creature
13:14lurking in the background of one of his paintings that shouldn't be there. Now the exploration of
13:19Vincent's depression in this episode is particularly beautiful. Rather than suggest that the
13:24Crephaeus creature is the cause of Vincent's troubled life, it instead suggests that his
13:30alternative views on life are what give him the power to see things that others can't.
13:35The whole premise of the storyline is just this beautiful metaphor for the inner demons of
13:42depression and how they very much do exist despite the fact that they appear invisible or non-existent
13:48to 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
14:04where Bill Nighy is delivering his beautiful monologue about the importance of Van Gogh's work
14:10and Vincent himself is standing there becoming completely overwhelmed by what he's hearing and
14:15what he's seeing is arguably one of the most beautiful and greatest scenes in Doctor Who.
14:22And that concludes our list. Obviously we couldn't cover every historical figure that
14:27has appeared in Doctor Who since 2005 but if you think we've missed one that's really important
14:32then do let us know in the comments below. And while you're there don't forget to like and
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14:42at WhoCulture and Instagram as well. And I can be found across various social medias just by
14:47searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhoCulture and in the words of River Song herself,
14:52goodbye sweeties.