Is Doctor Who more than just a TV show? There's certainly evidence to suggest as much...
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00:00Go with us for a moment. What if Doctor Who was real? I mean, it isn't, but what if it was?
00:05What are some of the coincidences and mysteries that could be interpreted as the greatest show
00:10in all of time and space happening out there in the great wide universe? I'm Ellie with WhoCulture
00:16here with 10 real things that prove Doctor Who exists. Number 10, a crack in time and space.
00:22The fine folks over at NASA are always finding oddities and amazing sights in the great wide
00:28universe. And back in 2006, they discovered this potentially hazardous link to one of Doctor Who's
00:34most famous series arcs. When observing infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope,
00:39astronomers noticed a strange shape. It was long and spindly, winding around like a large
00:45black snake. After much science was done, it was discovered that this is the core of a huge
00:50dark cloud that could, and we quote, swallow dozens of solar systems. This dark snake doesn't
00:55look a million miles away from the crack that Amelia Pond found on her bedroom wall.
01:00That particular crack turned out to be a gateway to an Atraxie prison, and other tears would
01:05reappear throughout the series before the universe was ended and then rebooted in the Pandorica Opens
01:10and the Big Bang. Like NASA's discovery, the cracks in Doctor Who were also capable of swallowing
01:16things they came into contact with, such as Scottish parents or dead nurses. If such a thing
01:21also exists in our own reality, does that mean the end of the universe is nigh? I really hope not.
01:27Number nine, the TARDIS in Utah. Imagine living thousands of years ago and stumbling across a
01:33piece of technology that is infinitely more advanced than anything you can even comprehend.
01:38It would completely and utterly blow your mind. Just ask old Caecilius. That leads us to this
01:43curious image, which depicts a cave painting where people can be seen worshipping something
01:48that looks suspiciously like the TARDIS. Horseshoe Canyon is an area of Utah in the United
01:54States known for its ancient pictographs. These pictures show people standing around a large
01:59box-like structure with what appears to be a light on top, congregating around it as if they're in
02:04awe. Clearly, one of the doctors took a trip back to ancient times and made quite the impression
02:09on the locals. The people the doctor leaves behind never forget their encounters. See Lorna Bucket
02:14joining the military just to get the chance to meet him again, and a TARDIS would no doubt be
02:19something these primitive folk would memorialize. We should of course mention that the doctor does
02:24visit Utah in the series six premiere, along with Amy, Rory, and River, the best character. Perhaps
02:30some unexplained force was drawing him back to a location he'd previously visited. I mean,
02:35it's probably a coincidence, but what if it's not? Number eight, moving statues. The Weeping
02:41Angels might have doomed the ponds, but they're still one of the most lauded villains in all of
02:46Who. The Angels were the brainchild of former showrunner Stephen Moffat, and the chilling
02:51real-life tale behind their creation is almost as creepy as the monsters themselves. The story goes
02:56that Moffat was out for a stroll one day while holidaying in Dorset, when he came across a
03:01graveyard that was sealed off to the public. He decided to investigate anyway, and found a lone,
03:06weeping angel standing within. A few years later, Moffat returned to that same graveyard,
03:12only to find that the angel had vanished. It's possible that someone moved the statue in the
03:16several years between Moffat's two visits, but here's the spooky bit. He never found any evidence
03:21that the angel even existed. I think I clearly saw a weeping angel, he said, but I can't find
03:27it anywhere. I can't find it in the records. So, what if the statue was never meant to be there?
03:33What if it moved there of its own accord and left of its own accord? Certainly does make you wonder,
03:38doesn't it? Number seven, a familiar agitator.
03:42Erik Ludwig Henningsen was a painter who lived between 1855 and 1930. Over his lifetime,
03:48Henningsen created numerous works in the social realist style, mainly focusing on groups of
03:54underprivileged people. In the 19th century, he wasn't short of subjects. One of his works,
03:581899's An Agitator, depicts a scene from a major strike by Danish workers. A group of protesters
04:05watch on as a man gives a rousing speech, while police on horseback keep an eye out for any
04:10trouble. The speaker is wearing a brown suit, is very skinny, and has hair that can best be
04:15described as tousled, along with some impressive sideburns. You can see where this is going.
04:20It would be very in character of the 10th Doctor to get himself involved in a labour movement in
04:26the 1890s, and inadvertently end up in a famous painting in the process. Not only would 10 love
04:32the attention and the chance to deliver a speech, but the Doctor is always looking out for ordinary
04:36people. As 11 would later explain, there isn't a person in the universe who isn't important.
04:42Number six, Doctor Who?
04:44NASA has helped the human race expand its knowledge of the stars. Even in the face of
04:49scepticism and budget cuts, the organisation continues to boldly go where no human has gone
04:55before. We like a lovely cross-reference to Star Trek. Oh, and they may have also discovered that
05:00Time Lords are real. In August 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a rather unusual
05:06shape, some 1,400 light years from Earth. In a new image of the forming stars Herbig-Haro
05:1246 slash 47, just rolls off the tongue that one, doesn't it? I also might have said it wrong. I
05:17apologise if I did. I don't really know stars. Anyway, we can see what appears to be a glowing
05:23question mark, just sitting there. But what could it mean? One of the overarching plot lines of
05:28Stephen Moffat's first few years in charge was the question, a question that must never be asked
05:34or answered. It was later revealed that this was actually a plot by the Time Lords to escape from
05:39their pocket universe, and that they were broadcasting said question throughout all of
05:43time and space. Doctor Who? If the question could take any shape, it would obviously be a question
05:48mark. So could the Time Lords be out there somewhere broadcasting their query for all to
05:52hear? And if so, will the Doctor respond? Number five, a famous scarf. Before I even start this
05:59entry, I'm just going to apologise now for any really awful French pronunciations here. As you
06:04might have noticed, I'm not French, but I'll give it a go. Ambassadeur is a lithograph poster
06:09printed in 1892 by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Again, sorry if I just butchered
06:16those words. It depicts a man with wild hair standing triumphantly in the foreground with
06:21a long scarf wrapped around his neck. Sound familiar? This man bears more than a slight
06:26resemblance to Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, despite the fact that the poster was released 82 years
06:31before Baker ever appeared in the role. Ambassadeur was actually used as an inspiration for the Fourth
06:36Doctor's look, specifically his iconic multicoloured scarf. There's also a Fourth Doctor big finish
06:42story called The Demon of Paris that incorporates Ambassadeur into its plot, and the cover is even
06:48a cheeky wink to the original 1892 creation. So, what if the Fourth Doctor travelled back
06:54to 19th century France, met Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and the pair got along so famously
06:59that the artist decided to immortalise him? Like the timey-wimey loop of the ponds naming their
07:04daughter after their daughter, could Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor have been inspired by the real Fourth
07:10Doctor? My head hurts. Number four, Sunset at Montmajor. Again, sorry for my awful French.
07:18Vincent and the Doctor features the TARDIS crew teaming up with Vincent van Gogh to battle an
07:23invincible creature, and to convince the legendary painter that his work was actually worth something.
07:28Vincent would turn up later in the series painting an image of the TARDIS exploding,
07:32which predicted that this very same monumental event was to come. And as it turns out,
07:37the famous artist might have made allusions to the Doctor's faithful transport in his real-life
07:42work too. In Sunset at Montmajor, a beautiful landscape from 1888, van Gogh depicts a natural
07:48scene complete with trees, a glowing sky, and a strange blue rectangle in the distance. A
07:54rectangle that looks oddly TARDIS-shaped at a glance. This building is actually Montmajor Abbey.
07:59But what if Vincent's adventure with the Doctor somehow, subconsciously, bled into the way he
08:05chose to paint it? There's no denying that it's a similar shape to the TARDIS, and it's even got
08:09the light on top. It's heartwarming to imagine Vincent actually having an adventure with the
08:13Doctor. Maybe he did get to visit that art gallery after all. Number three, The Weeping Angel Effect.
08:19The Weeping Angel's main party trick is sending unfortunate victims back in time. But they're
08:25also known for their inability to move while being looked at. Combined with their lightning
08:29quick speeds, this instantly made them one of the scariest monsters in Doctor Who history.
08:34As it turns out, there's something else that cannot move while being looked at, and to find
08:38out what it is, we must journey into the horrifyingly complicated world of quantum physics. Yikes.
08:44In 2015, researchers at Cornell University ran a series of experiments on atoms to simulate
08:50what would happen if somebody was constantly watching them without even blinking. Think of
08:55it as a reverse Schrodinger's Cat, which is all about something not being seen. Their studies
09:00turned out some interesting results. If an atom is constantly being measured, then it never changes,
09:05effectively freezing it in place. This is The Weeping Angel Effect. There's no denying that
09:10the science behind The Weeping Angels is fascinating, and if it's possible for things
09:14to freeze in place through mere observation, then we can speculate that the angels might
09:19actually exist. Just be careful the next time you're exploring an abandoned house, okay?
09:23And remember, don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck.
09:302. Amy and Rory in 1959
09:33The Weeping Angels were all too real for Amy and Rory Pond, who was zapped back in time by
09:38the stone assassins in The Angels Take Manhattan. Don't remind me, I don't need to cry again today.
09:43The Ponds were sent back to 1938, when they were in their early 20s, which would have put them
09:49somewhere in their 40s in 1959. Why is that important? Well, because of this painting.
09:55Created by Russian-American artist Raphael Sawyer, Consolation depicts a man sat on a chair
10:01cradling a standing woman. It's an incredibly intimate piece, one worthy of two star-crossed
10:07lovers, perhaps? The male figure's face is a little distorted, but he looks exactly like
10:12everyone's favourite plastic Roman. As for the woman, she's the spitting image of Amy Pond.
10:17Red hair, round face, pale skin, the works. Sawyer was known for painting everyday New Yorkers,
10:23and he spent a lot of time in the city around the same period that Amy and Rory lived there.
10:28Even the name, Consolation, sounds like the perfect word to sum up the Ponds' journey,
10:33star-crossed lovers who've seen the universe. Perhaps Sawyer was taken by the pair's devotion
10:37to one another, or maybe this was the Ponds' way of winking at the Doctor,
10:41planting themselves in the history books just as he did for them in The Impossible Astronaut.
10:461. Bigger on the Inside During the summer of 2023,
10:50news outlets across the world picked up on the testimonies of US Air Force whistleblower David
10:56Grush, who claimed that the American government was hiding alien spacecrafts from the public.
11:01Sounds like the X-Files to me. But this sparked numerous other claims that extraterrestrials had
11:06visited our world, and there was one particular revelation that Whovians went wild for.
11:12According to the Daily Mail, the lawyer for a separate whistleblower was told that they had
11:16seen a UFO that distorted space and time. Allegedly, the crew recovering this craft
11:22sent a man inside, and what he discovered was totally mind-blowing. Though the ship
11:26measured only 30 feet in diameter, the interior of the vessel was supposedly the size of a football
11:32stadium. In other words, it was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.
11:36Though the Doctor's TARDIS is definitely not 30 feet wide. Remember that not all
11:41Time Lord vehicles have broken chameleon circuits? This could mean that a real
11:44Gallifreyan has visited our world, or that this lawyer fell asleep while watching old
11:48reruns of Doctor Who. If this account is to be believed, it certainly makes you wonder if the
11:53Doctor is out there right now, battling aliens and doing all that running. Maybe they'll need
11:57to come to Earth to retrieve their ship. This wouldn't be the first time they've been separated
12:01from it after all. And that's everything for this list, but Doctor Who has popped up in all
12:06sorts of places, so why not check out 10 More Times Doctor Who Appeared in Other TV Shows?
12:11In the meantime, I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself,
12:15goodbye, sweeties.