DW 03-08: Human Nature (Part 1)

A Guide to Classic Who references (and other references) in new Who.

Doctor Who Series 3 episode 8 (Story 29 part 1):  The Doctor hides from aliens, taking Martha Jones to look after him.

Warning: May contain Spoilers for 

"Human Nature"

Viewing Order

• Children in Need - "Born Again" or Christmas Special 2005 - "The Christmas Invasion" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character.)
• Doctor Who [3-01] - "Smith & Jones" (Suggested viewing - introduction of character.)

References

[OLD] - Things that first appeared in the classic series (or the film.)  Episode List.

For context, the following are also covered:
[1ST] -  The first appearance of things in Doctor Who series.
[NEW] - Things that first appeared previously in the new series.
[OTH] - Things from Other Doctor Who sources (Books, Comics, Audioplays, etc)

Ongoing References...

• [OLD]  The Doctor - The main character.  Real name: unknown; actual age: unclear.  Status as a Medical Doctor:  Undetermined.  He is a Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey.
• [OLD]  John Smith - An alias commonly used by the Doctor.  It was first used by The Second Doctor's companion, Jamie McCrimmon, as a name for the concussed Second Doctor in "The Wheel in Space" (Season 5).  The Second Doctor was the first to use it in his last story "The War Games" (Season 6).  The Third Doctor used it extensively during his time on exiled on Earth.  Much like Jamie's usage, not knowing the Doctor's name, Chang Lee used "John Smith" on medical records.  The name also appeared in "The Empty Child" as a reference to the Doctor.
• [OLD]  Two hearts - The fact that the Doctor had two hearts was first noted in "Spearhead in Space" (Season 7) the Third Doctor's first story.  Previously it seemed that the First and Second Doctor only had one heart.  Since then it is usually implied that Time Lords always have two hearts (with early references being retroactively regarded as goofs) although some non-televised sources claim that Time Lords have only a single heart in their first body (or the number changes).  Other non-televised sources state that the First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan actually had two hearts.   In the new Who episode "Dalek" Henry Van Statten discovered that the Ninth Doctor had two hearts and in "Smith & Jones" Martha made the same discovery.  Having two hearts saved his life in "The Shakespeare Code."

This episode...

• [OTH]  Human Nature - This two-parter is based on Paul Cornell's Doctor Who novel "Human Nature" which featured the Seventh Doctor and his then companion Bernice Summerfield.

• [OLD]  Time Agent - A war criminal from the 51st Century suspected that the Fourth Doctor was a Time Agent who had tracked him to the 19th Century in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" (Season 14).  The First Doctor and Rose met a former Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness in "The Empty Child" who stayed with them until "The Parting of the Ways" and eventually became the head of Torchwood Three.

• [NEW]  Vortex Manipulators - A wrist-worn device used for time travel (and other functions) by Time Agents, including Jack Harkness.

• [1ST]  The Family - First appearance of these creatures.

• [1ST]  Chameleon Arch - First appearance of this device.

• [OLD]  Gallifrey, Ireland - In "The Hand of Fear" (Season 14) the Doctor tells an intern tending to the Doctor's injured arm that that the place he qualified as a Doctor was Gallifrey.  Then intern assumed that perhaps it was in Ireland.  In "The Invisible Enemy" (Season 15) while Leela is checking the Doctor into another origin she states that he comes from Gallifrey.  The receptionist asks if that is in Ireland, to which Leela replies: "I guess so."

• [OTH]  Sydney & Verity - Sydney Newman was the Head of Drama at the BBC who first commissioned Doctor Who, and Verity Lambert was the person he appointed as the shows first producer.  Their role in creating the show makes them the Doctor's parents.

The Journal of Impossible Things...

Things that appear in the picture in John Smith's dream journal.

• [OLD]  Sonic Screwdriver - The Doctor's favourite tool.  First appeared in "Fury of the Deep" (Season 5) and has been used off and on by various Doctor including the Ninth and Tenth.

• [OLD]  Console - The controls to the TARDIS.

• [NEW]  The Empty Child - The gas mask zombies from "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances."

• [OLD]  Daleks - Popular villains from the time they appear in the First Doctor's second story (Season 1) and throughout the original series (see Foes: Daleks).  Thought destroyed during the Time War but at least two survived: the Metalron from "Dalek" and the Dalek Emperor from "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways" who recreated the Dalek race using human DNA.  Another group of Daleks who had been captured by the Timelords, imprisoned and cast into the Void managed to escape in "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday."

• [NEW]  The Moxx of Balhoon - Only appearance "The End of the World" where he represented the solicitors Jolco & Jolco.

• [OLD] Autons - Puppets of the Nestene who appeared in two Third Doctor stories and the Ninth Doctor story "Rose."

• [NEW]  Clockwork Men - The robots from "The Girl in the Fireplace." Later Joan references this episode.

• [NEW]  Rose - Companion to the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, first appeared in the aptly named "Rose" and last appeared in "Doomsday."

• OLD]  Cybermen - Long term enemy of the Doctor, the Cybermen.  The Cybermen last appeared in the new Who episodes "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" which was followed up in the Torchwood episode "Cyberwoman

• [OLD]  The TARDIS - The Doctor's time and space travel vechicle.  TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space.  Like a lot of Time Lord technology it is "bigger on the inside."  The Doctor stole his Tardis when fleeing Gallifrey.  It is an older model ("Type 40") and unreliable, often ending up in the wrong location and the chamleon circuit - designed to make the Tardis appear inconspicuous in any surroundings it appears has failed so it always appears as a police telephone box from 1960s England.

• [OLD]  Previous Doctors - The Journal contains pictures of all the previous Doctors at this point, but the ones clear on screen are the Seventh, Eighth, First, Sixth and Fifth Doctors.

• [NEW]  A Raxacoricofallapatorian - A member of the Slitheen family who the Doctor met in "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" and "Boomtown."

~ DUG.

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The Time Crash blog was created to help New Who fans understand Classic Who references - and to know if something isn't a reference but a new idea.  If there's a reference I missed or a subject that you feel needs more explaining, please comment.