DW 60th Anniversary Special #2: Wild Blue Yonder

   A guide to classic Who references in new Who.

Doctor Who  BBC Anniversary Special #2 in which the Doctor and Donna get lost...

May contain spoilers for 

"Wild Blue Yonder"

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

The following are also covered:

[1ST] - Things that first appeared in this episode.

[NEW] - Things that first appeared in the new series.

[REAL] - Things that first appeared in outside the series itself.

[OTH] - Things that first appeared in outside the series itself.

The TARDIS

• [OLD] The Doctor's time and space travel vehicle.  It stands for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space.  Like a lot of the Doctor's race's technology, it is "bigger on the inside."  The Doctor stole her second-hand TARDIS when fleeing her Gallifrey. It is an older model ("Type 40") and unreliable, often ending up in the wrong location, and being unable to blend into its environment (a feature TARDISes should have). Other Time Lords have their own TARDISes.

The Doctor

• [OLD]  The main character of Doctor Who, classic series and new. Born on Gallifrey, he is a Time Lord. Due to Time Lords' ability to regenerate this is the "Fourteenth Doctor." As a Time Lord he has two hearts. In his previous incarnation discovered that he may not have been from Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords after all ("The Timeless Children" (Doctor Who (2005) series 12))

Donna

• [NEW] One of the Tenth Doctor's companions first appearing in  "The Runaway Bride" (Doctor Who (2005) 2006 Christmas Special), and joining the Doctor in "Partners in Crime"  (Doctor Who (2005) series 4).  Donna saved the universe (at a terrible cost) in "Journey's End" (Doctor Who (2005) series 4). when she accidentally took in the mind of the Doctor, becoming "the DoctorDonna" allowing her to defeat the Daleks. However, since a human mind can't contain that much information she was doomed to die, so she was able to remove it in  "The Star Beast" (Doctor Who (2005) 60th Anniversary Special #1).

The Cloister Bell

• [OLD] Cloister Bell - A TARDIS warning which sounds when the TARDIS, the universe or both are in danger.

Hostile Action Displacement System

• [OLD] HADS is an automated system that causes the TARDIS to dematerialise when it is attacked and to relocate and repair in a safe place when hostile actions ceased.  The Second Doctor remembered to set it in "The Krotons" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 6) and the Eleventh Doctor lost the TARDIS because of it in "Cold War" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 7) 

Sonic Screwdriver

• [OLD] The Doctor's favourite tool: the sonic screwdriver. First shown to be used by the Second Doctor in "Fury of the Deep" (Doctor Who (1963) season 5), it has been used almost constantly since. While it has been destroyed a couple of times and replaced it has been implied to be the same device rebuilt ("Day of the Doctor" (Doctor Who (2015) 50th Anniversary Special). Although Doctor has suggested he initially built it ("The Doctor Dances"  (Doctor Who (2015) series 1) & "A Christmas Carol"  (Doctor Who (2015) Christmas Special 2010). It's been said to be self-repairing "A Christmas Carol"  (Doctor Who (2015) Christmas Special 2010) and on at least one occasion the repaired it for him ("The Eleventh Hour"  (Doctor Who (2015) series 5)). The previous Doctor built her version in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (Doctor Who (2015) series 11). This appears to be the Tenth Doctor's sonic returned. It has a variety of powers. This is the first time it's created a shield. One of its weaknesses is "deadlock seals."

The Translation Circuit

• [NEW]  A feature of the TARDIS that is in some way tied to the Fourth Doctor.  In "The Masque of Mandragora" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 14) the Doctor told Sarah Jane:

"Well, I've taken you to some strange places before and you've never asked how you understood the local language. It's a Time Lord's gift I allow you to share. But tonight when you asked me how you understood Italian, I realised your mind had been taken over."

When questioned on it by Rose (in "Rose" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 1)) the Ninth Doctor replied:  "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the Tardis. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates."  The application of the translation circuit is inconsistant, sometimes not working when the Doctor and TARDIS are unconscious or not present, sometimes working fine, and it doesn't always translate languages the Doctor clearly knows and understand.  So, yeah, it's the Doctor, or the TARDIS or both.

Rose

• [NEW] Donna's daughter who first appearanced in the previous episode ("The Star Beast" Doctor Who (2005) 60th Anniversary Special #1). The name comes from Rose Tyler, the companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, who Donna met.

Wilf

• [NEW] First appeared in "Voyage of the Damned" (Doctor Who (2005) Christmas Special 2007) and was revealed to be Donna's grandfather in "Partners in Crime"  (Doctor Who (2005) series 4). He last appeared in  "The End of Time (Part 2)" (Doctor Who (2005) New Year's Day Special 2010).

Gallifrey

• [OLD] The Home Planet of the Time Lords. Appeared in the original series; first appearing in Second Doctor story "The War Games" (Doctor Who (1963) season 6) and its name first said by the Third Doctor in "The Time Warrior" (Doctor Who (1963)  season 11).  It last appeared in the old series in The Five Doctors special and was mentioned as the Seventh Doctor's destination in the beginning of the Doctor Who (1996) movie. It was destroyed in the Time War (between the movie and the new series), but was restored in "Day of the Doctor" (Doctor Who (2005) 50 Anniversary Special). It was revealed to have been destroyed again by the Master in "Spyfall, part 2" (Doctor Who (2005) series 12).

The Flux

• [NEW] A universe destroying cloud that first appeared in  Doctor Who: Flux Chapter 1 ("The Halloween Apocalypse" (Doctor Who (2005) series 13 - The Flux).

Beyond the episode...

Mavity

• The Doctor & Donna accidentally change events and instead of "gravity" Newton names it "mavity." Mavity is used in:
• "The Church on Ruby Road" (Doctor Who (2005) Christmas Special 2023) when the Doctor describes how his "smart gloves" work.

- DUG.

[Doctor Who (2005) episodes]

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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.