New Who Facts You Never Knew

A collection of little-known "facts" about the New Doctor Who. Inspired by the magnificent classicwhofacts tumblr.

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Contrary to popular impression, David Tennant has never returned to the role of the Doctor. In the 2023 specials, the Doctor who traveled with Donna was played by his cousin, David Fourteenant.

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Fact #87

Sources at the BBC have confirmed that the Scottish independence referendum only failed because of Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi using their native accents. Leaked scripts indicate that Series 9 will feature guest appearances by James McAvoy, Rose Leslie and Sean Biggerstaff, as well as the return of Tulloch Moor.

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Fact #86

The Doctor has confirmed that Robin Hood was real, Sherlock Holmes was a lizard woman, and King Arthur was a steampunk superhero from another dimension. Other legends who actually existed include Titania (queen of the Laser Fae), Puss in Boots (last survivor of the feline civilization of Bootanzar), and Dracula (Jack Harkness after a very confusing weekend with Lord Byron).

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Fact #85

It is implied in "Day of the Doctor" that Ian Chesterton is now Chairman of the Governors at Coal Hill School. What it doesn't mention is the weekly lessons in how to annoy the Doctor that he's been giving Clara. Special attention is paid to pointing out when he messes up someone's name.

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Fact #84

As Russell T. Davies has indicated, Rani Chandra from The Sarah Jane Adventures is not related to the renegade Time Lord known as the Rani. She is, however, the only being in the cosmos that Rassilon fears, and the true reason that the sound of drums was planted in the Master's head.

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Fact #83

Neil Gaiman's original plan for "The Doctor's Wife" was to have it take place in the Land of Fiction. However, all of the early drafts featured a gangly, pale man with messy black hair showing up and taking the House away with no help from the Doctor. It was only after the setting was moved to the bubble universe that this unnamed character disappeared.

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Fact #82

The Ninth Doctor episode "Dalek", written by Rob Shearman, went through a staggering 267 drafts, including one where the Dalek joins the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS, one where Henry van Statten has a conference call with then-Senator Obama, and at least three where Sailor Moon uses the power of the Silver Crystal to reincarnate the Dalek as an adorable purple-haired girl.

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Fact #81

Several Racnoss survived and became the main forces behind the replacement of Tobey Maguire with Andrew Garfield.

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Fact #80

At one point, Amy Pond, River Song, Jackson Lake, and Celeste Rivers were all members of a repertory company doing productions of The Water Babies. However, the show premiered to damp reviews; the market for children's plays at the time was saturated, and after several shows were rained out, interest dried up.

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Fact #79

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme used by Cassandra were a pale comparison of the true Adherents, a secret society who have influenced human culture for millennia. They used rage-face comics to incite the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, genetically engineered a philosophical velociraptor, and are even now controlling the world economy via infusions of Dogecoin.

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Fact #78

The Androzani system's major export is parables about how humans cause our own destruction through exploitation of the environment and the economy.

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Fact #77

The clockwork androids from The Girl in the Fireplace evolved from naturally-occuring cogs and gears.

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Fact #76

In addition to Sundays, the Doctor never lands on Arbor Day, Victoria Day, Hijri New Year, Tết, or the second Thursday in November in any year ending in a 7.

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Fact #75

'Captain Grumpy' was Russell T Davies' affectionate (sort of) nickname for Steven Moffat.

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Fact #74

There has long been an argument globally that a message of materialism and commercialism is usurping the spiritual tradition and meaning of Christmas.

This is wrong.

The spiritual tradition and meaning of Christmas is in fact being usurped by the annual Doctor Who special.

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Fact #73

The 50th Anniversary Special is the direct sequel to the Royal Wedding.

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Fact #72

The 75th Anniversary will be called "Night of the Master", and will feature all the Masters gathering together to try and break their future self out of the Time Lock.