Sublimely confident and complacent, the Time Lords believed themselves protected from all lesser species by their great power. But pride comes before a fall, and the peace of Gallifrey was to be shattered again and again. Invaded, its cities levelled to the ground, lost in time, found, reborn, Gallifrey finally rose from the ashes, a shining jewel in the cosmos.
There were inevitable consequences: fragments of that great world splintered in time, to be picked up by the curious, the magpie, the archaeologist. One such splinter made its way to Earth. Opened, it proved itself to be part of the archive relating to the meddler, the renegade who forsook his noble Prydonian chapter and calls himself the Doctor. In short, it proved itself to be
THE DOCTOR WHO COMPANION CHRISTMAS QUIZ 2024!
No prizes for right answers; just the fun of participating. Answers to be published on Boxing Day. Are you ready? Here we go…
1. Currency
Who or what uses the following currency?
- Telmars
- Credit bars
- Grotzits
2. Drinks
Which Doctor drinks the following beverage, where, and in which story?
- Ginger beer
- “A good humoured wine, after my own heart.”
- Sherry
- Carrot juice
- And which Doctor asks for tea or coffee after “very trying experiences”, from whom? And does he get any?
3. The TARDIS and the Doctor’s Companions
Which companion(s):
- Swims in the TARDIS swimming pool?
- Dives into the TARDIS swimming pool, after entering the TARDIS at speed, to save her life?
- Asks to uses the TARDIS’ toilet?
- Suggests c above waits a few minutes before using the TARDIS’ toilet?
- Doesn’t want bunk beds in his room in the TARDIS?
- Asks for bacon and eggs from the TARDIS food machine?
- Threatens which companion in the TARDIS with a pair of scissors?
- Runs into the TARDIS after the Doctor refuses to take her with him, and accidentally dematerialises it?
- Which two female companions share a bedroom in the TARDIS?
- Has a bedroom on screen in the TARDIS, other than i above?
- Discovers an enormous boot cupboard in the TARDIS?
4. Music
- Who are Chris Waits and the Carollers and in which stories are they mentioned?
- Which Doctor mentions Puccini and Madame Butterfly just before he regenerates?
- At the end of which story did Delia Derbyshire receive her first on-screen credit for her original arrangement of the Doctor Who theme?
5. Which Story:
- Was banned by TV Ontario for being racist?
- Was not purchased by Saudi Arabia?
- Is preceded by a trigger warning on the screening platform BritBox?
6. First Words
A villain meets the Doctor on screen for the first time with the following words. Which villain, though, and in which story?
- “You may have changed your appearance – but I know who you are.”
- “We meet again, Doctor.”
- “We play the contest again – Time Lord.”
- “Good afternoon, Doctor.”
- “How kind of you to drop in, Doctor.”
- “You will move ahead of us and follow my directions. This way.”
7. Novelisations
Here are five quotations from five novelisations. For each quotation, identify the novelisation and explain what is happening. (Some words have been deleted to stop this being too easy.)
a. Suddenly a new voice called out through the suspended blizzard. “Hello?”
The Doctor turned to see a figure stumbling towards them. The snow swept aside like a curtain to reveal a handsome young man in military uniform.
b. With frantic, crippled movements it ripped open the instrument panel and pulled out a thick bundle of multi-coloured cables. Then, arching its segmented tail up over its head, it gripped the cables in its huge claw and severed them cleanly with a single slice.
c. Morka came up beside them. “Okdel keeps one of the furry animals as a pet,” he said. “Is that not true, Okdel?”
“It amuses me,” said Okdel.
d. XXX squeezed her white mini between the Brigadier’s big black staff-car and a military half-track vehicle…Overnight she had come to a big decision: either the Doctor must give her some work to do, or she was going to hand in her resignation.
e. The Voice rose to a whining scream.
“…the…the…Universe.”
Suddenly the Voice choked, and was silent. Its bronchial wheezing faded, gasping, and was stilled. The pulsating light within the bladder dwindled slowly down to a ruddy glow – and then blanked out. A darkness came into the room, and with it, a coldness.
8. Novelisations in French
What is happening in each of these extracts?
a. Frappes d’horreur, XXX et le Docteur regardaient le XXXXX sortit lentement de l’eau et glisser dans leur direction le long de la berge. D’instinct, ils firent volte-face pour s’enfuir, mais le silhouettes de cauchemar des hommes casques de metal avaient descendu l’escalier pour leur couper la retraite.
Le XXXXX parla de cette voix rauque et rapeuse qui, pour XXX, evoquait XXXXX.
“Hommes-Machines! Pourquoi ces humains errant-ils librement dans une zone interdite?”
“Pas d’explication,” repondit le chef des Hommes-Machines d’une voix trainante et bredouillante.
“Ou est la Robopatrouille pour ce secteur?”
“Aucune idee”.
b. Il y eut un silence, et le chef attendit la reponse. Quand elle vint elle declencha un frisson d’horreur le long de la colonne vertebrale de XXX, qui sentit tous ses muscles et ses nerfs se nouer. Il entendit le voix d’un XXXXX griner:
“La planete XXXXX est a nous. Et a nous seuls.”
XXX vit trente armes se relever legerement et se pointer vers l’homme qui avait parle. Comme s’il prenait conscience du danger, celui-ci fit une derniere tentative:
“XXXXX, nous sommes venus en amis!”
A l’instant ou il finissait de parler, trente rayons de lumiere bleue fuserant des machines et le toucherent simultanement. Pendant une seconde fugitive son corps fut illumine par une pale lueur. Puis il s’ecroula et tomba dans les caisses.
“Courez!” hurla XXX.
Bonus question: What is the original English expression for “Hommes-Machine”?
Come back on Boxing Day to find out how many you’ve got right!
