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Doctor Who Messing With History

The Doctor and his TARDIS travel through time and space on a whim, often appearing at key moments in history. Sometimes, those moments are in need of fixing, other times, it's the Doctor who does the tampering.

Eugene Fomin Avatar By Eugene Fomin February 17, 2012
  

Despite having traveled aboard the TARDIS for many, many years, the Doctor still isn't sure how to pilot her. It seems the sentient, spacetime machine doesn't take any course the Doctor sets as a direct order but rather as a suggestion. If the Doctor wants to go to France in 1699, for instance, but some historic event is happening in 17th century Germany, the TARDIS will go there instead. Close enough, right?

As a result, the Doctor often ends up arriving at a place just when history is at its tipping point. The question then becomes: is the Doctor fixing history to the way it should be, or is history the way it is because he intervened? This chicken-or-the-egg question plagues all time travelers. Let's take a look at some of those instances.

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Credit: BBC

Killing Hitler

With an episode name like "Let's Kill Hitler," you know something's gonna happen that'll mess with history. Sure enough, Moffat delivers. The Doctor and his friends pick up a stray passenger who holds our hero at gunpoint and decides to go to 1940s Nazi Germany. Why? "[The Doctor has] a time machine, [she's] got a gun. What the hell, let's kill Hitler." While killing Hitler is all well and good, and lots of people would love to do it, killing Hitler too early would skew history in some very unpredictable ways. Can the Doctor set things right? There are the people who punched Hitler and then there are the people who have killed him.

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Credit: BBC

Nixon and the Silence

Richard Nixon doesn't have the cleanest of reputations with people. His name reminds us of Watergate and Vietnam, but there were some good things too. When the Doctor meets him, the man is just starting his term as president. Already, his term is filled with problems.

A strange child calls the president on his private line. Naturally, Nixon is more than a little concerned. He enlists the aid of a semi-retired FBI officer to get to the bottom of things, but things are a lot worse than a case of prank calls. It's up to the Doctor to figure out what's going on and put a stop to things before history is irreparably messed up. Oh, and telling Nixon about David Frost might also not be the smartest thing in the world.

Doctor Who
Credit: BBC

Marco Polo

The Doctor and his friends crash-land in the Himalayas sometime in the year 1289 A.D. The TARDIS is badly damaged and they are completely stranded. Fortunately, a friendly caravan comes along and rescues them. The leader of the caravan is none other than Marco Polo himself, but there is trouble brewing. One of Marco Polo's companions, Tegana, is attempting to sabotage the entire historical expedition. If he is not stopped in time, Marco Polo's fateful voyage may never reach its conclusion. What's worse, Tegana sets Marco Polo firmly against the Doctor and his friends, continually urging the famous explorer to kill them.

Doctor Who
Credit: BBC

Kidnapping Einstein

As the Doctor finishes his sixth regeneration, he and his companion Mel are separated. The Rani, an evil Time Lady, finds him and manipulates the Doctor into helping her build a time-changing device. Fresh from his regeneration, the Doctor is far too confused to argue or even understand what is going on. He helps the Rani capture the Earth's geniuses in order to use their intelligence to power the device. One of the prisoners turns out to be Albert Einstein himself. Even if the Earth does not get impacted by the Rani's device, Einstein's absence could drastically alter the course of modern history, especially the nuclear age.

HG WELLS
Credit: BBC

Traveling with Herbert

After falling through the Timelash, the Doctor arrives in 19th century Scotland. There he picks up an extra passenger, a young man named Herbert. Together, they depart on their journey to return a certain amulet to its owner. Things go fairly well until the Doctor finds out Herbert's full name: Herbert George Wells. With a man who is destined to become a world-famous science fiction author in his care, the Doctor must make sure that Herbert gets home in time to write his books. Could Herbert's books actually have been inspired by his travels with the Doctor? Even if the Doctor saves him, he will have altered history by giving Wells the inspiration for his books.

 
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