Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

The Fourth Doctor uses the rhyme to choose his path. (TV: The Android Invasion)

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe was a traditional children's counting rhyme on Earth, used to select a person to be "it" for games and similar purposes.

History

The King of Hearts recited the rhyme:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,

Catch a n****r by his toe.

If he hollers, let him go.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

He did this whilst deciding which of the seven chairs — six of which were deadly, while one remained safe — to choose. (TV: The Celestial Toymaker)

The opening line was recited by the Third Doctor to decide which way to go while he and Jo Grant were making their way through the tunnel leading to the Royal Citadel on Peladon. (TV: The Curse of Peladon)

The Fourth Doctor recited the opening line to choose the route he and Sarah Jane Smith should take through the wood in which they had landed. Sarah asked him what was "so special about eeny, meeny, miny, moe?", to which he replied that it could just have easily been "fum-fo-fee-fi". Sarah corrected this to "fee-fi-fo-fum". (TV: The Android Invasion)

The Seventh Doctor recited a version of the rhyme, where the toe belonged to a "Rutan" which "wriggles", to decide whether to go left or right. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising)

The Nightmare Man recited a version of the rhyme, where the toe belonged to a "tiger", to decide whether to invade Clyde Langer or Rani Chandra's dreams first. Rani ended up getting the "moe". (TV: The Nightmare Man)

Behind the scenes

• The use of the "n-word" in the King of Hearts' recitation of the rhyme in "The Hall of Dolls" was considered acceptable at the time of the original 1966 broadcast of The Celestial Toymaker. Although the rhyme is still present on BBC Audio's CD release of the story, this section has been obscured by Peter Purves's narration.