Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan were human musicians. The First Doctor claimed that they once gave him an Ulster coat, which he in turn lent to Ian Chesterton. (TV: "The Brink of Disaster")

References

• In 1882 Oscar Wilde went on a lecture tour in America related to what he called a "play that mocks me." While neither the title nor its creators are identified, the play referenced by Wilde was the comic opera Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. Though not directly parodying Wilde specifically, it was a satire of the aesthetic movement he was part of a lectured on and his booking manager was also the producer of an American production of the play. (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand)

Behind the scenes

• Peter Pratt was for many years the principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which performed Gilbert and Sullivan's works. Pratt played the "patter" roles, such as the Major-General in The Pirates of Penzance and Ko-Ko in The Mikado.
• Gilbert and Sullivan's songs from The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance formed the basis of the songs sung in Doctor Who and the Pirates.
• Jim Broadbent portrayed W.S. Gilbert in the 1999 film Topsy-Turvy.
• Grim's Dyke — Gilbert's home and estate at Harrow Weald in north-west London, which he bought in 1890 and lived at until his death in 1911 — was used for location filming for The Evil of the Daleks.