Friction contrafibulator: Difference between revisions
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The '''friction contrafibulator''' was a button on the console of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. When [[Vincent van Gogh]] attempted to touch it, the [[Eleventh Doctor]] leapt across the TARDIS to stop him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Vincent and the Doctor]]'') | The '''friction contrafibulator''' was a button on the console of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. When [[Vincent van Gogh]] attempted to touch it, the [[Eleventh Doctor]] leapt across the TARDIS to stop him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Vincent and the Doctor]]'') | ||
Later, he used the button to stabilise the TARDIS interior when confused by the presence of the [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh]], [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth]], and [[War Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: [[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|''The Day of the Doctor'']]) | Later, he used the button to stabilise the TARDIS interior when confused by the presence of the [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh]], [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth]], and [[War Doctor]]s. ([[TV]]: [[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|''The Day of the Doctor'']]) | ||
== Behind the scenes == | == Behind the scenes == | ||
[[File:C is for contrafibularity - Blackadder - BBC|thumb|right|The [[Richard Curtis|Curtis]]-written ''Blackadder'' scene that inspired the {{lc:{{PAGENAME}}}}]] | [[File:C is for contrafibularity - Blackadder - BBC|thumb|right|The [[Richard Curtis|Curtis]]-written ''Blackadder'' scene that inspired the {{lc:{{PAGENAME}}}}]] | ||
Revision as of 14:07, 17 April 2014
The friction contrafibulator was a button on the console of the Doctor's TARDIS. When Vincent van Gogh attempted to touch it, the Eleventh Doctor leapt across the TARDIS to stop him. (TV: Vincent and the Doctor)
Later, he used the button to stabilise the TARDIS interior when confused by the presence of the Eleventh, Tenth, and War Doctors. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Behind the scenes
Though the word is superficially technobabble, it's also a subtle connection to another Richard Curtis script: Blackadder the Third's Ink and Incapability. In that story Blackadder frustrates lexicographer Samuel Johnson by throwing out a few nonsense words — including contrafibularity — after Johnson has claimed that his dictionary contains "every single word" in the English language.
Breaking down this non-word to its real components, we find that it means contra (against) + fibula (the smaller of the two major bones of the leg) : "pulling one's leg".
