Celery

This is civilisation!Fifth Doctor

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During his fifth incarnation, the Doctor took to wearing a stalk of celery on the left breast of his frock coat. This began after his regeneration when he visited the city of Castrovalva in Andromeda. He considered it as a sign of civilisation. (DW: Castrovalva) While attending dinner as a guest (or captive) of the Eternal Captain Striker, the Doctor replaced his old stalk with a fresh one. (DW: Enlightenment)

Rather curiously, both stalks come from buffets which are essentially figments of other people's imagination (Castrovalva and the Eternal's ship both being 'unreal') - although this may explain why the celery never goes off.

Although a later incarnation of the Doctor later dismissed the celery as merely a "decorative vegetable" (DW: Time Crash), the celery may have also served a practical purpose. The fifth incarnation of the Doctor claimed to be allergic to certain gases in the Praxis range of the spectrum, in the presence of which the herb turns purple. In that case, he would eat the celery; if nothing else, he said, at least it would be good for his teeth. (DW: The Caves of Androzani)

The Doctor apparently also believed the celery to possess some restorative ability, as he attempted to revive a dying Peri by having her smell the celery. Her human olfactory sense did not suffice for the plant to help her. (DW: The Caves of Androzani)

Behind the scenes

• While the Fifth Doctor loved celery, Peter Davison hated celery. During a scene in Castrovalva in which he had to eat celery, he spat it out after the first take.
• The idea of having the Doctor wear something unusual on his lapel was revisited during the Sixth Doctor era by having him wear a succession of cat pins. After that, the gimmick was abandoned.