Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a famous human writer, best known for her murder mysteries. Her prolific body of work was in print billions of years after her death, establishing her as the best-selling author of all time. She was also known for having disappeared in 1926, being found in a hotel under an assumed name and claiming no memory of the eleven days she had been missing.
Biography
Life
In 1926, having found out that her husband had begun an extramarital affair, Agatha Christie nevertheless attended a party and met the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble. She assisted them in defeating a confused Vespiform after he committed a series of murders under the influence of Christie's own The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. During this adventure, Donna accidentally created minor anachronisms by making references to Christie's not-yet-written Murder on the Orient Express and her not-yet-created character Miss Marple. After defeating the Vespifom, a psychic link she had formed with the creature resulted in her losing consciousness.
The Doctor, surmising that this event was what caused her memory loss and unexplained absence, actually contributed to this historical event by taking the unconscious Christie forward eleven days and leaving her outside a hotel in Harrogate where she revived with no conscious memory of the events. Fragments of memory later emerged in her storytelling including Donna's suggestions, as well as the Vespiform's wasp-like appearance, which inspired a plot element in her later book, Death in the Clouds. (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp).
Works
Apart from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Christie had written five other novels by 1926, but had not yet written Murder on the Orient Express. A subconscious memory of the Vespiform remained with Christie, so a wasp played a role in one of her subsequent novels,
Death in the Clouds (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp). Centuries after its publication, a copy of Murder on the Orient Express found its way into the possession of Professor Lasky (DW: Terror of the Vervoids).
Christie's works were still in print as late as the year 5,000,000,000, including Death in the Clouds (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp).
Many of Agatha's works - along with her two best-known detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple - were mentioned during the Doctor's time with her. The works were The Man In The Brown Suit, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Death Comes As The End, N or M?, Nemesis, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, They Do It With Mirrors, Murder on the Orient Express, Cards on the Table, Appointment With Death, Death In The Clouds, The Body In The Library, Cat Among the Pidgeons, Dead Mans Folly, Sparkling Cyanide, Murder at the Vicarage and The Moving Finger.
Inspiration
The Doctor's adventures caused much subconscious inspiration for Agatha Christie. Donna Noble accidentally inspired her novel Murder on the Orient Express and the character Miss Marple. The Vespiform and the Doctor would also inspire Death Comes As The End, Murder at the Vicarage and Death In The Clouds.
Other information
Minor references and mentions
- The Eighth Doctor had a signed first edition printing of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which was missing the last page, leaving him to believe he would never find out who did it. (BFA: Storm Warning) Perhaps not coincidentally, of Christie's novels, only this fooled the Doctor as to the identity of the murderer (who ironically is a Doctor himself). (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp)
- He also once claimed Christie had travelled with him. (BFA: Terror Firma)
- Despite this, the Tenth Doctor later declared to Martha Jones that he wanted to meet her. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
- The Doctor's eighth incarnation suffered severe amnesia, and from this it can be safely assumed that he did not regain all of his lost memories. Another explanation is that the production team as of 2008, did not consider the events of the audio stories to be included in their canon.
- Trying to remember the name of the St. Agnes Abbey, Clyde Langer could only remember that he thought it was some lady writer's name or her old lady detective. He didn't remember the name until Sarah Jane Smith guessed Agatha Christie. (SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)
Behind the scenes
Influence
The murder mysteries of Agatha Christie had possibly already inspired the Doctor Who television story The Robots of Death, the Big Finish Productions audio play The Chimes of Midnight and, arguably, another television story, Horror of Fang Rock.
Appearance
With the exception of Elizabeth II, who has only appeared in cameos, the appearance of Agatha Christie as a character in The Unicorn and the Wasp marks the first time (but not the last time) a "historical figure" of a person alive during the original 1963-89 run of Doctor Who, has appeared in the series. Her appearance as a character happened with the permission of her estate.
Historical accuracy
The Unicorn and the Wasp does not appear to be set in early December - in reality, the time of year in which Christie disappeared.
Deleted scene
In a scene included in the Series 4 DVD, late in her life, soon before her death, Christie begins to experience dreams and flashbacks related to her adventure with the Doctor. Ultimately, the Doctor and Donna visit her, at which point her memories of the adventure began to return; the Doctor proceeds to remind her of what happened. This scene does not present a continuity issue, as Donna is seen to be basically parroting the words the Doctor said to her (regarding Agatha being the best-selling writer of all time) in the original ending, allowing both to exist. The fact the Doctor has chosen to inform Agatha about the future edition of her book as well as remind her about what happened suggest the meeting takes place soon before her death, which would place the scene as taking place in 1976.
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