Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II.
Biography
Churchill met the Doctor and Peri during two periods of his life, first in 1899, when he served as a war correspondent and later in the 1930s. (PDA: Players) The Doctor met with him again in 1944. (PDA: The Shadow in the Glass)
At some unknown stage in his life, Momus abducted Churchill from his own time to Planet 12 of the Ridion Alliance in an unspecified time period. (WC: The Lonely Computer).
At some point in 1940, two Daleks were presented to him by Edwin Bracewell as a man-made superweapon, which Churchill named 'ironsides'. Unsure what to make of them, he called the Doctor's TARDIS's phone as a Dalek moved towards him. (DW: The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks) By the time of the Doctor's arrival a month later he was sure he could use the 'ironsides' to win the war. The Doctor tried to make Churchill understand the Daleks' true nature, but he would not initially listen, as they would be a valuable asset against Nazi Germany. The Daleks showed their true intentions once the Doctor gave his 'testimony' and they created a new race of pure Daleks. These Daleks tried to destroy London by making it vulnerable to German bombers. The solution to defeating the Daleks lay with Bracewell, so he helped Amy Pond stop him from committing suicide and help them. In the following discussion, he told Bracewell "it's time to think big", giving him the idea to use modified Spitfires. Following the Daleks' escape, the Doctor removed all Bracewell's alien technology Churchill possessed. While he protested that it and the Doctor would win him the war in a day, the Doctor convinced him that he will come through without it and himself. He hugged the Doctor farewell and finally managed to take the TARDIS key he so desired, before Amy noticed and made him give it back. (DW: Victory of the Daleks)
Later, the showman Vorgenson captured Churchill with the Minimiser from 6th June 1944, whilst Churchill was organising the Normandy landings, bringing him to 2010. Vorgenson used him in a complicated plan to attract the Doctor to his show. Churchill was given a phone by the audience, and he called the Doctor. The Doctor arrived, but foiled Vorgenson's plan to trap him, sending Churchill back to his own time in the process. (SP: The Monsters Are Coming!)
Some time after those events, Bracewell found one of the final paintings by Vincent van Gogh in an attic in France. He showed Churchill the painting and, without understanding what it should mean, they recognised it as a message for the Doctor. Churchill tried to telephone the Doctor to alert him, but was diverted to River Song in the 52nd century, alerting her of its existence. (DW: The Pandorica Opens) Since the Doctor altered the timeline so that ultimately the painting did not come to exist, these events were stopped from ever occurring. (DW: The Big Bang)
Other Timelines
In an alternate timeline in which Germany won World War II, Churchill was executed as a war criminal. (NA: Timewyrm: Exodus)
In a timeline in which the Doctor did not find the Ironsides, they successfully turned the tide of the war and took the fight to Germany. After the war was won, Churchil was pressured by Stalin and Truman into having the Ironsides destroyed by a nuclear bomb. (DWA: Doctor Who The Official Annual 2011)
References
- The Doctor claimed to have thought up the "blood, sweat and tears" speech for him. (SP: Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure, BFA: Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure)
- Harold Saxon was described as "a modern Churchill" by Vivien Rook (DW: The Sound of Drums).
- In 2009, then-current Prime Minister Brian Green had a small caricature figure of Churchill in his office. (TW: Children of Earth)
- When Clyde Langer was sent through a time window to 1941, he said what he remembered of Churchil's speech to George Woods while spying on a group of Nazis landing on the coast. "We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them in the... other places." (SJA: Lost in Time)
Behind the scenes
- Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss decided to portray the Doctor and Churchill as old friends in Victory of the Daleks, rather than attempt to portray their first meeting.[1]
- Actor Ian McNeice had previously played Churchill in the Royal National Theatre's 2008 production of Never So Good.
Footnotes
- ↑ Doctor Who Confidential - "The War Games"
