Navvy

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Revision as of 03:49, 27 October 2011 by CzechOut (talk | contribs) (+destiny of the daleks info)

A navvy was what Charles Dickens derisively called the Ninth Doctor upon their first encounter on Christmas Eve, 1869. Dickens made the comparison on the basis of the Doctor's attire. (DW: The Unquiet Dead) The Fourth Doctor called Romana II someone with "all the makings of a first-class navvy" after she correctly identified the construction utility of stones he had found on the surface of Skaro. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)

In real life, a navvy was a manual laborer who was typically engaged in the construction of civil engineering projects. The term was especially in use in 18th century Britain, and chiefly employed with respect to the "navigational engineers" who built Britain's navigational channels, or canals. Thus, Dickens' employment of the term was a class-based insult. Likewise, the Fourth Doctor was clearly trying to put Romana in her place after a particularly diffident display of geologic knowledge.
Navvy