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Information from COMIC: A Confusion of Angels
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The Heavenly Host, or the Host, were service robots used by Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. They were fashioned to look like Earth's angels. Their purpose was to provide information and other assistance to crew and passengers. However, the Heavenly Host lacked autonomy and would do anything their master authority ordered, including criminal acts such as murder.
- You may wish to consult
Host (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
History
Under the command of Max Capricorn himself, the machines turned deadly. They killed many of the passengers and crew of the Titanic spaceship replica in the 2000s[nb 1] as part of Capricorn's scheme to destroy his own ship and then retire a wealthy man. Several malfunctioned during the trip, leading to some rather nasty incidents: when one first-class passenger asked a Host to fix her necklace, the robot misunderstood the request and instead nearly broke her neck.
Some of the Host were destroyed by an electromagnetic pulse set off by Bannakaffalatta, who used the last of his cyborg body's energy at the cost of his own life.
After Max Capricorn was killed by Astrid Peth, the Host reverted to the next highest authority figure, the Tenth Doctor, helping the Doctor reach the bridge of the ship to save it. (TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Loading...["Voyage of the Damned (TV story)"])
Historians concluded that incidents with the Heavenly Host, as well as the Kerblam! Men, Voc Robots and Handbots, gave electronic robots a reputation for being dangerously unreliable, causing engineers to revert to earlier, classic technologies leading to the Clockwork Droids of the 51st century. (PROSE: The Monster Vault)
Technology
The Host spoke in a monotone voice and started sentences with the word "information". Replies to requests were kept very concise, even to the point of poor grammar such as sentence fragments; for example: "Information: stowaway." and "Information: no witnesses.". Security Protocol One allowed the person who executed it to ask three questions, which would temporarily override whatever other command the Hosts were executing until the three questions were answered, to which it would promptly return to its previous command. Additionally, at least one of the Host could be diverted from its current orders for a few seconds when the Doctor asked it in a raised voice: "Information override. You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure." The Host complied, answering with: "Information: Deck 31."
Each Host had a hinged jaw, which moved when they spoke. When given the command to commit murder, they would repeat the word "kill" numerous times. Each Host used a single Halo, mounted on struts protruding out of their heads, as a weapon which they threw at enemies, causing great harm due to its razor-edges. They also seemed to have a remote link to their users, as they would relentlessly bounce back towards them if they were deflected. The Tenth Doctor and his fellow surviving passengers used chunks of stray metal to deflect the halos with little success. However, the group combatting them was saved by the cyborg Bannakaffalatta who used an electromagnetic pulse to disable the Hosts. A host could recover from the effect after a short time.
Without its halo, when damaged, a Host would resort to hand-to-hand combat such as strangling a human by grabbing their neck and striking with their metal hands. They were capable of flight even without moving their wings and could hover mid-air.
An individual Host had the strength of ten men and had a button on the back of their neck which would switch them off, making them rigid. When switched off, one could be carried and moved with ease. Its default position was standing still with their hands pressed together in front of them, seemingly as though they were praying. (TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Loading...["Voyage of the Damned (TV story)"])
Behind the scenes
- The Heavenly Host were voiced by Colin McFarlane.
- A free printable papercraft Heavenly Host Christmas tree ornament was featured in the 2007 Adventure Calendar.[1]
The Visual Dictionary
The non-narrative source Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary gave further information about the Heavenly Host: their metal hands could be used for dishing out karate-style blows to others, and their default position was standing upright with their hands in the prayer position.
The non-narrative source The Ultimate Monster Guide gave an additional piece of information about the Host—their "face" was a gold-coloured blank metal mask.
External links
Footnotes
Notes
- ↑ Although Voyage of the Damned is supposedly set the Christmas after the 2007 setting of The Runaway Bride, the Doctor Who series which aired immediately before and after Voyage give contradicting dates for when their present day is set. PROSE: The Paradox Moon places Martha Jones' present day in series 3 in June 2007. AUDIO: Recruits dates it to March 2008. A newspaper clipping in PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters places Smith and Jones on a Sunday 4 June, which in the real world does not fall on a Sunday in either 2007 or 2008. Donna Noble's present day in series 4 is set in 2008 according to TV: The Fires of Pompeii, TV: The Waters of Mars, and AUDIO: SOS (and is heavily implied by TV: The Star Beast and TV: The Giggle), or in approximately April to June 2009, according to PROSE: Beautiful Chaos.
Citations
- ↑ Make a Heavenly Host Christmas Tree Ornament, BBC.co.uk