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Gold was a chemical element much prized by humans. Its chemical symbol on the periodic table was Au. (AUDIO: Escape Room [+]Loading...["Escape Room (audio story)"]) It was a metal. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby [+]Loading...["Venusian Lullaby (novel)"])
Physical, chemical, and metallurgical properties
Gold had several isotopes. Gold-197 was very stable. Gold-198 had a half-life of three days, and Gold-194 had a half-life of one and a half days. (PROSE: Midnight in the Café of the Black Madonna [+]Loading...["Midnight in the Café of the Black Madonna (short story)"])
The atomic weight of gold was 19.2, and its specific gravity was 69.5. (TV: The Evil of the Daleks (episode 7) [+]Loading...{"ep":"7","1":"The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"})
According to the Tenth Doctor, gold was non-corrosive, malleable and ductile. (TV: Planet of the Dead [+]Loading...["Planet of the Dead (TV story)"])
Gold was a mined metal. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)"]) It was reflective. (TV: The Curse of the Black Spot [+]Loading...["The Curse of the Black Spot (TV story)"])
One property of gold was measured in carats. (TV: Partners in Crime [+]Loading...["Partners in Crime (TV story)"])
As a store of value
Gold was a traditional Christmas gift. (PROSE: All I Want for Christmas [+]Loading...["All I Want for Christmas (short story)"])
As it was prized by humans, it was an item that could be invested in. During a huge market collapse during Miracle Day, the best advice the people were given was to invest in gold. (TV: End of the Road [+]Loading...["End of the Road (TV story)"])
"Worth your weight in gold" was an Earth compliment. (TV: Rendition [+]Loading...["Rendition (TV story)"])
Using gold as currency fell out of favour in the late 21st century. (AUDIO: The Evil One [+]Loading...["The Evil One (audio story)"])
A Delphonian mega-dollar was a large coin made from solid gold. (PROSE: Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes [+]Loading...["Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes (short story)"])
In jewellery
Gold was used to forge fob watches worn on waistcoats such as those worn by the Doctor. The Third Doctor wore a single-chained gold fob watch on his crimson velvet waistcoat. (TV: The Green Death [+]Loading...["The Green Death (TV story)"], Death to the Daleks [+]Loading...["Death to the Daleks (TV story)"]) The Eighth Doctor wore single-chained gold fob watches on his double-breasted waistcoats of paisley-brocade; (TV: Doctor Who [+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"], etc.) as well as his mustard yellow velvet waistcoat, (COMIC: The Pictures of Josephine Day [+]Loading...["The Pictures of Josephine Day (comic story)"]) and his single-breasted waistcoats of paisley-brocade right up to his regeneration into the War Doctor. (TV: The Night of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Night of the Doctor (TV story)"]) The Eleventh Doctor wore a double-chained fob watch of gold (TV: The Rings of Akhaten [+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"]-The Time of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Time of the Doctor (TV story)"]) The Curator, a future form in the Sixth Doctor form, wore a gold fob watch. (AUDIO: Crossed Lines [+]Loading...["Crossed Lines (audio story)"], The Artist at the End of Time [+]Loading...["The Artist at the End of Time (audio story)"])
Jo Grant wore a golden bracelet on at least one occasion, which proved useful against a Cyberman which once attacked the UNIT HQ laboratory. This was a happy coincidence, as Jo had not previously been aware of gold's effects on Cybermen. (GAME: Lost in Time [+]Loading...["Lost in Time (video game)"])
In September 2006, Cathy Salt wore a gold necklace which was prodded by "Margaret Blaine", actually Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen in disguise. (TV: Boom Town [+]Loading...["Boom Town (TV story)"])
In 2010, Amy Pond wore a gold necklace in the shape of the letter "A". (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"] et al.)
In 2050, mother and daughter June and Jorjie Turner wore matching gold necklaces in the shape of the letter "J". (TV: Regeneration [+]Loading...["Regeneration (TV story)"] et al.)
The Curator, taking the form of an older Sixth Doctor, wore a gold ring on his left pinkie. (AUDIO: Crossed Lines [+]Loading...["Crossed Lines (audio story)"], The Artist at the End of Time [+]Loading...["The Artist at the End of Time (audio story)"])
Gold and Cybermen
Gold was a major weakness of Cybermen. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)"] et al.) It also disrupted the Cyberon drug's effect; people injected with Cyberon would wish to cast off any gold jewelry on their person (PROSE: Cyberon [+]Loading...["Cyberon (novelisation)"]) and fully-converted Cyberon humanoid drones could be kept restrained by gold shackles. (PROSE: The Blue Scream of Death [+]Loading...["The Blue Scream of Death (short story)"]) Tom Mordley, who had become addicted to Cyberon, (PROSE: Cyberon [+]Loading...["Cyberon (novelisation)"]) was buried in a golden coffin after his death. (PROSE: The Last Dose [+]Loading...["The Last Dose (short story)"], Silver-Tongued Liars [+]Loading...["Silver-Tongued Liars (short story)"]) In 2022, the Lone Cyberman Ashad revealed that the Cyber-Warriors had overcome this vulnerability to gold. (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"])
Owing to its non-corrosive nature, gold essentially choked the Cybermen's respiratory systems. The glittergun, a weapon used during the Cyber-Wars, fired gold dust at its targets to exploit this weakness. Adric's badge was gold-edged, allowing for the Doctor to grind it into the Cyber-Leader's chest and asphyxiate him. (TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"])
Gold appeared to affect some varieties of Cybermen in the way that silver affected werewolves, so that gold coins or gold-tipped arrows fired at them had the same effect. (TV: Silver Nemesis [+]Loading...["Silver Nemesis (TV story)"])
During a time period in which the Cybermen had been reduced to small remnant groups wandering around the galaxy, one group tried to take revenge by making a desperate attempt to blow up the remnants of the planet Voga, a planetoid of pure gold that had wandered into the solar system and had become a moon of Jupiter. They hoped that this would disrupt their enemy's supply of the element. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)"])
During the Battle of Hedgewick's World of Wonders, the Eleventh Doctor used a golden ticket to temporarily disable the Cyber-Planner known as Mr Clever. (TV: [[Nightmare in Silver [+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"])
In the 23rd century of the Federation universe, the communicators of the United Federation of Planets had covers made of out of gold. When joining forces with James T. Kirk against a group of CyberNomads, the Fourth Doctor used the captain's communicator to disable the Cybermen. In the 24th century, the Eleventh Doctor convinced the Dai-ai of Naia VII to provide the USS Enterprise-D with a large bounty of gold so they could defeat the Cybermen. The Enterprise crew refined this gold to fire through their phaser array, the widespread particle beam disabling the Cyber-Fleet. (COMIC: Assimilation² [+]Loading...["Assimilation² (comic story)"])
History
Alchemists were rumoured to know the secret of transmutation of metal into gold. In 1866, Theodore Maxtible served the Daleks when they promised to give him the secret. (TV: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"])
The Animus could control beings that were in contact with gold, which led to it controlling the Zarbi. (TV: The Web Planet [+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"])
The Keratin could similarly use gold to conduct and amplify their psychic powers. (AUDIO: The Glittering Storm [+]Loading...["The Glittering Storm (audio story)"])
At some point a Cyberman was plated in gold, and being sold on Buy&Sell as a novelty hatstand. (PROSE: Still Need a Title! [+]Loading...["Still Need a Title! (short story)"])
Nero gave Barbara Wright a gold bracelet. (TV: The Romans [+]Loading...["The Romans (TV story)"]) The Animus was able to control her through the bracelet. In addition, Ian Chesterton owned a gold pen which disappeared when he went onto the surface of Vortis and took it out. (TV: The Web Planet [+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"])
Gold was used to power the teleportation devices of the Linktons, which allowed them to travel vast, inter-galactic distances. (PROSE: The Living Wax [+]Loading...["The Living Wax (short story)"])
The Seventh Doctor kept some Warlock in a gold snuff box. (PROSE: Warchild [+]Loading...["Warchild (novel)"])
Lady Peinforte dipped her gold-headed arrows in poison as her "calling card". (TV: Silver Nemesis [+]Loading...["Silver Nemesis (TV story)"])
Flidor was rich in blue-veined gold, which was used to construct the Dalek Emperor's casing. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil [+]Loading...["Genesis of Evil (comic story)"])
Prospectors flocked to Mal Oreille, mistakenly believing its yellow-algae infested seas to be rich in gold deposits. (PROSE: Biology Lesson on Mal Oreille [+]Loading...["Biology Lesson on Mal Oreille (short story)"])
In the late 1990s, a golden double decker bus was used to convey audience members of Glamorama from Cleopatra's Needle to the studio in an industrial estate in Mile End. (PROSE: Hospitality [+]Loading...["Hospitality (short story)"])
In payment for his service, the Bruce Master offered Chang Lee two bags of gold dust that was kept within the Doctor's TARDIS. The Master claimed the dust, along with the TARDIS, had been once his before the Doctor stole it. After the Eighth Doctor defeated the Master, he let Lee take the gold dust. (TV: Doctor Who [+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)"])
While trapped on San Helios, the Tenth Doctor determined that he needed gold to combine the anti-gravity clamps with the systems of the 200 bus. In order to do so, the Doctor took the golden Cup of Athelstan from Lady Christina de Souza, smashed it to bits with a hammer and successfully used the gold to combine the two systems. As a result, the Doctor was able to fly the bus back through the wormhole to Earth. (TV: Planet of the Dead [+]Loading...["Planet of the Dead (TV story)"])
After the Sky vessel crashed in Nottingham in the 12th century, the robotic knights manning the ship worked with the Sheriff of Nottingham to use gold to repair the ship's engines. To this end, the Sheriff stole the gold from the local population for their use. While onboard the ship, the Twelfth Doctor didn't believe that the knights had enough gold to repair the ship.
After the Sheriff was killed when Robin Hood knocked him into a vat of molten gold, the two remaining knights launched their ship. The Doctor recognised that the ship lacked enough gold content to make it and if it exploded on Earth, it would take out "half the country." Working together, the Doctor, Robin Hood and Clara Oswald shot a golden arrow into one of the engines, providing enough gold content for the ship to make it into orbit. Once there, the engines went critical and the ship harmlessly exploded. (TV: Robot of Sherwood [+]Loading...["Robot of Sherwood (TV story)"])
The planet Megerra was rich in valuable minerals such as gold. (PROSE: Shakedown [+]Loading...["Shakedown (novelisation)"])
Gold was abundant on Sorva. (AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy [+]Loading...["Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy (audio story)"])
In 1888, the commecial steamer Elysium's cargo included over £1000 of gold ingots, which were lost when the Elysium crashed (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]Loading...["Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm (short story)"]) and later sank. (PROSE: Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! [+]Loading...["Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! (short story)"]) The salvage rights were soon contested by various local authorities. (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]Loading...["Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm (short story)"])
By the 2010s, diver Daryl Christofi obtained some of the salvage rights and sought to recover the gold ingots, now worth over £10000000, (PROSE: Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! [+]Loading...["Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! (short story)"]) to fund later diving trips. (PROSE: Daryl Christofi [+]Loading...["Daryl Christofi (feature)"])