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A firearm, commonly known as a "gun", was a term encompassing a variety of weapons which used a projectile fired from the weapon relying on chemical explosives to propel the projectile at high velocities from the firearm. In the words of Silurian scientist Bokka K'to, "It project[ed] a small piece of metal at high speed." (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) They were typically used to penetrate surfaces to maim or kill and were a favoured weapon of humans.
Limitations[[edit] | [edit source]]
Most firearms were ineffective against armoured races such as Daleks and Cybermen, (TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday) though specifically designed bullets were produced to take advantage of alien races' weaknesses (Gold in the Cybermen's case). (TV: Battlefield) They were, however, able to penetrate Sontaran space armour. (TV: The Poison Sky) Standard bullets were effective against unarmoured humanoids, such as Weevils, (TV: Exit Wounds) the Ood, (TV: Planet of the Ood) Zygons, (TV: Terror of the Zygons) Silents. (TV: Day of the Moon, The Wedding of River Song) Although bullets would not work on armoured races such as the Cybermen and Stingray swarm, rockets and missiles were used to defeat these species. (TV: The Invasion, Doomsday, Planet of the Dead)
Firearms, as a relatively primitive technology, could be neutralised by more advanced technology. For example, Sontaran soldiers employed a cordolaine field that affected metals such as copper, causing weapons using copper casings on their projectiles not to fire. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky)
Technological improvements such as the Bastic bullet made firearms more effective, a viable weapon even against a Dalek. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks, The Parting of the Ways)
UNIT and other military personnel usually used assault rifles and pistols. Officers usually carried pistols or revolvers. In future centuries future soldiers like the Anglican soldiers and soldiers in the Human-Hath War seem to carry a type of assault rifle.
Individuals such as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith often refused to use them on moral grounds (TV: Doctor Who, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End, The End of Time, The Doctor's Daughter, Invasion of the Bane) — although there were exceptions. (TV: Pyramids of Mars, The Seeds of Doom, The Time of Angels)
Despite their limitations, humans were known to use firearms well into the 2001st century and beyond. (TV: The Parting of the Ways, Utopia)
An appreciation of the usefulness of firearms was not limited to humanity. Upon landing on the planet Exxilon a Dalek taskforce's weapons were rendered inoperable, forcing them to replace their energy weapons with semi-automatic ballistic weapons. (TV: Death to the Daleks)
Romana II believed guns to have no defensive value. (AUDIO: The Paradox Planet)
Guns were not allowed to be stored at ELF Storage. (TV: Eve of the Daleks)
Availability[[edit] | [edit source]]
Guns were easily obtained in the United States. In Arizona, 2029, the Sixth Doctor joked that they were given away with breakfast cereal. (AUDIO: Shield of the Jötunn)
On Earth, companies existed that manufactured arms. Artemis was an example in the mid-2000s. (AUDIO: Uncanny Valley)
Bolt-action rifle use[[edit] | [edit source]]
John Andrews used a Lee-Enfield when he chased the Third Doctor and Jo around the deck; Vorg had made the specimens' personalities violent. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
Redvers Fenn-Cooper, a Victorian hunter and member of the Royal Geographical Society, wielded an elephant rifle; most notably when he once shot stampeding buffaloes in Africa, and when he almost shot the Seventh Doctor with it on 1883. (TV: Ghost Light)
In 1911, Laurence Scarman had a hunting rifle which proved ineffective against Sutekh's servitors. Sarah soon put the rifle to better use by firing to detonate a box of Gelignite that destroyed an Osiran war missile. (TV: Pyramids of Mars)
Lee-Enfield rifles were seen in the hands of the Kaleds and the Thals on the planet Skaro. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)
Bolt-action rifles were seen in the hands of Hooverville residents on 1930. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan|Evolution of the Daleks)
Armed forces used bolt-action rifles against Sea Devils. (TV: The Sea Devils)
Caratessi Thochoser found a primitive hunting rifle with a steel barrel, wood stock, and a simple iron sight in the Death Zone. She used it to hunt a clone of herself. (PROSE: Tempered)
Assault rifle use[[edit] | [edit source]]
The UNIT Master was surrounded by UNIT soldiers from all sides with rifles pointed at him when only one handgun was not sufficient to guard him. This was after he tried to escape capture by stealing Bessie and the Doctor remotely controlled her to drive back to him. (TV: The Dæmons)
Rifles were used to shoot and subdue the Ood on the Ood Sphere. (TV: Planet of the Ood)
The military forces including UNIT used assault rifles against the Sontarans, Daleks and the Cybermen. They were completely ineffective against the last two. (TV: The Invasion, Army of Ghosts / Doomsday, The Poison Sky, The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, Resolution)
Henry Van Statten's personal armed forces used assault rifles on the Metaltron Dalek, only to prove ineffective, on 2012. (TV: Dalek)
Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones used assault rifles to combat a Drone from the New Dalek Empire in the Torchwood Hub on 2009. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
The Saxon Master's private armed teams fired on the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness with assault rifles. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
Captain Jack led a rebellion with assault rifles against human-forged Daleks serving the Dalek Emperor; only to fail. (TV: The Parting of the Ways) He also led a squad of men to shoot the Toclafane with assault rifles, destroying the Paradox Machine by shooting it with one. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
The Preachers used a number of automatic weapons to fight Cybus Cybermen, notably the Kalashnikov assault rifle. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen)
Miss Foster's guards were armed with assault rifles. (TV: Partners in Crime)
The security guards in the International Gallery and the police units waiting to arrest Christina de Souza at the end of the tunnel were armed with assault rifles. (TV: Planet of the Dead)
UNIT successfully battled three of the Swarm with assault rifles, although anti-aircraft batteries served a key role in finishing the creatures off. (TV: Planet of the Dead)
Joshua Naismith's private guards were armed with assault rifles, which they employed to put suppressing fire on the Tenth Doctor. (TV: The End of Time)
British Army soldiers were seen armed with assault rifles at the Albion Hospital and in Downing Street during 2006. (TV: Aliens of London / World War Three)
US Air Force personnel guarding the Eleventh Doctor at Area 51 were armed with assault rifles. (TV: Day of the Moon)
On Malcassairo, the human guards at Silo 16 repelled the Futurekind with assault rifles. (TV: Utopia)
The crew of the Soviet submarine Firebird were equipped with AK-47 assault rifles; some of which fired on Grand Marshall Skaldak of the Ice Warriors without success on 1983. (TV: Cold War)
The Church wield assault rifles which many fire on Weeping Angels without success. (TV: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone)
Handgun use[[edit] | [edit source]]
In June 1810, Lord Byron challenged Ryan Sinclair to a duel with pistols and chose his valet Fletcher as his second. (TV: The Haunting of Villa Diodati)
Two fake policemen were in possession of handguns equipped with silencers. Gustave Lytton gave a handgun to Payne. The Sixth Doctor took it after his death and Russell took it when he arrested the Doctor. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and members of UNIT threatened the UNIT Master with handguns. (TV: The Claws of Axos) Lethbridge-Stewart also used his handgun to shoot Morka, a renegade Silurian. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
The Lorduke of Zazz threatened Frobisher with a handgun. (COMIC: The Gift)
Van Statten's security guards used pistols against the Metaltron Dalek, to no effect, during 2012. (TV: Dalek)
Colonel Mace shot Sontaran Commander Skorr with a handgun on 2009. (TV: The Poison Sky)
Lieutenant General Sanchez attempted to repel the invading forces of the New Dalek Empire with a handgun on 2009. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
An American sergeant tried to shoot three Mondasian Cybermen with a pistol without success on 1986. (TV: The Tenth Planet)
Kaftan tried to kill a Telosian Cyber Controller for lying to her and Klieg, only to do no effect and end up being killed by its cybergun. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)
Jo Grant brandished a revolver when tracing the UNIT Master to Devil's End. (TV: The Dæmons)
When Eva Saint Julienne was promoted to Floor 500, she pulled a pistol on the Editor. She fired the pistol at the Jagrafess, to no effect. (TV: The Long Game)
Jack Harkness used a 21st century era pistol against the Dalek Emperor's forces invading the Game Station. (TV: The Parting of the Ways) He also used it to blackmail Ianto Jones into murdering Lisa Hallett just for being partially converted by Cybus Cybermen. (TV: Cyberwoman)
Queen Victoria carried a small revolver in her bag for her protection. She shot Father Angelo with it on 1879. (TV: Tooth and Claw)
Maximillian Stael committed suicide with a handgun given to him by the Fourth Doctor at his behest. He did this to avert the Fendahl from using him as a power source. (TV: Image of the Fendahl)
Jake Simmonds and Mrs. Moore pulled pistols on Mickey Smith when they found out he wasn't Ricky Smith. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen)
Tallulah had a prop handgun to scare the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Solomon when she thinks they kidnapped Laszlo on 1930. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan)
The Saxon Master's henchmen pulled out pistols to everyone witnessing when the Toclafane killed President Winters. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
Thomas Milligan used a handgun to lure a Toclafane to the trap set up by Alison Docherty. Francine Jones stole a hangun and tried to kill the Saxon Master but was stopped by the Tenth Doctor to save her from being tainted by revenge. Lucy Saxon used a handgun to kill the Saxon Master for abusing her. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
General Cobb intended to shoot the Tenth Doctor with a handgun but Jenny got in the way. (TV: The Doctor's Daughter)
A German woman threatened Martha Jones with a Luger in an attempt to prevent her from using the Osterhagen Key, but lowered the pistol when she proved unable to kill her. (TV: Journey's End)
John Jefferson shot an Ood with a handgun. He only fired one shot. (TV: The Satan Pit)
The Fourth Doctor took Scorby's handgun and used it to retreat in safety. He told Sarah he'd never use it but they didn't know that. (TV: The Seeds of Doom)
Captain Erisa Magambo threatened Malcolm Taylor with a pistol, and later used it to defend against three of the Swarm. (TV: Planet of the Dead)
Wilfred Mott took his old service revolver with him when he sought out the Tenth Doctor. He later gave it to the Doctor, who took it to use against the Master. The Doctor had to choose between shooting the Master or Rassilon, but finally chose to shoot the White-Point Star, destroying it and breaking the link that anchored the Time Lords in the present time, sending them back into the Time War and saving the universe. (TV: The End of Time)
The Fifth Doctor used a handgun against a Dalek mutant that had escaped from its damaged casing. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)
Oricini used an automatic pistol with bastic ammunition to destroy a Necros Dalek. The Sixth Doctor also used it against a Mark IV Dalek's eye stalk. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
Both the Seventh Doctor and Ace used a handgun to protect themselves from Josiah Samuel Smith on 1883. (TV: Ghost Light)
The Eleventh Doctor fired a handgun to destroy a gravity globe. (TV: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone)
Amy Pond used Canton Everett Delaware III's handgun on a little girl in an astronaut suit, not knowing she was her daughter Melody, in an attempt to save the Eleventh Doctor. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut|Day of the Moon, Let's Kill Hitler)
The War Master shot Liv Chenka multiple times with a handgun. She later shot him in the arm. (AUDIO: Day of the Master)
Sergeant Mike Smith wielded a handgun and tried to blackmail Ace to join his cause, but to no avail, on 1963. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Machine gun, submachine gun and PDW use[[edit] | [edit source]]
Machine guns were carried by the Robomen during Dalek Earthforce's Project Degravitate. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Inside the Miniscope, the crew of the SS Bernice used submachine guns against Wetland Drashigs to no avail. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
Gustave Lytton had a silenced submachine gun. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
Mounted machine guns were used to shoot the Scarecrow Drones when they attacked the Farringham School for Boys. They trained with these in the school grounds. (TV: The Family of Blood)
Group Captain Ian Gilmore used machine guns against Renegade Daleks, but to no avail, on 1963. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Neo-Nazis including De Flores used machine guns against Isomorph Cybermen, but to no avail, on 1988. (TV: Silver Nemesis)
Harrison Chase's guards all carried submachine guns. (TV: The Seeds of Doom)
The crew of a Delta III refinery had two machine guns. (TV: The Power of Kroll)
The use of other firearms[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Fourth Doctor used an Oriental fowling piece belonging to George Litefoot to kill a giant rat when it attacked Leela. The gun hadn't been fired for 50 years and Litefoot warned the Doctor that it would probably explode in his face. The Doctor scoffed at this, saying that the gun had been built in Birmingham.(TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
When one of the Fendahleen was feeding on the psychic energy of Leela and the Tylers, the Fourth Doctor tried to distract it by shooting it with Jack Tyler's double-barreled shotgun filled with rock salt. Leela later used the shotgun to kill another of the Fendahleen. (TV: Image of the Fendahl)
UNIT HQ had a "great big gun". (PROSE: The Doctor's Busiest Day [+]Loading...{"page":"9","1":"The Doctor's Busiest Day (short story)"})
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Most firearms used in the 2005 series are of Heckler & Koch manufacture, specifically G36 assault rifles and USP sidearms. Glocks and Webleys have also been used.
- The guns carried by Sanctuary Base 6 security in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit are P90 Personal Defense Weapons fitted with suppressors (the same model of weapon commonly associated with Stargate SG-1 universe).
- In the various UNIT episodes during the Jon Pertwee era, Sterling sub-machine guns or SLRs were used.