"Humpty Dumpty"

"Humpty Dumpty" was an Earth nursery rhyme. The appearance of the character was often likened to that of Sontarans on multiple occasions.

An illustration of Humpty Dumpty. (COMIC: Fellow Travellers)

History

In the Sontaran mothership above the Eleven-Day Empire, Lolita soothed her child, referring to General Kine as "the nasty Humpty-Dumpty man" after he had been shouting. (AUDIO: The Eleven Day Empire ^[+]Loading...["The Eleven Day Empire (audio story)"])

As documented in Professor Clifford Measey's book Myths & Historical Impossibilities, a version of the Humpty Dumpty rhyme as included in the 1819 book Mrs Molbury's Collected Rhymes Both Ancient and Modern was distinct from other printings; after the first verse, the rhyme veered into an account about "the Fool", presumably the Eleventh Doctor, saving Strax who was stranded on Earth; (PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"]) the Doctor would later call upon Strax's aid given he was indebted to the Doctor. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War ^[+]Loading...["A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)"])

Shortly before the Sontaran invasion of Earth in 2009, UNIT Private Harris told General Staal to "stop playing Humpty Dumpty". (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem ^[+]Loading...["The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)"])

In 2540, Jo Grant recited this rhyme to counter the Master's hypnotism. (TV: Frontier in Space ^[+]Loading...["Frontier in Space (TV story)"])

Undated events

The Ninth Doctor called the Lect Humpty Dumpty. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction ^[+]Loading...["Weapons of Past Destruction (comic story)"])

Lyrics

An account of Humpty Dumpty distinct from the rest... (PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"])

The version of Humpty Dumpy as printed in Mrs Molbury's Collected Rhymes Both Ancient and Modern had the following lyrics:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's Horses and all the King's Men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

But then came a cry, 'twas from the King's Fool:
Opining that bow ties look fashionably cool.
He stepped from a blue box and said with a grin:
'What a terrible pickle you've got yourselves in.'

'Humpty,' he said, 'is far more than he seems.
No egg but a monster from beyond your worst dreams.
So I would suggest, you give him a wide berth
He's a Sontaran trooper who's stranded on Earth.'

The Fool waved his wand, and Humpty awoke,
The the Fool knelt beside him and in hushed tones spoke:
'I've saved you from death, so we must face the facts —
You are now in my debt, and I've work for you Strax...'

(PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"])