- You may be looking for Tiger! Tiger!.
"The Tyger" was a poem by William Blake, first published in 1794.
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
After Tommy looked into the Metebelis crystal and realised he could now read much better, he went to get more books from the meditation centre's library. There he found a book of poetry which included "The Tyger", and proceeded to read the opening verse aloud:
- Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
- In the forests of the night;
- What immortal hand or eye,
- Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Tommy called the poem "pretty" before deciding "beautiful" was more suitable. (TV: Planet of the Spiders)
Mike Yates's father read the poem to him when he was a boy. (AUDIO: Time Tunnel)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Tommy's recitation of "The Tyger", as featured in Planet of the Spiders part four, does not appear in the 105-minute compilation repeat of the story, as broadcast Friday 27 December 1974.
- Frank Cottrell-Boyce's TV story In the Forest of the Night was named directly after this poem, with a minor modification made to the line, to allow for a singular "forest of the night". This story also contains an actual tiger.
- The publisher's summary for AUDIO: The Emerald Tiger also quotes this poem.
- Its real world author, William Blake, is not named on-screen, but he is featured in other stories set in the Doctor Who universe.