Have You Seen This Man? (short story)
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- You may be looking for Have You Seen...?, the poem from Now We Are Six Hundred.
Have You Seen This Man? was a segmented short story, a collection of flash fiction spread across three webpages, published on the Who is Doctor Who? website in 2005 by the BBC Web Team to coincide with the 2005 revival of Doctor Who. The overall narrative comprised of lots of information being given about the Doctor's role in Earth's history. The narrative also included the images of the Ninth Doctor at Sumatra in 1880, with the Daniels family in 1912, and at the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, which had been previously seen in TV: Rose.
The flash fiction was contained in Have You Seen This Man? was collected on a webpage entitled "Contact Clive", which was a place for real world people to submit brief, fictional anecdotes of their encounters with the Doctor, which were officially released by the British Broadcasting Corporation. For obvious reasons, nothing inappropiate, defamatory, or fourth wall breaking was approved, thus maintaining the in-universe and consumer friendly nature of the Who is Doctor Who? website as a whole. Furthermore, as nothing in Have You Seen This Man? breaks any of our valid sources criteria, making this collection of flash fiction is a valid source.
Entries
The collection of entries is arranged in descending order, latest first, the same order as on the webpage itself.
Jenn
Jenn shares her encounter with the Ninth Doctor when she was going to flunk off from doing her A-Levels after not revising, when the Doctor told her that the world would be doomed if she did. She expresses shock about the Doctor being alien.
Steven Hudson
Steven Hudson shares his experience with the Doctor, when Steven spotted the Doctor, believing him to be drunk. Steven noticed that the Doctor was wearing a frock coat, repeatedly muttering that "they’re all gone, I'm the only one left."
Matthew
Matthew recounts his brush with the Doctor, when the Doctor corrected Matthew's tour guide on a school trip to Chestow castle.
Helva Soprano
Helva Soprano claims that the Doctor did some contracting work for her firm of architects. The work the Doctor did couldn't be used because the floor plans were bigger on the inside.
Trevor French
Trevor French recalls that about twenty years ago, he and her school visited a planetarium in London, meeting the Doctor, who talked about Halley's Comet and gave them orange fruit gums.
Mrs. Smith
Mrs. Smith remembers that she had met an older, white haired gentlemen in 1963 who went by the name of "the Doctor", with his his granddaughter, who visited the Ritz Theatre on Totter's Lane to watch a film about the fall of Rome, though he repeated kept pointing out inaccuracies. Mrs. Smith, an usherette, told him to leave, and he took off with his granddaughter towards a junkyard.
Charm
charm claims that Doctor Who is her friend.
Dazza P
Dazza P recalls that uncle worked as a lab assistant for some "over-rated army base, a special unit", and that the head of the group used the Doctor to "head up" the scientific research. However, as there were many Doctors working for this unit, Dazza suspected that "Doctor" was a codename.
Characters
(In order of appearance)
Referenced only
References
- There are images of the Ninth Doctor at Sumatra in 1880; at Southampton, England, in 1912; at Dallas, Texas, in 1963; and on a security camera sometime in the 20th or 21st centuries.
- Jenn was told by the Doctor that she must not skip her ICT A-Level.
- Steven spotted the Ninth Doctor on Totter's Lane, in East London.
- Matthew recalls that he heard a strange noise like some sort of engine after he met the Doctor.
- The Ritz Cinema was knocked down, and a block of flats was built on it.
- Samuel Preston mentions the Doctor has "a strange box".
Notes
- From the content seen on the website, this site is probably set prior to TV: Rose, although no explanation is given for the absence of the "Contact Clive" page.
- In many ways, this short story is similar to PROSE: The Book of the War, both being a large collection of smaller narratives, or entries, that make up a larger narrative.
Continuity
- Clive Finch's website was later accessed by Rose Tyler, and she visited Clive, and he showed her the pictures he posted on the site. (TV: Rose, PROSE: Rose, AUDIO: Battle Scars)
- The Doctor was present in 1985, in an adventure involving Halley's Comet. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, PROSE: Attack of the Cybermen, et al.)
- The Doctor and Susan departed from 76 Totter's Lane, seemingly disappearing. (TV: "An Unearthly Child")
- The Doctor worked for UNIT in several incarnations. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Robot, et al.)
- The Eighth Doctor was aboard the R101 when it crashed. (AUDIO: Storm Warning, Neverland, et al.)
- Sarah Jane Smith is a reporter. (TV: The Time Warrior, et al.) She would later encounter the Tenth Doctor, fulfilling her desire to meet him again. (TV: School Reunion, et al.)
- Mr. Yates knows the Doctor. (TV: Terror of the Autons, et al.)
- Arthur Dent is an acquaintance with the Doctor. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, PROSE: The Christmas Invasion)
- Star Trek is a television series. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles, The Secret in Vault 13, et al.)
- The Doctor drives Bessie. (TV: Terror of the Autons, et al.)
- The Doctor recollects a visit to Pompeii, mentioning that he "tried to warn them." (AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan)
- Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in 28 June 1914, sparking World War II. (PROSE: Human Nature, COMIC: The Dalek Project, TV: Silver Nemesis, TV: The Family of Blood)
- The Seventh Doctor would later return to Sarajevo in 1995. (PROSE: Death and Diplomacy)
- The Doctor attends a couple of football matches. He also attended other matches in his first, (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story) fifth, (PROSE: The Church of Football) eighth, (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game, AUDIO: Living Legend) eleventh, (COMIC: They Think It's All Over, Bow-ties for Goal Posts) and twelfth incarnations. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
- The Doctor was present for the destruction of Big Ben. (TV: Aliens of London)
- The Doctor previously was present for the fall of the Berlin Wall in his eighth incarnation, (PROSE: Father Time) and when he returned in his tenth incarnation, he recollected that he had been present twice before. (PROSE: Autonomy)
- The Doctor also visited Brighton in his fourth (AUDIO: Gallery of Ghouls, TV: The Leisure Hive) and sixth incarnations. (AUDIO: Pier Pressure)
- The Mona Lisa on display in the Louvre is a copy. (TV: City of Death, AUDIO: Dust Breeding, GAME: Old Rope)
- The Doctor retrieves a "large silver metal ball" from the London Underground. (TV: The Web of Fear, et al.)
- The Sixth Doctor also visited Salford two times. (AUDIO: The Vanity Box, The Condemned)