The Phoenix in the Tardis (feature)
- You may wish to consult
Phoenix (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The Phoenix in the Tardis was the second feature and fourth release exclusively published in The Dr Who Annual 1968 in September 1967 by World Distributors.[1] The feature was notable for giving the first written explanation for the transformation between the First and Second Doctors (although in-text only referred to as "Dr. Who"), poetically comparing the process to the rebirth of the mythical bird, the Phoenix. The feature also contrasted the personalities of the two Doctors.
The audio anthology The Doctor Who Audio Annual, released just over fifty years later on 7 December 2017,[2] included The Phoenix in the Tardis, with it now being read by Anneke Wills, the actor for the Doctor's companion Polly Wright.
Summary
The Phoenix is a fabled mythical bird, believed to be one-of-a-kind, capable of a lifespan of centuries before its eventual combustion and rebirth into renewed youth. Dr. Who shares many similarities with the Phoenix, having himself just gone through a "strange psychological storm", which rejuvenated his form in many ways, resulting in — as almost a side effected caused by him being overwhelmed with this force — an "almost" new personality, making him more in tune with the 20th century, whilst retaining traces of his "pre-change self", in personality and in clothes. However, Dr. Who is more introspective, less willing to confide in his companions as he previously did, although he is now more logical, matter-of-factly, and "devious in his thoughts and actions."
More whimsical than before, Dr. Who is akin to Pan by his use of small musical pipe to create merry tunes to aid his thoughts and to "get his ideas straight." He has retained his scientific prowess and can travel through the Space and Time Dimensions better than he could do before, but is also now willing to to use violence, is sharp-witted, "faster on the uptake" and not-so-easily fooled nor easily taken by surprise, and knows this; he is still irritable and touchy as he has ever been however. Unlike before, how Dr. Who gave the impression that he was in some vague way different from other humans, in his rejuvinated form, he is more involved in their affairs, more curious about their developments, and is ready to make trouble or reform those "on the wrong wave-length."
Having travelled for nine-hundred years in his Time and Relative Dimensions in Space craft (or Tardis) in his previous form, a person's mind may "reel at what lies ahead for the regenerated doctor": Eternity and Infinity will "always exist", and he cannot live like humans in a mundane existence, forever travelling through the "vastness" of Space and the "abyss" of Time, exploring places, new and old, physical and mental. Dr. Who cannot be satisfied as he always desires to "know all and experience all."
Characters
Worldbuilding
- The Phoenix has a gorgeous plumage.
- It can live for five to six-hundred years in its natural habitat, the Arabian desert. After living its life, the Phoenix burns itself to ashes on a funeral pile, before emerging once again to live another cycle of life.
- Dr. Who's age is nine-hundred.
- Dr. Who has a recorder.
- Pan also has a pipe.
- Dr. Who is more willing to shape events to his own purposes than letting them be as he formerly used to.
- Dr. Who has a great knowledge of humans and aliens.
- Dr. Who doesn't really rely on inspiration anymore and is proactive in shaping his own destiny.
- Dr. Who travels with "spell-bound mortals" that come into his orbit.
Notes
- The writing of the Annual's contents was collectively attributed to K. McGarry, J. L. Morrissey, J. H. Pavey, M. Broadley, and Colin Newstead, so it is unclear which author penned The Phoenix in the Tardis.
- The Annual's illustrations were collectively attributed to Walter Howarth, David Brian, Susan Aspey, and Peter Limbert, so it is unclear who illustrated The Phoenix in the Tardis.
- The contents page gives this feature's name as "The Phoenix in the Tardis" while the feature's page gives it as "Phoenix in the Tardis".
- In The Doctor Who Audio Annual, the feature was rendered as "The Phoenix in the TARDIS", using the now-conventional all-caps stylisation of "TARDIS".[2]
Continuity
to be added
