23 6 801
23 6 801 was a sequence of numbers that appeared a few times in the Doctor's universe and once in Pete's World.
History
The first Millingdale Ice Cream Parlour was opened on 23 June 1981 in Newport. (PROSE: Our Story [+]Loading...["Our Story (short story)"])
At some point prior to March 2005, the Ninth Doctor scrawled the sequence on a wall. Steve M. saw him, and later documented it on Doctor Who?. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? [+]Loading...["Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"])
GEOCOMTEX's toll free number was 555-236-801. (PROSE: Support [+]Loading...["Support (feature)"])
In 2007, Joe Robjam texted the sequence of numbers to Suzy Monroe during the filming of Ghostwatch. (GAME: Ghostwatch [+]Loading...["Ghostwatch (video game)"])
In 2007, (TV: Smith and Jones [+]Loading...["Smith and Jones (TV story)"]) a bardcode on a blank ID card for the Royal Hope Hospital reader "VOTE SAXON 2306801B" when decoded. (PROSE: ID Cards [+]Loading...["ID Cards (feature)"])
Other realities
In Pete's World by 2007, IE2306801 was the product code for a radio manufactured by International Electromatics. (GAME: Cybus Spy [+]Loading...["Cybus Spy (video game)"])
Behind the scenes
According to an official response to a survey about Doctor Who that the BBC released in 2005, the "23 6 801" number sequence seen on the Psalm board in Father's Day was a mistake, and became a bit of "misleading fun".[1] However, further clarification about the sequence wasn't given, such as how it was a mistake, and was present in television episodes filmed prior to Father's Day, thus casting potential doubt on this explanation. Adding to the confusion, when the WhoSpy production photographs were added to the gallery for Father's Day on the BBC's website, the caption suggested looking up Psalm 801,[2] which no real world Psalm seems to correspond to.
As acknowledged by the survey response, there were many theories about "23 6 801":[1] that the numbers corresponded to the 801st second of serial six (Mindwarp part two) of The Trial of a Time Lord (season 23), where Peri objected to the screams of animals;[3] that it spelled Bad Wolf in latin;[4] that it tied into the Bad Wolf story arc;[5] and that it had something to do with the Daleks.[6]
The sequence was seen in the following sources, all on the Doctor Who website and tie-in websites, both in- and out-of-universe:
- Five instalments of WhoSpy,
- Mentioned in Have You Seen This Man?,
- Alluded to in Our Story,
- Mentioned in Support,
- Mentioned in Cybus Spy,
- Mentioned in Ghostwatch,
- Hidden in ID Cards,
- And if the ALT code for "episode 13's" image on the Bad Wolf website is inspected, the sequence appears yet again.
WhoSpy 24/11/2004
WhoSpy 8/12/2004
WhoSpy 20/1/2005
WhoSpy 28/1/2005
WhoSpy 9/3/2005
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Website survey results on bbc.co.uk
- ↑ Father's Day: Behind the Scenes on bbc.co.uk
- ↑ Doctor Who 4th of June on Digital Spy Forums via the Wayback Machine
- ↑ New Doctor Who on Cook'd and Bomb'd via the Wayback Machine
- ↑ 23 6 801 on r/doctorwho via the Wayback machine
- ↑ More thoughts on Doctor Who and Bad Wolf… on platicbag.org via the Wayback machine
