Hecuba
Hecuba, also known as the Queen of Time, was the sister of the Toymaker. Like her brother, she was fond of playing deadly games with less powerful beings with their freedom at stake, but while he was fond of games with toys, her games and traps were related to time and clocks. Her pocket universe was stabilised with the Grand Chronometer, a giant timepiece capable of manipulating time and even of trapping the Doctor's TARDIS.
While not mentioned directly in relation to Hecuba, her brother and his child were later identified by the Fifteenth Doctor as members of the Pantheon. (TV: The Devil's Chord [+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"])
Biography
All other visitors to Hecuba's domain before the Doctor's party had failed or refused to play her games. Hecuba turned them into clocks to keep for her eternal entertainment. Eventually, she captured the Second Doctor, Zoe Heriot, and Jamie McCrimmon, and made them play her games for her entertainment: Zoe and Jamie endured a series of "tests" with their lives at stake as she toyed with the Doctor over an elaborate and corrupted banquet of spoiling food. Each course was actually a hidden trap and the Doctor had to find some way of avoiding the meal but not show his disgust at the food itself. Hecuba had no problems with eating the disgusting fare, and ate with disturbing relish.
The first course was ancient, putrescent oysters, originally obtained from Aphrodite. The Doctor deflected his portion of the banquet by saying, "Ladies first," and she countered by observing he was every bit as charming as she was "led to expect". When the Doctor claimed to not know her identity, she stopped his hearts and ordered Jamie and Zoe to find the one clock in her collection of thousands attached to his life: if they did not, the Doctor would die in five minutes. Hecuba then announced, "I am Hecuba, Queen of Time. Let the games commence!" and laughed hysterically. As his companions fought for his life, Hecuba mock-mourned the helpless Doctor, admitting that the Universe would be dull without him, and how sad she would be when he died.
To Hecuba's displeasure, Zoe riddled out that if the Doctor's heart had stopped, so had his clockwork. She therefore found his clock and won the round.
The second course was celebratory cocktails — a very foul brew: Time Bomb.
The Doctor eventually escaped Hecuba's domain, trapping her in a time loop with her monstrous henchmen, Snap and Dragon, and Marie Antoinette for the rest of time. She swore revenge on the Doctor as her universe dissolved about her. (AUDIO: The Queen of Time)
Personality
Hecuba's manner was flirtatious and coy, but she only cared about the amusement in her victims' fear and pain. She was vain, but the Doctor was sparing with his compliments, knowing she would never have enough. Hecuba was sadistic and enjoyed making the Doctor uncomfortable by encroaching in his space, teasing him, and forcing him to dance with her. However, she also claimed to have "always admired" the Doctor's intelligence. She didn't understand why the Doctor cared about his companions.
Bored and sadistic, the Queen of Time's "favourite part" of the games was watching the Doctor's companions break down in defeat and she loved watching her phantom armies kill each other, though the graphic violence was real enough to sicken the Doctor. Her mood swings changed without warning, turning from snarlingly vicious to laughing at a second's notice. When Zoe first saw her, she couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying.
Like her brother, she was perfectly willing to cheat at her own games to ensure she would gain the upper hand, for example by giving the players misleading clues. Hecuba expected the Doctor to amuse her, calling him a "worthy adversary," but she never calculated for his success. Any time the Doctor did something she did not expect, she reacted poorly. However, because the Doctor failed to respond in predictable ways to her attempts at conversation, she wound up paying more attention to him in turn. (AUDIO: The Queen of Time)
Appearance
Hecuba was considered very beautiful by Jamie McCrimmon and the Second Doctor, resembling "a glamorous actress of an earlier age" and wearing a luxurious ballgown. (AUDIO: The Queen of Time)
| ||||||||||||||
