"Humpty Dumpty"

An illustration of Humpty Dumpty. (COMIC: Fellow Travellers)

"Humpty Dumpty" was an Earth nursery rhyme. The appearance of the character was often likened to that of Sontarans on multiple occasions.

History

In the Sontaran mothership above the Eleven-Day Empire, Lolita soothed her child, referring to General Kine as "the nasty Humpty-Dumpty man" after he had been shouting. (AUDIO: The Eleven Day Empire ^[+]Loading...["The Eleven Day Empire (audio story)"])

As documented in Professor Clifford Measey's book Myths & Historical Impossibilities, a version of the Humpty Dumpty rhyme as included in the 1819 book Mrs Molbury's Collected Rhymes Both Ancient and Modern was distinct from other printings; after the first verse, the rhyme veered into an account about "the Fool", presumably the Eleventh Doctor, saving Strax who was stranded on Earth; (PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"]) the Doctor would later call upon Strax's aid given he was indebted to the Doctor. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War ^[+]Loading...["A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)"])

Shortly before the Sontaran invasion of Earth in 2009, UNIT Private Harris told General Staal to "stop playing Humpty Dumpty". (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem ^[+]Loading...["The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)"])

In 2540, Jo Grant recited this rhyme to counter the Master's hypnotism. (TV: Frontier in Space ^[+]Loading...["Frontier in Space (TV story)"])

Undated events

The Ninth Doctor called the Lect Humpty Dumpty. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction ^[+]Loading...["Weapons of Past Destruction (comic story)"])

Lyrics

An account of Humpty Dumpty distinct from the rest... (PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"])

The version of Humpty Dumpy as printed in Mrs Molbury's Collected Rhymes Both Ancient and Modern had the following lyrics:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's Horses and all the King's Men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

But then came a cry, 'twas from the King's Fool:
Opining that bow ties look fashionably cool.
He stepped from a blue box and said with a grin:
'What a terrible pickle you've got yourselves in.'

'Humpty,' he said, 'is far more than he seems.
No egg but a monster from beyond your worst dreams.
So I would suggest, you give him a wide berth
He's a Sontaran trooper who's stranded on Earth.'

The Fool waved his wand, and Humpty awoke,
The the Fool knelt beside him and in hushed tones spoke:
'I've saved you from death, so we must face the facts —
You are now in my debt, and I've work for you Strax...'

(PROSE: Waving Through Time ^[+]Loading...["Waving Through Time (short story)"])