Third Universe (term)
The Third Universe was, according to many accounts, the name of the universe in which the Doctor primarily resided.
Nature[[edit] | [edit source]]
The First Doctor and Susan Foreman travelled to the Fourth Universe early in their travels; (TV: "The Edge of Destruction" [+]Part of The Edge of Destruction, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Edge of Destruction (1)","1":"The Edge of Destruction (TV story)"}) while many subsequent accounts treated the designation to be merely a synonym of "Fourth Galaxy", a place which existed within the Doctor's own universe, (PROSE: The Edge of Destruction [+]Loading...["The Edge of Destruction (novelisation)"], The Devil Goblins from Neptune [+]Loading...["The Devil Goblins from Neptune (novel)"]) the latter account also conflating it with Galaxy 4, (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune [+]Loading...["The Devil Goblins from Neptune (novel)"]) another account treated the Fourth Universe as a distinct universe from the Doctor's own, the Third Universe. (AUDIO: Quinnis [+]Loading...["Quinnis (audio story)"])
Later accounts asserted that the name "Third Universe" had been coined by the Council of Frogs (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"]) as part of their naming nomenclature; (PROSE: A World of Pure Unimagination [+]Loading...{"page":"3","name":"\"AWoPU\"","1":"A World of Pure Unimagination (short story)"}) other universes in this system included the Prime Universe, (PROSE: Auteur's Abecedarium [+]Loading...["Auteur's Abecedarium (short story)"]) the Fifth Universe, (PROSE: Love & War [+]Loading...{"page":"385","1":"Love & War (short story)"}) the 925th Universe and 925-B, (PROSE: "Scene 12" [+]Part of The Book of the Snowstorm, Loading...{"page":"107","namedpart":"Scene 12","1":"The Book of the Snowstorm (short story)"}) and the 38167th Universe. (PROSE: Previously On... The Multiverse [+]Loading...{"page":"18-21","name":"POTM","1":"Previously On... The Multiverse (short story)"})
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Information from AUDIO: Quinnis [+]Loading...["Quinnis (audio story)"], PROSE: The Book of the Snowstorm [+]Loading...["The Book of the Snowstorm (short story)"], The Claus-Rosen Bridge [+]Loading...{"page":"144","1":"The Claus-Rosen Bridge (short story)"}, Abstract Tales [+]Loading...{"page":"218","1":"Abstract Tales (short story)"}, Love & War [+]Loading...{"page":"385","1":"Love & War (short story)"}, The Gift of the Renegades [+]Loading...{"page":"727","1":"The Gift of the Renegades (short story)"} and Our Finest Gifts We Bring (part 18) [+]Loading...{"part":"18","1":"Our Finest Gifts We Bring (short story)"} needs to be added.
The name was used by Lord Thymon some days before Christmas 2020 in the Cupid Homeworld, when ascertaining the origins of a mysterious abecedarium. (PROSE: Auteur's Abecedarium [+]Loading...{"page":"1","1":"Auteur's Abecedarium (short story)"}) In the lead up to these events, the non-native Retconning Crocodiles, in conversation with Auteur, used the name when explaining how they had retconned themselves in and quickly out of the universe. (PROSE: Resurrection of the Author [+]Loading...{"page":"4","1":"Resurrection of the Author (short story)"})
Two years later, Auteur declared his intent to return to "Cosmos Three" through the Cupid Homeworld, and Thymon soon after identified him as a parasite from "the Third". (POEM: Auteur and the Homeworld [+]Loading...["Auteur and the Homeworld (poem)"])
Undated events[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Bookwyrm once recounted its knowledge of many things relating to the Third Universe. (PROSE: Previously On... The Multiverse [+]Loading...{"page":"17-19","1":"Previously On... The Multiverse (short story)"})
Jenny Everywhere once shifted into the Third Universe in the aftermath of the Unravel.[nb 1] (PROSE: A World of Pure Unimagination [+]Loading...{"page":"3","name":"\"AWoPU\"","1":"A World of Pure Unimagination (short story)"})
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The history of the name "Third Universe" is inextricably linked to the "Fourth Universe", so the latter must also be explained for context.
Historically, as astronomy developed over the course of the past few centuries with the discovery of galaxies existing beyond the Milky Way, the term "island universe" was initially used to refer to them. The term fell out of usage as it was a misnomer, as universe is a term for a totality of everything, and "galaxy" — from the Greek terms gala and kyklos, meaning milk and circle, respectively — was broadened from its original usage as merely another name for the Milky Way.[1]
The term "island universe" evidently made its way into early Doctor Who stories, most relevantly in the season one serial The Edge of Destruction [+]Loading...["The Edge of Destruction (TV story)"]: in the narrative, the Doctor and his companions travel to a place referred to as the "Fourth Universe", the usage of "universe" being evidently synonymous with "galaxy". Indeed, later stories featuring the "Fourth Universe" named it the "Fourth Galaxy, except for the Big Finish Productions audio drama Quinnis [+]Loading...["Quinnis (audio story)"], which asserted asserted that it truly was an individual universe, separate from the Doctor's home universe. It is in this story it is clarified that, in relation to the Fourth Universe, the Doctor's home universe is known as the Third Universe.
Later, The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids, which crossed over with Doctor Who spin-offs, established that the multiversal organisation the Council of Frogs were the party to introduce the name "Third Universe" in-universe. The term was then extensively used in many other stories published by Arcbeatle Press and The Cheshire House.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Used by the non-diegetic third-person narrator.
References[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Joe Rao (2 September 2005). Explore the Archer's Realm. space.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved on 27 May 2024.
