Alcohol

Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness in a pub in TV: Everything Changes ^[+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"]

Alcohol was ethanol diluted into a drink with an inebriating effect. (AUDIO: The Emporium at the End ^[+]Loading...["The Emporium at the End (audio story)"]) It was consumed, used, seen and even occasionally manufactured by the Doctor, their companions and various other individuals.

Addiction to alcohol was known as alcoholism. (AUDIO: The Conspiracy ^[+]Loading...["The Conspiracy (audio story)"], et al.)

Effect

Different species had different reactions to alcohol. Humans and Threllips were known to get drunk after drinking too much alcohol. (AUDIO: Living Legend ^[+]Loading...["Living Legend (audio story)"]) This affect was also utilised as a numbing agent for medical procedures, such as dentistry. When the First Doctor was offered some alcohol by the dentist Doc Holliday in October 1881 before a tooth extraction, he said that he never touched the stuff. (TV: The Gunfighters ^[+]Loading...["The Gunfighters (TV story)"]) He repeated his assertion whilst in 17th century Cornwall to Joseph Longfoot. (TV: The Smugglers ^[+]Loading...["The Smugglers (TV story)"]) He noted that, despite making one feel warmer, alcohol actually reduced body temperature. (AUDIO: The Great White Hurricane ^[+]Loading...["The Great White Hurricane (audio story)"])

Alcohol could be an addictive substance; John Hart went to rehab for drugs, alcohol, sex and murder. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang ^[+]Loading...["Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (TV story)"]) According to Dr Kurdi, it also had little to no health benefits, acting almost as a slow-acting poison on the human body. (AUDIO: The Rise of the New Humans ^[+]Loading...["The Rise of the New Humans (audio story)"]) Tommy Pierce was a recovering alcoholic, getting drunk for the first time in years due to Rachel Allan serving him spiked coffee. (AUDIO: New Girl ^[+]Loading...["New Girl (audio story)"])

The various species of Sentarion had a stronger resistance to alcohol than humans. (PROSE: Shakedown ^[+]Loading...["Shakedown (novelisation)"]) Gallifreyans were more resistant yet. They were better at metabolising alcohol, (AUDIO: The Rise of the New Humans ^[+]Loading...["The Rise of the New Humans (audio story)"]) and could easily shrug off the effects of alcohol when they needed to. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel ^[+]Loading...["The Quantum Archangel (novel)"], The Sorcerer's Apprentice ^[+]Loading...["The Sorcerer's Apprentice (novel)"], TV: The Girl in the Fireplace ^[+]Loading...["The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)"]) As with humans, however, excessive consumption could produce a hangover. (AUDIO: Slipback ^[+]Loading...["Slipback (audio story)"]) Ginger beer would reduce their ability to tolerate alcohol. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker ^[+]Loading...["The Kingmaker (audio story)"])

Alcohol was toxic to Naxians. (AUDIO: The Sound of Fear ^[+]Loading...["The Sound of Fear (audio story)"])

A Dalek, sent to capture Schalk, caught fire when Elizabeth Klein poured alcohol on its gunstick when it tried to exterminate the Seventh Doctor, causing the tavern to catch fire with it. (AUDIO: Daleks Among Us ^[+]Loading...["Daleks Among Us (audio story)"])

In culture

Sarah Jane Smith hated them. (TV: The Ark in Space ^[+]Loading...["The Ark in Space (TV story)"]) Clara Oswald called whiskey the "11th most disgusting drink ever invented". (TV: Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"]) Others, however, particularly men, such as the Doctor and the Brigadier, found spirits a vital part of life, and shared them as a way of either connecting and communicating or celebrating. For example, the Ninth Doctor drank some brandy after rescuing Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler from the Slitheen by phone. (TV: World War Three ^[+]Loading...["World War Three (TV story)"])

Harriet Jones later informed the Ninth Doctor that one passed alcoholic spirits to one's left. (TV: World War Three ^[+]Loading...["World War Three (TV story)"])

The Seventh Doctor used a bathtub in his TARDIS to brew whiskey when he was in Chicago in 1929. He could have used more traditional methods, but he claimed it preserved the period "flavour" by brewing in a bathtub. (PROSE: Blood Harvest ^[+]Loading...["Blood Harvest (novel)"])

Cultural tolerance

Some cultures were opposed to the drinking of alcohol. In the early 20th century, there was a prohibition of alcohol in America. (TV: Immortal Sins ^[+]Loading...["Immortal Sins (TV story)"], PROSE: Blood Harvest ^[+]Loading...["Blood Harvest (novel)"]) The Saraani religion forbade the drinking of alcohol. (PROSE: Dry Pilgrimage ^[+]Loading...["Dry Pilgrimage (novel)"]) The various species of Sentarion were opposed to the drinking of alcohol, though they had no problems with aliens doing so and even made Rekkar themselves. (PROSE: Shakedown ^[+]Loading...["Shakedown (novelisation)"]) Alpha Centaurans never drank alcohol and didn't see the appeal of it. (PROSE: The Dark Path ^[+]Loading...["The Dark Path (novel)"])

MP David Lloyd George was an aggressive campaigner against alcohol, famously declaring that Britain had three enemies: "Germany, Austria and Drink; as far as I can see, the greatest of these three deadly foes is Drink." His attempt, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to ban alcohol entirely led to the introduction of licensing laws to increase taxes on alcohol and to restrict its sale and the opening hours of public houses. In private, however, (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac ^[+]Loading...["The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"]) he drank the Ninth Doctor under the table. (TV: Aliens of London ^[+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"])

In 2006, the Ninth Doctor claimed that David Lloyd George, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, drank him under the table in 10 Downing Street. (TV: Aliens of London ^[+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"]) Liz 10 would later recall that the Doctor was an "old drinking buddy" of Henry XII. (TV: The Beast Below ^[+]Loading...["The Beast Below (TV story)"])

Some individuals such as Creeby compared non-alcoholic drinks to poison. (COMIC: Where Nobody Knows Your Name ^[+]Loading...["Where Nobody Knows Your Name (comic story)"])

The Twelfth Doctor hid alcohol in one of the roundels in his TARDIS, (TV: The Husbands of River Song ^[+]Loading...["The Husbands of River Song (TV story)"]) as did the First Doctor. (TV: Twice Upon a Time ^[+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"])

Alcohol drinking establishments

Drinking establishments such as pubs generally stocked a range of alcoholic beverages. On Blinni-Gaar the bar served various beverages including Draconian sake and Foamasi brandy. (PROSE: Prime Time ^[+]Loading...["Prime Time (novel)"]) In the television series EastEnders, a storyline in 2007 had Peggy Mitchell being confronted by a ghost of Den Watts, where she told him to get out of her pub, saying that the only spirits she served were gin, whiskey and vodka. (TV: Army of Ghosts ^[+]Loading...["Army of Ghosts (TV story)"])

Flammability

Some alcohols were flammable, and could be used to destructive or theatrical effect. Bernice Summerfield was able to use a bottle of particularly cheap vodka and a lighter against a Martian on Earth in 1997. (PROSE: The Dying Days ^[+]Loading...["The Dying Days (novel)"]) The Ninth Doctor later threatened the Slitheen, saying that he would triplicate the flammability of some brandy, and kill them all. (TV: World War Three ^[+]Loading...["World War Three (TV story)"])

Alcoholic beverages

• Absinthe
• Alcopop
• Babycham
• Beer / Ale (by extension IPA)
• Cider
• Cocktails
• Gin (by extension Gin and tonic)
• Malibu
• Margaritas
• Mead
• Vodka
• Wine
• Whisky

Other alcohols

The Third Doctor toasted Captain Dent's health with an unknown alcohol after a civilised, but confrontational, introduction. (TV: Colony in Space ^[+]Loading...["Colony in Space (TV story)"])

When Chris Cwej, the Seventh Doctor, Roz Forrester and Bernice Summerfield returned to Earth following a variety of confrontations, Chris' father opened a bottle of fermented drink brewed by mutant space bees. Roz thought that it tasted vaguely of honey. (PROSE: Original Sin ^[+]Loading...["Original Sin (novel)"])

Roz and Bernice drank home-made hooch on the planet Yemaya 4. (PROSE: SLEEPY ^[+]Loading...["SLEEPY (novel)"])

On what was supposed to be an alcohol-free cruise, Bernice Summerfield drank some (particularly lethal) Brettellian potato spirit so strong it made her eyes water. (PROSE: Dry Pilgrimage ^[+]Loading...["Dry Pilgrimage (novel)"])

In Paris, the Countess drank a green liquid filled from a bottle on her drinks tray when she spoke to the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and Duggan. (TV: City of Death ^[+]Loading...["City of Death (TV story)"])

Bernice Summerfield drank rekkar with Professor Lazlo Zemar whilst researching on the planet Sentarion. (PROSE: Shakedown ^[+]Loading...["Shakedown (novelisation)"])

Commercial branding of alcohols

RedStar was a brand of Martian vodka. It was used in several cocktails such as 'A Red Under The Bed', Bernice Summerfield drank much RedStar whilst on Mars. (PROSE: Beige Planet Mars ^[+]Loading...["Beige Planet Mars (novel)"])

The Third Doctor and Iris Wildthyme drank Bombay Sapphire, in which the Doctor preferred lime to lemon. (PROSE: Verdigris ^[+]Loading...["Verdigris (novel)"])

Behind the scenes

Peggy Mitchell's reference to serving spirits is a play on the meaning of both "serve" and "spirit". Though not explained in detail in Army of Ghosts ^[+]Loading...["Army of Ghosts (TV story)"], "spirit" refers to incorporeal supernatural beings, sometimes including ghosts, but also the alcoholic beverage. A bartender can serve a person, but the food and drink itself can be what's served to the patron.