Alphabet

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Alphabet

An alphabet was a system of letters.

Known alphabets[[edit] | [edit source]]

Roman alphabet[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Roman alphabet was used in the English, French, and German languages. (PROSE: The Schizoid Earth [+]Loading...["The Schizoid Earth (novel)","The Schizoid Earth"])

"W, U, V, T, S!" While fighting the Mandragora Helix, Sarah Jane Smith recites (TV: The Masque of Mandragora [+]Loading...["The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)"]) the pre-Unravel version of the alphabet (PROSE{{esquivalience}} [+]Loading...["Esquivalience (novel)","'\"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000006-QINU`\"'"]) backwards. (TV: The Masque of Mandragora [+]Loading...["The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)"])

There were twenty-six letters in the English alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. (PROSE: The Dalek Dictionary [+]Loading...["The Dalek Dictionary (feature)"], Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora (novelisation)"], etc.) However, according to one account, where Sarah Jane Smith recited the alphabet backwards while under mental attack by the Mandragora Helix, she placed V before U. (TV: The Masque of Mandragora [+]Loading...["The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)"]) One account suggested that this was the original order, later altered by the Unravel, a mysterious cross-temporal phenomenon which caused a number of seemingly random "edits" to reality that were actually trying to drive at a specific, unknown outcome. The change was noticed by ______ when they opened The Book of English (18th to 25th Century). (PROSE{{esquivalience}} [+]Loading...["Esquivalience (novel)","'\"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000011-QINU`\"'"])

When trying to remember "Young Parsons's" name, Professor Chronotis went through the alphabet with the Doctor and Romana II. They started with A, B, and C and eventually got to P, Q, and R before he skipped to X and Y. (TV: Shada [+]Loading...["Shada (TV story)","Shada"], AUDIO: Shada [+]Loading...["Shada (audio story)","Shada"])

In 2028, under the influence of Nobody No-One, a cardiogram once sung the alphabet from A to P. He also claimed to have tampered with the alphabet in some fashion. (AUDIO: A Death in the Family [+]Loading...["A Death in the Family (audio story)","A Death in the Family"])

The Tenth Doctor and the entity possessing Sky Silvestry spoke the first fifteen letters of the alphabet simultaneously. (TV: Midnight [+]Loading...["Midnight (TV story)","Midnight"])

On Finetime, the Fifteenth Doctor discovered that the man-traps and Dots were killing residents of the city in alphabetical order by surname. (TV: Dot and Bubble [+]Loading...["Dot and Bubble (TV story)"])

Cyrillic alphabet[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Cyrillic alphabet common in Eastern European languages and used in Russian, Serbian, (PROSE: The Schizoid Earth [+]Loading...["The Schizoid Earth (novel)"]) Ukrainian, (WC: Web of Lies [+]Loading...["Web of Lies (webcast)"]) and Uzbek. (AUDIO: Brave New Town [+]Loading...["Brave New Town (audio story)"])

Letters in the Russian alphabet included: Б, В, Г, Д, Е, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Р, С, Т, Х, Ш, and Ь. (TV: Before the Flood [+]Loading...["Before the Flood (TV story)","Before the Flood"], PROSE: Emotional Chemistry [+]Loading...["Emotional Chemistry (novel)","Emotional Chemistry"])

In Cyrillic, the USSR was abbreviated as СССР. (TV: The Seeds of Death [+]Loading...["The Seeds of Death (TV story)","The Seeds of Death"], PROSE: First Frontier [+]Loading...["First Frontier (novel)","First Frontier"])

Greek alphabet[[edit] | [edit source]]

Letters in the Greek alphabet included Η, Θ, Π, Ρ, and Σ. (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"], AUDIO: Trial of the Valeyard [+]Loading...["Trial of the Valeyard (audio story)"])

Dalek alphabet[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Dalek Alphabet was mentioned in one of the trick questions within a UNIT Aptitude Test from the 21st century. (GAME: U.N.I.T. Initiation Test [+]Loading...["U.N.I.T. Initiation Test (game)"])

Other alphabets[[edit] | [edit source]]

River Song, while unaware of the Twelfth Doctor's identity, threatened to remove his organs in alphabetical order, to which the Doctor facetiously asked "Which alphabet?" (TV: The Husbands of River Song [+]Loading...["The Husbands of River Song (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In The Masque of Mandragora [+]Loading...["The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)"], Elisabeth Sladen made a minor line flub whilst reciting the Latin alphabet backwards, ordering U after V. This was corrected in the novelisation [+]Loading...{"noital":"1","1":"Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora (novelisation)","2":"the novelisation"}, and other sources depicting the alphabet order it correctly.