Aubrey Waites

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The Honourable Aubrey Waites was a singer who used the stage name "Chris Waites" during his time leading Chris Waites and the Carrollers. He later used the stage name "John Smith" during his time leading John Smith and the Common Men. (TV: "An Unearthly Child" ^[+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"An Unearthly Child","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}; PROSE: Time and Relative ^[+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"]) At one stage, both bands were advertised as playing at the same event. (TV: The Devil's Chord ^[+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"])

By one account, Fifth Doctor was the one to suggest to the Common Men in November 1963 that they become a backing group for Waites, and directly caused the creation of John Smith and the Common Men. The Common Men were slightly reluctant at first, but willing to do "whatever pays". (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men ^[+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"]) By another account, both of Aubrey's aliases and bands were already in circulation by 11 February 1963, even being advertised to appear at the same event in succession on one occasion. (TV: The Devil's Chord ^[+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"])

The Unravel caused the creation of a 1967 "hit song" titled The Twist at the End, attributed to "Aubrey Waites, David Agnew, and a shy bard who would never be identified during their lifetime, or anyone else's". (PROSE: {{esquivalience}} ^[+]Loading...["Esquivalience (novel)","'\"`UNIQ--nowiki-0000000C-QINU`\"'"]) In another account, when they visited 11 February 1963, the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday had already participated in a reality-bending performance of a song called Twist at the End. (TV: The Devil's Chord ^[+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

DWM 599 explicitly attributed Twist at the End as heard in The Devil's Chord ^[+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"] to John Smith and the Common Men, making it an Aubrey Waites song like its Unravelled counterpart in {{esquivalience}} ^[+]Loading...["Esquivalience (novel)","'\"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000013-QINU`\"'"]. However, this was not made explicit in the episode itself.

On 19 July 2024, a promotional social media post advertising {{esquivalience}} clarified that the mention of Aubrey Waites (a character initially mentioned in An Unearthly Child ^[+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"], the first-ever Doctor Who episode) in the novella had indeed been "arranged" with "the appropriate person", stating that the licensing agreement had been reached "over a year" prior to the post.