Laurel and Hardy (series)
- You may be looking for the in-universe comedy duo.
Laurel and Hardy, otherwise stylised as Laurel & Hardy, is a series which began with a series of silent films, later sound films, starring the titular characters - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy - portrayed by their real world counterparts. The series later gained appearances in various other pieces of media, such as DVD releases, and a comic strip published in TV Comic some years after the duo's real life death, the comics being created by Larry Harmon.
The duo and their work have been referenced several times in Doctor Who universe media. The TV Comic iteration of Laurel and Hardy has also had crossovers with the DWU.
Crossovers[[edit] | [edit source]]
The series' TV Comic iteration gained some brief crossovers with the Doctor Who universe.
The first of these crossovers occurred in the board game TV Comic's Counter Game [+]Loading...["TV Comic's Counter Game (1968 game)"], published in the TV Comic Holiday Special 1968. Midway through the game, the Diddymen (from Diddymen) may stop to listen to Dr. Who playing his recorder. Shortly after, they may stop to lend Stanley a handkerchief.
The following year, in the TV Comic Holiday Special 1969, the game Basil Brush goes Rent Collecting [+]Loading...["Basil Brush goes Rent Collecting (game)"] was released. Fairly late into the game, Basil Brush (from Basil Brush) may encounter Laurel & Hardy, who pay the month's rent in advance. Shortly after, Basil may have to travel back a few spaces to avoid "Tardis".
References to Laurel and Hardy in the Doctor Who universe[[edit] | [edit source]]
Television[[edit] | [edit source]]
The TV story The Impossible Astronaut [+]Loading...["The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)"] contains a scene in which the Eleventh Doctor dances alongside Laurel and Hardy to the song "Shine On, Harvest Moon". The footage of Laurel and Hardy used in the TV story was real world archive footage taken from the film The Flying Deuces, which is in the public domain.
Prose[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the novel Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"], Ace compares the appearance of Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Goering together to that of Laurel and Hardy.
In The Pit [+]Loading...["The Pit (novel)"], the Seventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield attend a Laurel and Hardy convention in Ulverston, Stan Laurel's real world place of birth. The Doctor is mentioned to have been an old friend of Laurel. The real world Laurel and Hardy film Sons of the Desert is also referenced.
In Business Unusual [+]Loading...["Business Unusual (novel)"], the Sixth Doctor has a complete collection of Laurel and Hardy films on Betamax.
In the Revelation of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Revelation of the Daleks (novelisation)"] novelisation, the characters Lancelot Takis and August Lilt are mentioned to have impersonated Laurel and Hardy as entertainment for troops serving in the Peninsular Wars on the planet JJ33.
Audio[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the Big Finish audio story Daughter of the Gods [+]Loading...["Daughter of the Gods (audio story)"], the Second Doctor berates the First Doctor for getting him into "another fine mess", a homage to the catchphrase of Oliver Hardy. The phrase "there's another nice mess you've gotten me into" was often spoken by Hardy to berate Stan Laurel whenever the pair ended up in a comedic situation in many of their films. It is also the title of one film, Another Fine Mess.
Webcast[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the webcast Doctors Assemble! [+]Loading...["Doctors Assemble! (webcast)"], each incarnation of the Doctor appears in a "group chat" on the TARDIS scanner. The Doctors only appear by via voiceover, being represented each by profile photos. For the Eleventh Doctor, the photo used was an image of him appearing alongside Laurel and Hardy. The photo of Laurel and Hardy used for this was a publicity shot for the 1928 short film The Finishing Touch, with the Eleventh Doctor superimposed onto it.
Other connections[[edit] | [edit source]]
The 2018 biopic Stan & Ollie by BBC Films starred a number of actors who have appeared in DWU media, including Shirley Henderson, Stephanie Hyam, Richard Cant, Ella Kenion, Bentley Kalu, Daniel Fearn, Stewart Alexander and Conrad Asquith.
The 2006 TV movie Stan similarly has a shared cast with the DWU, including Jim Norton, Trevor Cooper, Lorelei King and Nik Howden,
