Scaroth (short story)
Scaroth was the tenth The Blogs of Doom short story, published in 2019 in Doctor Who Magazine 528. Like other features in the series, it narrated events in the life of a minor Doctor Who TV character before and after their involvement in the Doctor's life.
In this case, the subject of writer Jonathan Morris's attention was Scaroth from City of Death.
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
A planet during it's primeval time - Scaroth and his crew are stuck on an uninhabitable planet and they're demanding to take off ASAP (As Soneds As Possible). Even though he's in the warp field, he readys to take off...
Cretaceous Era - After being split in time, the earliest fragment is surrounded by reptilian life, and notices a space freighter falling from the sky...
Palaeolithic Era - Scaroth tries to show the indigenous race the uses of fire.
Neolithic Era - Now that they've learned fire, Scaroth tries to teach the human race the concept of a wheel, which Za tries to set on fire.
Giza, Fourth dynasty - Scaroth doesn't understand why a pyramid isn't being built right, then realises the plans are upside-down.
Florence, 1504 - Scaroth discusses the Mona Lisa project with Leonardo, and criticises his drawings of a flying machine.
Paris, 1979 - To pass in human society, Scaroth is disguised as a count with a female consort. And his plan to time travel is almost ready...
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Jagaroth have pretty much wiped themselves out in a massive war.
- Scaroth is flung into the Time Vortex and split into 12 separate but connected fragments in various parts of history.
- Scaroth spends several millennia trying to convince primitives to gather as well as hunt.
- Having finally got humans to map the heavens, Scaroth tries to advance construction techniques using levers, pulleys, and slave labor.
- A pyramid is "the single simplest structure in the entire universe."
- Leonardo da Vinci tries to save time by printing the Mona Lisa via a silk screen process, commenting on the culture of mass production by making colourful copies.
- He hates being called "Da Vinci."
- Scaroth is puzzled that his consort isn't concerned with their lack of intimacy, but she just wants him and Hermann to "be discreet" in the cellar.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- According to another account, the Jagartoh were warring with the Dahensa. (PROSE: The Kingdom of the Blind)
- Scaroth witnesses the extinction of the dinosaurs. (TV: Earthshock)
- Scaroth tries to teach the concept of a wheel to the Tribe of Gum. (TV: An Unearthly Child)
- The chief slave-driver is Khepren. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
- A funny little man from the monastery tells Leonardo to get his ideas for a flying machine down on paper. (TV: The Time Meddler)
