Face of Boe
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| Doctor Who character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The Face of Boe | |
| Affiliated with | None |
| Race | Boekind |
| Home planet | Possibly "the Silver Devastation" (Isop Galaxy) |
| Home era | Unknown |
| First appearance | The End Of The World |
| Last appearance | Gridlock |
The Face of Boe is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A being which appears to consist of just a gigantic, human-like head, with, in place of hair, numerous tendrils which terminate in round pod-like structures. He is a wholly mechanical effect and is not portrayed on-screen by an actor. He did not speak during his appearance in The End of the World, only having been heard to grunt, but communicated telepathically in New Earth.
A being of considerable influence in galactic circles, the Face first appeared in the 2005 series episode The End of the World, set in the year 5.5/Apple/26, five billion years in the future. There, he was the sponsor of an event to safely witness the destruction of the Earth by the expansion of the Sun. The event was sabotaged, but the Face was seen among the survivors at the end of the episode. The episode describes him as coming from the "Silver Devastation".
The Face was next seen on the BAD WOLFTV news channel in the episode The Long Game, set in the 2001st century where he was reported to be pregnant with the "Baby Boemina". The Face did not appear, but was the subject of a question, in a deadly version of The Weakest Link in the 2002nd century, where he was described as the oldest being in the Isop galaxy (the location of the planet Vortis in The Web Planet). In the New Series Adventures novel The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons, Jack Harkness (who is from the 51st century) says that he once saw someone "dressed up as the Face of Boe."
These appearances imply that either "Face of Boe" is a title passed down through an extremely long-lived species, or that the Face is practically immortal, as described by Russell T. Davies in the Doctor Who reference book Monsters and Villains. This book claims that the Face of Boe was around while the stars of the Andromeda Galaxy were still dust but that he may die one day. It also states that if he does, the sky will "crack asunder", and that he has one final secret that he will share only with a "homeless, wandering traveller". In New Earth, it was stated that the Face was the last of Boekind, and was reportedly millions of years old. When the Doctor asked the Face if this was true, the Face replied with a chuckle that it would be impossible. Whether he was being coy or not is unclear.
Monsters and Villains also states that The Face of Boe was particularly fertile during the time of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire and had six children (Boemina) who only lived for forty years each, the average lifespan of the species. It is unknown why the Face of Boe has lived so long — it is apparently not a result of his life support tank. This has caused him to be dubbed on some worlds as "the creature that God forgot".
In New Earth the Face was hospitalised in Ward 26 of the hospital run by the Sisters of Plenitude on New Earth. Apparently dying of old age, the Face summoned the Doctor to him. When a novice told the Doctor the legend of the Face's last words, the Doctor realised that he fit the description of the "wandering traveller". At the conclusion of the episode, the Face recovered, saying that although he had grown tired of the universe, the Doctor had shown him a new way of looking at things. The Doctor asked about the message, but the Face told him that could wait for their third and final meeting, and teleported away.
According to the show's producer (Russell T. Davies) when this time comes the Face will pass on the four words that make up the secret to the Doctor, and that it will be "fantastic". The Face of Boe is seen in the trailer for the upcoming Series 3 shown at the end of the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride and will appear in the third episode, Gridlock.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Doctor Who: Regeneration." Narr. Mark Gatiss. BBC Radio 2, 20 December 2005.
- Richards, Justin (2005). Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains. BBC Books, 63. ISBN 0-563-48632-5.
