Talk:Doctor Who spoofs

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An entry from Doctor Who spoofs appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 8 April 2006.

[edit] Inspiration for Pakistani Dalek?

Does anyone have any idea what may have inspired the Pakistani Dalek sketch? Initially I thought that it may have been the coup led by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq but that article and History of Pakistan give the date as 1977 rather than 1975, so I must have misremembered. Naturally, we should have sources indicating that someone else (or Milligan himself, of course) confirmed that the sketch was inspired by whatever event, but in any case, thoughts?--Sean Black ^(talk) 21:20, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Should Dimensions in Time be in this list?

Of course, it's crap, and it was done for charity just like Curse of Fatal Death, but IIUC JN-T wanted it to be considered a "real" Doctor Who adventure. It doesn't come across as intentionally funny (just funny in an oh-my-God-that's-so-awful way). I think that a "spoof" requires comic intent, not just effect, which would exclude DiT. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 05:51, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

I say take it off. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 06:01, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Done. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 06:17, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead Ringers

Did Dead Ringers show the Second and Seventh Doctors before their 2005 Christmas special? If not, we might want to rephrase the last paragraph of that section to indicate that it was only one sketch (so far). —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 06:23, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SNL sketches

I agree that the SNL sketches were described in far too much detail before Khaosworks pared them down, but I think that the quotation from the Paris Hilton sketch is just plain odd enough to merit inclusion. I'm not a Paris Hilton fan, but I do admit that the cognitive dissonance caused by the juxtaposition of Doctor Who with one of our most vacuous celebrities is jarring enough to be funny.

So that folks don't have to look through the page's history, the quote is:

""Operators are standing by. Who knows, one of them might be me. Does Doctor Who turn you on, baby? Well, I'm getting into my TARDIS right now. Oooh! I'd better put on my big floppy hat and scarf. I hope I don't find any Daleks here. Are you a Dalek, baby? Do you want to exterminate me? Call today."

I'll defer to the judgment of the other editors as to whether it's worth including or not. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 09:27, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

I know nothing about the SNL sketches, but that quote seems bizarre enough to be worth noting. —Wh o uk (talk) 11:37, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Added a link to the entire transcript of the Paris sketch, which apparently I had deliberately blocked from my mind when I first started the section. Thanks for catching that, Josiah :) Also I think khaosworks' edit, while overwhelmingly helpful, trimmed away what is the actual notability of what we might call "Doctor Who Spoofs in America"--namely that they have never, AFIAK, been about the programme itself, but always centered on commentary about the show's fans. I felt that was important enough to give a second go.CzechOut 20:11, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Hey, I can't blame you for wanting to forget that. The link is a good addition, and I'll let others decide whether the line should be quoted (in whole or part). —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 20:34, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Gave the "notability" thing a third try. Again, it's notable not just for the fact that it was on SNL. It's about how it was on SNL, as well. CzechOut 02:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Whoever made that last edit, thank you! That was perfect. That was just exactly what I was trying to say, and so much more economically :)CzechOut 13:27, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome. :) --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 13:42, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The 1963 sketch

Anyone got the details of the December 1963 sketch with Clive Dunn as the First Doctor to hand? I have a feeling it's detailed in the DWM First Doctor Special, which I am afraid I don't have with me here. Pixley's certainly covered it at *some* point in DWM, anyway. Angmering 19:17, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Well-remembered - that's exactly where it is. I'll add it in now. —Wh o uk (talk) 21:54, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Well done that man. Angmering 22:57, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Simpsons

Isn't there also an episode where they go to a science-fiction convention, and Tom Baker / the Fourth Doctor can be seen sitting at a table with a version of the diamond logo on display behind him? Angmering 17:36, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

It's "Mayored to the Mob". I can't remember if the logo's there, but the TARDIS is. —Wh o uk (talk) 19:21, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

A screenshot of the Fourth Doctor, Simpsons-style, would be a great addition to this page, if anyone has the resources, time and inclination. (Unfortunately, I'm image-inept, or I'd try it myself.) —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 23:10, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I'll do a screengrab from "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" this evening if no-one beats me to it. —Wh o uk (talk) 07:30, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, Will. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 16:52, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

And 'tis now there. —Wh o uk (talk) 18:03, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

And lovely it is, too. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 18:10, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Whovian on Conan O'Brien

Does anyone remember some Whovian appearing on one of his usual comedy routines of featuring variously odd people and one of them was a Whovian dressed up as the Fourth Doctor? DrWho42 02:46, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pitch of Fear offence

had reportedly offended both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy

Aside from the expectation that all of the later Doctors would have been offended, somewhere along the line I'd got the impression that it was Davison who had particularly taken umbrage, presumably because he had appeared with them in the third sketch. Is there a source either way? —Wh o uk (talk) 09:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

This is still anecdotal, but I believe that it was only McCoy and Baker who came out and said they would refuse to work with Gatiss-penned stuff for BF. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 09:32, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Davison worked with Gatiss on a recent episode of Nebulous so we can assume he didn't take any offence -- Zagrebo 11:29, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Or seven years was enough for him to get over it ;-) —Wh o uk (talk) 10:11, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

In his 2003 DWM interview, Gatiss mentioned that he could now only write Big Finishes for Davison or McGann, and only mentioned Baker and McCoy having been offended by the joke. Angmering 17:16, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, that's pretty definitive. —Wh o uk (talk) 18:18, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead Ringers excerpts

While I like having the links there, I'm wondering if those are copyright violations (probably), or that linking to copyviol links is against policy. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 23:35, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Dustbin" Daleks

I remember a spoof sketch of Doctor Who from the 1970's, featuring Daleks made from dustbins with sink plungers for guns. It is not listed in this article - does anyone else remember it, and remember which comedy show it was from?

Theres a sketch on TV Ark from a show called "End of Part One" which features a dustbin Dalek, maybe that's the one you're thinking of.

--Gaz C 22:54, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I think it's from an episode of "Emu", also on TVArk. Orville Eastland 13:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I think it might have been Emu. The show I remember was broadcast in the UK in the 1970s, so that definitely fits the bill

I've done some searching and can confirm that it was definitely Emu. See the following 2 links: http://www.dellah.com/orient/2003/07/08/i-am-rod-hull, and http://tv.cream.org/a-z/e/index.htm. I think this should be added to the main article.

There's actually a Doctor Who Spoofs section on the TV Ark Website (http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/). It contains details of more Doctor Who spoofs not on this site.

[edit] Veterinarian's Hospital

Doctor Who was also mentioned in a Veterinarian's Hospital segment of "The Muppet Show". Would this count as a spoof? Orville Eastland 13:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chelmsford 123?

In TARDIS#Popular culture, there's a mention of a brief appearance by the TARDIS and (silhouetted) Doctor in one episode of Chelmsford 123. I haven't seen this — should it be included in this article as well? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 17:32, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beavis and Butt-Head

Dunno whether to add this or not but there's an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head where they are somehow declared geniuses and are moved to a higher class. Whilst in the class they are introduced to their brightest student - a computer expert who has wired electrodes to his brain, and is increasing his intelligence by running a computer program through it. He remarks that he based the technique on something he once saw in a Doctor Who episode (Time and the Rani?)

--Gaz C 23:12, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Charlotte Church show

OK, it was rubbish, but I've included it here for completeness' sake. But who was that playing the Doctor in most of the sketch (before he regenerated into Todd Carty)? And why exactly was that supposed to be funny? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 03:05, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] First Torchwood parody?

I'm not sure if it's notable or not, but Verity Stob has a rather literate parody of Torchwood by way of Under Milk Wood here. Stob is notable enough to have her own Wikipedia page (if barely) — should we mention this in the article or not? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 02:59, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm, I'd say yes for the time being as there haven't been enough Torchwood spoofs to justify a new page, and this would probably the best place to put it for now. The Beano Hot-Rod Cow spoof also jabs at Torchwood but only lightly by being a different anagram of Doctor Who. --GracieLizzie 10:58, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dangermouse

The Dangermouse section doesn't actually appear to be a spoof; it's simply a pun on the name 'Doctor Who': no elements of the show are actually parodied. Laïka 09:55, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Repeated vandalism by User:71.245.106.72

I have just reverted vandalism by User:71.245.106.72, and it seems that his/her attempts to vandalise the article have had to be reverted before by MartinBot. You may want to watch this individual or place him/her on some kind of notice. 12.22.250.4 17:32, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mr. Bean

Who can forget Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean, when a Dalek zaps a lamb at the stable and then (along with some tanks and a helicopter) saves the baby Jesus from a T-Rex. BethEnd 05:16, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Three" vs. "four"

“

The final episode of the seventh series also featured two spoofs of Torchwood, one of which featured Jack Harkness in a threesome with three Cybermen in a hotel.

”

Umm, wouldn't that make it a FOURsome? I'm not trying to be flippant, I just want to point out the number disagreement here. 12.22.250.4 19:01, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] its a square world

"probably". It is, or isn't? Is this speculation made within the cited text?--Crossmr 06:32, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Max Headroom incident?

This is a Doctor Who spoof, how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cooky-cy (talk • contribs) 09:56, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Heartbeat

There was an episode of Heartbeat a couple of years ago where a man is having delusions, one of which was that he saw a police box (the 2005 version of the TARDIS). All his other delusions were accounted for as being real events, except for the police box. If anyone knows more about this, can they please add it to the article. I'm not that up on Wikipedia editing. VaughnJess 07:20, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Harry Hill Again

I recall a sketch from Harry Hill's Channel 4 show in which Peter Davison appeared alongside a Cyberman. I think the premise was that Davison was appearing either as himself, or another character, and the Cyberman was a "surprise" addition to the scene. Then there was a later scene with Davison and the Cyberman chatting over a cup of tea in the show's "green room". Anyone else remember this one?

Also, at around the same time, Hill did a UK stand-up tour. Part of the show featured a Dalek on stage interacting with Harry. Early in the show, Harry does a Doctor Who song in which he sings the names of all the actors who have played the Doctor to a fast paced tune (in an Animaniacs style), ending with a pause and "... aaaaaaaaaaaand Peter Cushing!" In the encore, the Dalek moves to the front of the stage and asks Harry if he wants to hear the Dalek's Doctor Who song. The Dalek then sings to the same tune, only swapping the actors' names for "bastard", but ending with the same "... aaaaaaaaaaaand Peter Cushing!" Kelvingreen 10:19, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reorganization

I apologize for making a major change without waiting for consensus, but this article was in desperate need of reorganization. By placing every entry in its own section, chronologically, without regard for medium, there were 67 sections. It was so badly organized as to scarcely be encyclopedic. I have reorganized the entries into 8 sections, which should make the page easier to navigate, and certainly makes it look much more like an encyclopedia article. If anyone objects, I open the floor to discussion. DOSGuy (talk) 21:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What is a spoof?

Someone recently removed a reference to Buffy Season 8 because it wasn't a spoof. I think we should define what a spoof is.

I say it was a spoof because it was a joke. It was not a licensed or official Doctor Who appearance, and I'm sure that no one asked the BBC for permission to include those characters and likenesses in the comic book. It was an Easter Egg or sight gag, and the appearance of the characters and TARDIS were altered to avoid copyright violations. To me, that's what a spoof is. Does anyone disagree? DOSGuy (talk) 14:27, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

I think that a spoof has more deliberate comic intent than just a visual reference. I think a Doctor Who spoof would be either something making fun of Doctor Who or using the tropes of Doctor Who to make fun of something else. The TARDIS was seen in a cargo bay in one episode of Red Dwarf. Even though Red Dwarf was a comedy, that wasn't a spoof, it was just a tip of the hat. Similarly, the inclusion of the Tenth Doctor and Rose in the Buffy comic was a nod to Doctor Who, but it's not a spoof. An Easter egg isn't really a spoof — if it were, the inclusion of the ship Serenity in the Battlestar Galactica miniseries would be a spoof of Firefly. It wasn't — it was just the FX studio that handled both programs having a little fun. The Buffy cameo was the artist having fun, since Faith and Giles were in London. But aside from the "look, it's Doctor Who!" element, there's no joke there. I think that to be a spoof you need a joke. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 05:25, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

By that definition, I think most of this article has to go. DOSGuy (talk) 05:51, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

How so? I think nearly all the entries can be seen as either making fun of Doctor Who or using Doctor Who to make fun of something else. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 15:22, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I've been debating how to prune this article, myself, for the past few months. The thing is that, although some entries are obviously spoofs (Pakistani Dalek) and some entries are obviously only references (above Buffy example), there are quite a few of them that straddle the line between spoof and reference (e.g. Rock Band). That's the difficult bit. DonQuixote (talk) 16:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems like the difference between a "reference" and a spoof is a question of intent, which requires a certain amount of clairvoyance. For instance, the appearance of a police box called "Strange Box" is in Hellgate: London is probably intended as a joke, so that's a spoof. The appearance of a monster that looks like a Dalek in Boppin', at first glance, doesn't appear to be a joke, so that entry should go. Or should it? The game Boppin' is a spoof of the entire video game industry. The concept is that ridding the universe of evil turned out to be a bad thing, and Yeet and Boik are on a quest to rescue villains and restore the balance. In that context, perhaps the idea of rescuing a Dalek is a joke. But how can anyone know for certain? Did Joss Whedon intend the inclusion of Doctor Who in Buffy Season 8 to be funny? I would guess that he did, but I'm not a mind reader. If we have to base inclusion on the supposed intentions of the author, I think we're on very shaky ground. To me, if someone includes an unauthorized Doctor Who reference in their work, especially if some alteration is used to avoid copyright violation, it's a joke on, or spoof of, Doctor Who. DOSGuy (talk) 18:30, 21 April 2008 (UTC)