The Discontinuity Guide
The Eighth Doctor Adventures

Earth World

March 2001

Author: Jacqueline Raynor

Roots: Jurassic Park and Westworld. Fitz quotes Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (Theres no place like home) and mentions Robbie the Robot (Forbidden Planet). Elvis is mentioned, and an Elvis impersonator appears, resulting in references to numerous Presley songs. There is a Coca-cola vending machine in the twentieth century zone. The Sphinx in the Egyptian zone asks Anji for a riddle, which as the Doctor notes is actually based on a Greek Myth, not an Egyptian one. Amongst the films, television programmes and books that Anji is familiar with thanks to Dave are The Terminator, Star Trek, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, The Lord of the Rings, James Bond, The Day of the Triffids, The Jungle Book, Blade Runner, Superman, and The X-Files. There are mentions of Marilyn Monroe and Michelle Pfeiffer, the BBC, Cliff Richard, Descartes, The Phantom of the Opera, Hansel and Gretel, Dr Benjamin Spock, Constable, Spangles, Spcae Hoppers, The Adventure Game, Abba, Nik Kershaw, Timothy Dalton, and Sean Connery. Antarcticas android crocodile is called Princess Leia (Star Wars), and makes a ticking sound (Peter Pan). The Doctor mentions Gregor Mendel. The TARDIS library contains a copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Continuity: Anji was born in Yorkshire. She had a boyfriend called Tom, three boyfriends before Dave. In an attempt to deal with Dave's death she writes e-mails to him; her address is [email protected]. Dave's was [email protected] [He was obviously a Transformers fan]. The last present Dave ever bought for her was a gold necklace with her name on it, which was to celebrate their anniversary. She lived in a student house whilst at university. She knows first aid. She is partway through reading Sense and Sensibility. When she started school, she pretended that her name was Angela in an attempt to be accepted. In her handbag she carries a mobile phone and a Psion personal organiser. She used to regularly walk for fifteen minutes to the Canary Wharf tube station and then three minutes to work at the other end. She is not superstitious, nor does she believe in reincarnation, though she wishes that she did. She once got lost in Hampton Court. Anji wears a Harvey Nicks sweater, but is forced to unravel it in order to mark her way through a labyrinth. At school, she fancied a boy called Robert Fordham, and cried herself to sleep when he asked Joanne Davies to the end-of-term disco. She used to do aerobics two lunchtimes a week.

The Doctor continues to have flashes of memory - he yells to Anji number seventeen, a reference to the system of pre-prepared plans that he and Sam used to use. He also remembers a planet where the sky was orange and the trees had leaves of silver (Gallifrey - see The Sensorites). When Fitz carefully asks him about Gallifrey however, he clearly doesn't recognise the name. He learnt the song It's a Long Way to Tipperary during the war. Whilst briefly possessed by the spirits of Hanstrum and Elizabethan, the Doctor and Anji kiss. He juggles a snowstorm of the Eiffel tower, a can of Coke, and an apple, and makes them vanish in mid-air.

Fitz's full name is Fitzgerald Michael Kreiner. It is just over a week for him since he and the Doctor last stood together in Compassion's control room. He cannot swim and doesn't know first aid. He undergoes a crisis of confidence when he remembers that he is not the real Fitz (see Interference), but manages to come to terms with it. Due to the reconstruction of his past by the TARDIS, his memories are all near the surface, even old ones, whereas most people's memories fade into the background, as they grow older. He briefly wonders if his biomass body is immortal, but quickly realises that it isnt when he cuts himself. His earliest memory is of a visit to the zoo with his Dad, where he fed peanuts to the monkeys. He once went to the theatre to see an Oscar Wilde play with his Mum. He is a big fan of Elvis and was horrified when Sam showed him footage of the aging overweight Presley shortly before his death. He again uses the alias Fitz Fortune, unfortunately drawing the attention of the triplets who force him to put on concerts in front of android audiences and take part in a death match with the Elvis impersonator. He also recalls past aliases, including Frank Sinatra, Simon Templar (The Saint) and James Bond.

When he was a child, he used to pretend to be Dick Barton: Special Agent. The triplets provide him with a Fender Stratocaster with his name written on it for his concerts. He plays Groovy Weekend, You Broke my Heart, Bikini Girl, Upside Down in Venice, Shakin All Over, Three Steps to Heaven, Chantilly Lace and (I wanna be) Bobby's Girl. He wrote a song for Sam as a romantic gesture, entitled Song for Sam. He met someone with a set of lockpicks on twenty-first century Earth and has decided to buy some (which he has done by The City of the Dead). He has a rather long nose. On his fifth birthday, his Mum gave him Spam sandwiches. He saw Ben Hur and Dr. No at the cinema. He once got trapped in the TARDIS library for two days and read Greek and Roman classics to pass the time, including works by Aristophanes. He is also very familiar with the King Arthur legends. The triplets build an android replica of Fitz with a bomb inside it.

The TARDIS scanner eye is still located under the beacon (The Daleks' Master Plan). There is a scarlet plush sofa on the left-hand side of the console, plus a reference room and filing alcove. With Fitz's encouragement, the TARDIS destroys the triplets' memory machine to prevent the Doctor learning about the events of The Ancestor Cell too quickly. It carefully contains the explosion to prevent any of its occupants being harmed. The Doctor finds a motorbike and sidecar in the TARDIS, which he gives to Hoover and Elizabethan. The regenerated TARDIS still has the Butterfly room (Vampire Science, The Shadows of Avalon).

The androids on New Jupiter are highly sophisticated and can pass for their originals, but are controlled from a central power source (the triplets modify their androids to give them an internal power source). The early colonists originally designed them for menial use when they were establishing New Jupiter.

Links: Amongst the historically inaccurate android exhibits in the twentieth century London zone of EarthWorld are a Yeti (The Web of Fear) and a War Machine (The War Machines), the latter of which is believed to have worked for the post office. Fitz mentions that he and the Doctor used to fly around the universe in a stroppy redhead (a reference to Compassion). During his identity crisis he recalls the events of The Taint and Interference, and Father Kreiner's death in The Ancestor Cell. Dave's death in Escape Velocity is referenced constantly, due to Anji's attempts to come to terms with it. The Doctor recalls talks of his friendship with Alan Turing (The Turing Test). Fitz remembers girls that he fancied or dated, including Filippa (Parallel 59), Maddy (Revolution Man), Kerstin (Dominion), and Arielle (The Fall of Yquatine). Fitz mentions Iris and her bus (The Scarlet Empress and The Blue Angel). In the bizarre New Jupitan piscine version of the legend of King Arthur, the knights went on the Quest for the Holy Grel, which may be a reference to the Grel from Oh No it Isnt!. The triplets remind the Doctor of Miranda (Father Time).

Location: New Jupiter, the future.

Future History: New Jupiter is an Earth colony, with a feudal system of government the President is more like a King, and inherited his title, since he is descended from the first Earth colonists. The founding families are virtually considered to be aristocracy (see The Robots of Death). Many of the inhabitants are fascinated with Earth, which is currently fashionable. Earth Heritage is a large interplanetary corporation that specializes in Earth-based theme parks, which have built EarthWorlds on thousands of planets. EarthWorld is separated into historical zones, including Egypt and twentieth-century London; however, few historical records have survived and the archaeologists of the future are somewhat ignorant of accurate historical facts, believing for example that there were colonies on Mars in the 1960s, that Churchill was a famous policeman well-known for his seaside boxing matches, and that Elvis was the King of Earth. A handful of the New Jupitans object to the obsession with Earth, and want people to recognise the heritage of New Jupiter. EarthWorld Genuine Earth Recipe Fudge is made in Alpha Centauri.

Unrecorded Adventures: The Doctor may have been present at the execution of Mary Stuart.

The Bottom Line: Setting out to achieve the task of giving Anji some decent characterisation whilst properly reintroducing Fitz to the post-The Burning Whoniverse, EarthWorld succeeds admirably. The plot is straightforward, but is beautifully dressed up in costume of wit and whimsy, which makes it move along at a cracking pace. A triumph.

Discontinuity Guide by Paul Clarke