Vworp Vworp Explanation The sound the TARDIS makes when it lands or takes off, according to a sound effect in a Doctor Who Magazine comic when it first started back in 1979. This has stuck as the "official" transcription of the sound. According to River Song, the noise is from the brakes being left on.
Also known as a wheezing, groaning noise. Explanation The phrase Terrance Dicks would invariably use to describe the same sound effect in his Doctor Who books, from the mid-1970's onwards.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Doctor.
Doctor who?
Correct. note Alternatively, "No no, just 'The Doctor'."
"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" Explanation What Daleks scream before they kill people. Arguably the single most well-known meme of the series. The Daleks first appeared in 1963. They gained the catchphrase in 1965. Apparently, they shout it so much because it's how they reload.
EX-PLAIN! EX-PLAIN!
Likewise, there's also "DELETE!" Explanation What New Series Cybermen say before they kill people.
These memes are stored behind the sofa. Explanation It was (and is) a meme for decades that Doctor Who was so terrifying children could only watch it while hiding behind the sofa.
Yes, but do they have gravitas? Explanation A frequent fan demand is that the Doctor and/or the series have gravitas.
X is a Time Lord and Y is their TARDIS. Explanation It's become an unavoidable meme around This Very Wiki's Wild Mass Guessing sections to make the guess that a certain character with potentially qualifying traits is a Time Lord. Some guesses become as specific as this guy is the Doctor and/or that guy is the Master.
Oh, I see you’ve redecorated — I don’t like it. Explanation Variant of similar lines said by the Second, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors referring to the redressing of locations they've previously visited (and in the case of the Tenth Doctor, his future self having changed the desktop theme inside his TARDIS) at different points in different episodes. Also hilariously used by Clara to the Twelfth Doctor regarding his choice of console room "theme".
"Gallifrey? Is that in Ireland?"Explanation The TV show, the expanded universe, and fan discussion have all joked about the aural resemblance of "Gallifrey" to the Irish area of "Galway"
Scongo. Explanation An imaginary villain created by Doctor Who Facebook group TARDISposting. Universally regarded as the best villain in the history of television.
Classic Series
"Look at the size of that thing!"
"Yes Jamie, it is a big one." Explanation A dialogue exchange between Jamie and the Second Doctor in "The Faceless Ones", referring to an airliner. Commonly used in Who fandom to draw attention to any moment of Ho Yay or general sexual innuendo.
Terrifying Pertwee. note The ihasatardis Livejournal community originally started this trend but none of their original images have survived today due to link rot.)
"Yeti on the loo" Explanation From a frequent comment by Jon Pertwee in interviews that "a Yeti on the loo in Tooting Bec" was scarier than a monster in some kind of SF or fantasy setting. Sometimes used by old-school fans to refer to stories involving aliens attacking contemporary Earth, and also used to refer to the belief among certain fans and fans-turned-creator that the show should focus on stories set on contemporary Earth with "everyday" characters, rather than those with historical, futuristic, or "alien" settings.
"Would you like a jelly baby?" Explanation The Fourth Doctor always carried a bag of jelly babies with him and had a tendency to offer them to everyone, even if they were trying to kill him. The Eighth Doctor homaged this in the 1996 movie and the Master did as well in "The Sound of Drums".
...of Rassilon!Explanation Nearly every Time Lord artifact was named "The X of Rassilon".
"The Rassilon Patent Trouser Press?!" Explanation The Eighth Doctor, via Big Finish, went on a lengthy rant about the ridiculousness of the Of Rassilon naming scheme, which capped off with this.
NOPE Explanation Refers to a scene in "Pyramids of Mars" where upon entering a room with one of Sutekh's robots in it, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane turn around and leave the room in perfect unison, and without saying a word. Reportedly a Throw It In! by Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen.
No, not the mind probe!Explanation The most famous instance of strange acting in the entire series, courtesy of the Castellan in "The Five Doctors". The actor simply could not say the line without the bizarre inflection. Word of God has it that Terrance Dicks included the line to reference a more obscure use of the same line in the earlier "Frontier in Space", in order to make fun of it. In so doing, he surpassed the original.
A pleasant, open face. Explanation A phrase commonly used by Terrance Dicks to describe the Fifth Doctor in the novelizations.
"My dreeeeeeams of CONQUEST!" Explanation Soldeed from "The Horns of Nimon" is probably the most hammy villain in the series' history. Ever.
"YOU MEDDLESOME HUSSY!"
"HOW MANY NIMONS HAVE YOU SEEN TODAY?"
The Doctor is gonna bust a cap in yo ass.Explanation A YouTube montage of classic-Who clips of the Doctor using guns and lethal weaponry, used to rebut any message-board claim that the Doctor is and always has been a pacifist. Made more hilarious is that the montage is set to the Geto Boys' "Still", aka That Gangsta Rap Song from Office Space.
NUZZING IN ZE VORLD CAN SHTOP ME NOW!!!! Explanation Professor Zaroff from "The Underwater Menace" rivals even Soldeed for his hamminess; the line in question comes from the end of Part Three.
WAKING OR SLEEPING, YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE ME, TURLOUGH!Explanation The Black Guardian's threat to his unwilling agent Turlough, who he recruited to kill the Doctor.
"I shall kill you all now! But first, I have some important tasks to perform..." Explanation A particularly strange line from Styre in The Sontaran Experiment, which gained traction as essentially summing up the villains of any classic Who serial during a cliffhanger, despite the line coming near the end of Experiment.
"Now I'll never know if I was right."
Anything else to do with Adric, actually.
Seventies Porn Colin Explanation A seventies publicity photoset showing Colin Baker shirtless and sporting a Porn Stache, which caused much hilarity/lust when rediscovered by fangirls. (Note that Baker was NOT, at any time, actually involved in pornography.)
"Why don't you like me?"Explanation A music video (as well as several imitators) of the Sixth Doctor's TV run set to Mika's "Grace Kelly", perhaps the single most appropriate description of how Colin Baker's run was received.
Creeper EightExplanation A face of a comic-drawn Eighth Doctor staring with an emphatic smile at a boy named Billy Wilkins in Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game. It comes off unintentionally as leering like a stalker with a Slasher Smile, and joins the ranks of Terrifying Pertwee in terms of scare factor.
"The memory cheats." Explanation A catchphrase of eighties producer John Nathan-Turner, suggesting that anybody who considered his stories not as good as earlier ones was suffering from Nostalgia Filter.
EXCELLENT! Explanation The very emotional response of the unemotional Cyberleader portrayed by David Banks.
Promos for a stream of Classic Who run on Twitch gave rise to several memes thanks to the chat:
London 1965 Explanation A part of Ian's line "In London 1965!" in "The Chase", which a clip of it was used for the First Doctor promo of the Twitch classic Doctor Who marathon. It would play twice in between each episode from the First Doctor era. The chat room felt this line stuck out more than any other line in the promo.
HE KNOWS Explanation Used every time the First Doctor said the line “I know. Believe me, I know.” during the promo for his era.
The one with the feh-white hair. Explanation A flubbed line from "The Sensorites".
No, Jamie, No! Explanation The Doctor shouting at Jamie as he's leaving the TARDIS in "The Mind Robber". This was quoted a lot in the Twitch chat room since it played in the Second Doctor promo.
IKEEEEAAAA! Explanation A misinterpretation of “Kiai”, shouted by the Third Doctor in "The Sea Devils" at the beginning of his and the Master’s Sword Fight. Used to describe any martial arts scene in the Third Doctor’s promo and thereafter.
Salami...Sandwich... Explanation A scene from "The Masque of Mandragora" that gave great delight to the chat room when it was put into an updated trailer for the Fourth Doctor; there was even a running tally of how many salami sandwiches the Doctor had asked for by the end of the promo's run.
ACE! ACE? AND BOOM! BOOM! Explanation Two pieces from dialogue placed in the Seventh Doctor promo, the first from "Dragonfire" when Ace introduces herself to Mel, the second from "Battlefield" as she recounts an anecdote to a guest character in the story. The second piece was used whenever an explosion was shown.
YOU CAN'T MEND ____ CAN YOU!Explanation A line from "Kinda" used in the Fifth Doctor promo. Quickly became quoted endlessly with differing variations in the chat.
Heathrow 1981. Explanation A line from "The Visitation" also used in the Fifth Doctor promo, similar to “London 1965” in its idiosyncratic delivery.
Another Mistake Styre! Explanation A line pulled from "The Sontaran Experiment" for the Fourth Doctor's first promo, quoted directly whenever Sontarans were involved in the plot to mock them as chronic mistake makers, and undergoing permutations whenever anyone on screen bungled something.
CARROT JUICE?! Explanation A line from "Terror of the Vervoids", Mel’s introduction scene, for the Sixth Doctor’s promo.
WE SKIPPED SIX! Explanation Following the finale of the marathon, a compilation of all the promos played, which, for some reason, skipped over the Sixth Doctor, prompting this response from the chat.
"Madam! What year is this?!" Explanation The Third Doctor's hammy demand in Dimensions in Time.
"Two-thousand-and-thirteen!!" Explanation The answer to the Third Doctor's question.
Big Ron won. Explanation Dimensions in Time had a telephone poll between its first and second parts to determine which EastEnders character, Mandy or Big Ron, would assist the Doctor in the resolution to the cliffhanger. Once the footage of the unaired Big Ron version surfaced, fans latched onto him as a Memetic Badass, to the point that a Twitter watch-along of the special used the phrase as the hashtag.
The techno theme tune. Explanation Dimensions in Time infamously used a fast-paced electronic/dance remix of the theme music provided by Cybertech.
"There is logic in what he says." Explanation A line from the Cyberleader in Attack of the Cybermen. Often used in response to an absence of logic.
"Is this the human condition known as madness, Leader?" "It is." Explanation A similar exchange between the Cyberleader and another Cyberman in Silver Nemesis.
The animation in "The Web Of Fear" Explanation A 2021 Blu-Ray release of The Web of Fear featured the missing episode reanimated using CGI, which unfortunately had very static faces and extremely strange, puppet-like movements. The animation quickly became notorious, along with WhoYouTubers such as Josh Snares posting videos of themselves imitating the animation to demonstrate just how strange the movements were.
"You make your incompetence sound like an achievement!" Explanation A Dalek line in The Daleks Master Plan, used in response to, well, incompetence.
"You know, you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain." Explanation A similar line from the Fourth Doctor in The Robots of Death.
"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views." Explanation The Fourth Doctor says this during The Face of Evil, and the line has been used in response to concepts such as Confirmation Bias.
Four GrinningExplanation At the end of "The Invasion of Time", the Doctor bids farewell to Leela and K9, only to whip out a box for an upgraded copy of K9 before giving a cheeky grin to the camera. Divorced from its context, the grin can be read as lecherous and/or shit-eating, which resulted in a gif of it becoming a popular reaction image to express lust (often accompanied with the caption "I can fap to this") or schadenfreude.
New Series
"Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically, run." Explanation The Doctor says this and variations to many people. Also a fairly comprehensive summary of the post-2005 revival.
Fantastic! Explanation The Ninth Doctor's catchphrase.
It's "Eccleston", not "Ecclestone". Explanation A common and often infuriating misreading of Christopher Eccleston's last name, referencing the famous "It's 'Leviosa', not 'Levio-sar'" line with Hermione correcting Ron over the pronunciation of a spell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, from another series that is a staple of British pop culture.
Do NOT skip Nine. Explanation The Ninth Doctor, the first Doctor since the show returned in 2005, isn't as popular as the Tenth Doctor and only existed for a single season, but his era contains many plot points which continue into the Tenth Doctor's era and also contains a couple of fan-favourite episodes.
After "The Name of the Doctor" it became: We all skipped Nine!Explanation, major spoilers The "War Doctor", played by John Hurt, isn't "counted" as a Doctor, and had his existence revealed in 2013, several years after the Christopher Eccleston era, as a "secret" incarnation between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors who fought in the Time War. As a result, the "ninth" Doctor was arguably "skipped" over by the narratives.
Bad Wolf Explanation The Arc Words for series 1/season 27. Used again in the end of series 4/season 30.
Moisturize MeExplanation A phrase Lady Cassandra frequently uses to remind her aides to remoisturize her, given that she's simply a sheet of skin that'll fall apart if she dries out too much. The repetition of the phrase and her distinctive appearance let to Whovians on Tumblr frequently reblogging any images that resemble Cassandra with the words "moisturize me."
"Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?" Explanation This line from "Aliens of London" has become a popular response online to fart jokes in movies and TV.
"GET IN THE CHURCH!" Explanation This line from "Father's Day" has been used frequently in Doctor Who edits, with Eccleston running onscreen whenever a church is mentioned.
"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister." "Yes, we know who you are." Explanation The reaction whenever Harriet Jones introduces herself as "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister". Began as a joke, ended as a Tear Jerker.
Still not ginger. Explanation The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors complained about their hair colours after regenerating. This line is from the Eleventh Doctor in "The End of Time". With the announcement of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, sporting a blonde hairdo, fans began to poke humour at this.
"What? WHAT? WHAT?!???!?" Explanation Series 2 and 3, aka seasons 28 and 29, ended on a cliffhanger of something seemingly impossible happening and the Doctor having this reaction, both times being a lead-in for the Christmas special: for series 2, it's Donna appearing in the TARDIS (seguing into "The Runaway Bride"), and for series 3, it's the Titanic crashing into the TARDIS (setting up "Voyage of the Damned").
Vote Saxon Explanation A background detail in many episodes of series 3/season 29. Becomes vital when it is revealed Harold Saxon is the Master's pseudonym.
Never stop crying, Emo John Smith. Explanation When the Tenth Doctor becomes John Smith in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", he cries more than usual. Although it's been somewhat blown out of proportion, as John Smith only really cries in one scene from "The Family of Blood".
Sad Ten in the rain◊.Explanation A gif of the Tenth Doctor standing in the rain and looking heartbroken is a popular online reaction for tear jerkers.
"People assume time is a straight progression from cause to effect, but actually, from a nonlinear, non-subjective point of view, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey… stuff." Explanation The Doctor attempts to explain complex time travel in "Blink", but falls victim to Buffy Speak. Gets quoted anytime someone tries to explain Doctor Who's time travel, especially in episodes by Steven Moffat, who wrote "Blink" and has become famous for complicated uses of time travel in the series.
The Angels Have The Phone Box. Explanation A line in the Doctor's Easter Egg that he's put on 17 DVDs as a message to Sally Sparrow, and popular amongst the people attempting to understand them. Larry Nightingale states that he has the phrase on a T-shirt.
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't turn away, and don't blink... good luck." Explanation The Doctor's warning to two people about to be attacked by the Weeping Angels.
Rat-tat-tat-tat, Rat-tat-tat-tat...Explanation The drum beats (later revealed to be the heartbeat of a Time Lord) that constantly plague the Master, used as part of his global hypnotism network and a sign of his control of the planet. Try getting it out of your head after the fact.
The Master's gassing of the Cabinet Ministers is one whole meme. "It's a gas mask."Explanation The Master comes prepared.
"Yo dog, I heard you like 'The Doctor's Daughter', so we put the Doctor's daughter in the Doctor's daughter." Explanation This variation of the "yo dog" meme concerns how David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) and Georgia Moffett (Jenny, the Tenth Doctor's daughter) are married and have a daughter together. Georgia is the daughter of Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor.
"Hey! Who turned out the lights?" Explanation A repeated line said by one of the people killed by the Vashta Nerada in "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead", caught in a loop in a communication device.
Spoilers!Explanation River's response to the Doctor asking questions about his future.
Hello, Sweetie! Explanation River's usual greeting to the Doctor.
From "The Waters of Mars": "The Time Lord Victorious" and "The laws of time are mine and they will obey me!" Explanation The Doctor decides that with the Time Lords gone the laws of Time are his now, and he doesn't have to obey the concept of "fixed points in time".
I've gone too far. Explanation The Doctor realises messing with the laws of time wasn't a good idea when Adelaide kills herself to ensure time works out the way it should.
From "The End of Time": There's a lot of photos with John Simm's head pasted on yay...Explanation (spoilers) The Master possesses every person on the planet, superimposing his own image on theirs. Cue scenes with dozens of John Simm.
The Master caused the recession. Explanation When this episode aired, the US was knee-deep in an economic recession. For authenticity's sake, a soundbyte of Barack Obama speaking is interspersed with a lookalike seen only from the back, who says he has a solution to the recession. When the Master possesses him, he goes "Economic solution... oh- DELETED!"
"God bless the cactuses!" "That's 'cacti'." "That's racist!" Explanation A scene from "The End of Time", where Wilfred and the Doctor are rescued by green, prickly-faced aliens.
Worst! Rescue! EVER! Explanation The Doctor is still stuck in the bondage chair as the "cactuses" rescue him.
Steve's a pretty princess! Explanation A Running Gag that compares "Steve" to a pretty princess due to him wearing said pink dress. Fanart sometimes depicts him wearing a tiara as well.
Steve, no! Steve, why? Explanation A gag in the fandom is to have "Steve" flirt with someone else, often another clone, and for The Master to get annoyed by his clone's antics.
I would like to court Steve.
"Doctor Who and the Proclaimers" Explanation One of the last things David Tennant did on set before leaving was engage in a music video with all the cast and crew from his final story and his favourite band, The Proclaimers, playing their breakout hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" as part of a wrap party celebration with Russell T Davies, who also left the show when he did. It's also notable that some scenes of monsters from the show dancing in that video have been turned into exploitable gifs all themselves, especially Ood Sigma breakdancing.
Fish Fingers and CustardExplanation During his post-regeneration confusion in "The Eleventh Hour", the Eleventh Doctor tries to find what food he likes, fish fingers and custard being one of his experiments.
"I am definitely a madman with a box." Explanation Again from the Eleventh Doctor in "The Eleventh Hour", this time dispelling any confusion about whether he is a madman.
Gallifrey Base has "Who the hell is Rory?" It became scarily appropriate after the episode "Cold Blood" aired.
Bowties are Cool. Explanation The Eleventh Doctor defends his choice of apparel.
It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool. Explanation The Doctor wears a fez due to Timey-Wimey Ball reasons, then decides he likes it. Then River and Amy join forces to destroy it.
Goddamit Steve! Explanation Steve is the Fan Nickname of the Silent in "Day of the Moon" who unknowingly tells the human race in post-hypnotic suggestion to kill the Silence.
"Why am I watching this? How does it look different than any other video of the Moon landing?" Explanation Comments on clips of the above scene reference the fact that humans don't see "Steve" but only remember the hypnotic suggestion. So why is the clip so popular? Oh, wait, I get it!
WHERE! IS! MY! WIFE! Explanation From Rory's confrontation with the Cybermen in "A Good Man Goes to War".
Amazing Chuck-Norris-style compilation of Rory's deeds here◊. Warning, major spoilers up to series 6/season 32's midseason finale.
Photoshopping the Eyepatch Lady onto everything possible (album covers, other walls, historical events) has become a meme over on Gallifrey Base, with some images toeing the Memetic Molester line.
Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All, taught Voldemort everything he knows◊. And he still failed. Screw him. Explanation Craig Owens' baby son, Alfie, from "Closing Time", prefers to go by "Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All", according to the Eleventh Doctor, who speaks baby. This has led to Alfie becoming a Memetic Badass. Combine it with Rory and you get "Stormageddon once met Rory Williams. It was called THE TIME WAR."
Eggs. Explanation A Dalek from "Asylum of the Daleks" stutters its call for extermination to Rory, who misunderstands it.
Soufflés. Explanation Oswin, from "Asylum of the Daleks", has apparently survived a year on the Asylum planet through burnt soufflés.
On December 21st 2012, the Doctor saved the Earth.Explanation Stems from the long-past 2012 doomsday/apocalypse phenomenon.
I don't know where I am. Explanation People's minds trapped in a wi-fi network, in "The Bells of Saint John".
LORD UP IN OF THIS TIME BITCH◊ Explanation A popular misreading of an image macro reading "Lord of time up in this bitch" caused by ambiguous word placements leading people to think the words are meant to be read as three rows instead of two columns.
Doctor 8.5 Explanation The fanon term coined for the War Doctor played by Sir John Hurt, who did not use the name "Doctor" until he redeemed himself by ending the Time War in a hopeful way. He was introduced as an incarnation between the pre-established Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and his wardrobe took some cues from both; some photos on set for shooting "The Day of the Doctor" leaked early, leading intuitive viewers to decipher his placement before it was properly revealed. It occasionally extends to fan art that include a numbering system.
Sir Doctor of TARDIS Explanation Another nickname that popped up after John Hurt was knighted, the first actor to play a canon incarnation of the Doctor to receive that honour. It first originated in "Tooth and Claw", when Queen Victoria knighted the Tenth Doctor, and the title became all the more fitting for the circumstance.
Fucking Daleks Explanation Peter Capaldi was announced as the Twelfth Doctor. His best known role prior to this was as the foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker on The Thick of It.
"We fucking time travelled, yes!?"Explanation One episode of The Thick of It has Malcolm Tucker shouting this in exasperation to somebody else. Fans have jokingly taken this as his "admission" to being the Doctor.
Capaldi's EyebrowsExplanation, spoilers Taken from Capaldi's surprising cameo in "The Day of the Doctor".
Fuckity hi!
Fuckity bye!
Rewriting entire lines of the Ninth-through-Eleventh Doctors to resemble that of the dialogue in The Thick of It (read: one Cluster F-Bomb after another).
CAPALDI INTENSIFIES! Explanation The brief shot featuring a portion of Capaldi's face looking stern in "The Day of the Doctor".
Sneeze hard enough and you'll turn into Capaldi. Explanation The 11th Doctor changed into the 12th Doctor so quickly and so suddenly that many people say the 11th Doctor sneezed and turned into the 12th.
Kidneys! Explanation 12th Doctor's first words.
Lots of planets have a Scotland. Explanation Reaction to the 12th Doctor speaking in Peter Capaldi's natural Scottish accent. Inspired by the 9th Doctor's response to why he sounds like he's from the North. Made more hilarious is that in Series 10 his companion at the time draws attention to his Scottish accent and he actually responds with a similar line.
Lots of planets have a Yorkshire. Explanation The same thing happened with the Thirteenth Doctor, who speaks in Jodie Whittaker's natural Yorkshire accent.
This ... is my spoon! Explanation In "Robot of Sherwood", Robin Hood challenges the 12th Doctor to a duel. 12's weapon of choice is a spoon.
The fact that the moon is actually an egg in "Kill the Moon".
“Is [n] a lot?” “Depends on the context. [n amount of x], yes. [n amount of y], no.”Explanation An image macro of Clara and 12 taken out of context, used to humorously compare situations where the same number is involved.
Pudding brains.Explanation 12's nickname for humans.
Danny Pink didn't Splink. Explanation Jon Pertwee narrated a PSA for safe road-crossing using the (rather nonsensical) acronym SPLINK, which would have come in handy when Danny died after being ran over by a car. Some fan videos would later edit the scene to make it appear that the Third Doctor was responsible.
Shut up! Explanation 12 doesn't have an obvious catchphrase like "Allons-y!" or "Geronimo!", so the fandom decided to settle for "Shut up!"
The Master's Dalek Plan. explanation Appeared minutes after the second Season 9 trailer revealed that Missy and the Daleks would appear in the same story. Also a play on the title of the First Doctor story "The Daleks' Master Plan". This one became an Ascended Meme in "The Power of the Doctor" when the Master refers to his latest plot by this name.
Like... a hybrid? Explanation The story arc of series 9 involves the foretelling of a hybrid made of "two great warrior races". The extremely dramatic way in which Peter Capaldi delivers the aforementioned Arc Words has led to fans on Tumblr joking that the Doctor will freak out over extremely mundane hybrids like satsumas, hybrid cars or even a drink with more than one flavour.
Justin Chatwin's redeeming himself for Dragonball Evolution. Explanation Chatwin made a guest appearance in the Christmas Episode"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" as Grant/The Ghost; in America at least, the guy's most well-known role is as Goku in the disastrous 2009 live-action film adaptation of Dragon Ball. Thus, when people heard that he would be appearing in the Doctor Who Christmas special and ended up being impressed by the previews, they immediately started joking that this is Chatwin's way of apologizing for his involvement in Dragonball Evolution.
The BBCis soooo up to date...Explanation The Beeb's tendency to archive bonus Doctor Who material (Confidential, etc.) online several years after the opportune stories aired.
Don't forget to click below to subscribe to the official Doctor Who YouTube Channel. Explanation Said at the end of various videos by Peter Capaldi, usually in an abrupt manner.
Youchoob. Explanation Starting from September 2018, Jodie Whittaker now says (a variation of) the line at the end of videos. This is the result of her pronouncing "YouTube" with her thick Yorkshire accent.
And now, a Dalek. Explanation The link leads to the "Defence Drones" commercial for the 2021 New Year's special "Revolution of the Daleks". The Dalek clip also appeared at the end of "How to Voice a Dalek", an interview with the Daleks' voice actor Nicholas Briggs.
"WELCOME TO THE SISTERHOOD!" / "Is my future going to be all girl?!" "We can only hope." Explanation Lines taken from "The Doctor Falls", which hilariously foreshadow the reveal of actress Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, the first female Doctor in the show's run.
Nevertheless, she regenerated. Explanation Refers to US Senator Mitch McConnell's infamous"nevertheless, she persisted" line that became co-opted into a rallying cry by the left wing.
"See this face? Take a good... long... look at it. This is the face that didn't listen to a word you just said!" Explanation Highly exploitable line taken from "The Doctor Falls", where the Harold Saxon incarnation of the Master hurls a mighty insult at the Doctor. It has since taken off as a video reply/GIF/reaction face picture that serves as a superb forum weapon.
Thirteen didn't last very long... Explanation The Thirteenth Doctor seemingly plummets to her death barely a minute after regenerating.
She set the TARDIS on fire and fell to her death, minutes after regenerating. She'sdefinitelythe Doctor!
The Doctor is finally from Yorkshire. Explanation Some fans have focused on the Thirteenth Doctor having a Yorkshire accent, with many saying this is the real boundary being crossed as opposed to her being the first female Doctor.
The swearing meme popularized by Twelve returns, with people ascribing Thirteen vulgar lines from some of Whittaker's other roles (mostly Broadchurch and Attack the Block).
"Whatever the fuck they are, they're not fucking aliens!" Explanation A highly exploitable line from Attack the Block.
Not the most heartbreaking "I don't wanna go" anymore. Explanation The Tenth Doctor's last words were bumped down a spot after the release of Avengers: Infinity War, in which Peter Parker says the same line as he dies in a scene that left very few eyes dry.
The Doctor has become the Flash. Explanation The first Series 11 teaser trailer has the Doctor commit wacky shenanigans with her new companions. She ends up stealing Ryan's food, adds more pizza for Yasmin and replaces Graham's newspaper with an old Beano comic, all with magical effects and Bullet Time. This has caused many to think that she has the power of the Speedforce with her.
"RYYAN SINCLAIR! Don't you DAAAAAAAARE!" Explanation Started with a YouTube Poop video that highlighted how funny Grace's delivery was when saying the line during the actual episode. Can be found here.
Largely thanks to the above video, Graham's "You're doin' it mate!" from the same scene has also become a meme.
Tim Shaw Explanation The Doctor (and her companions)'s mockname for Tzim-Sha.
Scronch.Explanation Jodie Whittaker's numerous and often hilarious facial expressions, most of which involve scrunching her face up, have quickly become a regular meme among parts of the fandom.
Polite Thirteen. Explanation One recurring facial expression is the Doctor pressing her lips together so her mouth becomes a straight line, much like the Polite Cat meme.
The climax to "It Takes You Away" went viral after the episode aired due to the fact that the episode ends with a frog, which is either amazing or terrible depending on who you talk to due to the... interesting puppet, being the physical form of a sentient universe and talking to the Doctor who is in love with it. The frog then proceeds to forcepush her out of its plane. Needless to say, reactions were very varied.
BENNI!!!! Explanation "Orphan 55" featured an elderly couple, one of whom was called Benni. His wife's frequent and often hammy expression of his name caused a surge of memes and remixes mocking this.
Schrödinger's Gallifrey. Explanation Gallifrey has been destroyed in the RTD era, it came back in the Moffat era, and got destroyed again in the Chibnall era. Fans are wondering if Gallifrey will return after Chibnall's departure (incidentally, his confirmed successor just so happens to be RTD).
"Gallifrey Falls No More"? More like, "No, Gallifrey Falls More!" Explanation Reference to the events of "The Day of the Doctor" (50th Anniversary Special) being overturned
Short Dalek/Funko Pop Dalek. Explanation A screencap of a visually distorted Dalek from "Revolution of the Daleks" that makes it seem comically squashed vertically, with some seeing it as strangely cute. Fans also noticed its resemblance to a previously released Funko Pop figure.
What the Flux? Explanation Once the series 13 subtitle was known, fans were curious of what "The Flux" was.
Plasterer from Liverpool. Explanation In pre-series promotion for Series 13, John Bishop mentioned that he got in trouble with executives for "spoiling" that his character, Dan, was from Liverpool and worked as a plasterer. Fans latched onto this for how ridiculous this is.
Whobacca.Explanation Karvanista looks like a canine-esque Wookiee.
Evil DanExplanation A series of Youtube Poops where Dan's dialogue and scenes are remixed to have him be a general nuisance, from stealing Halloween sweets to massacring the entire Sontaran army, all set to Segun Akinola’s Spy Master theme.
"Nobody needs soup more than me." Explanation One of Evil Dan's sentence-mixed catchphrases.
"What's the point of being alive?" Explanation An alteration of Dan's "What's the point of being alive if it's not to make others happy?", often used as a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner. Sometimes expanded to "What's the point of being alive if it’s not to make others die?"
"I wanted to ride a horse." Explanation Many memes came about milking Commander Skaak's love of horses.
Ncuti Gatwa clips Explanation In a similar way to how the fandom reacted to Capaldi's casting by making memes out of The Thick of It and putting clips from that show to Ninth to Eleventh Doctor footage, the reactions to the casting of Gatwa as the Doctor saw the fandom splicing clips of Gatwa's most famous previous role as the sassy Eric Effiong in Sex Education into past episodes, which includes the "Wash your hands, you detty pig" meme from the latter show.
The Master dancing to Boney M.Explanation In "The Power Of The Doctor" The Master reveals that he's been impersonating (or has been all along) Grigori Rasputin and then starts dancing to Boney M.'s "Rasputin" while the Doctor, the Daleks, and the Cybermen all have the understandable WTF reaction. The sheer weirdness instantly turned it into a meme. The fact that at the time of this episode there was a trend of setting Rasputin-related media (and sometimes not even related to him) to said song certainly helped.
Jackie Zooming in over the interdimensional wi-fi. Explanation When the script for The Power of the Doctor was released it was revealed that the iPad present in the companion support group scene was supposed to be used for companions who they couldn't get physically, and one of the listed examples was Jackie Tyler. For those who don't remember, Jackie is currently stuck in an alternate reality with no way to escape without tearing the multiverse asunder. The idea of Jackie managing to, somehow, connect to a Zoom call over interdimensional wi-fi caught on like wildfire amongst the fans.
Please no n-wordExplanation Neil Patrick Harris's character was confirmed to be the Celestial Toymaker, a villain who only made his TV appearance in "The Celstial Toymaker"fifty-seven years ago. That episode is infamous for many things, one of which being a casual utterance of the n-word. The fandom joked that fans of the new series are in for a nasty surprise.
Comparing the new UNIT tower to Avengers Tower. Explanation In the trailer for the 60th anniversary specials, fans noticed UNIT's new tower looked an awful lot like Avengers Tower, specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe version. Considering that the specials and following episodes will be funded by Disney, who own the MCU, the comparisons are even more apt.
Mavity Explanation In "Wild Blue Yonder", the Doctor and Donna accidentally perform a Cosmic Retcon, changing the word “Gravity” to “Mavity”, which the fans have run with.
Do they have mavitas? Explanation The natural consequence of this Play-Along Meme crossed with the "gravitas" meme listed above under "General". This has been inevitable when discussing Ncuti Gatwa's imminent tenure as the Doctor.
Ope! There goes mavity!Explanation A lyric from Eminem's "Lose Yourself" altered to fit with the meme.
Poor Martha / Poor Rory Explanation (SPOILERS) While the Toymaker recounts Amy, Clara and Bill's fates via puppet show in "The Giggle", fans picked up on Martha and Rory's absences. It's a bit more forgivable, considering that Martha and Donna have met and that the Toymaker is leaving out key details of the story to amplify the Doctor's guilt.
No David Tennant clone for Martha Explanation (SPOILERS) The climax of "The Giggle" sees the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors physically split off from each other, and the former elects to stay with Donna and her family to rest and heal (with the occasional Tardis adventure). Since Rose Tyler was already "granted" the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor as a life and adventure partner, this leaves Martha as the only RTD1-era major companion without a version of the Doctor played by David Tennant, reinforcing her Memetic Loser status in the fandom.
WELL, THAT'S ALL RIGHT THEN! Explanation (SPOILERS) During the same scene, this is the Toymaker's sarcastic response any time the Doctor argues that the "deaths" of Amy, Clara, and Bill weren't actually deaths. It's become a reaction image to weak responses to criticism.
Poor *Insert Name Here* Explanation (SPOILERS) Some fans have taken to creating largely tongue-in-cheek theoretical versions of the scene depicting the Toymaker discussing other people who had suffered because of the Doctor which usually verge into And That's Terrible territory, such as the Toymaker confronting the Doctor over how Ursula Blake was reduced to a face on a pavement slab or how Dan Lewis lost his house.
Oh, Crap! the leaks are real Explanation (SPOILERS) Months prior to "The Giggle", the climax of the bigeneration—the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors splitting off into two separate entities, described as a myth by Time Lord society—was spoiled in a leak, along with the general plot of "The Church on Ruby Road". Once plot points started lining up as early as "The Star Beast", fans began to mass panic, until the episode came out and the idea proved to be better in execution than in concept.
Rory is The One Who Waits Explanation After "The Giggle", this was a common joke theory about who the mysterious "One Who Waits" who frightened the Toymaker. This is likely due to his wife's nickname of "The Girl Who Waited", and to the fact that Rory actually waited two thousand years to protect Amy.
Doctor Who's Series 10 Soundtrack Released After... Explanation As of this writing (10 December 2023), Murray Gold's official soundtrack to Series 10 has not yet been released due to various external factors. In the six-year interim between Series 10's release and the present, a Twitter account named "Doctor Who's S10 Soundtrack Released After" began, chronicling all the world's developments in the time between Series 10 finishing and the album's release, and notably received a shout-out from returning composer Murray Gold in Doctor Who Magazine, along with a promise that "[the] Series 10 album will see the light of day, by hook or by crook."
The Goblin Song Explanation Tangentially, the first Gold release in the new era of Doctor Who is not any of the music from the 60th Specials, or the Series 10 soundtrack. Rather, it is a single named "The Goblin Song", from the 2023 Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road". With this in mind, some have jokingly accused Murray of Trolling the fanbase.
The Goblin Slayer is en route to the Doctor's location Explanation With the release of "The Goblin Song" and the fact that it takes place on a giant pirate ship filled with the creatures, it didn't take long for anime fans to joke about how the titular Goblin Slayer's going to have one hell of a field day killing them all.
Sonic TV remote Explanation The Fifteenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver has already garnered humorous comparisons to a television remote due to its flatter and wider design, with the most notable joke being its similarity to the universal remote from Click.
Don't make me fly the plane, Doc! Explanation A popular TikTok parody imagined what would happen if Doctor Who did a 9/11 episode. The memetic quote comes when the Thirteenth Doctor forces Graham to fly the plane into the World Trade Center.
"All hail Frobisher! All hail the big talking bird!" Explanation From the Big Finish audio story "The Holy Terror": A crowd start chanting this phrase over and over when the Sixth Doctor's companion Frobisher (who looks like a talking penguin) inadvertently becomes their emperor.
Ceruleans are dirty plant-touchers. Explanation On Gallifrey, the ruling Time Lords are divided into several "chapters". Three of these chapters were established in Classic Who, while three more were added in the novels. In particular, there was very little information given about the Ceruleans. When the author was asked what they actually did, he replied that he had imagined they were kind of like the Green Party in British politics. Since Time Lords rarely go outside, and those who do are those who leave to go out into the wild and abandon the Time Lord society, this quickly developed into a perception that Ceruleans are tree-hugging plant-lovers in a society with an aversion to dirt.
Looms. Explanation Since being rendered infertile by some curse or another, Gallifreyans reproduce with breeding engines known as Looms. These, understandably, became a big joke in the fandom, with entire discord servers being dedicated to them.
Kinkshaming the sound creature. Explanation The sound creature from Scherzo called 8 "daddy" and we've never let it hear the end of it.
Briggleston. Explanation Nicholas Briggs' impression of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in various audiobooks came off as so charmingly goofy that portions of the fanbase nicknamed him this.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Hey, what's goin' on round here?"
The Master's little red car. Explanation The Master drives a goofy-looking three-wheeled car in one of the cutscenes for the Destiny of the Doctors game, presumably as a jab at the Third Doctor's car, Bessie.
“Get a move on, slow coach!” Explanation A particularly cheesy line he says while driving the car.
Jokes about the Master’s car being involved in the revival’s Series 8 finale episodes. Explanation Since Danny Pink abruptly gets hit by a car and dies, popular edits of the scene include this version of the Master being the one driving that car while spouting his goofy lines.
The Master roasts the Doctor. Explanation The opening movie includes the Master going through the incarnations of the Doctor in reverse order, insulting each and every one of them. Fans latched onto how accurate his roasts were, and took to editing the scene to include post-revival Doctors or fan-created unofficial incarnations.
"The destiny of the Doctors is in your hands! Don't make me laugh!" Explanation The final line of the opening movie, delivered supremely hammily by Anthony Ainley, before a magnificent evil laugh.
Squatting Cyberman. Explanation The cover art for the Big Finish release Return of the Cybermen inexplicably features a Cyberman that appears to either be squatting or getting out of an unseen chair.
"Haha! You're a NERRRRRD!" Explanation The final story of the Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers boxset has the Ninth Doctor hammily deliver this line when he learns that his companion for the boxset knew about time travel from old science fiction shows.
Jacob Dudman. Explanation Dudman's uncanny impressions of the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, combined with him being the go-to for Big Finish Productions where the original Doctor actor is unavailable, made Dudman something of a Memetic Badass.
"Die, hideous creature, die!" Explanation An extremely out of character panel from an early Second Doctor tie-in comic, which features him screaming this line as he shoots a giant insect. With a gun.
"Coming soon from Big Finish Productions..." Explanation Big Finish developed a reputation of liking to make nonsensical spinoff boxsets after a short period of producing boxsets based on characters and concepts that had only appeared in one episode.
"The War [X]" Explanation Once Big Finish obtained the rights to use concepts from the new series, an unusually large chunk of these spinoffs involve the Time War in some way.
"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without one of Mrs Baddeley's plum puddings!" Explanation A line in The Chimes of Midnight that became remembered for being constantly repeated over and over again.
"It just wouldn't be Christmas."
The Tenth Doctor is in everything. Explanation The Thirteenth Doctor era also saw a resurgence of the Tenth Doctor's presence in the Expanded Universe, along with David Tennant reprising the role for most audio-based appearances and later retaking the lead role as the Fourteenth Doctor.
The Tenth Doctor and the Thirteenth Doctor joining forces. Explanation A surprisingly common story premise, particularly in the Titan comics and the video game The Edge of Reality.
David Tennant MitosisExplanation (SPOILERS) With the Metacrisis Tenth Doctor, the Not-Doctor, and the Fourteenth Doctor's continued survival past his bigeneration, many fans have joked that Russell T Davies has started challenging himself by seeing how many David Tennant clones he can fit into the wider Whoniverse.
"He's not that special!" Explanation Started off as a one-off gag where Peter Davison trolled his son-in-law David Tennant by showing up at a convention the latter was invited to and holding up a sign with this message, with Tennant later doing the same to his son Ty, who also became an actor. Became a bit of an inside joke, with various Doctors holding up similar signs to troll each other or other actors close to them. Following Tennant's return as the Fourteenth Doctor, this led to some people joking that now, he is that special.
Bi-generation is Christmas come early for Big FinishExplanation (SPOILERS) Russell has hinted that the bi-generation between Fourteen and Fifteen also affected the other Doctors, giving rise to many a Fanfic Fuel and a lot of material for Big Finish to work with. Many fans as a result have joked about how much glee the Big Finish writers are feeling as it allows them to come up with ideas galore.
". Made even more obvious in the live version
