Gallifrey - !!!NEW!!!

Very late with this month's posts but hopefully it's a case of better late than never.

As I spent to today at a Whovian event, both of today's/this month's contributions are influenced by that particular interest, starting with...

Galway Girl Gallifrey not by Ed Sheeran 
It wasn’t really something that I planned
When I fell in love with a young human
Found she was in peril and so I took her by the hand
Said, "Run” and that’s how it began 

I met her in London in the basement of a store
Where she was then being attacked by plastic mannequins galore
Though after we split up soon I was led right back to her
Where I met her boyfriend Mickey and, of course, her mother
Worked out that the Nestene was the whole reason why
And together we tracked it back to its base at the London Eye
Chat didn’t work but luckily for me
Rose helped me to escape then we both could flee

It wasn’t really something that I planned
When I fell in love with a young human
Found she was in peril and so I took her by the hand
Said, "Run” and that’s how it began
‘Cause I am the man from Gallifrey
Yes I am the man from Gallifrey

You know we faced all sorts of villains not just the Nestene
Like Gelth, the Jagrafess, Reapers and not forgetting the Slitheen
Who could have guessed what kind of adventures lay in store
When I invited Rose behind my blue door
I never thought the Daleks would be alive today
But beat our first encounter thanks to human DNA
Oh, we thought we were doing well and were so very smart
But little did we know soon it would be time to part

It wasn’t really something that I planned
When I fell in love with a young human
Found she was in peril and so I took her by the hand
Said, "Run” and that’s how it began
‘Cause I am the man from Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey

Soon we were up against the wall also out of time
The Daleks were after their newest chance to shine
Found that I couldn’t complete my grand design
But then Rose opened the TARDIS and she won the fight
(I) absorbed the light, took her back inside
But then every cell in my body it started to die
I reassured her that there was no need for fright
‘Cause I’m from Gallifrey and it’ll be alright

It wasn’t really something that I planned
When I fell in love with a young human
Found she was in peril and so I took her by the hand
Said, "Run” and that’s how it began
‘Cause I am the man from Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Gallifrey

Companions song - !!!NEW!!!

And then an equally complex Whovian parody of the Monarchs song from Horrible Histories:

Monarchs Companions Song not from Horrible Histories
My name is Susan Foreman I’m the doctor’s granddaughter
You never will forget me and, you never should oughta
I was the first to travel in the TARDIS with my gramps
Against all of our enemies we always were the champs
To help remember all his friends, I've come up with this song
A simple rhyming ditty, for you all to sing along, oh...
Susan!
Bit short, innit? We need more names! Who came next?

Bar-bra Wright, a teacher
Followed Susan, grave error
With her colleague, Ian C
Both worked (at) Coal Hill, you see
Then came Vicki, ‘cause Susan’s gone!
And Steven Taylor a hanger on
Sara Kingdom joined the fight
Dodo Chaplet? Yes, that's right!
Oh Katarina, what a tragedy
Gave her life so that they could flee

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat! 

If you are new, we’re not near through, Troughton’s where we’re at

Next Polly a secretary
And Ben Jackson too
Then we have Jamie McCrimmon, a Scot och aye the noo
Victor-ya a loyal daughter, she’s forced to face all her fears
Next Zoe H she joined the team
Then Liz Shaw she appears
We’re on to three, then you’ll see
The companion’s Jo Grant (tada)
Had to earn the Doctor’s trust
‘Til Sarah Jane arrived (hurrah)
Harry S, Leela then
Romana one and two
With K9’s help on board and Adric’s
A stowaway in the crew
So Nyssa then five’s begun
A new regeneration
Tegan Jovanka too, who speaks indigenous Australian
Vislor Turlough, just let him go
Then an android
Yes!
Kamelion, asked the doctor
To help end his distress

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
Then Turlough Kamel-yon

We now lose Davison

Peri Brown’s in the TARDIS
'Til she leaves to wed a king
When things resume, it’s now Mel Bush
The one with a big grin
We then get Ace before some space
Because they’ve gone off the air
In the movie it’s Grace you’ll see
Then Rose Tyler is who’s there
She and Mickey, who met one day
Captain Jack Harkness - immortal
And so from then, we’re following ten
Still we’ve not reached Clara Oswald! 

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel, Ace and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey and Captain Jack

There’s still some key ones that we lack

And so began Tennant’s rebound gang
Donna and Martha
Jones!
Then Amy Pond she tags along
So Smith’s not on his own
Her husband too he joins the crew
Is he just a third wheel?
Hang on!
He’s actually the Centurion
And is really a big deal
Bang on!
And River Song she is fam-ly
You what!
It's time for a new tale to be told
When the Ponds are gone then just look who comes
Yes it is Clara Oswald!

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel, Ace and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey Captain Jack - hurrah
Don(na), Marth(a), Am(y), Ror(y)
River, then Clara
Now it’s Clara, now it’s Clara, now it’s Clara

She’s the impossible girl, you know

Nardole, and Bill
Graham, Ryan, Jaz
Dan Lewis joined the team
And so our companions song
Is brought up to fourteen

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel Ace and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey Captain Jack - hurrah
Don(na), Marth(a), Am(y), Ror(y)
River then Clara
Nardole, Bill, Graham, Ryan 
Then Yas and Dan help reach the end

Let’s not forget the Brigadier
The one who we now all should cheer

Doctor Who Knew - !!!NEW!!!

I can't believe I haven't done this one before - it's so obvious. Hopefully it's so enjoyable too. This is from the point of view of Rose Tyler in the Doomsday episode

Who Knew Dr Who Knew not by P!nk

You took my hand
You told me run
We’ve travelled round

We’ve had some fun
Uh huh

That's right

I trusted you
And joined your flight
Thought everything

Would be all right
Yeah huh
That's right

If someone said three years from now
I’d be alone
Still wouldn’t have wanted out
From the unknown

I lost my hold
Now my heart it grows cold
And colder
Who knew

I think of how we went through space
And all those perils we did face
Oh no
No no

I wish I could travel again
Wish I could still see you, my friend
I'd give anything

If I’d known then what I do know now
Now that you’re gone
I wouldn’t have waited around
I took too long

I lost my hold
Now my heart it grows cold
And colder
Who knew

Yeah yeah

Keeps going round in my head
That moment when we kissed
That moment

That moment when we kissed
And I won't forget you, John Smith
I couldn’t

If someone said three years from now
I’d be alone
Still wouldn’t have wanted out
From the unknown

Every time
Was so fine
But we won’t meet again
Though timelords

Are smarter
Somehow that makes it harder
But I keep
On wishing

We’ll do one more mission
My doctor
Who knew

My doctor

My doctor
Who knew

My doctor
I miss you

My doctor
Who knew
Who knew

L-I-F-E goes on - !!!NEW!!!

Sticking with the song L-O-V-E but this time changing slightly more - and yet it still fits The Doctor...

L-O-V-E  L-I-F-E not by Nat King Cole
L is for the way you lifted me
I is for immortality
F is foes abound wherever we are around
E is everywhere I’ve travelled - beyond compare

Life is what I get when I’m with you
Life you’ve saved mine more than once it’s true
Life with you is sometimes scary
And yet it’s extraordinary
Life goes on for me and you

L is for the way you lifted me
I is for immortality
F is foes abound wherever we are around
E is everywhere I’ve travelled - beyond compare

Life is what I get when I’m with you
Life you’ve saved mine more than once it’s true
Life with you is sometimes scary
And yet it’s extraordinary
Life goes on for me and you
Life goes on for me and you
Life goes on for me and you

From The Mind of Merc - The Doctor's Names

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about the hidden meanings in Doctor Who and, more specifically, those buried in the names given to characters in the show. (Warning: may contain spoilers)

This first occurred to me with the naming of the Runaway Bride – Donna Noble. The name ‘Donna’ literally means ‘Lady’ so ‘Donna Noble’ is a noble lady which – as demonstrated in her later episodes – is shown to be the case as she is (revealed to be) one of the most important people on the planet.

I then started looking at the other names of the companions in the series:

Rose Tyler – ‘Rose’ being a beautiful, stereotypically English, flower (appropriate given she is the one who the Doctor could arguably have been said to have fallen in love with). And ‘Tyler’ – a common labourer’s profession (appropriate for the child of a London estate – casting no aspersions).

Martha Jones – the name ‘Martha’ also means ‘lady’ and, with  ‘Jones’ being a common surname, she could be said to be a ‘Common Lady’ but, as she was selected by the Doctor, also special.

Astrid Peth – generally accepted as being an anagram of TARDIS, the name ‘Astrid’ means ‘divine strength’ – which she undoubtedly found both to defeat Max Capricorn and also in her reincarnation at the end of the episode.

   

The importance of names in Doctor Who becomes even more apparent in Steven Moffat’s era with ‘River Song’ transpiring to be a play on the name of ‘Melody Pond’. (Although, admittedly, this is more to do with the connotations of the word than the meaning of the name.) But the name ‘Amelia’ means ‘industrious’ (appropriate for a Doctor’s companion) and the name ‘Amy’ means ‘beloved’ which she certainly is – particularly by Rory. 

Then, bringing things bang up to date, we have Clara Oswald – ‘Clara’ meaning ‘clear’ or ‘bright’ – both appropriate for a teacher – and ‘Oswald’ meaning ‘Power of God’ (which Clara could be said to have at several points throughout the series)

I will undoubtedly be watching keenly and be eager to know the moniker bestowed on his next companion and what this could infer...