Trivia / The 10 Doctors

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• Actor Allusion:
  • The first thing Five says to Four is "So you've decided to join us this time, have you?" Tom Baker had famously refused to reprise his role in the 20th-Anniversary story "The Five Doctors".
  • At one point, Seven mentions he thinks it would be better if they all worked on solving the mystery alone, as "too many bakers spoil a crust". Four looks vaguely alarmed, and Six demands to know what he's talking about.
  • Three and Six depart for Gallifrey together, and Six mentions that saving the planet from themselves would be "the ultimate adventure, you might say." Both Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker played their respective incarnations of the Doctor in the 1989 stage play The Ultimate Adventure.
  • Peri asks Six if he and Maxil are related, and Six scoffs at this notion. Of course, both characters were played by the same actor. Six later asks "Could you picture me as a stranger, Miss Brown?", a reference to BBV's video series The Stranger, in which Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant played the Stranger and Miss Brown.
  • Six tells Four "It's a wonder I got more than seven years out of you."
  • Most of the Doctors bicker, but Two and Three are definitely the worst. Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee famously hated each other when shooting "The Three Doctors", but later made up and enjoyed pretending to hate each other at fan conventions.
  • Ten calls Four an "arrogant overbearing smartass" during their goodbyes, probably referring to the end of Tom Baker's tenure when he became incredibly difficult to work with on-set.
  • Ten is especially glad to see Five, referencing how David Tennant became an actor entirely in the hopes that he might get to play the Doctor, after his adoration of Five's episodes in his childhood. The 10 Doctors was written well before "Time Crash".
  • However, the end was uploaded after "Time Crash", and in said end Ten says he hopes to see Five again, and Five responds with this gem...
    Five: Be careful what you wish for.
  • In one of the appendixes, the Doctors are shown singing Christmas carols with all of their companions. In Four's panel, he's seen kissing Romana II. Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) had been married to Lalla Ward (Romana II) for a time.
• Development Gag: Maxil takes a TARDIS over to the Renegade Dalek ship to apprehend Six, reflecting Colin Baker's idea to have Maxil arrest Six during "The Trial of a Time Lord".
• Self-Deprecation: From Rich's notes on Page 202:
  The 10 Doctors merge their consciousnesses, experiencing each others' memories past and future. Then, combined into one mighty Doctor, they face off against the Dalek conditioning.
  Y'know, written down, that sounds stupid.
• Similarly Named Works: Not to be confused with The Ten Doctors, also a Doctor Who fan work but a web video series.
• What Could Have Been: In the complete .pdf, Rich Morris included an appendix with sketches of how some scenes would have originally played out, including Leela stabbing the Valeyard through the last of his regenerations until he dissolves into a puddle of goo. It's exactly as disturbing as it sounds.

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