Doctor Who: 10 Best Historical Figures Who Have Appeared In Nu-Who

10. Madame De Pompadour

Played by Sophia Myles.

Series 2’s The Girl in the Fireplace is a perfect example of The Doctor accidentally stumbling into history when he manages to place himself into the life of a young Reinette Poisson. It’s always entertaining to witness The Doctor suddenly discover that he has just met someone significant and this particular episode adds that little extra nugget of comedy as his discovery only happens after he has snogged her.

Although there are no rules written down, it’s a well-known law in the Doctor Who universe that history is not to be tampered with and accidently becoming the potential love obsession of the future mistress to the king of France seems just a little bit risky when it comes to the course of history. Fortunately for The Doctor, his unintentional intrusion is actually the solution to a far worse threat on Madame De Pompadour’s timeline and this allows the Doctor to do what he does best and stop the baddies from destroying history.

Doctor Who has a clever way of being both entertaining and educational, and the windows into Madame De Pompadour’s life mean that this episode not only calls for an epic shot of The Doctor crashing through on horseback to save the day but also offers an, almost, accurate biography up until her death.