10 Times Doctor Who Got History Totally Wrong

10. The Chase

The eighth episode of Doctor Who's second season, The Chase is remembered by most fans as the final appearance of the Doctor's original companions Ian and Barbara, as well as the first instance of Dalek time travel. The serial's titular chase sees the Doctor and his companions pursued through time and space by the Daleks. Among the other locations visited in this serial are the Empire State Building and the Mary Celeste. In addition to visiting a variety of locales, the episode also introduced the Time Space Visualiser, which allows viewers to see events that have occurred in the past.

The show's major historical blunder occurs when each member of the TARDIS crew get a chance to view a different historical period through the Time Space Visualiser. Barbara asks to see the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and subsequently observes the Tudor monarch in audience with Shakespeare. The Queen can be heard say; "You are aware of the concern your character of Falstaff has caused to Sir John Oldcastle". In reality, Sir John Oldcastle died almost two hundred years before Shakespeare was writing his plays. Any literature student will tell you that Shakespeare did indeed base his famous comic knight on Oldcastle. However, it was one of Oldcastle's descendants who, furious at Shakespeare's unflattering depiction of their illustrious ancestor, forced him to change the character's name to Sir John Falstaff.

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With a (nearly) useless degree in English literature and a personal trainer qualification he's never used, Freddie spends his times writing things that he hopes will somehow pay the rent. He's also a former professional singer, and plays the saxophone and ukulele. He's not really used to talking about himself in the third person, and would like to stop now, thanks.