Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Ninth Doctor

18. He Had An Encounter With Sally Sparrow

Doctor Who Blink Series 3 Sally Sparrow
BBC

From the Weeping Angels to the Tenth Doctor's iconic speech, we all know that Blink absolutely rules. The whole thing is anchored by Carey Mulligan's fantastic performance as Sally Sparrow, a woman who ends up saving the Doctor after the Angels strand him in 1969.

The episode is actually based on a short story written by Steven Moffat in the mid-2000s, which features a younger version of Sally as the main character.

Rather than encountering the Tenth Doctor, this original version of the story has Sally helping out the Ninth Doctor instead, who has got himself trapped in 1985. Just like the episode, the short sees the Doctor leaving a message for Sally underneath some wallpaper, and the two of them even have a wibbly-wobbly conversation via a TV screen, just like adult Sally and the Tenth Doctor do in Blink.

Doctor Who Sally Sparrow Ninth Doctor
Panini UK/BBC

While there are no Weeping Angels involved, it's a fascinating read, especially knowing that the story would later be adapted into one of Doctor Who's all-timer episodes.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.