Doctor Who Season 11: 10 BIg Questions After The Ghost Monument
9. What Is Venusian Aikido?
With Chris Chibnall being a self-confessed fan of the Jon Pertwee era (1970-74) it wasn’t going to be long before we saw some nods to the classic series. Venusian Aikido, first introduced in Inferno (1970) as Venusian Karate, was a regular part of the third Doctor’s repertoire. The martial art could be used to paralyse a foe by using pressure points, just as the thirteenth Doctor does to Epzo in The Ghost Monument.
Whether Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor will have cause to use it again remains to be seen, but the third Doctor was quite a master of the art, performing not just locks but various throws and kicks too. Although this is not the first time a new series Doctor has revisited his old talent (the twelve Doctor used it when fighting Robin Hood in Robot of Sherwood, and Jori in World Enough and Time), it is especially significant for a Doctor who sees herself as a ‘grandmaster pacifist’.
Certainly, the signs are there that the thirteenth Doctor will have more than a little of Pertwee’s action hero approach to situations, from her crane exploits in episode one to her enthusiasm to pilot a space ship this week. It’s all an important part of this Doctor being an effective role model, for girls as much as for boys, and it’s no coincidence that the origins of Venusian Aikido are retconned in this script as having been invented by a group of nuns.