10 Doctor Who Moments Deeper Than You Think
8. Blasphemy Of The Daleks
When Doctor Who returned in 2005, Russell T Davies snuck in a meta gag about the Doctor's last TV adventure.
At the start of The Parting of the Ways, the Ninth Doctor discovers the true nature of the Game Station - to provide human bodies to turn into Dalek mutants. Shocked and horrified, Rose blurts out "That makes them... half human?" and is met by a cacophony of Dalek voices ordering her not to blaspheme.
It's obviously a reference to the Dalek Emperor's lauded status as a savior of his species after the Time War. However, it's also a loaded reference to the controversial change to the Doctor's origins in the 1996 Paul McGann TV Movie.
As depicted in the 2022 documentary Doctor Who Am I, fans were furious about the revelation that the Doctor was half-human on his mother's side. The angry response at conventions, fan clubs, and fanzines characterized this as nothing short of blasphemy.
It's no surprise that RTD snuck in this joke, given that he would go on to write Love & Monsters, which is a spot-on portrayal of Doctor Who fandom in the wilderness years between 1989 and 2005!