10 Real Things That Prove Doctor Who Exists

5. A Famous Scarf

Doctor Who Amy and Rory Consolation Raphael Soyer
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Ambassadeurs is a lithograph poster first printed in 1892 by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It depicts a man with wild hair standing triumphantly in the foreground, with a long scarf wrapped around his neck.

Sound familiar?

This man bears more than a slight resemblance to Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, despite the fact that the poster was released 82 years before Baker ever appeared in the role.

Ambassadeurs was actually used as an inspiration for the Fourth Doctor's look – specifically, his iconic multi-coloured scarf. There's also a Fourth Doctor Big Finish story called The Demon of Paris that incorporates Ambassadeurs into its plot, and the cover is even a cheeky wink to the original 1892 creation.

Doctor Who Demon of Paris
Big Finish Productions

So, what if the Fourth Doctor travelled back to 19th century France, met Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and the pair got along so famously that the artist decided to immortalise him?

Like the timey-wimey loop of the Ponds naming their daughter after their daughter, could Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor have been inspired by... the real Fourth Doctor?

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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.