Jelly baby

Jelly babies were a form of Earth sweet favoured by the Doctor during several of his incarnations.



Appearances and mentions

 * On a number of occasions, the Doctor offered "jelly babies" when in fact having another kind of candy.

Second Doctor

 * The Doctor offered a Jelly Baby to the Brigadier while in the TARDIS. (DW: The Three Doctors)

Fourth Doctor

 * The Doctor offered Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan a jelly baby, they both accepted. (DW: Robot)
 * The Doctor offered round a bag of jelly babies while aboard Space Station Nerva, shortly making an analogy to Wirrn eating up humanity, should they win. (DW: The Ark in Space)
 * He offered one to Leela of the Sevateem tribe upon their first meeting, leading her to think he ate babies. He would also effectively bluff the Sevateem by threatening one of the tribe with a "deadly jelly baby". (DW: The Face of Evil)
 * The Doctor offered round a bag of jelly babies whilst on the sandminer, they were slapped out of his hands and he replied, saying "A simple no thank you would have been sufficient". (DW: The Robots of Death)
 * Whilst investigating the Fendahl on Earth he offered "Eustace" a jelly baby in jest. (DW: Image of the Fendahl)
 * The Doctor used a bag of Jelly babies to trick a suicidal man long enough for him to be tackled by Leela and prevent his death. (DW: The Sun Makers)
 * Coming out of the TARDIS the Doctor declared the royal guard were not worthy to guard a Jelly Baby before offering one to a guard. (DW: The Invasion of Time)
 * Whilst on Gallifrey as Lord President he requested Castellan Kelner to remove a jelly baby from his pocket for him, in this (slightly power mad state) he preferred an orange one.(DW: The Invasion of Time)
 * The Doctor returned to the TARDIS to get another pack of jelly babies.(DW: The Invasion of Time)
 * He gave one to Andred and then also gave him the packet.(DW: The Invasion of Time)
 * Romana offered a bag of jelly babies around while she and the Doctor are on Zanak. (DW: The Pirate Planet)
 * The Doctor offered a jelly baby to Davros, which are also slapped out of his hand and, oddly, an explosion is heard when they fall to the ground. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)
 * Whilst in the Eden projection the Doctor eats some jelly babies, and also gives a green one missing a leg to Bernice Summerfield (as she was tracking the Key to Time). (DW: Nightmare of Eden, DWM: Time & Time Again)
 * He offered them to the Anethans whilst aboard the Skonnan freighter. (DW: The Horns of Nimon)

Fifth Doctor

 * In a confused condition, post-regeneration, the Doctor mentioned "the tensile strength of jelly babies". (DW: Castrovalva)

Sixth Doctor

 * On Ravolox, Drathro's minions, Humker and Tandrell, discovered a bag of jelly babies in the Doctor's coat as they investigated him. He quickly snatched the bag back, before wordlessly offering them each one of the sweets. (DW: The Mysterious Planet)

Seventh Doctor

 * The Doctor enjoyed a snack of jelly babies while reading The Time Machine, just before the events that led to his regeneration, technically making this his last meal. (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie)

Eighth Doctor

 * After the Seventh Doctor appears to die in a San Francisco hospital, his belongings end up in the possession of a youth named Chang Lee. Amongst those possessions is a bag of jelly babies. (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie)
 * Somehow soon-there-after the Eighth Doctor produces a bag of jelly babies to distract a police officer, and then disarm him. (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie)
 * He also then uses a jelly baby to confuse a security guard named Gareth at the Institute of Technological Advancement and Research (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie)
 * The Eighth Doctor also searched for jelly babies in the markets of Hyspero. (EDA: The Scarlet Empress)

Other

 * Benny Summerfield went to find a segment of the Key to Time, disguised as a jelly baby, which the Doctor happened to have. To this end, she met him while fending off mandrels in the section of Eden take by the Continuous Event Transmuter. (DWM: Nightmare of Eden)
 * The Master appears to enjoy a bag of jelly babies alongside his wife whilst awaiting the Toclafane invasion. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Behind the Scenes

 * In the United States, jelly babies had a low profile as a confectionery product. When Pinnacle Books published Doctor Who novelisations in new packaging, the editorial changes made by them included changing jelly babies to jelly beans, for fear of confusing American readers. Later, when the series had a great deal more popularity, many Americans simply associated jelly babies with Doctor Who and with the Doctor as played by Tom Baker. Under license from the BBC, one company sold jelly babies in packaging resembling the Doctor's TARDIS, advertising them as "the Cosmic Candy of the Time Lords".


 * The "Inside the TARDIS" featurette on the UK DVD of Doctor Who: The Movie includes a closeup view of the bowl of jelly babies enjoyed by the Seventh Doctor at the start of the film.