Baron Munchausen

The Sixth Doctor compared the Valeyard to Baron Munchhausen, who he cited as an example of a famous liar. (TV: The Ultimate Foe)

Baron Munchausen once told a story of how he became stuck in a swamp and got out by lifting himself up by his bootstraps. It was from this that the phrase "boot" or "boot up" became used in computer terminology. In 1998, the Fourth Doctor told this to Lionel Stabfield. (PROSE: System Shock) In 2596, Bernice Summerfield told this to Dent Harper. (PROSE: The Joy Device)

Among the items sold at Fractured Planet in Lychburg were generic fantasy novels that would have Baron Munchausen turning into a realist in disgust. (PROSE: Heart of TARDIS)

Behind the scenes

 * The name is spelled "Munchhausen" in the novelisation of The Ultimate Foe.
 * In the real world, the Baron claimed to have escaped the swamp by pulling himself up by his pigtail, not his bootstraps.