Talk:The Return of Doctor Mysterio (TV story)

First male-companion-only story?
The article says:


 * This is the only television story, alongside The Keeper of Traken if one discounts Nyssa's appearance, where the Doctor travels only with a male companion through the entire story. One could count Closing Time where the Doctor travels with Craig Owens for the whole story, however Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song are all seen.

This could be rewritten to be sort of true at a stretch, but at that point, it becomes a completely useless and uninteresting bit of not-even-trivia. Something like this:


 * This is one of only a few television stories, alongside The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, The Wheel in Space, The Keeper of Traken, and Planet of Fire if one discounts Dodo's, Zoe's, Nyssa's, and Peri's appearances, where the Doctor travels with only a male companion through the entire story. (Unlike those stories, it seems unlikely that Lucy Fletcher will become a recurring television companion, but she is already a recurring companion in other media, thanks to Ghost Stories.) However, this story isn't as exceptional as Massacre, where Dodo didn't even appear until after the adventure was over and the Doctor and Steven had left 16th century France. One could also count stories like The End of Time or Closing Time, where the Doctor travels with only Wilfred Mott or Craig Owens for the whole story, but Donna Noble is seen in the former and Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and River Song in the latter. Depending on the definition of companion, one could also count stories like The Next Doctor, where some sources list Jackson Lake as a companion but not Rosita. And there are multiple stories in series 6 where the Doctor technically travels with Rory Williams and a non-sentient ganger, rather than Rory and Amy.

And I'm probably forgetting other TV stories that are just as arguably "male-companion-only" as this one.

So, I'm going to delete that entry. If someone can find a way to rewrite it that's both true and noteworthy, go for it. --50.0.128.145talk to me 04:05, December 27, 2016 (UTC)

Is being a comedian notable?
The article says:


 * Matt Lucas is the first comedian to play a companion in a television story since James Corden as Craig Owens in Closing Time. The last comedian to play a full-time companion, though, was Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.

Where's the line between a "comedian" and an "actor"? Sure, Matt Lucas is more known for sketch comedy than for acting, like Catherine Tate--also like Velile Tshabalala, and Mark Williams, but not James Corden, who's surely better known as a sitcom actor, along with a dozen other Doctor Who companions. And is a comedian being cast on Doctor Who all that notable given Jon Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy? This seems like a silly bit of non-trivia, something that's only true if you carefully stretch the definitions to the point where it becomes completely uninteresting. So I'm going to cut it. --50.0.128.145talk to me 04:40, December 27, 2016 (UTC)
 * Don't remove things when a discussion is active. Also these actors wrote comedy.  - Sir DENCH-and-PALMER   ☎  09:58, December 27, 2016 (UTC)

harmony Shoals / Shoals of Winter Harmony
Noticed in the Husbands of River Song the buyer of the diamond was Scratch of the Shoals of Winter Harmony. The front company in this story is called Harmony Shoals.

Coincidence? Lmb02 ☎  05:37, December 27, 2016 (UTC)


 * Not a coincidence, it's the same species. Also, according to T:DISCUSS, talk pages are only for discussing the editing of an article. 42Z ☎  05:48, December 27, 2016 (UTC)

Superman comic
I wondered if the Superman comic the Doctor was looking at near the beginning is a genuine real-world issue of the Superman comic and, if so, what issue? TheFatPanda ☎  15:08, August 13, 2019 (UTC)
 * I suggest you ask this at Board:The Reference Desk, where more people will see your question. Who knows, maybe someone out there actually knows the answer. Shambala108 ☎  15:21, August 13, 2019 (UTC)

"Miss Shuster and Miss Siegel."
Should it be mentioned they're most likely named after the creators of Superman in the pop culture section? Or is that kinda of speculation (or details), no matter how obvious, not allowed here? Plus, Grant calling himself mild mannered, being in love with a reporter is also from Superman. Tuskin38 ☎  01:27, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
 * So long as you do say "most likely", I think the "Shuster & Siegel" thing is one of those things obvious enough to be worth mentioning — insofar as the startling coincidence would be Wiki-worthy even if it were, by some stroke of fate, not intentional.


 * On the other hand, I'm not sure about the vaguer parallels between the Ghost and Superman's lives. Scrooge MacDuck ☎  10:10, 18 June 2021 (UTC)