Aladdin

Aladdin is the title character in the popular fantasy story "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp." "Aladdin" is one of the tales from 1001 Arabian Nights and one of the most famous in Western culture.

It concerns a young man named Aladdin living in China, who is recruited by a sorcerer to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself, and discovers that it contains two evil genii that are bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the genii, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries princess Badroulbadour. The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on Aladdin's lamp (by tricking his wife, who is unaware of the lamp's importance), but Aladdin wins out in the end.

In the United Kingdom, the story of Aladdin is a popular subject for pantomimes. The traditional Aladdin pantomime (which is set in China, unlike many adaptations of the story) is the source of the well-known pantomime character Widow Twankey. Jo Grant played Aladdin in the UNIT staff Christmas panto in the 1970s, with Mike Yates as Widow Twankey and the Doctor playing the wicked sorcerer ("No Future," "Timewyrm: Revelation"). Dr. Tyler likened Omega's palace to Aladdin's magic cave, while the Second Doctor made a similar analogy of the singularity to Aladdin's magic lamp ("The Three Doctors").