Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977), almost universally known as Charlie Chaplin, was an English actor, writer, composer and film director who became one of the towering figures of the early decades of Earth cinema in the 20th century. After years toiling in the vaudeville circuit in Britain, Chaplin accepted an offer of a film contract in Hollywood in 1914, and after a false start playing a villain, he introduced his most iconic character, the "Little Tramp" in a short film entitled Kid Auto Races at Venice. Within a couple of years he was the world's top film star, a position he held for many years thereafter. Such was his power in Hollywood that he continued to make silent (or near-silent) films well into the 1930s, long after everyone else had switched to talkies. Chaplin's film career continued well into the 1960s.

Donna Noble was a fan of Chaplin's and after her conversion to half-human/half-Time Lord suggested she and the Doctor visit the actor. Moments later, however, she experienced the start of a potentially fatal mental short circuit that forced the Doctor to erase her memories of him. (DW: Journey's End)

Behind the scenes

 * The reference to Chaplin in the Series 4 finale episode marks the second time that a stated desire to meet a famous personage is preempted by the sudden departure of a companion; previously it was the Doctor stating a desire to meet Agatha Christie just before the departure of Martha Jones (DW: Last of the Time Lords); Christie subsequently appeared in The Unicorn and the Wasp and it remains to be seen if the reference to Chaplin ends up foreshadowing a similar future appearance in the series.
 * Chaplin's Little Tramp was reportedly one of the influences in determining the style of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor.
 * Years before playing Jamie McCrimmon, Frazer Hines appeared in Chaplin's film A King in New York, the last film in which Chaplin played a starring role.