Fairy tale

Fairy tales were stories that were often ridiculed as absurd. Sarah Jane Smith, though, noted that "even some fairy tales have some foundation in fact." (TV: Eye of the Gorgon) When the Eleventh Doctor exclaimed that the Pandorica was merely a fairy tale, River Song replied, "Aren't we all?" (TV: The Pandorica Opens) Many people, such as Jamie McCrimmon, (TV: The Enemy of the World) when faced with seemingly impossible phenomena, claimed to be "too old for fairy tales." In fact, after growing up, Amelia Pond, whose name the Eleventh Doctor loved for its "fairy tale" sound, changed her name on the basis that it was "a bit fairy tale." (TV: The Eleventh Hour)

The Fourth Doctor exclaimed, "This isn't a fairy tale — it actually happened!" when the now-sentient Xoanon refused to believe his story of attempting to fix it "by making a direct link with the compatible centres of my own brain." (TV: The Face of Evil)

According to the Eleventh Doctor, fairy tales usually included "good wizards," which, as River Song pointed out, usually turned out to be the Doctor. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) Brothers Grimm were, according to Romana, writers of fairy tales. When the Fourth Doctor brought them up to Romana, she exclaimed that it was "no time for fairy tales." (TV: State of Decay)

Evelyn Smythe compared Sancreda to something out of Grimms' Fairy Tales. (AUDIO: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor)

In 1903, during Nikola Tesla's presentation of his Niagara Generator, Mr. Brady noted that he wouldn't invest in fairy tales. (TV: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror)

Specific fairy tales
A good example of a fairy tale was the fable of the Pandorica. According to legend, the Pandorica was the prison of a warrior or goblin who dropped out of the sky and tore the world apart until a good wizard tricked it and locked it up. In reality, contrary to the fairy tale, the Pandorica was really made and used by the Alliance to lock up the Eleventh Doctor, and prevent his TARDIS from imploding. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) This demonstrates that fairy tales were often twisted forms of true history.

Sarah Jane Smith thought of fairy tales when looking at the Black Forest. She expected to find a werewolf, a witch, Hansel and Gretel, the Little Red Riding Hood, and the Big Bad Wolf. (PROSE: Managra) Humans reportedly had a fairy tale including a "wolf in your grandmother's nightdress". (TV: The Power of Three)

Fairy tales on Gallifrey were a little different. The Tenth Doctor once told Martha Jones that Gallifreyan fairy tales "had teeth". (PROSE: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage) The Shakri were, according to the Eleventh Doctor, "a myth to keep the young of Gallifrey in place." They were described as "the pest controllers of the universe," which Amy Pond noted was "some seriously weird bedtime story" for Earth standards. (TV: The Power of Three) The Toclafane were another Time Lord legend, which the Tenth Doctor compared to Earth's "Bogeyman". (TV: The Sound of Drums) Among other Gallifreyan fairy tales told to the children were The Three Little Sontarans, The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes and Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday. (TV: Night Terrors, COMIC: Funny Phone Call!, PROSE: Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday)

Other fairy tales, told by the Doctor himself, included The Tale of the Foolish King (AUDIO: Scherzo, The Natural History of Fear) and The Magic Haddock. (TV: Smile)