The planet Ember was a human colony dating back to the 38th century. (AUDIO: The Top of the Tree [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) It was, by the 44th century, a foggy Victorian era-esque planet that came to be controlled by the Sardick family in the 44th century. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010).) It eventually became the refuge of the last humans in the universe. (AUDIO: Singularity [+]James Swallow, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2005).) Using a psi-gate, they sent their minds back to 21st century Earth and took over the Somnus Foundation. They wanted to survive the end of the universe by turning the human race into a group mind. They were defeated by the Fifth Doctor and Turlough. Afterwards, the Doctor visited Ember to say goodbye to the dying Xen, the last surviving human in the universe. (AUDIO: Singularity [+]James Swallow, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
Astronomical data[]
The planet was characterised by the cloud belt which covered the planet. These clouds were made of ice crystals with tiny electrical charges. The sky fish evolved to fly through these clouds, but they could only live outside them for a little while. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010).) It was located in the Horsehead Nebula. (PROSE: Honeymoon Horrors [+]David Llewellyn, The Brilliant Book 2012 fiction (BBC Books, 2011).)
Culture[]
The early colonists modelled Sardicktown on a Victorian urban environment, seeking to recreate the ambience and atmosphere of an earlier time period. Compromises had to be made and not everything could be brought in line with historical reality. (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]George Mann and Justin Richards, BBC Books (2016).) They used Gideons as a currency, and there were no lotteries.
Despite the planet having a president, he could not order/force the Sardick family to open the cloud belts despite the life-threatening nature the closed clouds caused spaceships. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010).)
23 December was the date of the Crystal Feast in Sardicktown. (PROSE: Time Traveller's Diary [+]Chris Farnell, BBC Children's Books (2020).) They originally called Christmas "the Crystal Feast", but it was later just called Christmas. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010).)
History[]
Ember was colonised by humans in the 38th century with help from the Eleventh Doctor and a young Kazran Sardick, a native of Ember from several centuries down the line, whom the Doctor had made his companion. (AUDIO: The Top of the Tree [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Eleventh Doctor visited the planet when the ship Thrasymachus containing his companions, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, began to plummet through its atmosphere. The Doctor visited Sardicktown and convinced Kazran Sardick to allow the ship to land, but (after rewriting the man's history) he could no longer control the skies. However, they had Abigail Pettigrew sing for the fish instead, which calmed the atmosphere, enabling the ship to land. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010).)
At a later point in universal history, the people of Ember were the last remaining humans in the cosmos. Using a psi-gate, they sent their minds back to 21st century Earth and took over the Somnus Foundation. They wanted to survive the end of the universe by turning the human race into a group mind. They were defeated by the Fifth Doctor and Turlough. Afterwards, the Doctor visited Ember to say goodbye to the dying Xen, the last surviving human in the universe. (AUDIO: Singularity [+]James Swallow, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
Behind the scenes[]
The name of the planet was not mentioned onscreen in A Christmas Carol [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 (BBC One, 2010)., and it is unlikely Steven Moffat intentionally meant to connect his planet to the one in AUDIO: Singularity [+]James Swallow, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2005).. The link was instead drawn in the video game Worlds in Time [+]BBC Worldwide (2012)., during which the planet was attacked by clockwork robots, and in Honeymoon Horrors [+]David Llewellyn, The Brilliant Book 2012 fiction (BBC Books, 2011). a short story in The Brilliant Book 2012. While the former is not a valid source, the latter was, and this planet would be definitively identified as Ember in AUDIO: The Top of the Tree [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW..
