Sir Francis Drake was an English sea captain. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
In 1587, Drake launched an attack on the Armada in the port of Cadiz, resulting in them being delayed for a year. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz, The Devil's Armada)
He was put in the Tower of London for committing treason. (GAME: The Gunpowder Plot)
The Doctor was a friend of Drake. (TV: Four to Doomsday) He often played bowls with him. (AUDIO: The Marian Conspiracy) In 1588, he let Drake win a game so he could leave early to fight the Spanish Armada. (PROSE: Birthright) Drake was among the dinner guests abducted by Momus. The Tenth Doctor identified him for Noël Coward but Coward didn't really believe him. (PROSE: The Lonely Computer)
However, the Fourth Doctor once referred to him as a pirate. (AUDIO: The Devil's Armada)
Drake was the hero of Ian Chesterton, who as a boy saw a film in which Drake was played by Errol Flynn. Ian gave him the message to attack Cadiz not Lisbon. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz)
When the TARDIS landed in the middle of a battle, Ben Jackson hoped it would be "some glorious battle in Earth history", dreaming it might be, among others, Drake fighting the Spaniards on the Spanish Main. (PROSE: H.M.S. Tardis)
Behind the scenes[]
- In the original script for Tooth and Claw, Queen Victoria refers to Sir Robert MacLeish as her Francis Drake, rather than Walter Raleigh. (DCOM: Tooth and Claw)
- In reality, Errol Flynn never actually played Drake.
