Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell was an officer in the British Army who fought in the Boer War. He later founded the Boy Scouts.
In 1887, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson met Baden-Powell on the Orient Express. He had a fondness for studying butterflies. (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire [+]Andy Lane, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994).)
The Second Doctor claimed to have given Baden-Powell the idea for the Scouts at Mafeking. (COMIC: Freedom by Fire [+]The Dr Who Annual 1969 (Doctor Who annual, 1968).)
In 1902, Baden-Powell led an attack against the Judoon at Balmoral Castle. The Tenth Doctor advised him to order a cease-fire and make a tactical retreat. He then wished him good luck with his Boy Scout movement. (PROSE: Revenge of the Judoon [+]Terrance Dicks, Quick Reads (Quick Reads, 2008).) The Doctor later claimed he had been taught to tie knots by Baden-Powell. (PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon [+]Colin Brake, BBC New Series Adventures (BBC Books, 2009).)
After building a bonfire, the Eighth Doctor claimed that he hadn't built one that good since that weekend in the woods with Baden-Powell. (PROSE: Illumination [+]David Bailey, Short Trips: Christmas Around the World (Short Trips short stories, Big Finish Productions, 2008).) He later claimed that he had told "good old Baden-Powell" to be prepared. (PROSE: Demontage [+]Justin Richards, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).)
When Sabbath said that it was good to be prepared, Trix MacMillan said that her great-grandfather Baden-Powell used to say that, then admitted that she was joking. (PROSE: Time Zero [+]Justin Richards, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002).)
The Eleventh Doctor claimed that Baden-Powell had taught him the rudiments of tracking. (PROSE: The Silent Stars Go By [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
In the Warrior's universe, the Fourth Doctor, after learning that Narvin had given him the Elixir of Life which enabled him to regenerate into the Warrior, proclaimed that Baden-Powell would be proud, "in knots". (AUDIO: Dust Devil [+]John Dorney, Genesis (Doctor of War, Big Finish Productions, 2022).)
Behind the scenes[]
- Baden-Powell's first name is not actually given in any of the texts.
- Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Terrance Dicks, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1991). references real-world Nazi plans, discovered after World War II, to arrest many significant British figures during Operation Sealion. Known as The Black Book in real life, Baden-Powell was on that list.