Changes: Whomobile

Revision as of 04:39, 11 January 2021

The Whomobile (AUDIO: Glorious Goodwood) was a vehicle owned by the Third Doctor. It was similar to a hovercraft and was capable of flight. According to the Doctor, his "new car" was also "carbon negative" as it absorbed carbon dioxide, rather than emitting it. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master)

History

The Third Doctor constructed the Whomobile shortly after Jo's departure. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master) He later used the Whomobile to search for the secret base of Operation Golden Age. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)

Sarah Jane Smith used it to travel to Goodwood Motor Circuit, West Sussex, where she encountered Daleks. (AUDIO: Glorious Goodwood)

At some point, the Whomobile was put in mothballs. It was taken out when the Remoraxians took over a UNIT seabase. The Doctor and Sarah Jane took the Whomobile to quickly get to the base. (COMIC: In With the Tide)

Lupton stole the Whomobile after taking the Doctor's Metebelis crystal at the behest of the Eight Legs. After Lupton abandoned it and stole a gyrocopter, the Doctor and Sarah Jane used the craft's flying ability to follow him. (TV: Planet of the Spiders)

Legacy

The Eighth Doctor once reflected to Mary Shelley that he used to have a hovercar with a "brilliant number-plate." (AUDIO: Army of Death)

Other Whomobiles

Slist Fayflut Marteveerthon Slitheen, a Slitheen, impersonated the Ninth Doctor, starring in the Holovid show Doctor Who?. They drove their own version of the Whomobile, and used it to save the real Doctor from a group of fake Chumblies. (COMIC: Doctormania)

Behind the scenes

The name

The vehicle was not created for Doctor Who, but was personally commissioned by Jon Pertwee, who retained possession of it after his tenure as the Doctor. Pertwee gave it the name "Whomobile" during press interviews, but it was also known — again, off-screen — as "Alien". Had the vehicle been named in Doctor Who, it almost certainly would not have been called "the Whomobile", as this violated producer Barry Letts' strong conviction against making plays on the programme's title. The Doctor Who Technical Manual referred to it simply as "the Doctor's Car." In spite of this, the name was indeed given as "the Whomobile" in an audio drama featuring Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen recorded for the audio story Glorious Goodwood.

As a real-life vehicle

The Whomobile (reg: WVO 2M) was one of Jon Pertwee's personal vehicles. He retained possession of it until nearly the end of his life.

The Whomobile was hastily written into the script of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, where it replaced an army motorcycle as the Doctor's transport around the deserted London. The Whomobile's roof/door section had not been completed at the time of filming, so a motor-boat windscreen was fitted to make the car legally roadworthy. The vehicle was classified technically as an "Invalid Tricycle".

When Pertwee demonstrated the vehicle to Peter Purves on the 5 November 1973 edition of Blue Peter during his tenure, he revealed that the vehicle was roadworthy and legal, though he mentioned that the BBC forbade him or any of the crew from removing it from the studios except for outside shoots. It was capable of a top speed of 105 mph (roughly 169 km/h). Footage of this is available on the DVD release of Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the Season 10 Blu-ray.

An extra on The Three Doctors DVD reveals Jon Pertwee introduced it on Blue Peter prior to its debut.

As documentary subject

Jon Pertwee presented the Whomobile in the documentary 30 Years in the TARDIS.

Other appearances

Whomobile Pinball — The Whomobile, as featured in *Time Streams*

Jon Pertwee, in costume and in character as the Doctor, appeared with the Whomobile in Billy Smart's Children's Circus on the afternoon of Sunday 4 November 1973 (broadcast Sunday 6 January 1974). The Doctor Who theme music played as the Doctor drove the vehicle into the circus ring, with Gabriella Smart, sister of young ringmaster David Smart Jr., in the passenger seat. The Doctor then chatted briefly with David, before driving off with Gabriella to help find her lost performing dogs.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox Object
-|name = Whomobile
+|image       = Whomobile - Planet of Spiders-2.jpg
+|type        = [[Hovercraft]]
-|image = Whomobile.jpg
+|first       = Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)
-|type = Hovercraft
+|appearances = {{il|[[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]''|[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Glorious Goodwood (audio story)|Glorious Goodwood]]''|[[COMIC]]: ''[[In With the Tide (comic story)|In With the Tide]]''|[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Terror of the Master (audio story)|Terror of the Master]]''}}
-|origin = The [[Third Doctor]]
-|appearances = {{il|[[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]''|[[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]''|[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Glorious Goodwood (audio story)|Glorious Goodwood]]''|[[COMIC]]: ''[[Prisoners of Time (comic story)|Prisoners of Time]]''}}
 |bts = DVD Special Feature - The creation of the Whomobile - Invasion of the Dinosaurs - BBC
+}}{{ImageLink}}
-}}
-The '''Whomobile''' was a futuristic-looking vehicle designed by the [[Third Doctor]].  the Doctor used this one instead. It was similar to a [[hovercraft]] and was capable of flight.
+The '''Whomobile''' ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Glorious Goodwood (audio story)|Glorious Goodwood]]'') was a vehicle owned by the [[Third Doctor]]. It was similar to a [[hovercraft]] and was capable of flight. According to the Doctor, his "new car" was also "carbon negative" as it absorbed [[carbon dioxide]], rather than emitting it. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Terror of the Master (audio story)|Terror of the Master]]'')
-Usually, the Doctor relied on his vintage roadster [[Bessie]] to travel around nearby areas of [[Britain]], without the use of his [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] while under exile. However, despite the many innovative modifications he gave her, he could not change the fact that Bessie was foremost a vintage [[Earth]] car originally designed for leisure and on-road transport only. Once his exile had been lifted, the Doctor had access to technology from the future, no longer bound by the limits he faced with Earth's [[20th century]] era technological resources. Accordingly, the Doctor created the Whomobile for moments of urgency, when he needed a more versatile and agressive mode of transport.
 == History ==
-The [[Third Doctor]] first used the Whomobile to search for the secret base of [[Operation Golden Age]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'')
+The [[Third Doctor]] constructed the Whomobile shortly after Jo's departure. ([[AUDIO]]: [[Terror of the Master (audio story)|Te''rror of the Master'']]) He later used the Whomobile to search for the secret base of [[Operation Golden Age]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'')
-[[Sarah Jane Smith]] used it to travel to [[Goodwood]], [[Sussex]], where she encountered [[Dalek]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Glorious Goodwood]]'')
+[[Sarah Jane Smith]] used it to travel to [[Goodwood Motor Circuit]], [[West Sussex]], where she encountered [[Dalek]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Glorious Goodwood (audio story)|Glorious Goodwood]]'')
-At some point, the Whomobile was put in mothballs. It was taken out when the [[Remoraxian]]s took over a [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] seabase. The Doctor and Sarah Jane took the Whomobile to quickly get to the base. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Prisoners of Time (comic story)|Prisoners of Time]]'')
+At some point, the Whomobile was put in mothballs. It was taken out when the [[Remoraxian]]s took over a [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] seabase. The Doctor and Sarah Jane took the Whomobile to quickly get to the base. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[In With the Tide (comic story)|In With the Tide]]'')
-It was later used in the pursuit of a man called [[Lupton]] after he had stolen the Doctor's [[Metebelis crystal]] at the behest of the [[Eight Legs]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'')
+[[Lupton]] stole the Whomobile after taking the Doctor's [[Metebelis crystal]] at the behest of the [[Eight Legs]]. After Lupton abandoned it and stole a [[gyrocopter]], the Doctor and Sarah Jane used the craft's flying ability to follow him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'')
+=== Legacy ===
+The [[Eighth Doctor]] once reflected to [[Mary Shelley]] that he used to have a hovercar with a "brilliant number-plate." ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Army of Death (audio story)|Army of Death]]'')
+=== Other Whomobiles ===
+[[Slist Fayflut Marteveerthon Slitheen]], a [[Slitheen family|Slitheen]], impersonated the [[Ninth Doctor]], starring in the [[Holovid]] show ''[[Doctor Who?]]''. They drove their own version of the Whomobile, and used it to save the real Doctor from a group of fake [[Chumbley (Doctormania)|Chumblies]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Doctormania (comic story)|Doctormania]]'')
 == Behind the scenes ==
 === The name ===
-The vehicle was not created for ''Doctor Who'', but was personally commissioned by [[Jon Pertwee]], who retained possession of it after his tenure as the Doctor. Pertwee gave it the name "Whomobile" during press interviews, but it was also known — again, off-screen — as "Alien". Had the vehicle been named in ''Doctor Who'', it almost certainly would ''not'' have been called "the Whomobile", as this violated [[producer]] [[Barry Letts]]' strong conviction against making plays on the programme's title. ''[[The Doctor Who Technical Manual]]'' referred to it simply as "the Doctor's Car."
+The vehicle was not created for ''Doctor Who'', but was personally commissioned by [[Jon Pertwee]], who retained possession of it after his tenure as the Doctor. Pertwee gave it the name "Whomobile" during press interviews, but it was also known — again, off-screen — as "Alien". Had the vehicle been named in ''Doctor Who'', it almost certainly would ''not'' have been called "the Whomobile", as this violated [[producer]] [[Barry Letts]]' strong conviction against making plays on the programme's title. ''[[The Doctor Who Technical Manual]]'' referred to it simply as "the Doctor's Car." In spite of this, the name was indeed given as "the Whomobile" in an audio drama featuring Pertwee and [[Elisabeth Sladen]] recorded for the audio story ''Glorious Goodwood''.
-The name was spoken in an audio drama featuring Pertwee and [[Elisabeth Sladen]] recorded for [[Glorious Goodwood]]. It was never released until it appeared on one of the ''[[Doctor Who at the BBC (audio series)|Doctor Who at the BBC]]'' CDs in the mid-2000s.
 === As a real-life vehicle ===
@@ Line 31: / Line 32: @@
 The Whomobile was hastily written into the script of ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs'', where it replaced an army motorcycle as the Doctor's transport around the deserted [[London]]. The Whomobile's roof/door section had not been completed at the time of filming, so a motor-boat windscreen was fitted to make the car legally roadworthy. The vehicle was classified technically as an "Invalid Tricycle".
-When Pertwee demonstrated the vehicle to [[Peter Purves]] on the Monday [[7 January (releases)|7 January]] [[1974 (releases)|1974]] edition of ''[[Blue Peter]]'' during his tenure, he revealed that the vehicle was roadworthy and legal, though he mentioned that the [[BBC (real world)|BBC]] forbade him or any of the crew from removing it from the studios except for outside shoots. It was capable of a top speed of 105 mph (roughly 169 kph). Footage of this is available on the DVD release of ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs''.
+When Pertwee demonstrated the vehicle to [[Peter Purves]] on the 5 November 1973 edition of ''[[Blue Peter]]'' during his tenure, he revealed that the vehicle was roadworthy and legal, though he mentioned that the [[BBC]] forbade him or any of the crew from removing it from the studios except for outside shoots. It was capable of a top speed of 105 mph (roughly 169 km/h). Footage of this is available on the DVD release of ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs ''and the [[Season 10]] Blu-ray.
+An extra on ''The Three Doctors'' DVD reveals Jon Pertwee introduced it on ''Blue Peter'' prior to its debut.
 === As documentary subject ===
-Pertwee presented the Whomobile in the documentary ''[[Thirty Years in the TARDIS]]''.
+Jon Pertwee presented the Whomobile in the documentary ''[[30 Years in the TARDIS]]''.
 === Other appearances ===
+[[File:Whomobile_Pinball.jpg|thumb|The Whomobile, as featured in ''[[Doctor Who Pinball: Time Streams|Time Streams]]'']]
-Jon Pertwee, in costume and in character as the Doctor, appeared with the Whomobile in ''Billy Smart's Children's Circus'' on the afternoon of Sunday 4 November 1973 (broadcast Sunday [[6 January (releases)|6 January]] [[1974 (releases)|1974]]). The ''Doctor Who'' theme music played as the Doctor drove the vehicle into the circus ring, with Gabriella Smart, sister of young ringmaster David Smart Jr., in the passenger seat. The Doctor then chatted briefly with David, before driving off with Gabriella to help find her lost performing [[dog]]s.
+Jon Pertwee, in costume and in character as the Doctor, appeared with the Whomobile in ''Billy Smart's Children's Circus'' on the afternoon of Sunday 4 November 1973 (broadcast Sunday 6 January 1974). The ''Doctor Who'' theme music played as the Doctor drove the vehicle into the circus ring, with Gabriella Smart, sister of young ringmaster David Smart Jr., in the passenger seat. The Doctor then chatted briefly with David, before driving off with Gabriella to help find her lost performing [[dog]]s.
 == External links ==
 * http://www.3wheelers.com/whomo.html
 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2003/11/doctor_who_car.shtml
+{{Dwlx}}
 [[Category:Vehicles]]
 [[Category:Individual cars and trucks]]

Tardis