THE "PRISON BREAK" & 'DOCTOR WHO'

Since the new version of 'Doctor Who' has not been picked up for American audiences, some of the details mentioned in this essay should probably be considered spoilers.

Just thought I'd warn ye.

Regular visitors to "Inner Toob" might remember what troubles I had in trying to find an appropriate link for the fourth and fifth episodes of the new 'Doctor Who' ("Aliens Of London" & "World War Three"). I needed a theoretical crossover that could cover the newsmaking events of the death of the British Prime Minister and the destruction of both Big Ben and Number 10 Downing Street. And I needed this link to also help splain the timeline discrepancies that cropped up due to the 11th episode, "Boom Town".

So I decided to utilize one of the special features of the TARDIS - that it could travel not only through Time but Space as well. For these episodes, I was originally hoping to link it to the alternate TV dimension in which 'The West Wing' takes place.

But as "Words Say Nothing" pointed out, by the time the episode was taking place - June, 2006, - the United Kingdom already had a female PM. In "Aliens Of London", we learned the Slitheen Family had murdered the MALE PM of that time period.

And if 'The West Wing' was projecting ahead with its timeline, then by this point in the broadcasts, now that the last season has begun, surely somebody should have mentioned the loss of both British landmarks.

So 'The West Wing' was wight - er, right out.

I didn't even give 'Commander-in-Chief' a thought because it might be addressing the fictional view of their world's Great Britain before season's end. And if they can keep up the encouraging ratings from their first night, it might even be around by next season. And definitely by then they would have had to depict an England without Big Ben.

So I finally chose the combo of 'The Agency' and 'The District', which were both on CBS and shared a definitive crossover with each other. They had a fictional presidency, - therefore automatically relegated to an alternate dimension since Toobworld must share the same president as the Real World... for better or worse. And best of all? Both shows were cancelled; therefore we can make any claims we want for that dimension's future.

And for good measure, I decided to toss in the new FOX series 'Prison Break' to this alt. dimension, since they keep talking about a man named Steadman who is the brother to the Vice President.

Which is the long way around to saying that 'Prison Break' has given me a gift - something from the show itself that lends credence to this theory.

This past Monday, Michael Scofield was hoping to instigate a lockdown of his cellblock so that he could work behind the prison walls. What he never planned for was that the situation would quickly devolve into a full-scale riot.

And the riot's main instigator, a prison perv known as T-Bag, exhulted over the fact that he caused the correction officers to flee before him and his troops. "They're afraid of the Big Bad Wolf!"

The Big Bad Wolf.......

As the over-arching storyline showed, the Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler were followed throughout Time and Space by the phrase "Bad Wolf". Some of these were found in graffiti, others in corporate names. Sometimes the phrase was spoken aloud by characters like Gwyneth and The Moxx of the Balhoon.

The words "Bad Wolf" had been scattered through Time and Space by Rose herself, after she had gained god-like powers from absorbing the Time Stream. If "Aliens Of London" & "World War Three" did take place in an alternate dimension, then the phrase could have manifested itself through T-Bag's exclamation.

And as for it occurring at the Fox River State Penitentiary, where the Doctor and Rose never even showed up, that's not really a problem either. (They only went to America once - in the episode "Dalek", and that won't happen until 2012.)

Rose sent "Bad Wolf" throughout Time and Space, sprinkling it liberally I'm sure. We know some of the occurrences were like seed tossed onto asphalt, because even though Rose and the Doctor were in the vicinity, they never noticed them. (For instance, the graffitti on the concert poster in 1987 London, found in the episode "Father's Day".)

"Bad Wolf" and especially "Big Bad Wolf" (which was uttered by Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead") are phrases that can be considered pretty common. Not only could they show up in some sitcom's retelling of a few classic fairy tales, but they do lend themselves nicely to code words and catch-phrases and even as a possible secret identity.

Therefore, in the future whenever the phrase "Bad Wolf" shows up in any TV show, it will be my claim that it's another manifestation of Rose's plan scattered throughout the TV Universe.

As a matter of fact, should the phrase ever pop up in some rerun of an old TV show from years back, we can make the same claim.

'Doctor Who' is the premiere series for time travel, after all.

In fact, here are two examples that I feel comfortable with attributing to Rose Tyler's powers:

"Dark Shadows" (1966)
Quentin Collins: On your way to grandmother's house, and low and behold! Who should you meet but the big bad wolf.

"Veronica Mars" (2004)
Trina Echolls: So now you're worried about Dad's welfare.... Isn't he the Big Bad Wolf? Cigarette burns and broken noses.... Oh, the stories you used to tell!

Both quotes are courtesy of contributors to the IMDb.com. There's always a possibility that even more TV series might be able to add to that roster!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby