"But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!"
Owen Lars:
"You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.”
So here’s Mark Hamill, who played Luke, finally picking up his power converters from Tosche Station.
“But Toby-Wan,” I can hear you whining, “This is the ‘Who’s On First?’ blogAthon! Why are you doing ‘Star Wars’ stuff?”
Take a look at what Hamill is wearing.
No, that’s not a celery stalk pinned to his coat; he’s not the Fifth Incarnation of the Doctor. It’s a cluster of clovers clumped together. But it gave me an idea which I'll get to in a minute.
Why did the Doctor wear celery?
From the TARDIS Data Core:
Celery was a plant largely composed of water. During his fifth incarnation, the Doctor took to wearing a stalk of celery on the left breast of his frock coat. This began after his regeneration when he visited the city of Castrovalva. He considered it as a sign of civilization. (TV: Castrovalva)
Although a later incarnation of the Doctor later referred to the celery as a "decorative vegetable", (TV: Time Crash) the celery also served at least two practical purposes.
The Fifth Doctor once used the leafy part to test airflow in the Tractator-made tunnels of Frontios. Because the leaf was especially light, it would have indicated which way the air was flowing — had there actually been any circulation in those caverns. (TV: Frontios)
However, the main use was medical. The Fifth Doctor claimed to be allergic to certain gases in the praxis range of the spectrum. Celery, he said, would turn purple in the presence of such gases. In that case, he would eat the celery; if nothing else, he said, at least it would be good for his teeth. The Doctor apparently also believed the celery to possess some restorative ability, as he attempted to revive a dying Peri by having her smell the celery. Her human olfactory sense did not suffice for the plant to help her. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
Centuries later, the Eleventh Doctor asked for celery while being physically tortured by Silurians, seemingly confirming its beneficial effects on his anatomy. (TV: Cold Blood)
As for the rest of his wardrobe, while Hamill wasn’t dressed to cosplay the Doctor (the photoshop was from a St. Patrick’s Day parade in which he was marching), the coat, the hat, and the scarf might suggest the Fourth Incarnation… to those who are easily satisfied.
I think it would be a fantastic coup for the showrunners of ‘Doctor Who’ if they could land Hamill for a guest spot on the show. It wouldn’t be the first time they brought in an actor from another big sci-fi franchise – Ben Browder played the sheriff in “A Town Called Mercy” after already making his mark in ‘Farscape’ and ‘Stargate SG-1’.
Hamill has proven time and again how good he is in playing bad guys and he could do so again. One from Earth perhaps, maybe filling the vacuum that might now exist if Chris Noth’s current troubles prevent him from returning a third time as Jack Robertson.
Or Hamill could play an alien; technically, Luke Skywalker was an alien. I agree with the Great Unwashed that the Doctor should always be played by an English actor. But why should every Time Lord or just plain Gallifreyan sport a British accent? George Pravda certainly didn’t when he played Castellan Spandrell in “The Deadly Assassin”.
Just another suggestion from your friendly Toobworld caretaker….
And if they wanted to make an in-joke reference to this photoshopped picture, the Castellan could be wearing a cluster of clovers.
Why would Castellan Spandrell wear the clovers? Maybe there was something special about them as there was about the celery. There might be a clue in the short story “The Five-Leaf Clover”….
From the TARDIS Data Core:
The five-leaf clover was a type of clover which was sought after by Irishman Pat Kelley.
In search for the clover, Kelly travelled aboard his spaceship, the Emerald Isle, to the planet Skaro where he bluffed the Golden Emperor into allowing him to stay in the Dalek City where he could look around. Upon meeting with the Emperor again, Kelly complimented him on their hydroponics chambers and made special note of their clovers. Reasoning that Kelly must be a spy and that he noted the clovers because he knew they would grow quickly, blocking their metal roadways and strangling their machines, he had the Emerald Isle fitted with the clovers to bring certain doom to Earth. The Daleks allowed Kelly to leave and after hearing Kelly's seemingly happy reaction, the Emperor remarked that he was probably undergoing the last stages of insanity. Little did he realize however, Kelley had in fact been playing an elaborate ruse to acquire the clovers all along. (PROSE: The Five-Leaf Clover)
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