Doctor Who: Bananas
By Leah Tedesco
The Doctor loves bananas, so naturally they are one of the most frequently recurring foods on Doctor Who.
Hot Topic Exclusive Funko Pop! Ninth Doctor with Banana, credit: hottopic.com
A while back, I wrote a general article about food on Doctor Who. With the recent release of Hot Topic exclusive Funko Pop! Ninth Doctor figure holding a banana, I realized that it was time to give bananas their own write up (other than the one inspired by Jack White). The following is a review of some of their appearances and mentions in the Whoniverse.
Various fictional characters are associated with their respective favorite foods and/or drinks. For Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation, this would be Earl Grey tea. For Deanna Troi of the same program, it is chocolate. As for the Doctor of Doctor Who, he has a substantial list of favorite foods: Jelly Babies, Jammie Dodgers, fish fingers and custard, celery… but, seemingly, the one food that has remained constant throughout his regenerations are bananas.
Peri and the Sixth Doctor in ‘The Two Doctors’ – credit: hulu.com
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In ‘The Two Doctors,’ the Second Doctor says “You give a monkey control of its environment, it’ll fill the world with bananas.” Later in the same episode, the Sixth Doctor gives a banana to Peri after he finds it in his pocket. The sight of a dead Androgum, however, put her off of eating it. Speaking of being put off by bananas, in the Torchwood episode ‘Something Borrowed,’ Tosh reveals that bananas make her vomit due to a vasoactive amines intolerance. This, however, may just be a sarcastic way get a character nicknamed “Banana Boat” to stop flirting with her. Judge for yourself from the following exchange:
"BANANA: I’m Banana. I suppose you can tell why.TOSH: You come up in spots and go soft quickly?BANANA: Actually, I’m the best man.TOSH: Evolution is full of surprises.BANANA: I get to check everything personally, right. The disco, cake, flowers, seating.TOSH: Bridal suite?RECEPTIONIST: First floor, on the left.BANANA: So, do you fancy a little drink later?TOSH: Sorry, I’m intolerant to vasoactive amines.BANANA: Huh?TOSH: Bananas make me vomit."
Diane Holmes in
Torchwood
, ‘Out of Time’ – credit: netflix.com
Also in Torchwood, Diane is thrilled to see a large display of bananas in a grocery store in ‘Out of Time.’ She had flown through the Cardiff Rift from 1953 to 2007, the former being part of an era when bananas were hard to come by in the United Kingdom.
In ‘The Doctor Dances,’ the Ninth Doctor simply states, “I like bananas. Bananas are good.” and “Good source of potassium!” Also in this episode, he stealthily takes Jack’s blaster and switches it with a banana. Both the blaster and the banana came from Villengard. The Eleventh Doctor pulls the same stunt on River in ‘Let’s Kill Hitler.’
In ‘The Girl in the Fireplace,’ a drunken Tenth Doctor gives this small speech:
"I think just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they’ve never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good."
In the 2011 Comic Relief story, ‘Space,’ the Eleventh Doctor has a difficult time explaining conceptual space to Rory. His wibbly wobbly reasoning comes out as the following:
"Imagine a banana – or anything curved – actually, don’t, because it’s not curved or like a banana. Forget the banana!"
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Like I said, these are only some of the banana-related examples from the Whoniverse. It is quite fun hunting for them. What are your favorite? Let us know in the comments.