Professor Chronotis

Professor (Urban) Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams. He originally appeared in the Doctor Who serial Shada, starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. However, since the filming of the latter was never completed due to industrial action, the public were not introduced to him until the publication of Adams' novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency in 1987.

Related Topics:
Douglas Adams - Doctor Who - Shada - Tom Baker - Lalla Ward - Industrial action - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - 1987

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An incomplete version of Shada was eventually released on VHS, and in 2003 it was remade as an animated webcast by Big Finish Productions for the BBC. Professor Chronotis was played by Denis Carey in the unaired 1980 version of Shada, and by James Fox in the webcast remake, which was also released as an audio play on CD by Big Finish.

Related Topics:
2003 - Big Finish Productions - BBC - Denis Carey - 1980 - James Fox - Audio play - CD

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Chronotis - or "Reg" as he is known - holds the post of Regius Professor of Chronology at Cambridge University. He is also a Fellow of the fictional St. Cedd's College, Cambridge, where he has resided for many hundreds of years. In the Shada version, Chronotis is a retired Time Lord and old friend of the Doctor, living out his remaining centuries in academic seclusion. Owing to repeated time travel and advanced age, he is extremely forgetful and absent-minded. He often does not remember what time period he has travelled to nor why. Amongst other fondnesses, Reg has a liking for tea and for silly jokes.

Related Topics:
Cambridge University - Fellow - St. Cedd's College, Cambridge - Time Lord - The Doctor - Tea

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The Dirk Gently version of the character is almost identical to the Shada version, though the novel contains no references to Time Lords. Here Chronotis is so old and forgetful that he has no idea who or what he originally was, though he has vague memories of Cleopatra (who he claims wore outrageous earrings and reeked of cat food). His Chair of Chronology was created by mad king George III who was terrified that if time were to start flowing backwards, all the bad experiences of his life might recur. In fact, central to the book's theme are the three questions the King asked Reg upon his appointment.

Related Topics:
Cleopatra - Chair - George III

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In both versions, Chronotis is a clandestine time-traveller, whose time machine (or TARDIS, as they are termed in Doctor Who) is disguised as his College rooms. Professor Chronotis also appears in the Eighth Doctor Adventures spin-off novel Unnatural History by Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman, in which he has a new idenity as Professor Daniel Joyce, and now teaches at Berkeley.

Related Topics:
TARDIS - Eighth Doctor Adventures - Jonathan Blum - Kate Orman - Berkeley

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In The End of the World the Doctor stated that his homeworld had been destroyed and that he was the last of the Time Lords. Whether this includes Chronotis, however, is uncertain.

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