Blinovitch Limitation Effect
Encyclopedia
The Blinovitch Limitation Effect is a fictional principle of time travel
physics in the universe of the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
.
It is usually understood as having two aspects: firstly, that a time traveller cannot "redo" an act that they have previously committed, and secondly, that a dangerous energy discharge will result if two temporal versions of the same person come into contact. The first aspect is similar to a real-world physics conjecture, the Novikov self-consistency principle
.
How the Blinovitch Limitation Effect works has never been made clear by any of the television programme's production teams. It remains a convenient plot device rather than an attempt to rationalise time travel in the Doctor Who universe.
(1972), when Jo Grant
asks the Third Doctor
why a group of time-travelling guerrillas on a mission to assassinate a diplomat cannot simply go back into the past and try again if they fail. In reply, the Doctor cites the principle and begins to explain, but is interrupted before he can explain further. The "Effect" was invented by script editor Terrance Dicks
and producer Barry Letts
to gloss over the plot problems inherent in the time travel premise of the serial. The interruption introduced by the writers meant that the explanation did not have to be expanded upon.
The Effect is next mentioned in Invasion of the Dinosaurs
(1974), where the Third Doctor states that it "tends to limit research into time travel" but once again he does not go into detail as to why. The novelisation of the story reveals that Blinovitch was a "great bear of a man from Russia" who had reversed his own timestream, reverting to infancy.
The next time the Effect is mentioned on-screen is in Mawdryn Undead
(1983), but there it is not a scientific principle that prevents people from redoing their actions (for whatever reason). Rather, it is a physical effect that occurs when two versions of the same person from different time periods make physical contact. This results in an energy discharge, shorting out the "time differential" between them. The Mawdryn Undead storyline establishes that the younger version of the character involved in the discharge, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, is traumatized by the event and, for the next several years, loses his memory of the Doctor. It is possible, however, as Lawrence Miles
and Tat Wood
theorise in their reference book About Time 5, that the energy discharge is simply a side effect
of the principle's operation. It also appears, given the number of times that the Doctor
has met his other incarnations, that the Effect does not apply to Time Lord
s, or at the very least can be mitigated. The Doctor appears to show sensitivity and resistance to temporal distortions, notably in The Time Monster
(1973), Invasion of the Dinosaurs and City of Death
(1979) (where Romana
does as well).
The effect does not appear to present a problem with characters interacting with their own ancestors, as Ace McShane
met her infant mother and worked extensively with her grandmother in The Curse of Fenric
(1989).
The Virgin New Adventures
novel Timewyrm: Revelation
(1991) by Paul Cornell
gave Blinovitch the first name of Aaron (and the title of his book as Temporal Mechanics). The Virgin Missing Adventures
novelisation The Ghosts of N-Space
(1995) by Barry Letts stated that Blinovitch formulated his principle in the British Museum
's reading room in 1928, and although he was not the first to discuss it, he was the first to formulate it properly.
(1993), where the Third Doctor explains to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
that it is possible to leave a location in the TARDIS
and arrive at a time before they actually left, since the Effect only stops someone from interfering with their own past. Although the First Doctor
claimed that it was impossible to alter history in The Aztecs
(1964), and the concept of unchangeable "fixed points in time" has become a recurring concept in the 2005–present revival, other stories such as The Time Meddler
(1965), Day of the Daleks
(1972), Genesis of the Daleks
(1975), Pyramids of Mars
(1975), Remembrance of the Daleks
(1988), and A Christmas Carol (2010) imply that changing history is still possible.
", Rose Tyler
crosses her own timestream and redoes her actions, saving her father from dying in 1987, despite the Ninth Doctor
's warnings not to attempt to cross their timestreams a second time and not to touch her infant self. This paradox results in serious repercussions, dealt with in the story. The Effect does not behave as described in earlier stories, but the contact does create a paradox that summons the Reapers, which proceed to "sterilise" the resulting wound in Time by devouring everything in sight. When Rose briefly carries her younger self in her arms, there is no visible energy discharge, although a Reaper appears immediately. Speaking at the Gallifrey convention in February 2006, episode writer Paul Cornell said that although his script does not mention the Blinovitch Limitation Effect by name, it was in the forefront of his mind while writing the episode.
The loss of the Time Lords and their stabilising influence on time due to the Time War
is hinted at in "Father's Day
" itself, "The Unquiet Dead
" (2005), and later in "Rise of the Cybermen
" (2006). This fits in with Miles and Woods's suggestions of a cosmic observer effect imposed on the universe by the Time Lords, resulting in the creation of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect as a safeguard against tampering with causality. It is also consistent with the Doctor's observation in "Father's Day" that if the Time Lords were still around, they could have repaired the paradox.
In "The Parting of the Ways
" (2005) and "The Girl in the Fireplace
" (2006) the Ninth and Tenth Doctor
s respectively make reference to becoming "part of events". In the former episode, Rose asks the Ninth Doctor why he cannot go back in time and warn Earth of the Dalek attack that is happening and he replies that once he "lands in that second, [he becomes] part of events. Stuck in the timeline." The Effect is not mentioned by name, but the consequences stated appear to be similar to those in Day of the Daleks, where the guerillas become caught in a predestination paradox
, doomed to create the very future they are trying to avert. Similar language is used in "The Stolen Earth
" (2008), where the Doctor describes the events of the Time War as being "time locked" so that no one is supposed to be able to travel back to that period, though Dalek Caan was presumably able to make the transition and avert the consequences of the Effect.
In the Doctor Who Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride" (2006), Donna Noble
remarks that she wishes to use the TARDIS
to travel back to a point during her own wedding, as she had been transported inside the TARDIS before the ceremony could take place. The Tenth Doctor
says he cannot allow her to cross her own time stream.
In "Time Crash
" (2007), the Tenth Doctor attributes the aged appearance of the Fifth Doctor
to shorting out the "time differential" (the same phrase used in Mawdryn Undead) between them, and stating that it will "snap back in place" when the Fifth Doctor is returned to his rightful moment in time.
In "Blink
", elderly Billy Shipton tells Sally Sparrow that he often thought about contacting her prior to the time of his younger self's disappearance, "but apparently it would have torn a hole in the fabric of space and time, and destroyed two thirds of the universe." In the same episode, however, Martha Jones
tells younger Billy that she and the Tenth Doctor
attended Apollo 11
's landing four times.
Former and recurring companion
, Sarah Jane Smith
, references the Blinovich Limitation Effect in The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
(2008) when declining to hold her infant self in 1951.
In "The Hungry Earth
" (2010), the Eleventh Doctor
discourages Amy Pond
and Rory Williams
from being in close contact with future incarnations of themselves, stating that it would "...make things complicated." but not specifically mentioning the Effect. Nevertheless, in "The Big Bang
" (2010), at a point where Time itself is collapsing, Amy Pond makes physical contact with her younger self in an alternate history with no repercussions. At this point, there are no other species in the universe except those on Earth (the eye of the storm). Reapers do not appear. However, when the Doctor touches a present-moment sonic screwdriver
to a future version of itself, sparks are emitted. This appears to confirm to the Doctor that the two identical configured screwdrivers are the same object at different points in the timeline. The Doctor subsequently directs adult Amy to give her 5-year-old self an icecream cone in "Good Night".
In "A Christmas Carol" (2010), older and younger versions of the character Kazran Sardick meet and touch without any problems at all, which reviewers have pointed out seems to violate the principle.
In the mini-episodes "Space
" and "Time
" (2011) which immediately follow the aforementioned "A Christmas Carol", two versions of Amy Pond
, only minutes out of syncronisation from each other, interact with each other within the TARDIS without ill effect. Similarly minute-older Rory Williams
and Eleventh Doctor
give instructions to the trio as they pass through the TARDIS
.
River Song counsels Amy Pond not to inform the Doctor of his 200-year-older self's death in "The Impossible Astronaut
" (2011). When Amy argues that the Doctor has met his younger self before, her husband Rory Williams reminds her that the universe nearly blew up as a result, referring to the events of "The Big Bang".
for Doctor Who viewers) in the romantic comedy
Happy Accidents
(2000), which has a plot involving time travel. In the film, Blinovitch is said to have been from "Yugoserbia" and discovered how to bend spacetime
. Two of his laws are invoked:
In Supergirl
Annual #2 (2010), Brainiac 5
of the Legion of Super-Heroes
in the 31st Century complains how hard it is to maintain the timeline when heroes like Superboy
and Supergirl visit their future, saying, "The Novikov and Blinovitch Effects alone take me hours to account for!"
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
physics in the universe of the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
.
It is usually understood as having two aspects: firstly, that a time traveller cannot "redo" an act that they have previously committed, and secondly, that a dangerous energy discharge will result if two temporal versions of the same person come into contact. The first aspect is similar to a real-world physics conjecture, the Novikov self-consistency principle
Novikov self-consistency principle
The Novikov self-consistency principle, also known as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture, is a principle developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s to solve the problem of paradoxes in time travel, which is theoretically permitted in certain solutions of general...
.
How the Blinovitch Limitation Effect works has never been made clear by any of the television programme's production teams. It remains a convenient plot device rather than an attempt to rationalise time travel in the Doctor Who universe.
The original series
The Effect was introduced in Day of the DaleksDay of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 January to 22 January 1972.-Synopsis:...
(1972), when Jo Grant
Jo Grant
Josephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
asks the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
why a group of time-travelling guerrillas on a mission to assassinate a diplomat cannot simply go back into the past and try again if they fail. In reply, the Doctor cites the principle and begins to explain, but is interrupted before he can explain further. The "Effect" was invented by script editor Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
and producer Barry Letts
Barry Letts
Barry Leopold Letts was a British actor, television director, writer and producer best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and for producing the BBC's Sunday Classic drama serials in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
to gloss over the plot problems inherent in the time travel premise of the serial. The interruption introduced by the writers meant that the explanation did not have to be expanded upon.
The Effect is next mentioned in Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 12 January to 16 February 1974.-Synopsis:...
(1974), where the Third Doctor states that it "tends to limit research into time travel" but once again he does not go into detail as to why. The novelisation of the story reveals that Blinovitch was a "great bear of a man from Russia" who had reversed his own timestream, reverting to infancy.
The next time the Effect is mentioned on-screen is in Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
(1983), but there it is not a scientific principle that prevents people from redoing their actions (for whatever reason). Rather, it is a physical effect that occurs when two versions of the same person from different time periods make physical contact. This results in an energy discharge, shorting out the "time differential" between them. The Mawdryn Undead storyline establishes that the younger version of the character involved in the discharge, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, is traumatized by the event and, for the next several years, loses his memory of the Doctor. It is possible, however, as Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles is a science fiction author known for his work on original Doctor Who novels and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox...
and Tat Wood
Tat Wood
Tat Wood is co-writer of the About Time episode guides to the television series Doctor Who. This book series, begun in 2004, emphasises the importance of understanding the series in the context of British politics, culture and science. Volume Six is entirely Wood's work.Wood has also written for...
theorise in their reference book About Time 5, that the energy discharge is simply a side effect
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton...
of the principle's operation. It also appears, given the number of times that the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
has met his other incarnations, that the Effect does not apply to Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s, or at the very least can be mitigated. The Doctor appears to show sensitivity and resistance to temporal distortions, notably in The Time Monster
The Time Monster
The Time Monster is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 May to 24 June 1972.- Synopsis :...
(1973), Invasion of the Dinosaurs and City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
(1979) (where Romana
Romana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
does as well).
The effect does not appear to present a problem with characters interacting with their own ancestors, as Ace McShane
Ace (Doctor Who)
Dorothy Gale McShane, better known by her nickname Ace, is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
met her infant mother and worked extensively with her grandmother in The Curse of Fenric
The Curse of Fenric
The Curse of Fenric is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 25 October to 15 November 1989...
(1989).
The Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel Timewyrm: Revelation
Timewyrm: Revelation
Timewyrm: Revelation is an original Doctor Who novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who novels...
(1991) by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
gave Blinovitch the first name of Aaron (and the title of his book as Temporal Mechanics). The Virgin Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
novelisation The Ghosts of N-Space
The Ghosts of N-Space
The Ghosts of N-Space is a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was recorded in 1994 and finally broadcast in six parts on BBC Radio 2 from January 20 to February 24, 1996. This was the second Third Doctor radio play, following The...
(1995) by Barry Letts stated that Blinovitch formulated his principle in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
's reading room in 1928, and although he was not the first to discuss it, he was the first to formulate it properly.
Theories
Miles and Wood suggest that the key word is "Limitation"; that is, the effect limits the amount of interference in the past as opposed to completely prohibiting it. This interpretation is supported by the Barry Letts-written Doctor Who radio play The Paradise of DeathThe Paradise of Death
The Paradise of Death is a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced by the BBC and first broadcast in five episodes on BBC Radio 5 from 27 August to 24 September 1993. The original radio play was released on CD as part of the BBC...
(1993), where the Third Doctor explains to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
that it is possible to leave a location in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
and arrive at a time before they actually left, since the Effect only stops someone from interfering with their own past. Although the First Doctor
First Doctor
The First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
claimed that it was impossible to alter history in The Aztecs
The Aztecs (Doctor Who)
-VHS and DVD releases:*The serial was released on VHS in 1992.*On 21 October 2002, it was released on Region 2 DVD. This release was the first Doctor Who DVD to use the VidFIRE process throughout the whole production.-External links:Fan reviews...
(1964), and the concept of unchangeable "fixed points in time" has become a recurring concept in the 2005–present revival, other stories such as The Time Meddler
The Time Meddler
The Time Meddler is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 July to 24 July 1965...
(1965), Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 January to 22 January 1972.-Synopsis:...
(1972), Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
(1975), Pyramids of Mars
Pyramids of Mars
Pyramids of Mars is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 25 October to 15 November 1975.-Synopsis:...
(1975), Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
(1988), and A Christmas Carol (2010) imply that changing history is still possible.
The new series
In the 2005 series episode "Father's DayFather's Day (Doctor Who)
"Father's Day" is the eighth episode in series one of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was first broadcast on 14 May 2005...
", Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
crosses her own timestream and redoes her actions, saving her father from dying in 1987, despite the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
's warnings not to attempt to cross their timestreams a second time and not to touch her infant self. This paradox results in serious repercussions, dealt with in the story. The Effect does not behave as described in earlier stories, but the contact does create a paradox that summons the Reapers, which proceed to "sterilise" the resulting wound in Time by devouring everything in sight. When Rose briefly carries her younger self in her arms, there is no visible energy discharge, although a Reaper appears immediately. Speaking at the Gallifrey convention in February 2006, episode writer Paul Cornell said that although his script does not mention the Blinovitch Limitation Effect by name, it was in the forefront of his mind while writing the episode.
The loss of the Time Lords and their stabilising influence on time due to the Time War
Time War (Doctor Who)
The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
is hinted at in "Father's Day
Father's Day (Doctor Who)
"Father's Day" is the eighth episode in series one of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was first broadcast on 14 May 2005...
" itself, "The Unquiet Dead
The Unquiet Dead
"The Unquiet Dead" is an episode in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 9 April 2005 and is the first episode of the revival to be set in the past. In Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose...
" (2005), and later in "Rise of the Cybermen
Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode features the return of Cybermen, where they are created on Earth itself. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel"...
" (2006). This fits in with Miles and Woods's suggestions of a cosmic observer effect imposed on the universe by the Time Lords, resulting in the creation of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect as a safeguard against tampering with causality. It is also consistent with the Doctor's observation in "Father's Day" that if the Time Lords were still around, they could have repaired the paradox.
In "The Parting of the Ways
The Parting of the Ways
"The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
" (2005) and "The Girl in the Fireplace
The Girl in the Fireplace
"The Girl in the Fireplace" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 6 May 2006, and is the only episode in the 2006 series written by Steven Moffat...
" (2006) the Ninth and Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
s respectively make reference to becoming "part of events". In the former episode, Rose asks the Ninth Doctor why he cannot go back in time and warn Earth of the Dalek attack that is happening and he replies that once he "lands in that second, [he becomes] part of events. Stuck in the timeline." The Effect is not mentioned by name, but the consequences stated appear to be similar to those in Day of the Daleks, where the guerillas become caught in a predestination paradox
Predestination paradox
A predestination paradox is a paradox of time travel that is often used as a convention in science fiction. It exists when a time traveller is caught in a loop of events that "predestines" or "predates" them to travel back in time...
, doomed to create the very future they are trying to avert. Similar language is used in "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
" (2008), where the Doctor describes the events of the Time War as being "time locked" so that no one is supposed to be able to travel back to that period, though Dalek Caan was presumably able to make the transition and avert the consequences of the Effect.
In the Doctor Who Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride" (2006), Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
remarks that she wishes to use the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
to travel back to a point during her own wedding, as she had been transported inside the TARDIS before the ceremony could take place. The Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
says he cannot allow her to cross her own time stream.
In "Time Crash
Time Crash
"Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need...
" (2007), the Tenth Doctor attributes the aged appearance of the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
to shorting out the "time differential" (the same phrase used in Mawdryn Undead) between them, and stating that it will "snap back in place" when the Fifth Doctor is returned to his rightful moment in time.
In "Blink
Blink (Doctor Who)
"Blink" is the 10th episode of the third series of the new production of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat; the episode is based on a previous short story written by...
", elderly Billy Shipton tells Sally Sparrow that he often thought about contacting her prior to the time of his younger self's disappearance, "but apparently it would have torn a hole in the fabric of space and time, and destroyed two thirds of the universe." In the same episode, however, Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
tells younger Billy that she and the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
attended Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
's landing four times.
Former and recurring companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
, Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
, references the Blinovich Limitation Effect in The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith is a story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 17 and 24 November 2008. It is the fifth serial of the second series.-Part 1:...
(2008) when declining to hold her infant self in 1951.
In "The Hungry Earth
The Hungry Earth
"The Hungry Earth" is the eighth episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 22 May 2010 on BBC One. It was written by Chris Chibnall, who had previously written for Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood...
" (2010), the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
discourages Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
from being in close contact with future incarnations of themselves, stating that it would "...make things complicated." but not specifically mentioning the Effect. Nevertheless, in "The Big Bang
The Big Bang (Doctor Who)
"The Big Bang" is the 13th and final episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the second part of a two-part season finale started with "The Pandorica Opens", at the end of which The Doctor is trapped, the TARDIS destroyed, and Amy Pond has been shot...
" (2010), at a point where Time itself is collapsing, Amy Pond makes physical contact with her younger self in an alternate history with no repercussions. At this point, there are no other species in the universe except those on Earth (the eye of the storm). Reapers do not appear. However, when the Doctor touches a present-moment sonic screwdriver
Sonic screwdriver
The sonic screwdriver is a fictional tool in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spinoffs. It is a multifunctional tool used by The Doctor. Its most common function is that of a lockpick, but can be used to perform other operations such as performing medical scans,...
to a future version of itself, sparks are emitted. This appears to confirm to the Doctor that the two identical configured screwdrivers are the same object at different points in the timeline. The Doctor subsequently directs adult Amy to give her 5-year-old self an icecream cone in "Good Night".
In "A Christmas Carol" (2010), older and younger versions of the character Kazran Sardick meet and touch without any problems at all, which reviewers have pointed out seems to violate the principle.
In the mini-episodes "Space
Space and Time (Doctor Who)
"Space" and "Time" are two mini-episodes of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were broadcast on 18 March 2011 as part of BBC One's Red Nose Day telethon for the charity Comic Relief...
" and "Time
Space and Time (Doctor Who)
"Space" and "Time" are two mini-episodes of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were broadcast on 18 March 2011 as part of BBC One's Red Nose Day telethon for the charity Comic Relief...
" (2011) which immediately follow the aforementioned "A Christmas Carol", two versions of Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, only minutes out of syncronisation from each other, interact with each other within the TARDIS without ill effect. Similarly minute-older Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
and Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
give instructions to the trio as they pass through the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
.
River Song counsels Amy Pond not to inform the Doctor of his 200-year-older self's death in "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
" (2011). When Amy argues that the Doctor has met his younger self before, her husband Rory Williams reminds her that the universe nearly blew up as a result, referring to the events of "The Big Bang".
Popular culture
Blinovitch is mentioned a number of times (presumably as an in-jokeIn-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
for Doctor Who viewers) in the romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
Happy Accidents
Happy Accidents
Happy Accidents is a 2000 American film starring Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio. The movie revolves around Ruby Weaver, a New York woman with a string of failed relationships, and Sam Deed, a man who claims to be from the year 2470...
(2000), which has a plot involving time travel. In the film, Blinovitch is said to have been from "Yugoserbia" and discovered how to bend spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
. Two of his laws are invoked:
- "Blinovitch's Second Law of Temporal Inertia" apparently states that is impossible to time travel in your own lifetime. One can only time travel to the distant past, and only small changes in history are possible, which will "dampen out" by the time they reach the relative present.
- "Blinovitch's Fifth Law of Causal Determination" resolves (in an unspecified manner) all paradoxes involved with time travel.
In Supergirl
Supergirl
Supergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
Annual #2 (2010), Brainiac 5
Brainiac 5
Brainiac 5 is a fictional character who exists in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Universe. He is a long standing member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Brainiac 5 is from the planet Colu...
of the Legion of Super-Heroes
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
in the 31st Century complains how hard it is to maintain the timeline when heroes like Superboy
Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC....
and Supergirl visit their future, saying, "The Novikov and Blinovitch Effects alone take me hours to account for!"