Nobody No-One
Encyclopedia
Nobody No-One is a character in the Big Finish Productions
audio plays Forty-Five: The Word Lord and A Death in the Family
written by Steven Hall
, which are based on the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
. He is an original character and does not appear in the television series. The canonicity
of the audio dramas, like other Doctor Who spin-off
media, is unclear.
Nobody No-One is a renegade Word Lord, much like a Time Lord
, from a reality 45 billion dimensions to the left of ours. In his dimension, language (rather than matter and energy) is the principal form of physics. Not much is known about the Word Lords, apart from Nobody. What is known is that their founder was called All. He is said to have created something called The Hand of All, similar to the Hand of Omega
created by Rassilon
and Omega
. The Hand of All was a synthetic universe made of constantly spoken words. Rather than a TARDIS
, the Word Lords' vehicle is a CORDIS, a Conveyance Of Repeating Dialogue In Space/Time. It doesn't have a physical form, but its chameleon meme function can disguise it as a phrase that comes up in in casual conversations when it's near. When Nobody's CORDIS arrives, it's engines cause people to say or read 45 or numbers or phrases that composite 45. It can also provide him with physical items like guns and even a physical body to exist in our universe, albeit not one that can be killed by conventional physics.
Much of Nobody No-One's powers derive from the words spoken by the people in his vicinity. For example, if a person says "Nobody can get into the TARDIS" or "No-one can turn off the Sun", then he suddenly can get into the TARDIS or turn off the Sun. He is a ruthless, even flippant murderer and occasionally a raving maniac, but always very clever. He has a great interest in the Doctor, and has met his Seventh incarnation
several times, although not in the same chronological order. He even stated that the Doctor was a relative, possibly meaning that he's the Doctor's equivalent in his dimension. Nobody initially hoped to kill the Doctor to collect one or more of the many Bounty rewards
issued by many alien races, including Daleks and Cybermen.
He first appeared in The Word Lord, a one part story in the four part Forty-five audio drama collection. He chased the Doctor through several times and places, always missing him. In 1945, Nobody regenerated
, for unspecified reasons. While he recovered, he hid at an alien research facility called The Forge, disguising his ship as their catch phrase, "For King and Country". A hundred years later, he finally made contact with the Doctor in the Antarctic
. With his ship now hidden as a joke, he infiltrated a top secret bunker holding an important peace summit. It is unclear if this is their first meeting, although the Doctor has knowledge of Word Lords and their abilities. Luckily for him, the bunker had a security black-out, no phones, books or even writing material. The Doctor was able to shut off the translation circuits to his TARDIS, forcing Nobody to flee into the only book available, a protocol guide for the bunker. He escaped, after soldiers carelessly said "Nobody move", leading to several unchronicled run-ins with the Seventh Doctor, throughout their long lives.
At some point, someone (possibly the Doctor), tripped the CORDIS over a lost letter in the English alphabet
, resulting in a crash that forced Nobody to regenerate again. This new No-One (sporting a long scarf as an homage) first appeared in A Death in the Family
. A much older Seventh Doctor took the Hand of All into his own mind and trapped Nobody within it. Then the Doctor placed himself within a Time Lord casket, falling into a mumbling trance to keep the Hand functioning. The casket fell into the possession of the Forge and was placed deep within their underground archival vaults, somewhere near London.
After the final destruction of the Forge in 2026, the Seventh Doctor found the sarcophagus with his older self inside. Nobody No-One escaped and confronted the younger Seventh Doctor. London was mostly evacuated at this time, but there were still many people and forms of communication for Nobody to utilize. He quickly amassed power over the Earth and even the Doctor's very existence. Realizing the imminent danger, the younger Doctor sacrificed his own life fighting No-one. However, the older Doctor set forth an elaborate long term plan in which the Hand of All could be used by his companions, Ace
and Hex
, to bring him back to life. As soon as he was resurrected, he once again tricked Nobody into being trapped within the Hand. The Doctor then visited his old friend Evelyn Smythe
on the day she died and, with her permission, the Hand of All was placed in her mind. Evelyn, the Hand and Nobody died together. Nobody No-one was first voiced by Paul Reynolds
and then by Ian Reddington
.
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio plays Forty-Five: The Word Lord and A Death in the Family
A Death in the Family (Doctor Who audio)
A Death in the Family is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:...
written by Steven Hall
Steven Hall
Steven Hall is a British author. He has written one novel, produced a number of plays, music videos, concrete prose/conceptual art pieces, and short stories....
, which are based on the 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 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...
. He is an original character and does not appear in the television series. The canonicity
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
of the audio dramas, like other Doctor Who spin-off
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
media, is unclear.
Nobody No-One is a renegade Word Lord, much like a 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...
, from a reality 45 billion dimensions to the left of ours. In his dimension, language (rather than matter and energy) is the principal form of physics. Not much is known about the Word Lords, apart from Nobody. What is known is that their founder was called All. He is said to have created something called The Hand of All, similar to the Hand of Omega
Hand of Omega
The Hand of Omega is a fictional device from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.In Remembrance of the Daleks the Seventh Doctor explains that the "Hand of Omega" is the mythical name for the remote stellar manipulator invented by Omega, the first of the Time Lords of the...
created by Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...
and Omega
Omega (Doctor Who)
Omega is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally...
. The Hand of All was a synthetic universe made of constantly spoken words. Rather than a TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, the Word Lords' vehicle is a CORDIS, a Conveyance Of Repeating Dialogue In Space/Time. It doesn't have a physical form, but its chameleon meme function can disguise it as a phrase that comes up in in casual conversations when it's near. When Nobody's CORDIS arrives, it's engines cause people to say or read 45 or numbers or phrases that composite 45. It can also provide him with physical items like guns and even a physical body to exist in our universe, albeit not one that can be killed by conventional physics.
Much of Nobody No-One's powers derive from the words spoken by the people in his vicinity. For example, if a person says "Nobody can get into the TARDIS" or "No-one can turn off the Sun", then he suddenly can get into the TARDIS or turn off the Sun. He is a ruthless, even flippant murderer and occasionally a raving maniac, but always very clever. He has a great interest in the Doctor, and has met his Seventh incarnation
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
several times, although not in the same chronological order. He even stated that the Doctor was a relative, possibly meaning that he's the Doctor's equivalent in his dimension. Nobody initially hoped to kill the Doctor to collect one or more of the many Bounty rewards
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
issued by many alien races, including Daleks and Cybermen.
He first appeared in The Word Lord, a one part story in the four part Forty-five audio drama collection. He chased the Doctor through several times and places, always missing him. In 1945, Nobody regenerated
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
, for unspecified reasons. While he recovered, he hid at an alien research facility called The Forge, disguising his ship as their catch phrase, "For King and Country". A hundred years later, he finally made contact with the Doctor in the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
. With his ship now hidden as a joke, he infiltrated a top secret bunker holding an important peace summit. It is unclear if this is their first meeting, although the Doctor has knowledge of Word Lords and their abilities. Luckily for him, the bunker had a security black-out, no phones, books or even writing material. The Doctor was able to shut off the translation circuits to his TARDIS, forcing Nobody to flee into the only book available, a protocol guide for the bunker. He escaped, after soldiers carelessly said "Nobody move", leading to several unchronicled run-ins with the Seventh Doctor, throughout their long lives.
At some point, someone (possibly the Doctor), tripped the CORDIS over a lost letter in the English alphabet
English alphabet
The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet consisting of 26 letters and 2 ligatures – the same letters that are found in the Basic modern Latin alphabet:...
, resulting in a crash that forced Nobody to regenerate again. This new No-One (sporting a long scarf as an homage) first appeared in A Death in the Family
A Death in the Family (Doctor Who audio)
A Death in the Family is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:...
. A much older Seventh Doctor took the Hand of All into his own mind and trapped Nobody within it. Then the Doctor placed himself within a Time Lord casket, falling into a mumbling trance to keep the Hand functioning. The casket fell into the possession of the Forge and was placed deep within their underground archival vaults, somewhere near London.
After the final destruction of the Forge in 2026, the Seventh Doctor found the sarcophagus with his older self inside. Nobody No-One escaped and confronted the younger Seventh Doctor. London was mostly evacuated at this time, but there were still many people and forms of communication for Nobody to utilize. He quickly amassed power over the Earth and even the Doctor's very existence. Realizing the imminent danger, the younger Doctor sacrificed his own life fighting No-one. However, the older Doctor set forth an elaborate long term plan in which the Hand of All could be used by his companions, Ace
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...
and Hex
Hex (Doctor Who)
Thomas Hector Schofield, nicknamed Hex, is a fictional character played by Philip Olivier in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A staff nurse working for St. Gart's Hospital in London in the year...
, to bring him back to life. As soon as he was resurrected, he once again tricked Nobody into being trapped within the Hand. The Doctor then visited his old friend Evelyn Smythe
Evelyn Smythe
Dr. Evelyn Smythe is a fictional character played by Maggie Stables in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A professor of history from the 20th century with a fondness for chocolate, she is a...
on the day she died and, with her permission, the Hand of All was placed in her mind. Evelyn, the Hand and Nobody died together. Nobody No-one was first voiced by Paul Reynolds
Paul Reynolds (actor)
Paul Reynolds is an English actor. He attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, made his start as a child actor in a variety of small parts, but is perhaps most recognised for his role as Thatcherite Colin Mathews in Press Gang, "Kevin" in Ghostbusters of East Finchley and as Sammy Dobbs the...
and then by Ian Reddington
Ian Reddington
- Early life :Ian Reddington was born in Sheffield. He was educated at Frecheville Comprehensive. He had no formal drama training, but became a leading figure in the Meatwhistle youth theatre project run by youth workers in the city. This gave him his first appearance as The Herald in Peter...
.