Professor Chronotis
Encyclopedia
Professor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams
. He was originally created for the 1979 Doctor Who
serial Shada
, starring Tom Baker
and Lalla Ward
. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike
. Adams then re-used the character and many of the themes from Shada in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
, first published in 1987.
. In this version, the character was played by Denis Carey.
In 2003, Shada was remade as an animated webcast by Big Finish Productions
for the BBC
. Professor Chronotis was played by James Fox
in this version, which was also released as an audio play
on CD
.
Chronotis 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 three centuries. In Shada, Chronotis is a retired Time Lord
and old friend of the Doctor
, living out his remaining centuries in academic seclusion. His unnaturally long life goes un-discussed by his colleagues, owing to the discretion he claims is a hallmark of the old Cambridge colleges. Owing to repeated time travel and advanced age, he is extremely forgetful and absent-minded. He often does not remember which time period he has travelled nor the reason why. Among other things, he has a liking for tea
and silly jokes. It is also revealed during the course of Shada that Chronotis was a Time Lord criminal named Salyavin, who was imprisoned on and escaped from the prison planetoid Shada.
(who he claims wore outrageous earrings and reeked of cat food and death), and believes that he achieved his position after his retirement from "something pretty good". He is known as "Reg", short for Regius Professor Chronotis.
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; an understandable fear, particularly if a person is as barking mad as George III was. In fact, central to the book's theme are the three questions the King asked Reg upon his appointment; if one could travel through time, if there was a reason one thing happened after another, and if there was any way of stopping it (The answers are, in order, yes, no and maybe, which leads to Dirk deducing the existence of the time machine as his associate, Richard, was only told about the second and third questions but given all three answers), Reg apparently promptly realising the answer to the three questions and concluding that he could then take time off in reasonable comfort. However, at the conclusion of the novel his time machine was burned out when the phone repair man fixed Reg's telephone so that it would never go wrong again; for some reason the phone always malfunctioned whenever Reg used the time machine due to there being something fundamentally inexplicable about the British telephone system, with the phone's repair causing the machine to burn out.
In 2007, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was adapted to radio and Professor Chronotis was portrayed by Andrew Sachs
(who had previously played Skagra in the Big Finish audio/BBC webcast version of Shada).
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.
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
. He was originally created for the 1979 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...
serial Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
, starring Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
and Lalla Ward
Lalla Ward
Sarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes...
. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. Adams then re-used the character and many of the themes from Shada in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams, first published in 1987. It is described by "the author" on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic".The book was followed by a sequel,...
, first published in 1987.
Shada
In 1992, Shada was completed through the use of linking narration by Tom Baker and released on home videoHome video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
. In this version, the character was played by Denis Carey.
In 2003, Shada was remade as an animated webcast by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Professor Chronotis was played by James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
in this version, which was also released as an audio play
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Chronotis holds the post of Regius Professor
Regius Professor
Regius Professorships are "royal" professorships at the ancient universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland - namely Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin. Each of the chairs was created by a monarch, and each appointment, save those at Dublin, is approved by the...
of Chronology
Chronology
Chronology is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time, such as the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the determination of the actual temporal sequence of past events".Chronology is part of periodization...
at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He is also a Fellow of the fictional St. Cedd's College, Cambridge
St. Cedd's College, Cambridge
St. Cedd's College is a fictional college, created by Douglas Adams, of Cambridge University.It appears in the Doctor Who serial Shada, and in the novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency....
, where he has resided for three centuries. In Shada, Chronotis is a retired 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...
and old friend of 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....
, living out his remaining centuries in academic seclusion. His unnaturally long life goes un-discussed by his colleagues, owing to the discretion he claims is a hallmark of the old Cambridge colleges. Owing to repeated time travel and advanced age, he is extremely forgetful and absent-minded. He often does not remember which time period he has travelled nor the reason why. Among other things, he has a liking for tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
and silly jokes. It is also revealed during the course of Shada that Chronotis was a Time Lord criminal named Salyavin, who was imprisoned on and escaped from the prison planetoid Shada.
Dirk Gently
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 CleopatraCleopatra VII of Egypt
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period...
(who he claims wore outrageous earrings and reeked of cat food and death), and believes that he achieved his position after his retirement from "something pretty good". He is known as "Reg", short for Regius Professor Chronotis.
His Chair
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of Chronology was created by mad king George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
who was terrified that if time were to start flowing backwards, all the bad experiences of his life might recur; an understandable fear, particularly if a person is as barking mad as George III was. In fact, central to the book's theme are the three questions the King asked Reg upon his appointment; if one could travel through time, if there was a reason one thing happened after another, and if there was any way of stopping it (The answers are, in order, yes, no and maybe, which leads to Dirk deducing the existence of the time machine as his associate, Richard, was only told about the second and third questions but given all three answers), Reg apparently promptly realising the answer to the three questions and concluding that he could then take time off in reasonable comfort. However, at the conclusion of the novel his time machine was burned out when the phone repair man fixed Reg's telephone so that it would never go wrong again; for some reason the phone always malfunctioned whenever Reg used the time machine due to there being something fundamentally inexplicable about the British telephone system, with the phone's repair causing the machine to burn out.
In 2007, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was adapted to radio and Professor Chronotis was portrayed by Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
(who had previously played Skagra in the Big Finish audio/BBC webcast version of Shada).
In both versions, Chronotis is a clandestine time-traveller, whose time machine (or TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, as they are termed in Doctor Who) is disguised as his college rooms.