Physician Who has returned with the tender but tear-jerking vacation particular “Joy to the World.” And amid a rollicking journey throughout time involving dinosaurs, holograms, recreation night time hangouts, and villainous capitalism, returning author Steven Moffat additionally dropped some thrilling new lore into the canon: James Bond and Physician Who exist in the identical world.
The hyperlink between these epic British heroes (and their franchises) is a bombshell named Sylvia Trench. In an interview with Mashable, Physician Who govt producer and “Joy to the World” author Steven Moffat revealed the small print of her Whoniverse look and what it means.
Who’s Sylvia Trench?
Eunice Gayson and Sean Connery as Sylvia Trench and James Bond in “Dr. No.”
Credit score: Danjaq / Eon / Ua / Kobal / Shutterstock.com
Sylvia Trench was the primary Bond woman. The late British actress Eunice Gayson performed the sultry spy’s love curiosity in 1962’s Dr. No and 1963’s From Russia with Love. Notably, it is in 1962 that this trendy character crosses paths with the Physician (Ncuti Gatwa).
In “Joy to the World,” the two-hearted time traveler zips via a number of Time Lodge doorways, popping into 1940 Manchester, 1953 Everest, and 1962 Italy. The final of those is the place he meets a beguiling brunette in a coral-colored skirt go well with, cradling a duplicate of Agatha Christie’s Homicide on the Orient Categorical — together with a handwritten love letter.
The lady by no means reveals her title, however the episode’s finish credit establish her as Sylvia Trench (performed right here by Niamh Marie Smith, who teased the looks on Instagram on Oct. 4). This element connects our beautiful traveler to James Bond, and offers larger context to her scenes within the episode, in addition to her life past Bond.
Steven Moffat reveals the key lifetime of Sylvia Trench on Physician Who.
Niamh Marie Smith performs Sylvia Trench in “Doctor Who: Joy to the World.”
Credit score: screenshot: Youtube
In our interview, Moffat confirmed this Sylvia Trench is meant to be the identical stylish stunner from Dr. No with a easy “Yes, yes.”
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Then he went on to share his affection for the ignored Bond woman. “She’s the reason that James Bond introduces himself the way he does,” Moffat defined. “He says to her, ‘I admire your luck, miss…?’ And she says, ‘Trench. Sylvia Trench. Mister…?’ [And he replies,] ‘Bond. James Bond.’ That’s why, for the rest of time, James Bond goes around inexplicably announcing his surname before his Christian name.”
In Dr. No, the pair meet over a card desk at a fancy on line casino. The strains of dialogue are a bit totally different than Moffat remembers. (Watch the video beneath to see.) However he is proper that Sean Connery’s Bond pulls his iconic catchphrase from Sylvia Trench’s lips.
Moffat felt Sylvia deserved higher than she’s gotten from popular culture. “Sylvia Trench remains James Bond’s girlfriend for the first two films. He has a regular girlfriend back home in the first two films!” Moffat emphasised, “But while she was doing all that, she was also having an affair with the woman and traveling on the Orient Express. I thought, ‘That’s inevitable.’ I felt I was doing her justice, you know? Because she’s the most cheated-on woman in the history of fiction, right? Because she made the mistake to go out with James Bond.”
Sylvia Trench, from Bond woman to queer icon.
Sylvia’s letter in “Joy to the World.”
Credit score: screenshot: Youtube
In “Joy to the World,” Moffat offers her a shocking new spin. When the Physician comes again to Sylvia throughout the climax, he takes a take a look at the love letter she carries and scoffs, “You are better off without him. His sentence structure is appalling.”
That is clearly a reference to Bond, the beau who’s all the time leaving Sylvia behind for his subsequent journey (or hook-up). The joke about his sentence construction alludes to “The name is Bond, James Bond.” Nonetheless, as Moffatt factors out, that was really Trench’s sentence construction, foreshadowing her huffy response to the Physician: “I wrote this letter!” It is also a intelligent option to make Sylvia extra energetic than passive in her love life.
The Physician tries to get better with a smile and by saying, “Great letter! You should send it to him.” To which she retorts tartly, “To her!” And as quick because the Physician skedaddles out of her prepare compartment, Moffatt has re-imagined Sylvia Trench.
Not is she a tragic Bond woman left ready for her globe-trekking spy boy to return again. She’s off on her personal journey, racing throughout Italy within the Orient Categorical, penning a letter (nonetheless poorly structured) to her Sapphic lover. A brand new bi icon (or bicon) is born!
The best way to watch: Physician Who is now streaming on Disney+.
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