Sabbath (Doctor Who)
| Sabbath | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
| First appearance | The Adventuress of Henrietta Street |
| Last appearance |
Sometime Never... (book) A Labyrinth of Histories (audio) |
| Portrayed by | Saul Jaffe and Keith Drinkel (voice) |
| Information | |
| Affiliated | The Council of Eight |
| Species | Human |
| Home planet | Earth |
| Home era | 18th century |
Sabbath is the name of a recurring villain from the Eighth Doctor Adventures — spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. The character was created by Lawrence Miles and first appeared in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. Originally, Miles had intended Sabbath to be a one-off character, but BBC Books editor Justin Richards asked to use the character in a continuing story arc.
Sabbath was born in 1740. He was educated at Cambridge before being initiated into the Secret Service in 1762. He then defected from the service in 1780. The Doctor first encountered Sabbath in 1782.
In appearance, Sabbath was a large muscular man with a shaven head. He commanded intelligent ape creatures called Babewyns which also crewed his ship, the Jonah. Visually, the Doctor Who version is said to be based on Orson Welles.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Sabbath is not based on the equally corpulent character Sunday from the novel The Man Who Was Thursday (1904) by G. K. Chesterton, though this is jokingly alluded to in the Doctor Who novel History 101 (2002).
Sabbath first appears as the unnamed character who brings Anji Kapoor out of a fugue state in The Slow Empire, although from her perspective she hasn't met him yet.
In his first appearance, we learn that Sabbath was originally a renegade member of the British Secret Service during the late 18th century. It was explained that it is customary for agents to take Biblical names, and Sabbath's name derived itself from a Jewish Kabalistic trend in the Service during the time period of his initiation. His initiation into the Service involved him being thrown into the River Thames bound in thirteen chains and thirteen locks, covered in sackcloth. Sabbath survived by encountering Leviathan, who rescued him.
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