Doctor Who: 25 time periods Thirteen and Team TARDIS should visit

“Lancelot at the Chapel of the Holy Grail” by Edward Burne-Jones – Edward Burne-Jones, 1870, Public Domain

Twelfth Century Cornwall

It’s something of an oddity that a British institution such as Doctor Who hasn’t ever really done a story involving one of the country’s most famous legends: King Arthur. Though the legendary king stars in the Fifth Doctor short story The Creation of Camelot, the closest the television series has ever come to tackling this tale is an offhand reference by the Seventh Doctor that the Arthurian legends were most likely myths.

Historical person our Doctor could meet:  Myrddin Wyllt. A figure from medieval Welsh legend, Myrddin is supposedly a madman and a prophet who lived in the Caledonian Forest. He’s also the most likely historical basis for the figure who would become to be known as Merlin, after his “Prophecies” were included in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain.

Potential adventures: There are at least a dozen different takes on the legend of King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. The Doctor and friends could be involved in anything from Arthur’s birth, in which the young prince was reportedly spirited away from Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, to his death, in which he supposedly carried off to mystical isle of Avalon. And that’s not counting the Round Table, the Sword in the Stone, or any other of the famous bits of Arthurian legend, including the part where he supposedly comes back if/when England needs him again. The writers would be positively spoiled for choice!