Whovians are no strangers to character deaths. In the British series Doctor Who, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, companions, enemies and friends, all die in a scripted order, not necessarily alphabetically, like in the following piece of geek art.
This illustration is the work of DeviantArt user EatToast (known as Kelsey Wailes by her fellow Earthlings), who in turn got her inspiration from Edward Gorey. In case you are familiar with The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing, the macabre abecedarian book made by American writer and artist Edward Gorey, you probably have already realized how this illustration looks like. If not, I’ll bring you up to date after the jump.
The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing is an illustrated book that retells the stories of 26 children. Since the English alphabet has 26 letters, you have the first correspondence there. Each illustration is accompanied by a short description of how the child has met his or her untimely, gruesome and unfortunate death.
The Gallifreycrumb Tinies, on the other hand, was intended as a parody to the aforementioned abecedarian book. Kelsey Wailes brought this to life (pun intended, given the illustrations and the topic), over a period of two months. In this time, she made a mini-series on her Doctor Kawaii website. Still doubt that she’s a real Whovian? In her illustrations, each character corresponding to a child in Edward Gorey’s book is represented by a Doctor Who friend or foe.
I am a Whovian myself, Doctor Who being my second most favorite series, after The X-Files, so I know how much of an impact these illustrations can have. It does not matter if the character dying is a friend of the Doctor or a foe. The writers of the series always make sure that each death is impressive and memorable. It was nice to see that the Kelsey Wailes included characters from both new and old Who. In other words, this means that no matter who your favorite Doctor is, you will surely find a familiar character in this alphabet.
One of the funniest entries in the alphabet is Rory, who “dies every day.” Clara Oswin Oswald, the Doctor’s next companion, seems to follow the same pattern, judging by this year’s Christmas special. In case you haven’t watched that episode yet… Sorry for the spoiler!
If you liked this post, please check these minimalist Doctor Who posters and the 5 top-ranked Doctor Who audiobooks.
