Professor Chronotis
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Professor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by
Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...
. He was originally created for the 1979 ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' serial '' Shada'', starring
Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
and
Lalla Ward Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981. Career Early career Ward's stage na ...
. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a
strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
. 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'' is a humorous detective novel by English writer Douglas Adams, published in 1987. It is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic- ...
'', first published in 1987. In both versions, Chronotis is a clandestine time-traveller, whose time machine (or
TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...
, as they are termed in ''Doctor Who'') is disguised as his college rooms.


Shada

In 1992, ''Shada'' was completed through the use of linking narration by Tom Baker and released on
home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
. 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 is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Professor Chronotis was played by
James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', ''The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performanc ...
in this version, which was also released as an
audio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
on CD. Chronotis holds the post of
Regius Professor A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...
of
Chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , '' -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...
at
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He is also a
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of the fictional St. Cedd's College, Cambridge, where he has resided for three centuries. In ''Shada'', Chronotis is a retired
Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...
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 Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and silly jokes. It is also revealed during the course of ''Shada'' that Chronotis was a Time Lord criminal named Salyavin, who was falsely imprisoned on and escaped from the prison planetoid Shada. Despite his being innocent, the Time Lords attempted to imprison Salyavin in Shada for fear of him using his unique mind powers to take over Gallifrey. Salyavin escaped by using his mind powers to control the guards escorting him. Salyavin escapes with his TARDIS, disguised as a bookmark. Shortly after escaping Shada, he used his powers to remove all memory of Shada from every Time Lord. In doing so, he is forced to regenerate, and take the name of Chronotis.


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
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
(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 A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
of Chronology was created by mad king
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
who was terrified that if time were to start flowing backwards, all the bad experiences of his life might recur. 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), 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. In 2007, ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' was adapted to radio and Professor Chronotis was portrayed by
Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...
(who had previously played Skagra in the Big Finish audio/BBC webcast version of Shada).BBC_Radio_4_website,_''Dirk_Gently''_Who's_Who_page:_Andrew_Sachs
_Plays_Professor_Urban_'Reg'_Chronotis..html" ;"title="Andrew Sachs">BBC Radio 4 website, ''Dirk Gently'' Who's Who page: Andrew Sachs
Plays Professor Urban 'Reg' Chronotis.">Andrew Sachs">BBC Radio 4 website, ''Dirk Gently'' Who's Who page: Andrew Sachs
Plays Professor Urban 'Reg' Chronotis./ref>


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chronotis, Professor Television characters introduced in 1980 Fictional professors, Chronotis, Professor Time Lords, Chronotis, Professor Doctor Who audio characters, Chronotis Dirk Gently Douglas Adams characters Male characters in literature Male characters in television