Doctor Who and his Jelly Babies

The Jelly Baby has had quite a television career. In Doctor Who, the BBC's long running science fiction series, the Doctor has a habit of asking, would you like a jelly baby?

The Second Doctor starts it

The habit began with Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor. According to Screen Rant, he first offered a jelly baby to a companion in The Dominators, the first serial of the sixth season, shown in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968. Before that, in The Wheel in Space, he had offered his companion Jamie a sherbet lemon: see sherbet lemons

Tom Baker makes it famous

It was Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor who made the jelly babies famous. Baker took over the role in 1974, and his first full serial, Robot, was shown from 28 December 1974 to 18 January 1975. He played the Doctor until 1981, in 172 episodes, which makes him the longest running Doctor on screen.

In his hands, the jelly baby became a plot device. The Doctor would offer one to ease an awkward moment, or to head off conflict with an unfamiliar being. Together with his impractically long, multicoloured scarf, his fondness for Jelly Babies made the Fourth Doctor an instantly recognisable figure.

Later Doctors

The sweets did not vanish with Baker. According to Screen Rant, Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor offered a jelly baby to a police officer in the 1996 Doctor Who film, and later Doctors carried on the taste for British treats, from Jammie Dodgers and custard creams to fish fingers and custard.

Two famous fans

Jelly Babies had already been famous once. In 1963, after George Harrison said they were his favourite sweets, Beatles fans pelted the band with them: see the Beatles and the Jelly Babies. For how the sweets got their name, see what were Jelly Babies originally called?

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