The Master's song in Doctor Who has an Outlander connection
The villain played The Skye Boat Song on the Second Doctor's recorder.
Last night's Doctor Who special The Power of the Doctor featured a raft of references to previous episodes of the long-running sci-fi show – but some fans have also spotted a connection to another hit series.
Around halfway through the episode, the Master (Sacha Dhawan) produced the Second Doctor's famous recorder and began playing a song that many viewers instantly recognised as the theme song from the hit fantasy drama Outlander.
The tune – titled The Skye Boat Song – is actually a famous Scottish folk song dating back to the late 19th century, and may be extremely familiar to anyone who was brought up in Scotland.
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But for many viewers, it instantly called to mind Outlander, with some fans taking to Twitter to draw attention to the connection.
"When the Master played the outlander theme on the recorder I was SHOOK" wrote one, while another added, "Did anyone else notice the song the Master played on the recorder after Yaz took the TARDIS and ditched him was the theme song to Outlander?"
"2 fandoms colliding when the Master plays the Outlander theme song on the recorder. Ahhh" tweeted another fan, with a fourth commenting: "The Master Doctor playing the theme from Outlander. Now, that was unexpected."
Some fans went so far as to point out an even deeper connection, too. Outlander's protagonist Jamie is actually named after Jamie McCrimmon, the Second Doctor's companion from the late '60s – and so it seems likely that the choice of song was a deliberate nod to this.
"In last night’s #DoctorWho, the Master plays The Skye Boat Song on the Doctor’s old recorder," one fan wrote. "The Skye Boat Song is the theme tune of #Outlander, which Diana Gabaldon has acknowledged was inspired by DW. Specifically, by Jamie, the Doctor’s Highlander companion."
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
