--- In whoconcord@..., "Alexander Dante"
<alexanderdante@g...> wrote:
>
> First up, welcome to the dozen or so new members who've joined since
> we've set up the databases. To emphasise the shift in direction for
> the group (and also to stimulate a little debate), here are a few
> thoughts I've had as a result of researching the planets database.

About time :))))

> I was intrigued to discover that RTD took the name Sycorax from the
> moon of Uranus discovered in 1997 (as well as it being the name of
> Caliban's mother from the Tempest).

As Craig H said elsewhere, it was Benjamin Cook who pointed out the
Uranus link. Russell just named the Sycorax after Caliban's mum.
Doesn't affect the theory though.

> Sycorax, the 17th Moon of Uranus, is a ball of rock and ice some 190
> km in diameter. It is believed to be a "captured Kuiper Belt object".
>
> Kuiper Belt objects are small planetoids beyond the orbit of Neptune
> (between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun).
>
> The presence of the Sycorax using rock-based vessels in the solar
> system suggests to me that they may come from the outer solar system,
> possibly from within the Kuiper Belt.
>
> Further, the reference to the Sycorax ability to summon a fleet (and
> there's nothing to suggest they have FTL capacity) suggests that
> similar ships might exist nearby.
>
> Imagine the repercussions of the Sycorax living so close (in galactic
> terms) to Earth.
>
> Then there's Mondas.
>
> I struggle to understand how the planet could ever travel beyond the
> Kuiper Belt before returning to Earth, especially when there are a
> host of occupied trans-neptunian worlds from Triton (home of the Waro)
> to Xena and Gabrielle, to Vulcan, Desperus ("the prison planet of the
> solar system"), Voga/Neo-phobus (from Revenge of the Cybermen) and
> Yuggoth (a Darkling colony).
>
> So there's plenty for the Cybermen to mine and interact with at the
> outer reaches of the solar system, and good reason for them and the
> Sycorax to be arch enemies...

There's also Planet 14 (which isn't Marinus, cuz Lawrence Miles says
Marinus is in the Voor Marinii System) and an inhabited twin to Saturn
that was destroyed millions of years ago (Doctor Who 1974 Annual - I
forget the name of the planet).

> SPECULATIVE SPOILER
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> ...well-suited to going to war with each other at the end of Series 2.
>
> Thoughts?

Well, there's Anathema. If it's a Faction Paradox colony on the
surface of an asteroid (aka Time Lord bomb) travelling towards Earth
c.1800-1996 then it probably started its journey in the Kuiper Belt,
ald would have looked normal because of the Sycorax activity. There
would almost certainly have been some interaction between The Remote
and the Sycorax, which could explain their similarities!

Sam