Children vote for the Doctor to appear on banknotesBookmark and Share

Saturday, 20 December 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Yorkshire Building Society undertook a survey in November to discover who children would like to see on new banknotes, with the favourite among the 2000 7-16 year olds wanting it to be the Doctor!

A quick trip in the TARDIS to the future would reveal that a new face has regenerated on to British banknotes, if the nation’s children had their way.

The Doctor has been chosen as the face of future currency in a survey of seven to 16-year-olds conducted by Yorkshire Building Society to mark its 150th anniversary.

The Time Lord from Gallifrey was the overwhelming favourite to be featured on the next banknote with one in six children (17%) selecting him. Mum and Dad were the next most popular choice with just over 10%, followed by Cheryl, One Direction and Wayne Rooney.

Other answers given for the survey of 2,000 children included Radio 1 breakfast DJ Nick Grimshaw, Winston Churchill, Stephen Hawking and Sherlock Holmes.

If the Doctor – who is currently played by Glasgow born actor Peter Capaldi - was to appear in his current incarnation on the note, he would be the third Scotsman to appear on a Bank of England note.

Eighteenth century economist Adam Smith became the first Scotsman to feature on an English banknote in March 2007 when he appeared on the new series of £20 notes issued by the Bank of England.

Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, James Watt, was the second to appear in 2011 on a new £50 note.

Tanya Jackson, Head of Corporate Affairs at Yorkshire Building Society, said:
The results from our survey show just how popular the iconic character of the Doctor is to children.

It is a happy coincidence that last year Doctor Who celebrated its own milestone anniversary with the programme reaching its 50th year and Yorkshire Building Society has also stood the test of time as we have been celebrating our 150th birthday this year.



In an alternative universe the Doctor has already had that privilege ... fake notes created for a scene in the 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride where a cashpoint spewed out lots of money included the image of the tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant on the "£10" notes (with then-producer Phil Collinson adorning the "£20" notes).

Bank note featuring the 10th Doctor (Credit: BBC)

(with thanks to Yorkshire Building Society)




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