Sabalom Glitz is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

from the long-running British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

television series, '' Doctor Who''. Glitz is a rogue from the planet Salostophus in the Andromeda Constellation. Glitz's first love is money, and he is often engaged in mercenary acts and profiteering. The character was created by writer Robert Holmes.

Character history

The

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time ...

and

Peri Brown Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. An American botany major from Pasadena, California, Peri is a companion of the Fifth ...

encounter Glitz and his fellow mercenary Dibber on the planet Ravalox ('' The Mysterious Planet''). Ravalox is really Earth around 2,000,000 AD, having been moved two light years by the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

s. Glitz and Dibber are on Ravalox looking for secrets stolen by the Sleepers of Andromeda from the

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...

Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in ...

. The secrets are guarded by an L-3 robot named Drathro. Glitz plans to destroy the Black Light system that fuels Drathro and then steal the secrets. When Dibber destroys the external collection aerial, the system becomes dangerously unstable, and only the Doctor's intervention prevents a potentially catastrophic explosion. Nearing the end of the Doctor's trial, Glitz is summoned to the Gallifreyan space station by his business partner — the Master. The Master reveals that the events on Ravalox were engineered by the Time Lords to cover up the theft of the secrets. As the trial dissolves into chaos, Glitz accompanies the Doctor into the fictional reality of the Matrix to fight the Valeyard. The Master bribes Glitz to betray the Doctor, but in turn is tricked by the Valeyard. Given what he thinks are the true secrets of the Matrix, the Master tries to upload them into his TARDIS's systems, causing the Master and Glitz to be paralysed within the TARDIS. After the Doctor finally defeats the Valeyard, he requests that the Time Lords show leniency to Glitz. The Doctor, having since regenerated into his seventh persona, next encounters Glitz on Iceworld on the planet Svartos ('' Dragonfire''), where Glitz has become indebted to the power-mad Kane as a result of a failed fraud and gambling losses. After hearing about a fabulous treasure known as the Dragonfire, Glitz accompanies the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy ...

, Ace and

Melanie Bush Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character played by Bonnie Langford in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. A computer programmer from the 20th century who is a companion of the ...

in their search, hoping to keep it for himself. He doesn't realize that Kane has installed a tracking device on the map. The Dragonfire turns out to be part of a large bio-mechanoid dragon, which in turn is revealed to be Kane's jailer on the planet Svartos. After the bio-mechanoid is destroyed, Kane uses the Dragonfire to power the Iceworld systems intending to escape. He also has his mercenaries drive the occupants of Iceworld onto Glitz's ship, the ''Nosferatu'', which he subsequently destroys. Eager for revenge, Glitz goes to find Kane, and meets The Doctor, Ace and Mel in the control room of Iceworld. Iceworld is revealed to be a massive spaceship, with which Kane intends to make his escape and seek revenge on his home planet from which he was banished three thousand years earlier. However, with the systems now fully powered, the Doctor uses Iceworld's star charts to reveal to Kane that his homeworld had been destroyed when its sun went supernova two thousand years earlier. Kane then kills himself with unfiltered sunlight, and Glitz steals the ship, which he renames ''Nosferatu II''. To the Doctor's surprise, Mel elects to leave the

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 ...

and travel with Glitz.

Production notes

The original outline by Ian Briggs for the Seventh Doctor serial ''

The Curse of Fenric ''The Curse of Fenric'' is the third serial of the 26th season of the British science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 October to 15 November 1989. In it, the ancient evil ...

'' made a reference to Ace not being a virgin, but this was removed for the final production. Briggs, who had created the character of Ace, had stated in Ace's character outline for '' Dragonfire'' that she had slept with Glitz on Iceworld.About Time – The Unauthorized Guide to Dr. Who – Volume 6 (Seasons 22 to 26 and TV Movie) by Tat Wood, Mad Norwegian Press, 2015, , Dragonfire entry. The

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as '' Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Doct ...

-written New Adventures novel '' Love and War'' implies (and his later novel ''

Happy Endings A happy ending is a type of plot conclusion. Happy Ending or Happy Endings may also refer to: Film and television * ''Happy Ending'' (film), a 2014 Bollywood film * ''Winter Passing'', a 2005 American film released in the UK in 2013 as ''Happy ...

'' confirms) that Ace lost her virginity to Glitz. In the commentary track for ''Dragonfire.''

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series '' ...

(who portrayed Ace) was surprised to learn that there was ever supposed to be a romantic relationship between her character and Glitz and remarked that she wasn't sure such an idea made sense.Audio commentary, ''Doctor Who: Ace Adventures'' DVD boxset ('' Dragonfire'' and ''

The Happiness Patrol ''The Happiness Patrol'' is the second serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 16 November 1988. The serial is set on the E ...

''),

2entertain 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

BBCDVD3387. 2012

Other appearances

Glitz also appears in the

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books impr ...

novel '' Mission: Impractical'' by David A. McIntee. The

and Frobisher run into Glitz and Dibber as they attempt to pull off the crime of the century on Vandor Prime. Dibber is killed in the adventure, and this explains why he wasn't on Iceworld. Glitz makes a brief appearance in the Missing Adventures novel ''

Goth Opera ''Goth Opera'' is an original ''Doctor Who'' novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their '' Missing Adventures'' range of ''Doctor Who'' novels. It was the first book in that series and a sequel to the '' New Adventure'' book '' Blood Harvest' ...

'' when past companion Romana materialises on his ship by chance when a renegade Time Lady tries to get rid of her, although Romana is rescued a few hours later. In the New Adventures novel, '' Head Games'', it is revealed that Glitz tired of Mel and left her on the decrepit leisure world Avalone. She was left here for months until saved by Jason and the fictional Dr Who.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glitz, Sabalom Glitz Glitz, Sabalom Fictional criminals Male characters in television