The Philippines Mentioned in Doctor Who “The Waters of Mars” Episode

The year is 2059. The Doctor runs into first human colony on Mars: a space station operated by an international crew. One of the colonists detects the presence of the Doctor and naturally presumes him to be human. She then speculates which country might have sent him:

“It’s the Philippines,” she says. “I’ll bet. If there’s someone else on Mars, it’s got to be the Philippines. All those stories about them building a rocket.”

I thought it was kinda cool and flattering for the writers to make a leap of imagination like that. I have never encountered any fictional work that referenced the Philippines as part of a space program.  The Philippines was mentioned as a place to earn money by gambling on drinking games [Heroes, Season 3 Episode 21], or a place where doctors are less than reputable [Desperate Housewives].  So this reference was rather refreshing.

I wanted to search the internet for other people who may have seen this. I started my search by googling Philippines Doctor Who.

After typing in as far as “Philippines Doctor…”, google auto-complete suggested “Philippines doctor scandal” which then directed me to articles about the scandal that involved  a Philippine celebrity doctor, a sexy actress, and video on the internet. A scandal which according to a couple of  articles gripped the Philippines and engrossed the country.

Sands, who used to play Avaris in our weekly D&D game, actually mentioned that this scandal to me when it was brought before the Philippine senate.