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In the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who, during season 1 episode 13 The Parting of the Ways, both the Ninth Doctor and humankind are saved from the Dalek fleet by the Bad Wolf entity, who turns out to be...

...Rose Tyler possessed by the Time Vortex.

This effectively made her a Goddess who could divide atoms themselves - although still not as powerful or dangerous as a Time Lord possessed by the Vortex would be.

On first seeing this entity, the Emperor of the Daleks exclaims fearfully:

This is the Abomination!

...before a Dalek unsuccessfully attempts to exterminate it.

However, "The Abomination" isn't listed anywhere as an alternate name for the Bad Wolf entity.

Why did the Emperor refer to the Bad Wolf entity as "the Abomination", and what does it mean?

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  • 4
    Because he hated and was disgusted by her, that's what abomination means.
    – Doctor Two
    Apr 6, 2017 at 6:13
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    @Doctor the "the" in "the abomination" seems suprising in that interpretation rather that "This is an abomination"
    – user20310
    Apr 6, 2017 at 6:49
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    He’s a big fan of the Incredible Hulk?
    – Paul D. Waite
    Apr 6, 2017 at 8:40
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    Considering that the Dalek Emperor had introduced the concept of Religion to his people and had them worship him as a God, it could be that "The Abomination" is their concept of The Devil, which would have been implanted there by The Beast, and they just mistook her for that being.
    – DisturbedNeo
    Apr 6, 2017 at 10:15
  • 1
    I think this just comes down to a loose end they never bothered to tie off.
    – Michael Scott Shappe
    Apr 7, 2017 at 21:58

1 Answer 1

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This isn't an alternate name for the Time-Vortex soaked Rose. This is how the Emperor Dalek refers to Rose to show his disgust and hatred for her.

The Emperor Dalek is insane and thinks of himself as the "God of all Daleks" and the Daleks he gave life to are also insane and worship him as a god. When explaining how the Dalek army was created out of the "pulped" dead humans, Rose says that this makes the Daleks "half human" and the incensed Emperor Dalek then accuses Rose of blasphemy. It is at this moment, because of what she has said, that she becomes most hated and despised.

Two Daleks, "Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme!"

When Goldi-Rose appears later, the Emperor Dalek recognizes her as the blasphemer he despises and identifies her to his Daleks by exclaiming "This is the abomination!" and his Daleks, possibly following a predefined order to kill on sight, immediately attempt to exterminate her.

Using "abomination" to describe something hated or disgusting appears to be popular with Daleks as we also hear the Supreme Dalek use the word to refer to Dalek Caan in Season 4: Ep.12 "The Stolen Earth"

Davros: And yet Dalek Caan is uneasy

Supreme Dalek: The abomination is insane!

Davros: Show respect. Without Dalek Caan none of this would be possible.

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  • abomination Abomination is a Middle English word, borrowed from Anglo-French abhomination, borrowed from Late Latin abōminātiōn-, abōminātiō, from Latin abōminārī “to detest, abominate” + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns [ref: Merriam -Webster]
    – Kerr Avon
    Jun 27, 2017 at 12:48
  • abomination (noun) - thing that causes disgust or loathing.[Oxford English Dictionary]
    – Kerr Avon
    Jun 27, 2017 at 12:57
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    Sorry for the late response to this, but great catch, I never would have connected the two.
    – Prometheus
    Jan 6, 2018 at 18:53

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