What Does Snoopy Have To Do With Doctor Who?

Stephen Clark
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Replying to an inquiry made by the spouse of a High School classmate

On Saturday, July 22nd, I attended my 30th high school reunion. I had never been to any of them as I didn’t feel like I had accomplished anything that I could be proud about. The reason I chose to attend was one of my former classmates posted that “we are a part of each other’s stories.”

I was one of a class of 500 graduates from the Lafayette Jefferson High School Class of 1987. Not everyone attended. Some had previous plans for this weekend, some had unexpected family matters to attend to, and some, sadly, have already passed away.

I talked to a few. Explained my anxiety to a couple of them. And gave my phone number to the spouse of a classmate whom asked about the t-shirt shown in the picture above. First I had to explain that it was a Doctor Who t-shirt. I then had to explain who Doctor Who is to him. If I remember correctly, he said he didn’t watch much television.

And then he asked, “What does Snoopy have to do with Doctor Who?” I didn’t have an answer at the time but I can answer it now. There is no direct relationship between Doctor Who and Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip and animated movies. The t-shirt I have is a limited print I ordered online. For those that do not know whom Snoopy is, he is the beagle owned by the comic strip character Charlie Brown from the Peanuts comic strip, the brain child of Charles M. Schulz.

On the t-shirt, Snoopy is shown dressed up as many of the regenerations of Doctor Who. But that still doesn’t answer the question. The answer is that they are both iconic characters with huge fan bases. Being a fan of both the Peanuts and Doctor Who, my t-shirt is the perfect crossover fan shirt. Although I wasn’t able to explain it at the time, wearing my Snoopy Doctor Who t-shirt gave some people the opening to engage me in conversation or just say “I like your shirt.”

Stephen Clark
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade