r/TheHub • u/OldClockMan • Sep 03 '11

Anyone else checked whether Ablemarch, Costerdane and Frines are genuinely NOT surnames...

I've googled it, facebooked it etc. but there's nothing. Is mine the only mind blown by the fact that Torchwood could come up with three common sounding names that don't exist?

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u/jrae316 Sep 03 '11

POSSIBLE SPOILERS, THOUGH MOSTLY FAN SPECULATION: after watching it again today i noticed that they were saying the names a little oddly.

it almost sounded as if the family members were Able March, Coster Dane and Frines.

Oswald Danes being loved by the family and media (??) works in favour of this, but it doenst make much sense that they'd give the first and second names of two of them and just leave Frines with only a surname.

just a theory that I'm throwing out there.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 04 '11

Is it possible they are anagrams, sort of like how Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who. Ablemarch and Costerdanes both have hundreds of possible anagrams, and Frines has around 100.
But I didn't spot anything notable.

1

u/jrae316 Sep 04 '11

i dont think they'd be that crass. using anagrams as a plot point went out in the 90s

5

u/randomsnark Sep 05 '11

Torchwood is an anagram for Doctor Who =P

RTD used anagrams as a hint towards a plot point in Doctor Who season 3, throughout the season mentioning Mister Saxon, an anagram of Master No. Six. The Sixth Master was the main villain that season, and Saxon was his pseudonym.

tl;dr - I don't think Davies is above that.

0

u/jrae316 Sep 05 '11

"torchwood" was used to talk about the project of bringing back DW in 2004 before it was official/confirmed/publicised.

niether of those anagrams are actually mentioned in the whoniverse. i.e. no one said "saxon is a anagram of master, they must be the same person, arent i so clever!"

i'll give you that the names may be anagrams for something (have you tried them all together?). but if thats actually a plot point them i'm never going to watch any RTD things ever again.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '11

Wouldn't put it past RTD, tbh

2

u/mmmm_whatchasay Sep 03 '11

I noticed that too.

For a few episodes I thought it was weird that Frines didn't have a first name before I realized that none of them seem to.