Face of Boe
The Face of Boe first appeared in The End of the World (Series 1 : Episode 2) as the sponsor of an event to safely watch the Earth’s final moments. In early life, the Face of Boe, a male-appearing Boekind with an outward appearance of little more than a huge humanoid head, had the distinction of being one of the oldest creatures in the universe, and was supposedly well known by the 51st century. Captain Jack Harkness, who grew up on the Boeshane Peninsula, commented that he was nicknamed the Face of Boe in his early life. In the year 200,000 the Face of Boe was mentioned on Bad Wolf TV, at which point he had six living children (Boemina), who died forty years later. In 200,100 he was the answer to a question on The Weakest Link, described as the oldest living creature in the Isop galaxy. In the year 5.5/Apple/26, the Face of Boe sponsored the event to safely watch the Earth’s destruction due to its expanding sun on Platform One. Though the event was sabotaged by Lady Cassandra, the Face of Boe survived.
In the year 5,000,000,023, the Face of Boe was hospitalised in Ward 26 of the hospital on New Earth run by the Sisters of Plenitude. Apparently dying of old age at last, the Face of Boe summoned the Doctor to visit him, where a novice told the Doctor that the Face of Boe would speak his final words to the man without a home, a “wandering traveller” such as the Doctor. However, the Face of Boe recovered, and thanked the Doctor for showing him a new way of looking at things before teleporting away without delivering his message. The Doctor’s third, and final meeting with the Face of Boe occurred in the year 5,000,000,053, when the Face of Boe did die after exerting the last of his energy to save the inhabitants of New Earth in Gridlock (Series 3 : Episode 3). His final words were “You are not alone”, spoken to the Doctor, and were the only words the Face of Boe actually spoke, as he preferred to communicate via telepathy. The Doctor did not believe the Face of Boe until he met Professor Yana, a disguised Time Lord known as the Master.
The Face of Boe was a mysterious being, though because of his large lifespan he was well known throughout the universe. He was a selfless and compassionate being willing to give his own life to save others, for the greater good, he used up his remaining life force to save the people on New Earth who were trapped on the motorway. He grew tired of the universe after living for billions of years, but he was given a new lease of life after meeting the Doctor for the second time, however he may still have been relieved at the time of his death 30 years later.
After the defeat of the Master, the immortal Captain Jack Harkness indicated inadvertently that he may have been the Face of Boe. Unable to die, the Doctor speculated that Jack may mutate in shape rather than age in the traditional way, implying that Jack could one day mutate into the being known as the Face of Boe. Although theories exist as to how this could be possible, there is no concrete evidence to prove or disprove it.