Telescope Telescopes were devices for looking at things from a distance . " Spyglass " was a name sometimes applied to handheld telescopes . ( PROSE : " The Empire of Glass " ) The Doctor ' s telescope . On Dulkis , the Second Doctor was about to view some ruins with a folding telescope when Jamie McCrimmon took it from him . He then returned it after using it to examine the ruins . ( TV : " The Dominators " ) On another planet , the Second Doctor used a folding telescope to observe a train pull into a station . ( COMIC : " The Exterminator " ) On Solos , the Third Doctor used a folding telescope to survey a Solonian village . ( TV : " The Mutants " ) The Fourth Doctor gave Leela a telescope in Australia . ( PROSE : " The Bushranger ' s Story " ) On Shontaa , the Fourth Doctor used a telescope to observe the duel between the Zygon s Anktra and Kestral . ( COMIC : " Rest and Re - Creation " ) On Pluto , the Fourth Doctor used a folding telescope to admire Megropolis One and noted it to be " an engineering achievement " . ( TV : " The Sun Makers " ) The Fourth Doctor and Romana I used a folding telescope to observe Zanak ' s control centre , the Bridge . The telescope was later confiscated from Romana by a guard , who described it as " a forbidden object " . ( TV : " The Pirate Planet " ) The Fourth Doctor used a telescope to locate the Jagaroth ship in Earth ' s primordial past . ( TV : " City of Death " ) The Fourth Doctor used a telescope to observe the spaceship " Hydrax " from afar . ( TV : " State of Decay " ) The newly - regenerated Seventh Doctor found a telescope in his former incarnation ' s coat pockets . ( PROSE : " The Useful Pile " ) On Kirith , the Seventh Doctor used a telescope to survey Kirith town and its environs . He then gave the telescope to Miríl . ( PROSE : " " ) The Doctor ' s TARDIS had a telescope observatory . ( TV : " Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS " ) Other telescopes . Early astronomers used telescopes to observe the star s and planet s . In Alexandria a group of astronomers saw skyship s . ( COMIC : " Voyager " ) In the late 15th century , Giuliano developed a primitive telescope , which the Fourth Doctor deemed merely adequate . ( TV : " The Masque of Mandragora " ) In the early 17th century , Galileo Galilei invented the telescope . ( PROSE : " The Empire of Glass " ) In 1959 , Jerome Weismuller used a folding telescope to watch for a satellite . ( TV : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) The people of Sarn used telescopes . Peri Brown made use of a fixed telescope in order to search for the Fifth Doctor . ( TV : " Planet of Fire " ) The Sixth Doctor used a fixed telescope aboard Voyager ' s " Death - ship " to follow Astrolabus ' s escape . ( COMIC : " Voyager " ) Rezaul Kapoor owned a telescope which he and his sister Anji once used to observe Mars . ( PROSE : " Fear Itself " ) Eugene Jones owned a telescope , which he used to watch for alien s . ( TV : " Random Shoes " ) Wilfred Mott owned a telescope , which he frequently used . ( TV : " Partners in Crime " ) In a parallel world , he offered to sell it for extra money , but Donna Noble was firmly against it . ( TV : " Turn Left " ) References to telescopes . Richard Dunbar told the Fourth Doctor that if he had seen anything like the Krynoid pod before , he must have a very powerful telescope . ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " )