Washing up The washing up was an activity done at the kitchen sink , ( PROSE : " The Earwig Archipelago " , " Steal from the World " , " Anachrophobia " ) and in a washing - up bowl , ( PROSE : " The Earwig Archipelago " , " Stop the Pigeon " ) with washing - up liquid , ( PROSE : " Do You Smell Carrots ? " ) wherein dish es and cutlery would be washed . ( PROSE : " The Earwig Archipelago " , " Anachrophobia " ) Bernice Summerfield figured that Mr Plurk and Mr Scozz would find the washing up to be one of the most dangerous undertakings , judging by the crashes coming from the kitchen . ( PROSE : " Steal from the World " ) In the 19th century , the servant girl Gwyneth did the washing up in a basin . In 1869 , Rose Tyler helped her with the washing up at Gabriel Sneed ' s home , but Gwyneth thought it wasn ' t right that she was helping . Gwyneth continued on her own while the two talked . ( TV : " The Unquiet Dead " ) On Mars in 1881 , the Ice Warrior " Friday " did the washing up for a group of soldiers from the Queen ' s Army while acting as their butler , as part of a ruse to find the Empress Iraxxa on Mars . ( TV : " Empress of Mars " ) In 1935 , Daisy would help Sarah ' s mother out once a week with the preparation of dinner and the washing up . ( PROSE : " 24 Crawford Street " ) Indeed , though women were often in charge of the job in the 20th century , with the Second Doctor noting , " A woman ' s work is never done " and telling Mrs Wibbsey to stay at the kitchen sink where she belonged , ( AUDIO : " Survivors in Space " ) one Christmas a retired Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart decided to draft his nephew Henry to do it , to let Olivia and his own wife Doris relax for a while . ( PROSE : " " ) Alex ' s mum had a huge pile of washing up after Christmas Day , even though she spent all day Christmas Eve washing dishes . ( PROSE : " Dear Great Uncle Peter " ) On the night that Carmen and Lou boarded the 200 , it was Lou ' s turn to cook , and Carmen ' s task to clear up . They swapped tasks regularly . ( TV : " Planet of the Dead " ) Mickey Smith was not in the habit of properly washing his dishes . When he offered Rose Tyler coffee , she agreed on the condition that he wash the mug — " and I don ' t mean rinse , I mean wash . " ( TV : " Rose " ) During Gwen Cooper ' s first weeks at Torchwood Three , she never did the washing up . Rhys didn ' t either , but told her in an answerphone message that there wasn ' t much of it . When he later came home early , they agreed to leave it for the following day , and kiss ed on the sofa . ( TV : " Ghost Machine " ) While doing the washing up with Isaac , scrubbing at grease and mutton fat on a roasting tin and dropping fistfuls of cutlery into the sink , the Sixth Doctor discussed discussed politics with him , commenting on the difficulty of distinguishing truth from fiction . " You know what it ' s like when the life of a nation is shaped around the whims of a single man . [ . . . ] A man who can ' t even ensure that his citizens have access to decent washing - up liquid . What makes you think that Ettyn would make a better job of it than the current incumbent ? " ( PROSE : " The Earwig Archipelago " ) Fitz Kreiner once did the washing up for the Eighth Doctor , Anji Kapoor and Mistletoe , involving mug s and spoon s . He also offered to make them coffee . ( PROSE : " Anachrophobia " ) For the length of Saturnalia celebrations in 1st century BC Rome , slave s would take part in feasts , but still had to do the washing up . ( PROSE : " The Best of Days " ) When the Eleventh Doctor unexpectedly dropped Amy Pond and Rory Williams back off in London , Amy joked that this was because of the washing up . The Doctor chuckled at this . ( TV : " The God Complex " ) When Natalie Fulton drank every last drop of a bowl of tomato soup , the old woman who gave it to her joked , " Well , we won ' t need to worry about the washing - up . " ( PROSE : " Natalie ' s Diary " )