Vicki (Doctor Who)
Vicki | |
---|---|
Doctor Who character | |
First appearance | The Rescue (1965) |
Last appearance | The Myth Makers (1965) |
Portrayed by | Maureen O'Brien |
Duration | 1965, 2023 |
In-universe information | |
Species | Human |
Affiliation | First Doctor |
Home | Earth |
Home era | 25th century |
Vicki is a fictional character played by
Appearances
Vicki first appears in the serial
Vicki is the one who persuades the Doctor to let Ian and Barbara use a Dalek time machine to return to their own time in The Chase. At the beginning of The Time Meddler, it is revealed that the refugee Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) had stowed away on the TARDIS at the end of The Chase, and he accompanies Vicki and the Doctor.
Vicki eventually falls in love with the warrior Troilus when the TARDIS lands during the siege of Troy (The Myth Makers). After making sure that Steven and the Doctor will be all right without her, she decides to remain with Troilus, eventually passing into legend as Cressida,[1] the name given to her by King Priam. She ensures that the Trojan girl Katarina (Adrienne Hill) enters the TARDIS in her place.
Other media
Vicki appears in several spin-off short stories in the BBC Short Trips range. In "Apocrypha Bipedium" by Ian Potter, the Eighth Doctor - having convinced her that he is a later Doctor rather than a younger one as Vicki first believed due to her ignorance of Regeneration - advises her and Troilus to move to Cornwall to avoid the tragic conclusion to their story as related by William Shakespeare.
The
Vicki appears in two First Doctor novels of the
Development
Vicki was the replacement for the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan (Carole Ann Ford), who was the first companion to leave Doctor Who; Ford was displeased with the lack of her character's development.[7] In contrast to Susan, Vicki was conceived as an Earth orphan from the future; the production team considered many names from here, some of them odd like "Luckky" and "Tanni".[7] Maureen O'Brien had just come out of drama school when she was cast;[7] it was her first television acting job.[8] Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman told O'Brien that they were considering having her cut her hair and dye it black. O'Brien refused, saying, "Why don't you just get Carole Ann Ford back?"[7]
Reception
Reviewing The Time Meddler, Christopher Bahn of The A.V. Club wrote that Vicki was "more than just a replacement of Susan but an improvement on her", due to O'Brien being a "much more engaging and lively actress". Bahn also felt that Vicki was a "more effective conversational foil" to Steven than Susan would have been.[9] Radio Times reviewer Mark Braxton praised the way Vicki takes control in The Space Museum, comparing her to later companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).[10] Despite this, Braxton felt that the character was "badly underused", though he wrote positively of how her departure was handled,[11] and Braxton's colleague Patrick Mulkern wrote that Vicki showed "promise" in her first story but was "short-changed by subsequent writers".[12]
References
- ^ a b "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Vicki". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ISBN 0-9759446-0-6.
- ^ a b "4.07. The Suffering". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b "6.02. The Rocket Men". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b "4.01. Doctor Who: The Dark Planet". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ "1.1. Frostfire". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d Barrett, Ray, Christopher Barry, Raymond Cusick, Maureen O'Brien, William Russell, Ian McLachlan (2009). Mounting the Rescue (DVD). Doctor Who: The Rescue: BBC.
- ^ "A New Companion For Dr. Who?". Radio Times. 31 December 1964. p. 3.
- ^ Bahn, Christopher (4 March 2012). "The Time Meddler". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Braxton, Mark (7 January 2009). "Doctor Who: The Space Museum". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Braxton, Mark (7 February 2009). "Doctor Who: The Myth Makers". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick (7 December 2008). "Doctor Who: The Rescue". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
External links
- Vicki (Doctor Who) on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
- Vicki on the BBC's Doctor Who website