The Doctor Who’s who
QUESTION In Doctor Who, which Doctor has had the most companions?
One of the defining characteristics through 59 years of Doctor Who has been the presence in the Tardis of companions.
They accompany the Doctor on his adventures, expressing awe and wonder at travelling through time and space. They often find themselves imperilled, captured or screaming at tin-foil aliens.
There’s no hard and fast rule for determining what makes a companion. There have been 40 TV series regulars, at least nine characters who appeared as one-offs and 14 characters who can be counted among the Doctor’s allies.
The first Doctor, William Hartnell, comes out on top with ten companions. Tom Baker’s fourth doctor is a close second with eight (nine if you include K9).
If appearances by one-off characters are included, the tenth Doctor, David Tennant, wins with at least 12, though he had only five regular companions.
William Hartnell had a revolving door of companions. He began with three in 1963’s An Unearthly Child: his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Anne Ford), considered by many as the first true companion, joined by school teacher Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell), who provided the muscle.
In the middle of season two, Susan was replaced by an orphan from earth, Vicki Pallister (Maureen O’Brien). They were joined by Steven Taylor, a lost astronaut, played by Peter Purves of Blue Peter fame.
In The Myth Makers, Hartnell was joined by Katarina of Troy (Adrienne Hill), who was killed off by the Daleks. Her replacement Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh) also died.
Dorothea ‘Dodo’ Chaplet (Jackie Lane) was a chirpy Londoner who met the first Doctor by mistake. She was joined by hip young Polly Wright (Anneke Wills) and Ben Jackson (Michael Craze), a sailor looking for adventure.
Polly and Ben subsequently teamed up with the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton.
David Tennant’s companions included
Rose (Billie Piper), Donna (Catherine Tate) and Martha (Freema Agyeman).
In several TV specials, he was joined by guest companions, including Kylie Minogue as Astrid Peth, Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke and Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott.
Jonathan Budworth, Worcester.
QUESTION Does anyone recall a Brave New World-style book in which the characters were forced to take ‘treatments’ through bracelets to keep them placid?
THIS was the 1970 dystopian novel This Perfect Day by the well-known American author Ira Levin. Control over bodily functions via ‘treatments’ is derivative of Brave new World, but its tale of a society regulated by computers is innovative.
The story is set 141 years after the unification of the world under the rule of a supercomputer known as Unicomp, or Uni for short.
Uni provides humans with everything they need to survive — food, shelter, order. It removes individual choice, monitoring the population via an identity bracelet that all citizens must wear.
There are only four names for men — Bob, Jesus, Karl and Li — and four for women — Anna, Mary, Peace and Yin. Individuals are distinguished by a nine-character alphanumeric code. everyone eats ‘totalcakes’, drinks ‘cokes’, wears the same style clothes and shares one language.
Dissent is kept in check by monthly ‘treatments’ of drugs that prevent aggression, facial hair growth and control sex drive. Under these conditions, nearly everyone is a satisfied and co-operative Family Member. The maximum life span is 62, after which citizens are euthanised.
The central character is LiRM35M4419, nicknamed Chip, who has a genetic variation, having different coloured eyes and a nonconformist streak. He rebels against the drug-induced conformity and strives to reprogramme the computer.
Many of Ira Levin’s genre-defining works have been made into Hollywood films, including A Kiss Before Dying, Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil.
Daniella Walters, London EC2.
QUESTION Did rivalries over the Cleveland Railway lead to a pitched battle?
THe 1860 clash dubbed the Battle of the Tees was fought on normanby Jetty on the south bank of the Tees, north-east of Middlesbrough, between workers for the Cleveland Railway Company and their rivals, Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR).
Mine owners around Guisborough and east Cleveland needed to transport iron ore. The railway was proposed by the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway (WHH&R), which provided half its capital. The route ran from normanby Jetty south via Guisborough through the eston Hills to Loftus in east Cleveland.
However, the S&DR tried to block the railway to maintain its monopoly south of the Tees.
The WHH&R wanted to build a bridge across the Tees from Port Clarence (the site of the later Transporter Bridge), but this was blocked by the Tees Conservancy Commission (TCC) at the behest of the S&DR.
So the WHH&R decided to build a jetty to enable laden iron-ore wagons to be shipped across the river on lighters — broad-beamed barges towed by tugs.
Matters came to a head on September 10, 1860, when the S&DR persuaded the TCC to blockade the jetty with barges. These were pulled out of the way by WHH&R steam tugs.
This resulted in a mass brawl on the foreshore between stevedores and hired thugs before they were dispersed by the police.
The WHH&R built its loading jetty, but its victory was short-lived. Completed in 1861, the Cleveland Railway had financial trouble and was taken over by the north eastern Railway in 1865, and the S&DR was also absorbed.
Martin Cutter, Scarborough, N. Yorks.
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