Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants (22 page)

Following the slaughter at the seabase in
Warriors of the Deep
, it is Tegan’s turn to question whether it is her time to say goodbye. She asks the Doctor to return her to Earth to visit her grandfather, Andrew Verney, in 1984. And so, for the first time ever, the Doctor actively sets the TARDIS to take one of his companions to visit a member of their family. Upon arrival in Little Hodcombe in
The Awakening
, they see a man in seventeenth century clothing. Tegan is, once again, convinced the Doctor has got the destination wrong, even though Turlough insists otherwise. When she and Verney finally meet up, he doesn’t seem surprised to see his granddaughter, nor he is too shocked by the TARDIS – this might imply that she has told him all about the Doctor during her return to Earth after
Time-Flight
. Tegan forces the Doctor, with the help of a few locals, to remain there for a while, so she can at least spend some proper time with her grandfather, instead of dealing with temporal problems and war games.

While on the human colony of
Frontios
, she comes under the scrutiny of the alien Tractators, but the Doctor attempts to convince them that Tegan is an android, but not a very good one. For one thing there is the funny walk, and then the accent! Even though she knows the Doctor is trying to keep her safe, she is a little affronted by this insult.

They return to Earth in 1984 once more, only to discover that the Daleks are actively seeking the Doctor. During
Resurrection of the Daleks
Tegan witnesses so many people being killed by both Daleks and their android duplicates – including an innocent man by the Thames who she calls to for help when being chased by two duplicate policemen. No doubt she blames herself for his death, and is greatly disturbed by the needless slaughter. It is here that she realises she can no longer carry on; that too many good people have died. In a sudden moment, just as they are about to leave, Tegan tells the Doctor that she is not going with him. The Doctor is shocked. Tegan doesn’t blame him for all the deaths. She does, however, take comfort in what her Aunt Vanessa once said; ‘“If you stop enjoying it, give it up.” It’s stopped being fun, Doctor.’ She bravely shakes Turlough’s hand and dashes off, unable to contain the hurt of leaving any more. She returns seconds after the TARDIS dematerialises, and tells herself, ‘brave heart, Tegan’ reminding herself of her bond with the Doctor. She breaks down, and mumbles, ‘I am going to miss you, Doctor’.

The Doctor doesn’t forget Tegan, and when he is lying in the TARDIS dying at the end of his fifth incarnation (
The Caves of Androzani
)
it is her face that he first sees in his mind’s eye, ‘What is it you always told me, Doctor? Brave heart?’ It is a curious point that Tegan is the first person he remembers, perhaps a sign of his guilt over the way she left.

As for Tegan herself, she never returns to
Doctor Who
although she is mentioned in future stories, most notably in 2010 in
The Sarah Jane Adventures: Death of the Doctor
, when Sarah tells her friends how Tegan now lives in Australia fighting for Aboriginal rights. (Although it does appear that Sarah doesn’t remember having met Tegan in
The Five Doctors
– indeed it seems the only companions who remember those events are Tegan and Turlough).

With Turlough we had the last male companion until 2005, and the very last alien companion to date. He was also the only companion to be introduced with the express intention of killing the Doctor.

Vislor Turlough
–
Mark Strickson
(
Mawdryn Undead
to
Planet of Fire
)

On the surface Turlough (we do not learn his first name until his very last story) seems like a normal school boy; a bit of a troublemaker, happy to shift the blame of a car accident (after a joy-ride) to his ‘friend’ Ibbotson. Turlough is sparklingly intelligent, used to talking his way out of situations. It is only when he is lying unconscious beside the car that we learn the truth of his alien background. The Black Guardian promises him a way off Earth if he does one thing for him – kill the Doctor!

At this point it seems Turlough will do almost anything to break free from Earth – a planet he finds beyond tedious. We do not discover exactly why he is on Earth, or indeed what planet he is from, until
Planet of Fire
, but when he does meet the Doctor and foolishly demonstrates an awareness of transmats and alien technology, the Doctor doesn’t question it – almost as if the Doctor is wiser to the situation than he lets on. Indeed the Doctor is not surprised by the appearance of the White Guardian in
Enlightenment
, so could it be that the Doctor has been warned already? It would certainly explain the Doctor’s distrust of Turlough despite welcoming him on board the TARDIS at the end of
Mawdryn Undead
.

Turlough quickly warms to the Doctor, and starts questioning the Black Guardian, but his will is nothing in comparison and he discovers there really is no way out of the deal he made. So his attempts at killing the Doctor are, at best, lacklustre. He finds his way into the TARDIS in a scene that is almost echoed in the closing moments of his introduction story, and is very evasive of the questions asked by Nyssa and Tegan, sticking to the Doctor’s side. The Doctor notices, but again just lets it slide. Once the threat of Mawdryn is removed and the two Brigadiers are returned to their proper times, the Doctor suddenly remembers Turlough, who he believes is still on Mawdryn’s ship, which is due to self-destruct. They rush into the TARDIS to find Turlough there waiting for them – he asks if he can join them, and the Doctor says yes. But Tegan is very weary. From the moment she meets him she is instinctively untrusting of him.

He seems to be older than he appears, and derides his peers at Brendon School, glad to be free of the ‘children’ there, he is also unimpressed at being given Adric’s old room – which he considers a kid’s room. He notices Tegan’s attitude towards him and tries to smooth the way with charm and a choice phrase, but she will not have any of it, so he tells her that he finds her own way of communicating to be more like a sledge hammer. It is wonderfully ironic, therefore, that shortly after arriving at
Terminus
he finds himself trapped with only Tegan for company. Ultimately he has no one but himself to blame, since it was he who sabotaged the TARDIS, at the behest of the Black Guardian, and forced it to merge with the leper ship that docked at Terminus. He initiates a conversation with Tegan about killing, wondering if she could do such a thing. He is trying to work through his morality, his conscience pricking at him, mostly because he genuinely likes the Doctor, but he is an easy liar and deflects Tegan’s own questions.

He knows he hasn’t completely gained the Doctor’s trust and cheerfully joins him in exploring the Edwardian racing yacht,
Shadow
(
Enlightenment
). Initially he is out of his depth with the rowdy sailors, but soon adapts, donning a straw hat and engaging them in loud and raucous conversation. After almost being driven mad by his bargain with the Guardian, Turlough jumps overboard but is rescued by an Eternal called Wrack, captain of the
Buccaneer
, also an agent of the Black Guardian. She reads his mind but finds it hard to do so, since it is divided and confused. She does recognise that greed is dominant though. Turlough is on the winning ship when it crosses the line and is thus offered the prize of Enlightenment, where he is confronted by both the Black and White Guardians. The Black Guardian goads him, reminding Turlough of their bargain – he can now either give up Enlightenment or the Doctor. He casts the Enlightenment diamond at the Guardian, his choice made. Tired, Turlough strangely wants the Doctor to take him back to his home planet – even though, as we later discover, he is a political exile and cannot return there.

As it turns out, the TARDIS crew end up back on Earth (
The King’s Demons
), although whether Turlough has changed his mind or not is not known, but he doesn’t seem too impressed to be there again. While there he is almost given over to the iron maiden (the medieval torture device, not the rock band). He is somewhat surprised by the Doctor’s agreement to allow Kamelion to join them, although like Tegan he seems to forget about the android almost immediately, preferring to focus on helping the Doctor rebuild the TARDIS console while at the Eye of Orion (one can infer this by the fact that Turlough is familiar with the controls of the radically altered control console in
The Five Doctors
even though it is brand new and the Doctor is only finishing work on it at the beginning of the story – this is easily in keeping with Turlough, having already shown some aptitude for the TARDIS console in previous stories).

Being at the Eye of Orion seems to be a changing point in the Doctor and Turlough’s relationship. Although there are still occasions when the Doctor doubts him, the two are more relaxed around each other. They are certainly very peaceful in each other’s company, with Turlough drawing and the Doctor enjoying the vista. Turlough is very comfortable with the concept of regeneration. He doesn’t bat an eyelid at the appearance of more than one Doctor and seems to delight in heightening the tension with Susan as they spot Cybermen planting a bomb outside the TARDIS. One of the most curious incidents in the Dark Tower is when Turlough steps out of the TARDIS, joining the team of companions who are watching the Doctors’ activities with interest. Among these old friends is the Brigadier, one of Turlough’s teachers from Brendon. It is odd that they do not acknowledge each other’s presence, since the Brigadier was at Brendon when Turlough went missing, and certainly showed no love for the young man after Turlough crashed his car.

At the end of
The Five Doctors
Turlough is convinced, although unbothered, that the Time Lords will be sending him home. He is surprised to learn that the Doctor has no intention of going back to Gallifrey and becoming president. It is around this point that Turlough explains that he doesn’t want to return to his home planet, but would rather remain with the Doctor, since he still has a lot to learn. The Doctor is a little doubtful, thinking that Turlough will change his mind again.

By this point, not only are the Doctor and Turlough getting on better, but so are Tegan and Turlough; they are slowly developing a friendly bit of rivalry, with Turlough’s cynicism proving to be a nice foil against Tegan’s passion. At the beginning of
Frontios
he rather enjoys disturbing her when reading about the ‘doomed Earth’, knowing it will get to her since she seems to care so much about her planet, which, of course, is the complete opposite of Turlough who doesn’t care for Earth at all.

Hearing the stories of the ground eating people, and delving into the tunnels beneath the colony, Turlough begins to regress into a primal, almost feral state, the race memory of Tractators turning him into a gibbering mess. This may lead viewers to believe that Turlough is a coward, but in truth he is simply a survivor, as noted in
Resurrection of the Daleks
when he is forced to take up arms rather than die.

He is, surprisingly, sad to see Tegan leave, and finds himself missing her in
Planet of Fire
, although clearly not as much as the Doctor is. When the TARDIS picks up a distress signal, Turlough recognises its origin and instantly disconnects it. Even though Kamelion is responsible for reprogramming the TARDIS co-ordinates, the Doctor grows a little suspicious of Turlough, and is not convinced by his pleas of innocence, suggesting that although their relationship has progressed, the Doctor still reserves a certain level of doubt. While the Doctor is off exploring Lanzarote for the source of the signal, Turlough does everything he can to cancel out the signal, including shorting out Kamelion, but is soon distracted when he sees a woman apparently drowning. He is exasperated, but still goes out and rescues her, bringing her into the TARDIS for safety. In her bag he discovers an artefact from Trion, his home planet, and the source of the signal. The signal takes them to the planet Sarn. Turlough ventures out and discovers a younger man called Malkon – his brother! When Malkon is hurt, Turlough’s aggressive side is brought to the fore and he threatens to kill the one responsible. The Doctor is suspicious when Turlough will not at first confide in him. He warns Turlough that if his secrets should end up aiding the Master, then their friendship would be over. Turlough eventually reveals that his family were political prisoners after a civil war on Trion and he was exiled to Earth. After contacting Trion he discovers that the war is over and he, and all his people, are now free to return. Turlough is torn and, in some ways, doesn’t want to leave the Doctor, but he knows he must. Before leaving he asks Peri, the girl he saved from drowning, to look after the Doctor for him.

An image of Turlough appears to the dying Doctor in
The Caves of Androzani
, telling him, ‘You must survive, Doctor. Too many of your enemies would delight in your death.’

It had been some years since K9 was booted out of the TARDIS, but he wasn’t the last robotic companion. Enter Kamelion – a shape-shifting android found on Xeriphas. It seemed like a wonderful idea, an android that could be anyone, but the reality was somewhat different. Introduced in one story, he isn’t seen again until six stories later when he is destroyed – the worst treatment of a companion ever in
Doctor Who
.