Newbies Guide to Doctor Who

Doctor:

The Fifth The fifth Doctor is much younger-looking than his other incarnations. He wears old-style cricketing clothes and a sprig of celery. He is much more vulnerable and innocent than his other incarnations and more like an older brother to his companions.

Companions:

Tegan Jovanka Tegan is never seen in this story, as she is inside the TARDIS the whole time.

Recurring Characters:

Iris Wildthyme Iris is a Time Lady (of sorts), who has plagued the Doctor through most of his incarnations. She is the sort of person for whom the phrase 'growing old disgracefully' was invented. She drinks and smokes heavily and thinks that the Doctor is in love with her when, in fact, he'd like nothing better than to never see her again. She keeps a diary in which she records (probably ficticious) adventures that are remarkably similar to the Doctor's. Her TARDIS looks like a Number 22 double-decker bus to Putney Common, and can be driven. It is no bigger on the inside than the outside, and is steered from the driving seat of the Bus.

Recommended Viewing:

In Frontios (Classic Series Season 21), the Doctor had to take the TARDIS to Kolkokron to take the Gravis, a slug-like creature, to safety. Earlier in the same story, the TARDIS suffered some rather severe damage.

In Earthshock (Classic Series Season 19), the Doctor's companion Adric died, and he was unable to do anything to stop it.

In Logopolis (Classic Series Season 18), the Doctor met a shadowy version of his future self, called the Watcher, who helped him with his regeneration into his fifth self by merging with him during the regeneration.

In The Five Doctors (Classic Series Season 20), the Doctor teamed up with three of his past incarnations to travel through the death zone on Gallifrey.

Recommended Reading:

Iris first appeared in Short Trips: Old Flames (BBC Short Story). She has also appeared in The Scarlet Empress (BBC Eighth Doctor Adventure), The Blue Angel (BBC Eighth Doctor Adventure), Mad Dogs and Englishmen (BBC Eighth Doctor Adventure), and Verdigris (BBC Past Doctor Adventure). In The Scarlet Empress (BBC Eighth Doctor Adventure), Iris and the Eighth Doctor visited the planet Hyspero.

Recommended Listening:

None.