Doctor Who spotlight: Vicki – A strong companion with a tragic backstory
By James Aggas
Some companions have an introduction story that’s incredibly light-hearted. Vicki’s, however, is the opposite of that…
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
For today’s spotlight article, we look back at Vicki, who traveled with the First Doctor and is perhaps one of the more underrated companions of Doctor Who.
If there are any Doctor Who companions who define the word “underrated”, it has to be Vicki. I’ve seen rankings that put her far too low down in lists from worst to best companions. (As this one example shows.)
A key reason for this is why she was brought into the series. Carole Ann Ford, who had played the First Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, decided to leave the series. She was given a beautiful exit at the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Of course, this left a gap in the TARDIS team. Admittedly, four members may seem like a lot these days, (although then again, maybe not), but up until this point, the TARDIS team had consisted of four members: the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. The last one’s absence meant that a replacement was needed, which gave us the character of Vicki.
However, this has given her the unfortunate label of “Susan replacement” by some fans. But in actual fact, she was a rather brilliant character, right from her very first story, The Rescue.
A tragic history
A companion with tragic beginnings, Vicki was trapped on the planet Dido after the spaceship she had traveled on crashed. There were initially other survivors, but most of them were killed in an explosion, presumably by the planet’s inhabitants. Sadly, this included Vicki’s father.
The only other survivor was Bennett, who Vicki looked after. However, the Doctor eventually found out that Bennett had not only killed another passenger before the ship crashed, but had been responsible for the explosion that had killed the others, just to cover up his original crime. He almost killed the Doctor, but was cornered by two Didonians and fell to his death.
So as you can see, from the very beginning, Vicki had a tough life. Her parents were dead, she had been stuck on a planet for months, and worst of all, the only person she had considered to be a friend was her father’s murderer. Even the TARDIS crew accidentally cause her pain when they kill what seems to be a terrifying monster…only to find out that it was Vicki’s pet!
Still, that didn’t stop her from joining the TARDIS crew on their travels and finding a new home with them.
Following the departure of Susan, Vicki became a very natural part of the early TARDIS team, while also being a strong companion in her own right.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
Similar, but not the same
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vicki had a number of things in common with Susan. Being from the future, she was extremely intelligent, and knew a great deal about scientific concepts far ahead of Ian and Barbara’s time. Unsurprisingly, the Doctor also grew to have a close relationship with Vicki. Each of them was the closest thing that they had to family.
With that description, it’s easy to see why Vicki would be labelled by some fans as a “Susan copy”. However, the character had some major differences that made her stand out in her own right. In fact, while I do love Susan and her unique bond with the Doctor, I’d say that as a character, Vicki was written better.
For one thing, she was definitely less of a screamer. Susan could be emotional at times, to say the least. But, while Vicki was also meant to be a child, she was also considerably calmer and more innocent.
There were many key instances when she got to show off how intelligent and brilliant she really was. Sometimes, she would be leading a revolution like in The Space Museum. Other times, it would be working out that the Doctor had caused history in a big way (even accidentally) like in The Romans. Susan was also intelligent, but there were fewer times when she really got to show that, at least in the TV series.
Vicki shared many adventures with the Doctor, and it’s really not hard to see why.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
A strong companion
Of course, Vicki stood out on her own terms, too. She was extremely wide-eyed and eager to see the universe. Rather than be hardened by her experiences on Dido, Vicki embraced everything with a youthful enthusiasm.
Of course, she also had her flaws. To her, the TARDIS was her home. She had lost so much, and for a long time, she wasn’t ready to give up her life with the Doctor for anything. Of course, the fact that she had lost so much had also left her insecure, at times. One moment in The Crusades highlighted this, when she told the Doctor directly that she was worried about being a problem.
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However, she didn’t have anything to worry about. The Doctor had a very strong relationship with Vicki. In fact, it was arguably warmer and friendlier than his relationship with Susan. Not that he didn’t love his granddaughter, but in the beginning, he was a much more difficult man.
Travelling with Ian and Barbara had mellowed his attitude considerably, and perhaps he’d learned better from his time with his granddaughter by the time he left her. So he was a much warmer person in general, and so, grew to have a close bond with Vicki.
So overall, Vicki was a strong and fleshed-out character. A likable companion with a tragic backstory, she was a perfect match for Hartnell’s Doctor. It also helped that Maureen O’Brien herself was fantastic in the role.
We’ll go into more detail on O’Brien’s performance as Vicki (and other roles in the Doctor Who universe) very soon. But as for Vicki herself, the character is perhaps one of the more underrated companions of the Sixties.
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What were your thoughts on Vicki? Do you agree that she’s underrated? Do you think she was an effective companion in Doctor Who? Let us know in the comments below.