I believe they wanted to cut Nyssa at one point, but Peter Davison objected on the grounds that he felt she was better suited to his Doctor than Tegan. Ironically, while the Doctor may have seemed to favour Tegan, Davison thought the opposite.
A question about the fifth doctor's female companion
- Thread starter timothy
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I believe they wanted to cut Nyssa at one point, but Peter Davison objected on the grounds that he felt she was better suited to his Doctor than Tegan. Ironically, while the Doctor may have seemed to favour Tegan, Davison thought the opposite.
Tegan, 1981-1984. That's a pretty good stretch for a DW actor,and particularly a travelling companion. In Planet Of Fire, the Doctor even mentions that she was with him for rather a long time.
Regarding Peri, I suppose that Nicola Bryant could be mistaken for Asian-American. Actually, Peri was pretty much American in name only. Her nationality was completely irrelevant except when Six made ther occasional crass anti-USA statement.
Regarding Peri, I suppose that Nicola Bryant could be mistaken for Asian-American. Actually, Peri was pretty much American in name only. Her nationality was completely irrelevant except when Six made ther occasional crass anti-USA statement.
Fair point! And Janet at least had the decency to actually be the nationality she was portraying
Are you complaining about Nyssa not being played by someone from Trakken?
StarSuperion, he favored Teagan, because he liked the abuse
Truth be told, Teagan is a great companion for the 5th Doctor IMHO, because his portrayal was so subtle adn underplayed, so, you kinda needed a boistrous companion to offset the Doctor, IMHO.
In fairness I think Sarah's Trakken accent was almost perfect, she could almost pass for a native...
I think the reason Nyssa got sidelined, certainly to begin with, was because they had three companions and Adric as the boy and Tegan as the bolshi one tended to edge out Nyssa who was quite quiet and, let's be honest, a bit boring...I think Nyssa got better when it was just her and Tegan, but Nyssa was still a bit of a goody goody. I think the Doctor just travelling with Nyssa might have been a bit boring, I think the Doctor should always have a companion who's willing to stand up to him. That's why when it was announced Donna was coming back I was mortified for about 10 seconds, until I realised Donna was the 21st Century equivilent of Tegan, then I relaxed. Both Tegan and Donna would fit into my top companions list.
he favored Teagan, because he liked the abuse
I've often dreamed about being abused by Tegan.
YANA!
Tegan is one of my top 10 assistants for sure and didn't she leave for a while and come back? She's one of the few that have done that. I loved that air hostess uniform! It was a shame that somebody finally realised that it wasn't realistic to keep her in her work wear day in day out - she must have smelled terrible. Actually, if I had to vote for another old assistant to return, Tegan would be the one I'd vote for (although Jamie might score a vote too).
Nicola Bryant is lovely, and is still a real cutie, but Peri was just so whiny, I actually preferred Melanie! If Melanie hadn't spent most of her time screaming, I would have liked her a lot more. I feel sorry that Bonnie Langford got so much stick for a character who was written with that one very annoying trait. I hear that some of the character's audio adventures do a lot more justice to her character.
Nicola Bryant is lovely, and is still a real cutie, but Peri was just so whiny, I actually preferred Melanie! If Melanie hadn't spent most of her time screaming, I would have liked her a lot more. I feel sorry that Bonnie Langford got so much stick for a character who was written with that one very annoying trait. I hear that some of the character's audio adventures do a lot more justice to her character.
I think Bonnie was hampered as well by being more of a theatre actor so she was used to projecting to reach the people at the back! You don't need to do that on telly.
Spot on re Nicola Bryant, she's a wonderful sexy actress when she's using her own accent, but as Peri...nah!
If another classic companion was going to come back, for me it'd be a toss up between Tegan or Jamie as well (though I'd like Jamie and Zoe).
Spot on re Nicola Bryant, she's a wonderful sexy actress when she's using her own accent, but as Peri...nah!
If another classic companion was going to come back, for me it'd be a toss up between Tegan or Jamie as well (though I'd like Jamie and Zoe).
I agree that Peri, on TV, never really worked out. However, I cannot recommend highly enough the recent Big Finish audio drama Peri and the Piscon Paradox. Aside from the fact it shows how Nicola's American accent has improved over the years (she's been playing Peri for Big Finish audios for more than a decade now) and we get to hear her giving a charming impersonation of Peter Davison too, the storyline provides perfect closure for the character (although not necessarily in a completely positive way), adding depths that would never have been allowed in 1984-86.
Alex
Alex
actually with all that tegan has been through, and other companions, I don't see why another spinoff to add to the roster (R.I.P. Sarah Jane adventures) would be quite nice. I can see the older and wiser Tegan taking the role of the confident manager running a secret doctor who army kinda like torchwood, but with more of a family focus.. Maybe even a secret financier character who is really Omega! Like he managed to phase his body from the dying 5th doctor likeness into another, and slowly over the years began to assert his consciousness over that of the human he took the body from. Heck if the master could do it then why not Omega.. his body would be human, not time lord so it fits the "End of Time" prophecy, and in addition, there could be some time lord artifacts left on earth that end up in their possession.
I could see the BBC relying heavily on the time war, and aspects of fallout from that to garner huge fan interest, and also adding some other companions to the mix in various capacities, like weapons specialist, computer hacker, enforcer, sleuth, and so on..with Tegan in charge, dressed for success. Throw in Ace, or maybe even the son of Sarah Jane, (college years) as a great way to carry on..
they could call it some cool name like SO-7 (special ops Seven) or something. give it a bit of that 60's spy noir, with high tech and good writing... that would be a smash IMHO.
I could see the BBC relying heavily on the time war, and aspects of fallout from that to garner huge fan interest, and also adding some other companions to the mix in various capacities, like weapons specialist, computer hacker, enforcer, sleuth, and so on..with Tegan in charge, dressed for success. Throw in Ace, or maybe even the son of Sarah Jane, (college years) as a great way to carry on..
they could call it some cool name like SO-7 (special ops Seven) or something. give it a bit of that 60's spy noir, with high tech and good writing... that would be a smash IMHO.
Tegan is my favortie classic companion. She has the best developed personality of any classic companion imo. Tegan is flawed, which makes her more interesting. She's loud and often rude, but also caring and brave. She's hard to get along with, but has hidden depths.
In Nyssa's defense, she is more quiet, but I also quite like her. I am a huge fan of the 5th Doctor era. I made a 5th Dr/Tegan/Turlough decal for my mp3 player.
In Nyssa's defense, she is more quiet, but I also quite like her. I am a huge fan of the 5th Doctor era. I made a 5th Dr/Tegan/Turlough decal for my mp3 player.
