Saturday's Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was a giddy romp with a tearjerking dino death scene and some rather ribald innuendo. I thought I would hate it but I was surprised to find myself charmed by this fast-paced Boys' Own fantasy. There were echoes of A Good Man Goes to War with the Doctor's new gang, including Rory's Dad ( The Fast Show's Mark Williams- Big Finish's Max Edison), Queen Nefertiti and an Edwardian big game hunter. David Bradley's space pirate was brilliantly vile and I even liked Amy Pond this week. 2/2 for Moffat so far...
Last weekend also saw the publication of The Dalek Project, an original BBC graphic novel by Justin Richards and Mike "Thunderbolt" Collins. This one was delayed for a couple of years, being replaced by The Only Good Dalek in 2010.
The plot owes a great deal to Sixties stories Power of the Daleks and especially Evil of the Daleks. The Eleventh Doctor discovers an industrialist working on a Dalek production line in order to alter the course of the First World War. The first 30 pages form a somewhat superfluous prologue in which an archaeological dig disturbs entombed Daleks in the green fields of France. I'm sure Collins has modelled one character on Steven Moffat. Despite a moody second half in the trenches , the script lacks the wit and inventive flair of DWM's monthly strip. Four out of Five Talmars.
My continuing series, The Companion Chronicle, resumes with the letters J-K.
Jack Harkness: "What If Han Solo were bisexual?" The Charming space- con man turned Torchwood commander is arguably Nu Who's most high-profile spinoff character. Immortal Jack accompanied the Ninth and Tenth Doctors in epic struggles with the Daleks and the Master. The male equivalent to River Song, the Captain just might turn out to be the timeless Face of Boe.
Jackie Tyler: Rose Tyler's blowsy mum. Jackie developed into a character of great pathos and warmth, sheltering the Tenth Doctor and accompanying him to the Battle of Canary Wharf and to the Daleks' Crucible.
Jackson Lake: a tragic figure who actually believed himself to be the Doctor after a traumatic encounter with Cybermen. Teacher Jackson made a somewhat bumptious Doctor but was a devoted father and loyal friend.
Jamie McCrimmon: Jacobite piper Jamie was the Second Doctor's most faithful companion. I prefer Jamie when he isn't a slapstick character. His departure from the series is very sad and Grant Morrison gave him an ignominious end as a half-crazy hermit in DWM's The World Shapers. A version of Jamie accompanied the audio Sixth Doctor in the Land of Fiction.
Jason: an 18th century aristo rescued from La Belle France by ze Doctor in The Ultimate Adventure. If Jamie could sing, he'd be Jason. The character was originally created for the stage as a vehicle for Neighbours star Jason Donovan.
Jenny Wilson and Jimmy Forbes: theatre-goers who become companions of the Doctor in the Seven Keys to Doomsday stage play. The audio adaptation features Wendy Padbury's daughter reviving her mother's stage role.
Jenny (Rator?): The Doctor's Daughter, created from genetic material harvested from the Tenth Doctor. An artificially-grown super-soldier, Jenny was killed on the planet Messaline. Perkily then resurrected herself and went off to explore the universe and fight monsters. Never been seen again.
Jeremy Fitzoliver: effete upper-class twit and impediment to Sarah Jane Smith and the Third Doctor in two radio serials The Paradise of Death & The Ghosts of N-Space and the book Island of Death. Tampering with the Doctor's IRIS machine turned Jeremy into an amnesiac. He was manipulated by aliens and became "John Doe", an evil Charles Xavier- figure and head of the Network in the BBC Book Instruments of Darkness. Wet and ultimately pathetic.
John Benton: blokey Benton is the loyal- but- dim sergeant assisting the Brig and the Third Doctor through much of the latter's exile. Benton has an Action Man moment or two in The Daemons. He's also, worryingly, the prime suspect in the murder of Professor Lennox (cf. The Ambassadors of Death). Surely the Fifth Doctor doesn't believe the Brig's cover story: Benton-selling used cars?!
March of the Trods
John and Gillian: I can think of nothing that encapsulates the contradictions of Who better than the juxtaposition of Captain Jack with John and Gillian. The Doctor's grandchildren first appeared in TV Comic and were featured from 1964 to 1968, when the Doctor enrolled them at Zebedee University (or possibly Z-BD; thanks, Gary Russell) There is a beguiling DWM story to celebrate the Fortieth anniversary of Who in which the Eighth Doctor dreams of a storybook adventure with the pair.
Jo Grant: dolly bird assistant to the Third Doctor, dippy hippy Jo was into every fad of the Swingin' Seventies. While perhaps not the greatest performance or the most rounded character of the UNIT Era, Katy Manning's Jo had an abundance of earnest, plucky charm. Recently returned to team up with Sarah Jane and the Eleventh Doctor as a groovy granny.
June: One-off student companion to the Tenth Doctor in the pseudo-historical romp The Slitheen Excursion from BBC Books. Holidaying in Greece, allegedly June was black but the character was such a total cypher, it was impossible to tell.
A Shining Knight
Sir Justin: loyal medieval knight who accompanied the Fifth Doctor during the phantasmagorical Tides of Time saga in early-80s DWM
K-9: lovable dog-shaped computer pet/ally of the Fourth Doctor. Three models of K-9 were given to Leela, Romana and ( most notably) Sarah Jane Smith.
Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart: The Seventh Doctor was surrounded by kick-ass women in the New Adventures. Kadiatu is, of course, a descendant of the Brig; she's also a genetically-modified super-soldier. And she built a time machine. She's shared an audio adventure with Bernice Summerfield too.
Kamelion: shape-changing android toy of the Master. Spent almost its entire time travelling with the Fifth Doctor unseen in a cupboard, presumably. Becomes a biomechanical unicorn (really!) and befriends Peri in the book The Ultimate Treasure.
Karnak: a dispossessed alien prince with an unhappy romantic track record and a line in mocking banter, Karnak appeared in Hellblossom, Vox Dei and Warsmith: three Doctor Who plays (and a comic strip, The Amazons of Mantubu) by the Battered Suitcase Theatre Co in 2001-02.
Katarina: the first Companion to die, Trojan handmaiden Katarina sacrificed herself to prevent the psychotic Kirksen from hijacking the SPAR during The Daleks Master Plan. This was originally planned to be the demise of Vicki!
Elizabeth Klein: Big Finish's time-travelling Nazi scientist from a parallel world. Piloted the Tardis on a couple of occasions and tried to affect the Web of Time to preserve her reality. The Seventh Doctor took her into his custody and as a result of her rehabilitation, established Klein as UNIT's Scientific Advisor. Tracey Childs makes the chilly, pragmatic time-traveller a sympathetic character. For a Nazi.
Kroton: this Cyberman with a soul first appeared in Dr. Who Weekly #5 in November 1979. Nearly twenty years later, he joined the Eighth Doctor and Izzy S to foil the Master's attempt to steal the cosmic power of the Glory. Not to be confused with Robert Holmes's crystalline aliens with the Afrikaans accent.
Jo, Jack and Jamie are certainly in the Top Twenty Companions as is K-9. Klein is fascinating- but did I mention? A NAZI.
Coming soon: L-M
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