Character Highlight: Dodo Chaplet (Doctor Who)

Dodo has always been a bottom-rung companion for me, alongside those that either irritate me (hey there, Adric) or aren’t around long enough to make much of an impression (looking at you, Kamelion.)  She improved for me somewhat when I rewatched the First Doctor’s seasons, but for the most part, the best I can say about her is “not that bad” (a few Dodo-related spoilers.)

Most of the trouble with Dodo is frontloaded, which is both a blessing and a curse.  It means, likeability-wise, she has nowhere to go but up throughout her time on the show, but it also means that she makes a pretty unfavorable first impression.  There’s having the unfortunate name “Dodo,” which of course isn’t her fault but does make it hard to take her seriously.  There’s the incredibly-slapdash way she becomes a companion in the first place, mistaking the TARDIS for a police box and bursting in looking for a constable, then just sort of going along for the ride.  It’s a beginning that has no preamble, no real introduction.  In a way, it isn’t a beginning at all, since it’s tacked onto the end of a serial, “The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve.”  Just, bang!  Here’s Dodo.  At least Steven was around for one whole episode before coming aboard.  Again, it’s not Dodo’s fault – sloppy storytelling – but it gives me little reason to root for her off the bat.

The last mark against her isn’t really her fault, either, but it’s a doozy.  On her first trip in the TARDIS, she encounters an ark spacecraft carrying humans of the future across the stars to a new home, and she unwittingly causes an outbreak when she introduces a 20^th-century virus humans long since eradicated, the common cold, onto the ship.  If not for the Doctor pulling out a victory with some serious science mojo and finding a cure, she could have wiped out the entire ship.  Now, obviously, she had no idea this would happen – even the Doctor doesn’t consider this possibility when they arrive.  However, unintentional or not, this is a mishap that could’ve have catastrophic results, and while it makes sense for her to be in such shock that she can’t quite accept that this is really all because of her cold, her reaction makes it seem as though she doesn’t fully understand the seriousness of the stakes here.

Like I said, Dodo does improve from there, but those are quite a few strikes out of the gate, and it’s hard to get passed, particularly when she doesn’t stand out from those who come before or after her in any distinct way.  Not that every companion needs a “hook,” like genius Time Lady Romana or “savage” descendant of off-world colonizers Leela.  Who has its share of everyman and everywoman companions, but even there, their individual personalities still feel separate.  Polly comes immediately after Dodo in the companion line, and she’s also a young woman from the ‘60s with no high-profile special skills, but right from the start, she feels like Polly.  Dodo just feels like… a companion.  As with her introduction, a lot of the writing around her character comes across as disinterested.  The stories themselves are still creative and fun, but it doesn’t seem like much thought goes into figuring out who she is as a person.

Which is a shame, because to me, she never really gets a fair shake.  Like all companions worth their salt, she can be clever, she can be brave, she can be curious, and she has a talent for getting into trouble.  She’s fond of the Doctor and bickers bemusedly with Steven.  She’s been known to be both stubborn and reckless.  But it feels more like a list than a personality.  Who is Dodo exactly?  I’m not entirely sure.