Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Zoe Heriot (Doctor Who)

I love Zoe.  She’s one of the smartest people in every room, and she damn sure knows it.  As such, her best moments usually involve her being smart like a boss, bringing her analytical mind, total recall, and badass computer skills to any problem (spoilers.)

Planning to Escape the Dominators (Series 6, Episode 3 – “The Dominators:  Episode 3”)

Okay, so this plan doesn’t actually work out, but that’s because Jamie interrupts things at the last moment – it’s still a good plan.  The Dominators are forcing Zoe and the other prisoners to haul rocks for them.  Zoe, knowing that the museum is nearby with a laser gun they can use, conspires with Cully to have him pretend to be “exhausted” so he can sneak off when the Quark guards aren’t paying attention to him.  Then, once he’s in position, Zoe creates a distraction so he can fire the gun.  If Jamie hadn’t gotten in the way, there’s a good chance it would’ve worked.  Also, when Zoe is recruiting other prisoners for her plan, one argues, “Resistance will only lead to violence,” and Zoe counters with the awesome, sharp retort, “And submission leads to slavery!”

Subduing the Karkus (Series 5, Episode 9 – “The Mind Robber:  Episode 4”)

Kickass Zoe!  When she and the Doctor come across the Karkus, a character from a comic strip in her time, she uses both her knowledge of the the character and the rules of the Land of Fiction to gain the upper hand.  She matches the Karkus blow for blow, then declares him bound to serve her as his new master.

Stumping the Computer (Series 6, Episode 12 – “The Invasion:  Episode 2”)

This is a fun one, showing off both Zoe’s smarts and her personality.  See, while this is an undoubtedly-impressive moment, it’s not one that saves the day or solves any great problem.  Rather, annoyed at the computer refusing her admittance into International Electromatics, Zoe decides she's not about to be shown up by some jumped-up number-cruncher.  With great satisfaction, she pulls the classic move of offering the computer an unsolvable problem, overloading its circuits when it can’t find an answer.  I like it because she does it for no greater reason than because the computer is annoying her and she can.

Calculating the Missile Strike (Series 6, Episode 17 – “The Invasion:  Episode 7”)

Rapidfire calculations for the win!  UNIT has a ton of Cyberships bearing down on them and a limited number of missiles in which to try and stop them.  It seems hopeless, and they’re prepared to just try and shoot down what they can, but that’s not good enough for Zoe!  In 30 seconds, she calculates precisely where to aim each of the available missiles in order to start an explosive chain reaction that will take out nearly all the Cyberships, using nothing but raw data and that brilliant noggin of hers.

Navigating the Tunnels (Series 6, Episode 26 – “The Seeds of Death:  Episode 4”)

Oh, I love this one.  With Ice Warriors running around the Moonbase, it’s too dangerous to use the corridors.  So, in order to get around, Zoe and Phipps make their way through the maintenance tunnels, but Phipps, who’s supposed to be guiding them, gets turned around and then starts freaking out.  Fortunately, Zoe’s seen a map of the base and, having thus memorized it, she’s able to apply that information to the layout of the tunnels, extrapolate where they currently are and where they need to go, and then accurately guide them through.  Zoe is awesome.

Favorite Characters: Zoe Heriot (Doctor Who)

Man, I love Zoe.  I think the Two years are really strong for companions overall, and this is such an enjoyable character.  She gives young Hermione Granger a run for her money as “most adorable know-it-all ever,” and she’s one of a pretty select group of companions to prove an intellectual challenge to the Doctor.

We’ll get this out of the way first:  Zoe is from the 21^st century, and though she’s more than 50 years out from our time, it’s still more than a little ridiculous.  When the Doctor and Jamie meet her, she’s living and working on a giant space station with artificial gravity, and her 21^st-century fashions feature the odd (non-ironic) sparkly cat suit.  Still, she’s so much fun that I don’t mind the whole “space age 21^st-century” thing.

Educated in a place that evidently raises children to be human computers, Zoe is a certified genius, initially running calculations for the Wheel with results that are trusted better than the ones their actual computers come up with.  Throughout her time on the show, Zoe’s braininess comes in handy often.  Between her flawless mental equations and her photographic memory, Zoe variously passes an insanely-hard test devised by machines, works out a route through ventilation shafts based on a single trip through the building’s corriders, and talks an obstructive computer into overloading itself – in short, she’s a logical-mathematical badass.  Numerous episodes depend on her quick thinking and awesome adeptness to save the day.

Zoe is supremely confident in her intellectual prowess and not the least bit shy about saying so.  This can annoy Jamie and the Doctor, especially when she’s disparaging the former’s intelligence and seemingly out-thinking the latter.  But while I’d say she is a bit smug, she’s more matter-of-fact than anything else.  It’s a thread that kind of gets dropped early on, but Zoe’s education is known for leaving its students unable to express, or even feel, emotion as other people do.  I wouldn’t go that far with Zoe – her delight at learning something new is infectious, her friends are a frequent source of exasperation, and anyone who travels with the Doctor is going to be well-acquainted with fear.  However, she’s certainly more direct than the average person and generally values honestly-stated facts over more expected niceties.

Although she’s not as openly affectionate as either Two or Jamie, it’s clear that Zoe is very devoted to both her friends.  She’s not really one to suffer fools, but she doesn’t complain much about their goofier tendencies, either.  Instead, they bicker, they tease, they run, they get into and out of trouble together, and while you’re likely to find her standing over the Doctor’s shoulder telling him he miscalculated, I don’t get the impression that she’d have it any other way.  Zoe might have been reared to be a fact-oriented figurer in a relatively sterile environment, but it says a lot about her that, after one meeting with the Doctor and Jamie, she tries to stow away on the TARDIS.  Her first taste of something more has her eager to continue this very different sort of education, and over the course of her time with the Doctor, I’d say she finds it.