Today, I’m
staying home for Peter Capaldi.
Tegan’s a
strong all-purpose companion. She doesn’t have the combat skills of Leela or
River or the genius of Zoe or Romana, but she’s great classic-companion
material. She’s smart, resourceful, bold, and determined. She can always be
relied on to do what needs to be done, even if she hasn’t always figured out
what that is yet. Here are five great moments of Tegan getting things done
(spoilers.)
Navigating the Data Bank (Series 19, Episode 1
– “Castrovalva: Episode 1”)
The start
of Tegan and Nyssa’s beautiful friendship. The Doctor has just regenerated, the
TARDIS is in flight, and Tegan and Nyssa don’t know how to stop it before they
crash into something. Tegan discovers the TARDIS data bank, which they think
they can use to help them, but they don’t know if to navigate the system.
Tegan’s sudden flash of inspiration is a stretch worthy of a House episode (she’s musing on the word
“if” and comes up with the idea to type I-F for “index file,”) but it gets the
job done; she and Nyssa are able to access the data bank and figure out what
they need to. (Side note: I get that this whole thing is actually trumped up by
the Master via Adric, but Tegan’s determination and creativity in a crisis
isn’t, so this moment absolutely counts.)
Playing Dumb (Series 19, Episode 14 – “The
Visitation: Episode 2”)
I talked
about this for Adric’s Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments, but it bears repeating.
When Tegan and Adric are captured by the Terileptils, she leads the way on
being wonderfully-uncooperative prisoners. Pressed for intel on the Doctor, she
makes silly speculations about his origins, and she brushes off the charge that
she’s wearing clothes made of non-contemporary fabrics, referring the
Terileptil to her tailor. Later on, when Adric tells him about the TARDIS, she
adds in that the two of them are “vital” crew members that need to be kept
alive if the Terileptil ever wants to know how it works. Oh, and when he calls
her stupid, she witheringly replies, “That’s not a very original observation.”
The best companions know how to be cool under pressure in critical moments, and
Tegan has that down!
Suspecting Mawdryn (Series 20, Episode 11 –
“Mawdryn Undead: Episode 3”)
When
Mawdryn tries to pass himself off as the newly-regenerated Doctor, Nyssa is
unsure and the Brigadier feels obligated to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Tegan, though, is the most suspicious of the three. Even though she ultimately
goes along with the others, she’s the one digging in her heels and poking holes
in Mawdryn’s story. She points out that the last time the Doctor regenerated,
he still looked human (well, Time Lord) afterwards, and when Mawdryn is eager to
leave the TARDIS and return to the downed ship, she demands to know why. Her
instincts are right on here.
Distracting the Tractators (Series 21, Episode
9 – “Frontios: Episode 3”)
Tegan and
the Doctor, separately, come across the Tractators who’ve immobilized Norna in
some kind of psychic gravity beam (just go with it.) Seeing one another from a
distance, the Doctor warns Tegan to keep out of sight, but he’s spotted himself
and caught in the same beam. Tegan, not one to leave people in danger, throws her
lamp in amongst the Tractators and smashes it on the ground, creating a burst
of light that distracts them long enough to disrupt the beam and free the
Doctor and Norna.
Recognizing the False Archer (Series 21,
Episode 11 – “Resurrection of the Daleks:
Episode 1”)
Col.
Archer is taken by Lytton’s men and replaced by a fake. When the false Archer
returns, Tegan is the one who recognizes that it isn’t the same man, noticing
that the fake is wearing a gun belt when the real Archer gave his to the
Doctor. I’m all about companions using their shrewd observation skills to
identify dangers.
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