Favorite Characters: Inston-Vee Vinder (Doctor Who)

*Series 13 spoilers.*

I’ve now done write-ups for Thirteen and the last of her companions, but the Thirteen era has a few more significant characters to talk about, especially during the Flux arc. And top of the list is Vinder. I was excited to learn that Jacob Anderson was going to be in series 13 anyway (Grey Worm!), but the character caught my eye from his first scene.

(Although, side note: until I looked it up just now, I was convinced that he was introducing himself as “Ensign V./Vee Vinder” all this time. Shows what I know.)

We meet Vinder on a remote observation outpost, monitoring an out-of-the-way corner of space. Alone except for the station computer, he performs his duties diligently but with full acknowledgement that he’s been buried in this assignment. We don’t know exactly how long he’s been here, but he’s made over 21,000 status reports, despite the fact that “nothing ever changes” at his posting. He signs off by matter-of-factly telling anyone listening to his report to go to hell.

But although he’s alone and stuck in a punishment posting, far away from his family and unsure when he’ll ever get back, Vinder isn’t just defiant. He’s also finding genuine happiness where he can, noting in his report how beautiful the universe looks from his vantage point. I realize that I’ve been talking about this status report longer than it took Vinder to actually make it, but that’s because it tells us so much about him so effectively—excellent marriage of writing and acting here.

He's in some sort of military and previously served under a ruler known as the Grand Serpent (so you know he’s just a sterling guy!) When he was given a privileged posting reporting directly to the Serpent, he saw firsthand how corrupt and ruthless the leader was, and he blew the whistle, which explains how he ended up at the observation outpost. But his training means that he has a lot of knowledge and skill that comes in handy during a dangerous series of events like the Flux, and before he falls in with the Doctor, he’s using his knowhow to survive.

Like the most action-oriented of the companions—namely, Leela and Jack—Vinder is comfortable doing things that the Doctor wouldn’t. He has a gun and knows how to use it, but that’s not often his first resort. Even when it is, he’s more likely to hold someone at gunpoint than shoot them outright. As such, he’s not the sort of soldier that the Doctor immediately clashes with ideologically.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call Vinder a companion, since he never really gets brought along on an adventure in the TARDIS. Rather, the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan encounter him at the Mouri temple and, after getting caught in a time storm together, the Doctor drops him off with a way to contact her if he ever needs a lift. Their paths cross again by the end of the season, and Vinder does his part to help out, but he hadn’t gone looking for the Doctor. Rather, they run into each other again as a result of his own very personal mission.

Yep, I’m talking about Bel, and as she puts it, “Love is the only mission.” After Vinder narrowly escapes the Flux destroying the outpost, winds up at the temple, and gets flung into the timestream, all he wants to do is find his partner again, and he crosses what’s left of the universe looking for her. Like Bel, he takes detours along the way to help people, but his first priority is getting back to her, and his determination in the face of monumental odds is beautiful to see.