Relationship Spotlight: Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright, the Doctor & Ian Chesterton (Doctor Who)

Can’t argue with the very first Doctor-companion relationships the show ever gave us. While Doctor Who has had many truly-exquisite dynamics between the Doctor and their companions over the years – and the One era itself features some other good groupings – there’s something magical about this unlikely quartet wandering the fourth dimension together (a few spoilers.)

Elephant in the room first. This is not your typical Doctor-companion meetcute in which the companions meet the Doctor at the onset of some sort of alien crisis, impress the Doctor with their cleverness/heart/bravery/etc., and get a TARDIS invitation by the end of the story. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Ian and Barbara have all those things in spades. Case in point, they both recognize something’s off about Susan, are concerned enough for her that they want to investigate, and poke around an eerie junkyard at night looking for clues. It’s not until a bit later that they have their respective 20^th-century minds blown by TARDISes and time travel, but even in a situation that barely hints at the fantastical, they prove themselves to be companion material.

But at the time, the First Doctor isn’t in the market for companions. His only company is Susan, and that’s the way he likes it. When Ian and Barbara do some snooping and discover the TARDIS, he’s angry at them for learning his secret and is prepared to go to extreme measures. And yes, he straight-up abducts them in time. That is a thing that happens.

And so, the relationship does not start well. Ian and Barbara are two ordinary schoolteachers who’ve been forced against their will on a bewildering journey in time and space, the Doctor is the distrustful, mysterious alien who’s taken them, and Susan is the “unearthly child” caught in the middle, trying to help her teachers and her grandfather see the best in one another. As such, the early episodes are filled with Ian and the Doctor clashing over authority, Barbara taking the Doctor to task for how he treats them, and the Doctor doing sneaky things to get his way.

But even as this friction is going on, very gradually, the Doctor, Susan, and the two humans are beginning to understand, respect, and even like each other. Getting into tight situations together (because it’s Doctor Who – no matter where the TARDIS takes them, they’re going to end up in a tight situation pretty quickly,) they need to collaborate and come up with plans to stay alive/save the day/whatever’s required of them, and that means discovering what each of the others brings to the table. Before too long, almost without realizing it, these four people become a group, one that grows closer with each passing adventure.

One thing I really enjoy about this era of the show is the “hanging-out” scenes that tend to come at the start of a new serial. While stories of six or more episodes usually wind up dragging at some point, it does leave space for these low-key moments of the original team TARDIS exploring a new era/planet: examining local fauna, finding appropriate clothes for the era, and just generally enjoying poking around a new time and place. I like that, not jumping straight into the crisis/mystery within the first few minutes of the story and spending a little time just showing these four having a good time together. It’s a nice way to establish their ever-evolving relationships with one another, and while Who still squeezes in moments like this, they tend to be a lot more condensed than they are in these earliest seasons of the show.

Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Barbara Wright (Doctor Who)

Part of the original team TARDIS, Barbara, has smarts, nerve, and ingenuity, all three of which she employs generously throughout her time on the show.  While Ian usually handles the more overtly-badass fight scenes and whatnot, Barbara kills it with her quick thinking and clever plans, which is its own awesome kind of badass (spoilers.)

Plan to Investigate Susan (Series 1, Episode 1 – “An Unearthly Child:  An Unearthly Child”)

The inciting incident of the entire series:  Barbara is perplexed by one of her pupils and makes a plan to learn more.  She’s been following her instincts that Susan isn’t like other kids, and she’s let her curiosity poke around enough to realize there’s definitely something going on.  Maybe not what many what call a Big Damn Hero moment, but I love that she puts so much effort into a) making sure one of her students is okay and b) following her curiosity all the way down the rabbit hole.

Blinding the Dalek (Series 1, Episode 7 – “The Daleks:  The Escape”)

Barbara with the plan for the win!  The plot to get our heroes out of a Dalek prison is multi-pronged, and everyone has their hands in it, but it’s Barbara’s idea to gain the upper hand by blinding their Dalek guard.  She uses the dirt from Susan’s shoes to make mud and, when the guard enters, smears it on the Dalek’s eyestalk so they can more handily shut it down.

Destroying the Brains of Morphoton (Series 1, Episode 22 – “The Keys of Marinus:  The Velvet Web”)

This is probably the most traditionally Big Damn Hero moment on my list, although Barbara has her share (hitting Daleks with a truck, anyone?)  Barbara is at first taken in by the mesmeric powers of the brains, but when a chance occurrence breaks their control on her, she’s left on her own, even having to fight against her controlled friends in her quest to expose the truth.  The scene of her discovering the brains and smashing all the jars is just awesome.

Stopping the Fight (Series 1, Episode 29 – “The Aztecs:  The Bride of Sacrifice”)

Barbara’s aims in “The Aztecs” may be misguided, but once she realizes they’ve mistaken her for a goddess, she does an impressive job maintaining the ruse.  Her cleverest ploy is here, saving Ian from a dangerous fight with Ixta by threatening Tlotoxl with a knife.  It shuts down the fight quickly and it answers Tlotoxl’s taunts about how a real goddess would be able to stop the fight.

Tricking the Daleks (Series 2, Episode 9 – “The Dalek Invasion of Earth:  Flashpoint”)

This one is just so awesome.  Captured by the Daleks, Barbara pulls the old “you can’t exterminate me, I have vital information” routine to stay alive, and when the Daleks take the bait, she weaves them an extensive yarn involving armies from throughout history (from Napoleon to Custer) all closing in on the Daleks.  While they’re all but literally spinning in circles planning their counterattack, she tries to override the command of their Robomen.

Favorite Characters: Barbara Wright (Doctor Who)

Oh, how I love Barbara.  Hands-down my favorite One-era companion and in my top five for the classic series in general.  Her classy-clever-cool trifecta is just the ticket, and considering what a pill One can be in those early episodes, she’s the companion he needs.  Here’s to my favorite Coal Hill teacher!

Right from the start, Barbars shows off how great she is with her curiosity about Susan.  She’s twigged that something’s off, investigated, and realized that it seems even more off than originally anticipated.  She’s conferred with a friend about it and told him her plan to get to the bottom of things.  This quickly tells us she’s a good deductive thinker, she doesn’t give up on something just because it seems crazy, and she’s not afraid to do something odd for the sake of getting answers.  It also tells us that she’s a caring person – true, she goes to Totter’s Lane to satisfy her own curiosity, but she also knows that something’s going on with Susan and wants to make sure the girl is all right.  All primo qualities that help set the tone for companions for years to come.

And yeah, traveling in the TARDIS is hard on her at first.  The show was great in those days, but it was also a product of its time.  Translation?  If someone is going to fall to pieces in the face of danger, it’s going to be Susan or Barbara.  Although Susan takes the brunt of it, Barbara does get saddled with a bit of unfortunate Hopeless Screaming.  To be fair, though, she never actually signs up for traveling in time and space and is in fact kidnapped by the Doctor and brought to the Stone Age, so she’s not exactly prepared for all the craziness that’s about to happen to her life.  However, she adjusts quickly, and while she still has her moments of helplessness, they tend to be more when she’s at the end of her rope, when she’s been wracking her brain for a way out that doesn’t appear to exist.

Because that’s how Barbara usually solves things, which is awesome.  She’s all about reasoning out an answer, using knowledge to her advantage, and thinking through a solid plan.  Her smarts get her out of a ton of scrapes – in “The Crusade,” I love how she reels in Saladin by talking of her travels (and makes plans to use the greatest hits of English literature to her advantage,) and in “The Dalek Invasion of Earth,” her cobbled-together “intel” of every major army in human history descending on the Dalek base of operations is the best.  She backs up her smarts with determination and a lot of nerve, which comes in handy when you’re put in peril as often as the Doctor’s friends tend to be.  (I also appreciate her genuine relish for history.  In general, I love how teachery both she and Ian are – knowledge is power, kids! – as as a history teacher, it’s really neat to see Barbara come to terms with their responsibility as time travelers not to amend the past.)

And like I said above, the Doctor could use someone to talk some sense into him in series 1, and Barbara is just the ticket.  Although they eventually become good friends, Barbara has no illusions about how imperious and self-centered One can be in those early days, and when she needs to, she gives him what for.  Even at the start, when she’s technically his abductee in time and space, she stands up to him and demands that she be heard, whether it’s over her decision to intervene in the lives of some cavemen or her opinion of the Doctor’s shoddy treatment of her and Ian.  Barbara Wright, ladies and gentlemen:  accept no substitutes.