22 February 2011 – Nicholas Courtney passes away at the age of 81.

1 October 2011 – the Eleventh Doctor is devastated to be informed that his old friend Alistair has died peacefully. (The Wedding of River Song)

THE MEN FROM UNIT

COMPANION ROLL CALL: THE 1980s

played by MATTHEW WATERHOUSE

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Full Circle Part 1 (1980)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Earthshock Part 4 (1981)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)

Former BBC news clerk Matthew Waterhouse made his acting debut in the 1980 TV adaptation of To Serve Them All My Days. A lifelong fan of Doctor Who, Waterhouse even entered a competition in TV Action to design a monster – although his creation didn’t win. A bigger prize came when he secured the role of boy genius Adric. Waterhouse stayed with the show until his dramatic exit in Earthshock, moving on to a career in theatre. In 1998, he moved to Connecticut, USA and has written two novels set in New York.

Adric grew up on the planet Alzarius in E-Space, a pocket universe only accessible via a Charged Vacuum Emboitment (CBE). A mathematical genius, Adric struggled to fit in with the inhabitants of the crashed Starliner and instead joined a gang with his brother, Varsh. When the chance came, Adric stowed away on board the TARDIS, eventually travelling back to the Doctor’s own universe. Awkward and arrogant, Adric proved his mettle when he made the ultimate sacrifice.

And another thing: At 18, Matthew Waterhouse was – and is – the youngest actor to play a Doctor Who companion. Not counting the performers who have played other companions as children, of course!

played by SARAH SUTTON

First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Keeper of Traken Part 1 (1981)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Terminus Part 4 (1983)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Dimensions in Time Part 2 (1993)

Sarah Sutton’s early stage debut in a West End pantomime led to a number of television appearances including the titular role in 1972’s Alice Through the Looking Glass. However, it was Sutton’s performance as a blind girl in The Moon Stallion by Doctor Who stalwart Brian Hayles that pushed the young actress into the spotlight. Originally hired to play Nyssa for just one story, Sutton so impressed producer John Nathan-Turner that she was invited to stay on as a companion. After Doctor Who, Sutton largely retired from acting to raise her daughter.

The daughter of Traken aristocrat Consul Tremas, Nyssa first met the Doctor as her father was preparing to become the new Keeper, with all the power and privilege that went with the position. Unfortunately, the Master had already arrived on Traken and was manipulating events to secure a new regenerative cycle. Skilled in cybernetics and bioengineering, Nyssa was orphaned when the Master absorbed her father’s body. Prior to the Fourth Doctor’s regeneration, the Trakenite was reunited with the Time Lord on Logopolis, thus saving her from the destruction of Traken itself.

And another thing: Sarah Sutton spent her honeymoon at a San Francisco-based Doctor Who convention.

played by JANET FIELDING

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Logopolis Part 1 (1981)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Resurrection of the Daleks Part 2 (1984)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)

After studying at the University of Queensland, Australian-born Janet Fielding came to the UK with a three-month tour of White Man’s Mission. Joining Ken Campbell’s Science Fiction Theatre in Liverpool, Fielding worked alongside Jim Broadbent and Sylvester McCoy and went on to win a small role in Hammer House of Horror in 1980. In the 1990s, Fielding took up an administrative position with Women in Film and Television UK and latterly became a theatrical agent, representing Paul McGann at the time of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.

When her car broke down on the way to her first day as an air stewardess, Tegan Jovanka entered the TARDIS thinking it was a real police box. The first to admit that she was a ‘mouth on legs’, outspoken Tegan became increasingly frustrated with the Doctor’s inability to get her back to Earth. When she was accidentally left at Heathrow, Tegan was happy to be reunited with the Doctor in Amsterdam – although the Time Lord himself didn’t seem so keen!

And another thing: Janet Fielding played a villain opposite several hopefuls in the Seventh Doctor screen tests – including Sylvester McCoy.

played by MARK STRICKSON

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Mawdryn Undead Part 1 (1983)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Planet of Fire Part 4 (1984)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)

Following his graduation from RADA, Mark Strickson made his TV debut as ambulance driver, Terry, in Angels. After five episodes, producer Julia Smith offered Strickson a regular part in the medical drama. However, the young actor had another offer on the table – Turlough. After his departure from Doctor Who in 1984, Strickson would go on to appear in episodes of Bergerac, David Copperfield, Casualty and Minder. 1988 saw him emigrating to Australia, where he studied Zoology and went on to produce and direct natural history films. He currently lives in New Zealand with his wife.

While masquerading as a public schoolboy on Earth, Trion exile Turlough was offered a chance to escape by the Black Guardian – all he had to do was kill the Doctor. Following the Guardian’s defeat, Turlough stayed on board the TARDIS, although it would be a while until his true origins were revealed: Turlough had fought in a civil war that had claimed his mother’s life and condemned his father and brother to a life of imprisonment on the inhospitable planet of Sarn.

And another thing: Strickson directed Steve Irwin in The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World, one of the Crocodile Hunter’s first UK TV appearances.

voiced by GERALD FLOOD

First regular Doctor Who appearance: The King’s Demons Part 1 (1983)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Planet of Fire Part 4 (1984)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)

A wartime wireless operator, Gerald Flood escaped from his post-war filing clerk job by joining the Farnham Repertory. In 1960 he won the role of journalist Conway Henderson in Pathfinders in Space. He would return as Henderson in Pathfinders to Mars and Pathfinders to Venus and regularly appeared on television in such series as Man in a Suitcase, Crown Court, Raffles and Return of the Saint. He last appeared in an adaptation of Bleak House, before his death in 1989.