h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well there's a lot about the Doctor, but surely part of the fun of
Doctor Who was all the different assistants he had.

Yes the third, fourth and fifth doctors had great taste ie Sarah (good allrounder), Tegan (leggy australian flight attendent) and Peri (busty lass just to show the doctor wasnt just a "legs" man). Then his tastes went downhill in his later incarnations and he went through a "rough as a badgers arse stage" with the likes of Bonnie Langford (who singly handedly nearly got Dr Who cancelled) and Ace (who along with Sylvestor Mccoy did actually manage to get the show cancelled). Then there was the total attrocity of the most recent incarnation where the american tv special actually had the last Doctor snog his assistant, thereby turning his assistant into a "love interest". No wonder its not on tv anymore.

Fair assessment, but you left out Leela (played by Louise Jameson, now in Eastenders), who was the number one top assistant. The producers decided they needed to appeal to the whole family, so put in attractive assistants 'for the dads'.

...and let's not forget the the two faces (four arms, legs, etc...) of fellow TimeLord Romana, as portrayed by Lalla Ward and Mary Tamm.

JTG

Yes I meant to mention Leela the leather bikini clad knife wielding cavegirl. Im sure my dad would have left my mum for her in a shot (it was a toss up between her and a toothy lass in the Top of the pops 'Hot Gossip' dance group). Which actress was the leggy Romana in the white dress (Key to Time episodes and all round smartarse) and who was the pig faced one Tom Baker actually married in real life?
The ugly Romana was so irritating and ugly (she also wore a terrible version of Tom Bakers coat but in pink) Id have rather roamed the galaxy with Peter Purvis and Bonnie Langford (its a close call though).

Mary Tamm was the imperious one with the long legs. It's a bit uncharitable to call Lalla Ward 'pig-faced'. I didn't know she and Tom Baker had married.

JTG

Yeah the leggy one was my favourite, she oozed sexiness and class (Ok she wore high heels) from every pore, its a shame she was such a smug git.

Not any more, their divorced now I believe.

I remember seeing a great cartoon in the paper when they got hitched. It had them at the altar with the vicar saying "Is their anyone here who can give a reason as to why these two people should not get married..?", and in the background of the church there are all these diffenent aliens with their arms raised. I guess you had to see it.

Very unfair about Lalla Ward, but never mind. She's now married to Richard Dawkins, the rapidly anti-religious biologist.

I'm not sure Ace was quite in the badgers arse category. To be honest, I really wanted to see her draped over a dalek just like what's her face - Katie something.

Err aren't you all forgetting the male assistants? Adric, Peter Purvis (brief mention above) and one or two others.

Chris

PS Quite liked Ace myself so agree/disagree with previous comments

So you go for chunky thighed, smartalec girls who wield a catapult, dress up in schoolkids black bomber jackets covered with stupid badges all over them then? Nice. Id rather see a davros draped over another dalek.

I liked ACE myself, as she wasn't just a scared screaming woman assisstant but could and did actually do things.

What is this the ACE fan club. She ranked in the worst 5 assistnats the Doctor had.Ok so she wasnt just a screamer like Bonnie 'the antichrist' Langford but her acting left a lot to be desired. I noticed that she was a childrens daytime telly presenter now. Bit of a come down isnt it? She went from "Doctor look out! its a cyberman" to "Im a little teatpot short and stout, heres my handle heres my spout'.
All those years at drama school to be a teapot. Her parents must be so proud. I saw her autograph going on ebay last week. Im not kidding either when I say it was the cheapest one available ($5). I guess thats an achievement in a warped way.

I've got Tom Baker's autograph, D'you reckon that's worth anything?
By the way, I completely agree with everyones derogatory comments about Ace. She was crap!

Rock on Ruby!!!
Tom Baker recently did a lot of book signings in UK so his autograph is worth 20 quid tops as its not hard to get. Ive noticed that DR Who autographs on the ebay sci fi autographs are worth a lot less than other star trek/ wars stuff.

i must agree peter "the fifth doctor" had the best assistants to look at but one can't overlook tom baker's leela and sarah....

As I try and keep my gender out of H2G2 I have to word this one carefully.

If I was female I would say Ace represented true independance, bravery, and, to be frank, balls that few female roles on TV offer, indeed a role model.

If I was male, then the black jacket, the dominance and body would be enough, stuff the acting.

Chris

PS Welcome Damon t D, It's rare that any researcher can make me laugh outloud in two different forums (other being the skips thing). Please keep it up. And don't worry about turning into Homer Simpson. He is the role model of us all. True happiness comes to the near brain dead. Dumbing down is now a live style chose.

There were male assistants?

As a "girlie", I would say that I quite liked Ace and her antics. I've never been able to abide the shriek and blubber type of female character.

There were a few chap assistants. In particular I remember Jamie who wore a kilt and had lovely legs but very little brain (hee, hee). I never did get a peek at what he was/wasn't wearing under his kilt!

I can also remember Adric and Turlough (spelling?) from the Peter Davidson era, I think. I also understand that Peter Purvis (later a presenter of Blue Peter - a kid's programme on BBC) was also an 'assistant' for a while, but this was before my time. I don't recall that Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker (my favourite and best remembered Doctors) had any male assistants, but I could be wrong.