THE DOCTOR WHO RATINGS GUIDE: BY FANS, FOR FANS
Vicki
Maureen O'Brien

Reviews

A Review by Stuart Gutteridge 26/8/00

Looking back, it is easy to see that female Doctor Who companions from the Hartnell/Troughton era fell into one category, notably that of the screamer. Perhaps surprisingly then, Vicki only screamed the once, during Galaxy 4, despite being a virtual clone of Susan. The similarities are that she is orphaned (we never met Susan`s parents), is roughly the same age and is treated as such by The Doctor. Here the similarities end however; Vicki seems more accustomed to alien worlds and beings, surprising given that it was Susan who had travelled more. She also shows a remarkable level of intelligence, although this is never put to good use, due largely to the scriptwriters methinks.

Vicki is also a lot more fun to be around than Susan as she isn`t always looking over her shoulder. Perhaps inevitably though, due to the restraints placed upon Vicki, it is no surprise that Maureen O`Brien`s portrayal was nothing more than average. So even if Vicki did keep a pet (albeit a glove puppet) and we didn`t discover her surname, she was certainly fun while she lasted.

GREATEST MOMENT: The Space Museum, when Vicki incites a revolution.

The New and Improved Susan by Peter Niemeyer 10/10/01

CHARACTER AS FIRST DESIGNED

I believe that Vicki was designed to be pretty much a carbon copy of Susan. The powers that be felt that Carol Ann Ford wasn't working out as well as they hoped, and so she was written out. But there was still a need for a young girl for the Doctor to dote on. Thus, we met Vicki, the orphan from the future stranded on Dido. I think she was pretty much what they wanted her to be.

CHARACTER AS IT DEVELOPED

Vicki really did grow, so much in fact that I would argue that she replaced Barbara just as Steven replaced Ian at the end of The Chase.

From The Rescue to The Web Planet, she was a fairly ineffectual character. She was almost an exact copy of Susan, except she didn't scream as much.

Starting with The Space Museum, she takes a more active role in the plot. It is she who assists the Xerons in their rebellion that ultimately prevents the future timeline where the TARDIS crew become museum exhibits. This continues in The Chase, where she stows aboard the Dalek ship, attempts to send a distress signal to the TARDIS, and later rejoins them on Mechanus.

With Ian and Barbara's departure, Vicki is no longer regarding as a child. She is now the companion with the most seniority and is clearly Steven's equal in The Time Meddler and Galaxy Four. And while she spends most of part 1 of The Myth Makers in the TARDIS, her interaction with Cassandra, Priam, and Troilus ultimately carry more weight than Steven's actions.

My only complaint is that her departure was not as convincing as I'd have hoped for. Susan left the TARDIS not only to pursue a romance, but also to fulfill a desire to belong somewhere. Ian and Barbara left to return to the home they never really wanted to leave. Vicki voiced no unfulfilled desires prior to or during The Myth Makers, and although her feelings about Troilus were reasonably well handled, it felt just a bit too abrupt to be as convincing as the departures we had already seen. And, the moment where she tells the Doctor she is leaving takes place off camera. As an improvement on Susan, surely she deserved a departure at least as good.

ACTOR

Maureen O'Brien did a good job bringing Vicki to life. She had a good sense of comic timing, which was needed for some of her girl-from-the-future lines ("I didn't know [the Beatles] played classical music.") She was also very believable in her relationship with the Doctor. I can clearly recall the scene in The Crusade where she worries the Doctor will abandon her, and the scene in The Chase where she reveals she has no interest in returning to Earth with Ian and Barbara and would rather stay with the Doctor.

In the end of The Myth Makers, the Doctor hopes that Vicki will be all right in Troy. A genuine sentiment deserved by a character who was well brought to life.

OTHER NOTES

Best Moment: Breaking into the Morok armory. Her first demonstration of conviction and intelligence.

Worst Moment: Returning to the carzhenome and forgetting the isop-tope. To draw an analogy, who would be stupid enough to fly the Enola Gay and forget to load the atom bomb?

One Thing I Wish We Could Have Seen Vicki Do: Say goodbye to the Doctor. (It also would have been nice to see her cutting his hair too. Why should Steven be the only one with the fab do?)