Friday, July 21, 2017

Deborah Watling 1948-2017

Today marks the passing of 60's Doctor Who scream queen Deborah Watling, who played companion Victoria Waterfield opposite Patrick Troughton's Doctor. I did not see Victoria at all when viewing the classic series on PBS in the 80's; it wasn't until "Tomb of the Cybermen" was rediscovered and released on VHS in the early 90's when I saw her in action.

It's only recently that I saw more of her work on Who in "The Enemy of the World", "The Ice Warriors", and "The Web of Fear", and sadly I don't think much of the character of Victoria as a companion. She screamed and whimpered a lot and was basically a damsel in distress and an unrequited love interest for fellow companion Jamie.

But from what I understand, much like how Marina Sirtis was light years away from Deanna Troi in TNG, Deborah Watling was a firecracker in comparison to the character she played on Doctor Who. I saw her once at a panel at Chicago TARDIS a few years ago, and she practically read the riot act to some neckbeard in the audience for recounting some disparaging remarks about "Zoe being the worst companion." By all accounts Deborah was a sweet human being, and we all mourn her passing at age 69 to lung cancer.