Saturday 22 July 2017

Deborah Watling.

Saddened to her that Deborah Watling has passed away. way back in the day she played the beautiful Victoria Waterfield and travelled with the second incarnation of The Doctor through a period of the show now fondly remembered not only for the endearing chemistry of that particular Tardis team but for the plethora of monsters who came out of the proverbial Universal Woodwork; Cybermen, Yeti, Ic-warriors and Daleks. Her tenure was not one of the longest but such was her charm and innocent bravery that she and her travelling companion Jamie Mc Crimmon represent something of a lost golden age I have very fond memories of this time mostly through reading and rereading the Target novelizations. The Doctor, Victoria and Jamie have always existed in black and white in my imagination, even the little illustrations in the Target books were in black and white.The color came from their character and the fact that despite most of her stories being among the wiped she is still loved by many and will always have a special place in the hearts of Doctor Who fans.
              In one of her surviving stories, the legendary Tomb Of The Cybermen, there is a wonderful dialogue between the Doctor and Victoria as they try to settle for the night in the terrible Tombs on Telos. A scared Victoria sits wide eyed discussing with The Doctor how her whole world has changed since her father was murdered by the Daleks and she has elected to travel with him. What followed was a little pieceb of Doctor Who magic delivered to her by a Patrick Troughton who was on top of his game.
               Victoria; You probably can't remember your family.
                Doctor; Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that,s the point,really. I have to
                really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time
                they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You
                find there is so much else to think about. To remember. Our lives are
                different to anybody else's That's the exciting thing. There's nobody else
                in the universe can do what we do.
All the while there is the haunting refrain of a soundtrack that reminds us we are in a very scary place where death only sleeps.
                 Not so the real world.
                 Deborah Watling was by all accounts, I have heard and read ,a gentle and very beautiful person and I believe she will always occupy a very special place in the hearts of Doctor Who fans
                                                          the world over.