Companion Guide: Vicki Pallister

Space Orphan

Planet of origin: Earth
First TV appearance: The Rescue
Last consecutive TV appearance: The Myth Makers

Vicki, played by Maureen O’Brien, was the first new regular character to appear in the series after the departure of Carole Ann Ford’s Susan in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The two part, The Rescue, introduced viewers to the orphaned Vicki, stranded on the planet Dido and living at the mercy of the villainous Koquillion.

With the truth of Koquillion revealed, there was little option but to invite Vicki aboard the TARDIS, a decision excitedly agreed upon by the Doctor, Ian and Barbara. And so her adventures in time and space began.

From almost poisoning the Emperor Nero in The Romans to becoming a driving force behind a rebellion on Xeros in The Space Museum, Vicki was determined and vibrant.

Around the universe, Vicki would often become attached to various creatures such as Zombo the Zarbi in The Web Planet, the Rill’s little robots that she nicknamed the Chumblies (a name so appealing, the Rills quickly adopted it themselves), in Galaxy 4 and of course the victim of Barbara’s reactionary nature – Sandy the Sandbeast.

With the departure of Ian and Barbara, Vicki found herself with a new travelling companion, Steven, and clearly relished the chance to exercise her knowledge and skills as the more seasoned time traveller. And it is Vicki, in The Time Meddler, who first discovers the Monk’s secret – that he has a TARDIS; something which has far more significance for her than for Steven (especially having found herself stuck aboard the Dalek time machine in The Chase).

Soon, though, on a trip to Ancient Troy in The Myth Makers, Vicki meets and falls in love with Troilus and opts to remain in the ancient world, adopting the name Cressida and becoming part of legend herself.

Maureen O’Brien first returned to the role of Vicki in the very first Companion Chronicle from Big Finish – Frostfire. The story revisits Vicki in Troy whilst she tells a story of an earlier adventure with the Doctor, Steven and Jane Austen. Other good Companion Chronicles for fans of Vicki include Starborn, The Unwinding World and The Suffering.

Big Finish’s other range, The Early Adventures, features a number of tales involving Vicki with one of the most striking being The Crash of the UK-201 in which Vicki revisits the disaster that saw her stranded on the planet Dido.

Vicki has featured in a four novels in the Virgin and BBC ranges. The Plotters sees Vicki catching the eye of King James I and Byzantium! finds her separated from her friends in 64 AD in an adventure set directly before the events of The Romans. This novel is also where Vicki’s surname, Pallister, was revealed (not ever having been mentioned on screen).

The short story Apocrypha Bipedium is another tale which revisits Vicki in Ancient Troy. An older Vicki also appears in the First Doctor Adventures story Fugitive of the Daleks, reuniting with the First Doctor and also meeting Dodo.

An older Vicki has also returned twice on screen. Once, in the trailer for the Season 2 Bluray set – The Storyteller; and then in the Tales of the TARDIS segments for The Time Meddler where she was reunited with Steven.

Headstrong and sometimes tactless, Vicki was a companion who clearly relished her travels and came to see the Doctor as a surrogate parent and the TARDIS as her home.

View all Stories featuring Vicki

Read more about Vicki at the TARDIS Wiki

---