Vicki

[The Doc]

Vicki, later known as Cressida, met the First Doctor on the planet Dido and came to join the crew of the Doctor's TARDIS.

Vicki was born on Earth in 2479. Vicki's mother had died at an early age and Vicki's father took a job in a new colony on the planet Astra, leaving Earth in 2493 AD. The ship transporting the colonists, the UK-201 crashlanded on Dido. Most of the passengers lived, but one night Bennett, unknown to her, murdered all the survivors other than Vicki as well as all but two of native Didonians, where she was later found by The Doctor, Ian and Barbara. The Doctor, perhaps because he missed his recently-departed grand-daughter, asked Vicki to come with him and the others, thus making her the first companion that the Doctor was seen to willingly invite to travel in the TARDIS.

Once Vicki left Dido with the others, she was keen for adventure. Vicki was often bored with the travelling to their destinations, and the less adventurous moments of their lives. Whether teasing, or merely undiplomatic, Vicki had a knack of saying the wrong thing to Barbara, despite their having a close relationship. Vicki's youth and spirit of adventure enabled her to save the travellers from dangeron occasion and she also had considerable analytical and technical skills. Despite her bravado, Vicki was terrified of heights.

It would appear that most of Vicki's skills and knowledge were based in science, but she also had some historical knowledge. When the travellers materialised on Earth during the Trojan War, she displayed her knowledge of Greek heroes and the Trojan Horse. While in Troy, Vicki called herself Cressida and met Troilus, a young Trojan. They fell in love, and Vicki left the Doctor to be with him. Their tale would later be written as a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer and as a play by William Shakespeare.

Please feel free to use this thread to discuss Vicki.

[Nyki]

I always liked Vicki, and I think she was much more consistently written than Susan, whose potential was never fully realised.  I don't think it was an accident that her first story as a companion was spent almost entirely with the Doctor, establishing their personal link, while Ian and Barbara had their own story.

[Aneurin]

I love Vicki. I think she is a brilliant character and more instantly likeable than Susan was, who it took me a while to get used to. It was also good, as Nyki points out, how quickly she and The Doctor formed a bond and at times it seemed so much stronger than the one between The Doctor and Susan.

Didn't Maureen O'Brian hate working on the show? I don't know how she felt about her co-stars, but I am sure that I read somewhere where she said she never enjoyed it and only did it for the experience.

[Roranicus]

Yea I heard that she wasn't so keen on her time there and didn't give interviews about it for a long time, but I don't know what it was in particular that she didn't like and it at least didn't come over in her performances.

I quite like Vicki. She isn't one of my favourites but I think that she was a good companion and I particularly liked when she was with Stephen as she seemed more mature by then, whereas with Barbara and Ian she felt more of a child. Anyone know how old she was meant to be?

[The Doc]

I don't think she hated the experience, I just think that from an acting point of view she wasn't particularly stretched and it was probably quite a limited role to come in and play week after week. From interviews I have read though, which are few and far between, she always speaks really highly of all her co-stars so I don't think there were any problems there. I just don't think she particularly liked the genre or working on a serial.

As for the character, I think special mention needs to go to the fact that she was the first new character introduced into the show. These days we are used to the turnover but it could have all gone so wrong. The show started with a core cast and was very popular and then in comes this new girl and I suppose it was quite risky because if the fans didn't like her then it could have been a nightmare, but I think Vicki was always likeable and filled the part well. She isn't one of my favourites but she was a typical stock companion and worked well in her stories I think

[Nyki]

I think she's supposed to be about 15 or 16, which tended to be regarded as a bit younger then than it is now.  I agree she came over more strongly with Stephen (though we've only got one full story of that).  I think that was partly because she was taking advantage of him being new, partly because Stephen wasn't quite so much of a "grown up" as Ian and Barbara, and partly because she'd matured herself.  Then again, I've always loved the way she starts the revolution in The Space Museum.

[TheDoctorDonna]

As I was just saying in another thread, I always liked Vicki but for me she was very much the stock companion and there wasn't really any growth with her. Unlike many other companions in the same position though, I don't think there was any potential development that was missed out on. I think she just was what we saw if that makes sense

[Saber]

As I was just saying in another thread, I always liked Vicki but for me she was very much the stock companion and there wasn't really any growth with her. Unlike many other companions in the same position though, I don't think there was any potential development that was missed out on. I think she just was what we saw if that makes sense

I think this is absolutely spot on, and I was just saying something similar elsewhere. A good companion, but nothing spectacular.

[Oh-Wise-One]

Vicki is nice enough, but she was only ever there to fill the hole left by Susan. There was no room for development with the character and little of interest there to make her stand out for any reason.

[Tardis-Console]

I liked her. I thought her relationship with the Doctor was really sweet and she was played really well by the actress. She didn't really have a lot to do, but she didn't have any particularly offputting characteristics