Adelaide Brooke

[Peri-Peri]

Captain Adelaide Brooke Ph.D was briefly a companion of the Tenth Doctor. She was commander of Bowie Base One on Mars in the late 2050s. In November 2059, the base came under attack by a water-based entity called the Flood.

Adelaide Brooke was a strict and serious woman who often showed other people a cold demeanour. She reserved her warmth for her family. Though she cared about her crew, she treated them in a professional manner and demanded decorum and discipline. One of her crew noted that she only gave compliments if the situation was serious.

Adelaide was a selfless woman who sacrificed herself to preserve history. Though she knew the Doctor for less than a day, she quickly grew to accept that he was a time traveller even before she travelled in the TARDIS. She was angry with the Doctor when he rescued her, insisting, "The 'Time Lord victorious' is wrong!", and was aghast that he could have changed the history of the entire human race.

In 2059, after seventeen months of success, two of her crew were taken over by the Flood. She tried to contain the infection. After realising this was impossible, she ordered evacuation. Adelaide was suspicious of the newly arrived Doctor's actions and comments. She forced him to tell her the truth: Bowie Base One was going to be destroyed and the crew killed. This was a fixed point in time. He could not save her.

Though she struggled to save the colonists, when the Doctor returned to help, she resigned herself to her fate and set the base's self-destruct timer. When the Doctor saved Mia Bennett, Yuri Kerenski and her, returning them to Earth in front of Adelaide's house, she realised her survival would alter her granddaughter's life and human history. She grew angry with the Doctor when he dismissed the problem and referred to her fellow survivors as "little people." She killed herself to preserve the timeline.

[Exterminate]

I really like Adelaide. It's a shame we only got one story with her. I like that she stood up to the Doctor and wasn't afraid to face her destiny. I totally wasn't expecting her to off herself but I think it really helped the story.

[Aneurin]

She's a brilliant actress and she played the part so well. I wasn't sure I'd like her at first but she really grew on me. I like that she always kept a sort of distance between her and the Doctor, never fully trusting him and not putting up with his God complex.

[Twisted-Sister]

She's another character that I think is perfect for a one off appearance. She was written and played really well and really fits the story. I know in another thread VA said he didn't buy into her suicide but I think it really fit the character. She showed such a strength and stubborness from the very beginning and I think that knowing what she knew would drive her exactly to that. She was all about doing what she thought was right, not what the Doctor told her to do.

[Saber]

I really liked the way they linked her character into the earlier stories. I think it was a lame excuse to get a Dalek on screen but it was a nice bit of continuity.

[Scott]

Adelaide was great because she really was unlike any other travelling/adventure companion the Doctor had had before her. She couldn't stop him from acting like a berk but she also didn't put up with it. The Doctor has been given a frosty reception by people in the past but even at the very end she still hadn't softened to him. It was good that she stood her ground even if her ending was tragic.

[Peri-Peri]

I think Adelaide is the perfect example of a brilliant one off companion who could never work long term. For this story she works perfectly and it's excellent to have her stand up to the Doctor and question him but could you imagine it for a whole season or more? Rightly or not the Doctor, Doctor Who even, needs that adoring type of companion who will look up to him and go along with him and put up with his wackiness and antics. I think the closest we have ever got to a long running Adelaide type companion is Barbara and Donna. Neither were particularly impressed by the Doctor and both stood their ground and held their own against him far more than any others have. Even moreso in Barbaras case because she never wanted to be there in the first place so she didn't really even have anything to be grateful to him for. In fact, I think if Barbara were a 21st century companion she and Adelaide would be very much alike.

[Tardis-Console]

I think Adelaide is the perfect example of a brilliant one off companion who could never work long term. For this story she works perfectly and it's excellent to have her stand up to the Doctor and question him but could you imagine it for a whole season or more? Rightly or not the Doctor, Doctor Who even, needs that adoring type of companion who will look up to him and go along with him and put up with his wackiness and antics. I think the closest we have ever got to a long running Adelaide type companion is Barbara and Donna. Neither were particularly impressed by the Doctor and both stood their ground and held their own against him far more than any others have. Even moreso in Barbaras case because she never wanted to be there in the first place so she didn't really even have anything to be grateful to him for. In fact, I think if Barbara were a 21st century companion she and Adelaide would be very much alike.

I'd never even have thought of something like this but now it's right in front of me I totally agree. Barbara would be so badass these days!

[Nyki]

I think she was great, but I wasn't convinced by the suicide either.  For one thing because it didn't seem quite in character (as opposed to setting the self-destruct when there seemed no alternative) but also I don't quite see why it would have the desired effect.  The Doctor said that Susie's motivation was because Adelaide died on Mars and no-one knew why.  That's very different from committing suicide in her own house.

[Vampyros Adric]

I think the character of Adelaide nicely illustrated the key problem with this story (and one which Nyki hits right on the money). She killed herself to preserve the timeline - yet everything we knew about her (from the writers) suggested that she would have fought rather than surrendered. She was more likely to have died fighting the Doctor in the TARDIS to get them back to Bowie Base. That would have been more plausible.

While I understand the need to have her dead at the end (for dramatic purposes) it just didn't wash with all that had gone before. And again, as Nyki said, the writers are taking a risk asking us to believe that her daughter will be as equally inspired by a woman topping herself in her front room as she would have been with the myth of the destruction of Bowie Base. Yes, the ending was dramatically shocking - but mainly (for me) because I was so baffled that they had chosen to have her kill herself.

Characters (again this is my humble opinion) only work if they have complete internal credibility. Once they do something out of character the illusion is shattered and the rest of the characterisation falls apart. Look at the strength of Donna Noble. The writers did a brilliant job of keeping her completely true throughout the fourth season. Compare that with the damage that the last scene in Flesh and Stone did to Amy's character. Adelaide Brooks suffered a similar fate here. The suicide was a tragedy, because it was used at the expense of the dramatic integrity of her character.

[Roranicus]

I feel like I'm coming down in centre here. In terms of the above argument I would say it fit her character really well. It wasn't the smartest move but she did fight the Doctor. She fought him in the best way she knew how. She couldn't force him to take her back and she couldn't do it herself. He forced her into a situation that she literally took herself out of. She wasn't willing to do as she was told and accept it and so she went against it. It wasn't smart but I suppose if that's on your mind how smart are you being?

On the other side, it was a silly way of getting out of that little bit of plot. There was no reason to think that her actions would put things back on course. In fact, I think if I was her granddaughter I'd be under the feeling that this had caused my gran to shoot herself and would want to steer clear of it. So I get it, but I think it was a bit of a poor resolution.

[Kovarians-Eye-Patch]

I sort of agree with the above. I always liked the resolution to her character. It didn't make total sense but I didn't see it as massively out of character.