10Dodo Chaplet
Played by Jackie Lane
There isn't many 'best of' lists that would feature Dodo, of that I am certain, but there is just something about this girl that makes me want to always stand up and defend her. She has become to the 60's era what Adric or Mel are to the 80's in general fandom.
Dodo, and indeed the actress playing her, had it tough from the off. On screen she was filling the shoes of Susan and Vicki, squeezed into a mould she was never going to fit and as a result only ever being a comparison. Off screen they had no idea how to write her. Her character changed, he clothes changed and even did her accent, leading many to believe that she couldn't hold onto it rather than the real reason of the BBC putting their feet down about characters speaking in RP. And of course Jackie was much older than she was meant to be playing, adding another hard to swallow aspect to the character. It was all a bit shakey from the off, culminating in the actress being let go half way through a story and therefore giving the character no resolution or goodbye; she was just simply gone between episodes.
The thing is, I really like Dodo. Or maybe I just love a lost cause. Either way, I think she deserved better. She deserved better in her time and she deserves better from fandom now. A lot of her stories are missing which is a shame, but the ones that remain show off a well played, likable character who just wasn't given the chance to be anything more. She wasn't the only companion who suffered from this, but she was definitely treated the worst. I think if we had had more from the character and she had been given chance to develop then we would have a lot more fonder memories of her. But what ifs are easy and that wasn't to be.
