Katarina

Katarina is a fictional character played by Adrienne Hill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An inhabitant of ancient Troy, she was a companion of the First Doctor, and was the first companion in the series to die. Katarina appeared in the programme from November to December 1965, appearing in just five episodes.

Character history

Katarina is introduced in the serial The Myth Makers, which takes place during the siege of Troy. She is a handmaiden of the prophetess Cassandra, and helps the TARDIS crew survive the events of the siege. When Steven is wounded, she helps him into the TARDIS as Vicki decides to stay behind in Troy with the warrior Troilus.

A sweet, simple young woman who cannot really cope with the concept that the universe has suddenly opened up to her, Katarina believes that she is dead, and that the Doctor is a god transporting her to the next life. She refers to the TARDIS as a "temple", and literally worships the Doctor, referring to him as "Lord" (much to his annoyance) and having absolute faith in him.

During The Daleks' Master Plan, Katarina is taken hostage by the escaped prisoner Kirksen, who demands that the Doctor take him to Kembel, a planet taken over by the Daleks. To prevent the Doctor giving in to Kirksen's demands, she chooses to trigger the controls to the airlock she is being held in, propelling both herself and her captor into the vacuum of space.

Despite her brief tenure on the series, Katarina is significant for being the first of the Doctor's companions to die on-screen. However, she would not be the last. In some of the tie-in fiction, her death (and later that of Adric) is portrayed as weighing heavily on the Doctor's mind.

List of appearances

Television

Season 3

• The Myth Makers
• The Daleks' Master Plan

Surviving footage

Partly due to her brief tenure, very little footage remains of Katarina after the BBC began junking Doctor Who episodes in the 1970s; only Day of Armageddon (the second episode of Master Plan) exists in its entirety, while Devil's Planet and The Traitors only have one clip each (the latter being Katarina's death scene).

A brief 8mm clip from the end of The Myth Makers, when matched to the fully-extant audio, reveals Katarina talking off-screen to the Doctor.

Short stories

• "Katarina in the Underworld" by Steve Lyons (Short Trips: The Muses)
• "Scribbles in Chalk" by Gareth Wigmore (Short Trips: Life Science)

Comics

• "Planet of the Dead" by Lee Sullivan and John Freeman (Doctor Who Magazine 141-142) (imposter)

Audio drama

• The Last (with Paul McGann as the Doctor, appears as an image the Doctor encounters along with Adric)

External links

• ‹ The template below (Wikia) is being considered for deletion. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

Katarina on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki

• Katarina on the BBC's Doctor Who website