Helen Sinclair

Helen Sinclair
Species:	Human
Place of origin:	Earth
Brothers:	George Sinclair, Thomas Sinclair
First appearance:	The Red Lady
Appearances:	see list
Main voice actor:	Hattie Morahan

Helen Sinclair was a companion of the Eighth Doctor.

Biography

Helen was a language scholar for the British Museum during the 1960s. Her career was stymied by the misogynistic attitudes of the time, and the "old boys" network working against her. Despite being more than qualified for a promotion, she was denied the position by her superior who felt she wouldn't be able to commit fully due to the "fact" that women were "too emotional." (AUDIO: The Red Lady)

Helen had never been abroad until she travelled with the Doctor, and carried a box brownie camera with her. (AUDIO: The Galileo Trap)

In 1963, while working as an assistant to Professor Walter Pritchard, she met the Eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka who were in search of a temporal anomaly related to the Eleven. Joining them whilst they investigated a collection of artefacts featuring the Red Lady, she became involved in a mystery involving extraterrestrial elements. Not having seen any of the artefacts featuring the entity, Helen was unaffected by her influence, and was able to help prevent the Doctor and Liv from succumbing to her effects. After they defeated the Red Lady and the artefacts were "disposed of," Helen was dismissed from her position and threatened with being reported for the police, her boss being suspicious that she was behind their theft. Impressed by her help, the Doctor offered her the chance to join him in the TARDIS, which she accepted. (AUDIO: The Red Lady)

Arriving in Florence, 1639, she was immediately fascinated by the opportunity to visit history, so much so that she wished she had brought her camera so she could take pictures of it. She joined Cavalli in investigating Cleaver and saw her first spaceship, helping the Doctor and Galileo to defeat him and Fortuna, his fellow Volkbrood. (AUDIO: The Galileo Trap) She was used in the Eleven's game against the Doctor, being captured by an Orb aboard the Eleven's stellar manipulator and prepared for dissection. However, Paine arrived and stopped it, allowing her and Liv to flee to the TARDIS. (AUDIO: The Satanic Mill)

After this ordeal, the Doctor took her and Liv to Stegmoor to recuperate. She wanted to go somewhere a bit more alien. She helped to move the Doctor when he fell unconscious. She told the Doctor about the Voord spaceship on the beach. (AUDIO: Beachhead) She couldn't understand the dimensions of the antic TARDIS. Caleera used her powers to empathise with her. (AUDIO: Scenes From Her Life) When they landed in San Francisco, 1906 Liv trusted her guide her round the city as it was closer to her time then Liv's. She was taken by Aldo Deluca because he wanted to know about the gift. (AUDIO: The Gift) On Syra, Ruslan tried to threaten her into the truth and then trapped her with River Song. She helped River to contact Galactic Heritage and promised to keep her secret. (AUDIO: The Sonomancer)

When she realised they had landed in Calcot in 1998 and decided to take a train back to London to discover what had happened to her friends and family. In London she went to her old house and found out that it had been converted into flats. She later went to see her brother George Sinclair. George then told her about how mother, father and brother had died. She then tried to get the Doctor to take her back to undo the actions she had done. (AUDIO: Absent Friends)

She was sent by the Doctor to Rome in 2016 in order to find a piece of the Doomsday Chronometer. She met Rosalia who showed her the collection of clock in the museum she worked with. There she met The Clocksmith. (AUDIO: The Eighth Piece) Before entering the museum she met River again, who to told her to come with her on a scavernger hunt to help her find the Eighth Piece. She collected many paintings and discovered where the Eighth piece was and took it back to Rome. She was then frozen in time for the Clocksmith's enjoyment before the Doctor arrived. She managed to escape the collapsing musuem and went back to the TARDIS just in time to see Whitley regenerate. (AUDIO: The Doomsday Chronometer)

Liv had to explain to her the effects of Regeneration to her after witnessing it. After the Nine, told her the Liv had died she on Gallifrey she wanted to leave, before she discovered that he was the Nine. (AUDIO: The Crucible of Souls)

Behind the scenes

In the behind the scenes extras to Doom Coalition 1, producer David Richardson cites Verity Lambert as a source of inspiration for the character of Helen Sinclair, something acknowledged in her coming from 1963.