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{{pullout|{{cleanup|As detailed at [[Thread:264489]], to avoid overly long articles, highly-recurring character pages' biography should only have AT MOST 2-3 sentences per story, not whole paragraphs of plot detail. This page needs a major cleanup in that area.}}}}
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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|individual name= Ian Chesterton
|image            =  
|image= IanLooksLeftAUC.jpg  
<gallery>
|alias= Heron
IanHaggardAUC.jpg|Russell
|species=[[Human]]  
Ian glover.jpg|Glover
|origin=[[London]]  
</gallery>
|first=An Unearthly Child (TV story)
|main alias       =  
|appearances= [[Ian Chesterton - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]]  
|species           = Human
|actor= [[William Russell]] }}
|origin            = [[Reading]]
|birth date        = [[1934]] or [[1935]]
|death date        = [[2014]] or after [[2022]]
|job              = Teacher
|affiliation      = Coal Hill School
|affiliation2      = Family Smith
|father            = Ian Chesterton's father{{!}}Father
|brother          = Ian Chesterton's brother{{!}}Brother
|sister            = Ian Chesterton's sister{{!}}Sister
|spouse            = Barbara Wright
|child            = Johnny Chess
|first cs          = An Unearthly Child (TV story)
|appearances       = {{appears}}
|actor            = William Russell
|voice actor      =
|other voice actor = [[James Grout]], [[Jamie Glover]]
|clip              = First Time Entering the TARDIS - An Unearthly Child - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip2            = Ian vs Ixta - Doctor Who - The Aztecs - BBC
|clip3            = Ian and Barbara leave the Doctor - Doctor Who - The Chase - BBC
|bts              = The Story of Susan Foreman The Women Who Lived Doctor Who
}}{{counterparts |name=Ian Chesterton
|2 = Ian Chesterton (Dr. Who and the Daleks)
|d2 = Dr. Who's reality
}}
Sir '''Ian Francis Chesterton''', Knight of Jaffa, was a [[companion]] of the [[First Doctor]].


'''Ian Chesterton''', knighted as '''Sir Ian, Knight of Jaffa''', was one of the earliest [[List of companions|companions]] to travel with the [[First Doctor]]. Before meeting the Doctor, Ian was a science teacher at [[Coal Hill School]] in [[1960s]] [[London]].
A [[science]] [[teacher]] at [[Coal Hill School]] in [[1960s]] [[London]], Ian and [[Barbara Wright]] unwillingly joined the Doctor and [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] in [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. The two spent years trying to return home, during which Susan departed and they were joined by [[Vicki Pallister]], before ultimately managing to do so in a [[Dalek]] [[Dalek time machine (The Chase)|time machine]]. They went on to marry.
 
Ian later had adventures with the [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]] and [[Eleventh Doctor]]s and was reunited with Susan during the [[Last Great Time War]].


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Ian Chesterton was one of [[Susan Foreman]]'s teachers at [[Coal Hill School]], [[London]]. He was intrigued by her advanced scientific knowledge. In talking with another of her teachers, [[Barbara Wright]], he found he was not the only one who had noticed. One evening as school was finishing, Ian and Barbara decided to follow Susan home as they were concerned about this eccentric behaviour and couldn't get in touch with her parents. They followed her back to [[I.M. Foreman]]'s junkyard in [[76 Totter's Lane|Totter's Lane]] where she entered and closed the gate behind her. This causes the two teachers to become more concerned for her safety. They followed her into the yard and discovered a [[police box]] sitting incongruously amidst the junk. They deduce that Susan is inside and barge their way in and discover the mysteries of the TARDIS.
=== Childhood ===
Ian Francis Chesterton ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}}) was born in [[Reading]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}}) in [[1934]] or [[1935]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Aztecs (novelisation)}}) and spent his earliest years in the [[North East]] of [[England]], where he supported [[Sunderland F.C.]] with his [[Ian Chesterton's father|father]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)}}) He grew up in [[London]] during [[the Blitz]] in [[World War II]] ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Time Museum (audio story)}}) and had [[Ian Chesterton's brother|a brother]] and [[Ian Chesterton's sister|sister]] with whom he went on family holidays to a [[cottage]] in [[North Wales]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}}) He was raised in the [[Church of England]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)}})
 
As a child, [[Michael (The Eleventh Tiger)|Father Michael]] taught Ian the [[Ten Commandments]] in [[Sunday school]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Tiger (novel)}}) He would visit his grandparents every [[Sunday]] and enjoyed climbing the [[tree]]s in their [[garden]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|A Small Semblance of Home (audio story)}}) As a boy, he holidayed in the [[Peak District]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Invention of Death (audio story)}})
 
Ian was taught [[Latin]] at school by [[Dumbie|Mr Dumbie]]. His form teacher when he was thirteen was called [[Quibbs|Mr Quibbs]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}})
 
The young Ian loved the works of [[Jules Verne]] and [[H. G. Wells]], whose stories inspired him to pursue a career in [[science]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Tiger (novel)}}) and also enjoyed reading the ''[[Carter of Mars]]'' books. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|A Religious Experience (comic story)}}) Ian's hero was [[Francis Drake|Sir Francis Drake]]. He had seen films depicting the [[Spanish Armada]] in which Drake was played by [[Errol Flynn]] and [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]] were played by [[Bette Davis]] and [[Flora Robson]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)}})
 
=== Young adulthood ===
Ian went to [[university]] and earnt a degree in the [[science]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)}}) He was a member of the [[Harlequins]] Third XV, playing the position of [[wing-three quarter]], and once got drunk at a rugby club in [[Bath, England|Bath]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}})
 
During the [[1950s]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Tiger (novel)}}) Ian was a private in the [[British Army]]. His [[national service]] number was 15110404. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Travellers (novel)}}) He served the first part of his national service in [[Wales]], during which time he [[Boxing|boxed]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Tiger (novel)}}) He also served in [[Cyprus]] for a time. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Domain of the Voord (audio story)}}) He later joined the [[Royal Air Force]], serving the remainder of his national service in [[Malaysia|Malay]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Face of the Enemy (novel)}}) from which he was honourably discharged after two years. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}})
 
He would later claim to have never been a soldier. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sphere of Influence (audio story)}}) Also in the 1950s, Ian visited [[Pugwash]] in [[Nova Scotia]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Who Discovered America? (short story)}}) In addition, he had always wanted to visit [[Australia]] ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Transit of Venus (audio story)}}) and [[New York City]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Great White Hurricane (audio story)}}) He visited [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s tomb in [[Westminster Abbey]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Doctor's Tale (audio story)}})
 
Ian fell in love with [[Suzy (Romans Cutaway)|Suzy]], who died after being hit by a [[Ford Anglia]]. He found out about her death in a [[newspaper]] and was devastated, later [[dream]]ing that he was there when it happened. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Romans Cutaway (short story)}})
 
=== Teaching at Coal Hill ===
By [[1963]], he had begun teaching at [[Coal Hill School]] in [[London]], as a [[science teacher]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Time and Relative (novel)}}) but also taught [[English (language)|English]] and occasionally [[Physical education|PE]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}}) At the time, he lived in [[Ian Chesterton's flat|a small flat]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Long Night (short story)}}) on [[Fenby Street]] with [[Russell (Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks)|Mrs Russell]] as his [[landlord|landlady]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)}}) Whilst some accounts placed his flat in [[Shoreditch]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Tiger (novel)}}, {{cs|A Long Night (short story)}}) one placed it in [[Paddington]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)}})
 
According to one account, Ian met [[Barbara Wright]] during his first year teaching at Coal Hill. That year was also the first time the two of them met outside of the school, with one such occasion being when he helped her with a school history trip to the [[Tower of London]] at the end of the summer term in June. Ian had not enjoyed the tour, owing to the scorching heat and the noisy school children accompanying them, who found a plethora of ways to annoy him, including getting lost, dripping [[ice lolly|ice lollies]] and screaming, fraying both of the teachers' tempers. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Nine-Day Queen (short story)}})
 
On one occasion, Ian taught his class about [[Alexander Fleming]] and the discovery of [[penicillin]]. One student, which Ian recalled was either called [[Cedric (The Transit of Venus)|Cedric]] or Sydney, wanted to know if other moulds could affect bacteria and so Ian helped the student to set up an experiment to test this, growing moulds on different food and culturing bacteria on different [[petri dish]]es in the student's own time. At the final experiment, another boy told the student the expected result in the experiment, having read it in an [[encyclopaedia]]. From that point, the student's interest in science was lost, teaching Ian that one should "never mess with people's [[dream]]s". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Transit of Venus (audio story)}})
 
Most accounts agreed that Ian taught [[Susan Foreman]] from at least [[March]] 1963 ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Time and Relative (novel)}}) in classroom C3. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)}})
 
On [[26 March]] 1963, Ian's science class spent forty minutes establishing that [[magnesium]] burns, an activity which bored Susan. On [[28 March]], the heating stopped working at Coal Hill, so Ian had all the [[bunsen burner]]s on at full blast, which apparently made no difference. On [[29 March]], all of [[Year Four]] were put in the [[Coal Hill assembly hall]] and given board games. They were supervised by Ian, who allowed them to play records, even suggesting dancing to keep warm. On [[30 March]], Ian and Barbara saw the film ''[[Saturday Night and Sunday Morning]]'' at the [[Rialto]]. Susan and her friend [[Gillian Roberts]] had snuck in to see the [[X-certificate]] film, and had to hide themselves from the two teachers to avoid having their ages given away.
 
On [[1 April]] - as part of an array of pranks played by teachers for [[April Fools' Day]] - Ian sent [[Little Titch Critchley]] to fetch a "left-handed [[blackboard]] [[rubber]]" from the supplies cupboard. Later that day, despite [[Basil James Carker|the headmaster]] having banned [[snowball]]s, Ian threw a snowball at fellow teacher [[A. Okehurst]], launching a snowball fight between them. While this was going on, [[The Cold (Time and Relative)|the Cold]] began to awaken and a Cold-controlled [[snowman]] stabbed [[Francis Minto]] in the leg with a shard of ice. Ian then went for a nurse. The Cold was eventually defeated by the [[First Doctor]], who took it to [[Pluto]] in the [[far future]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Time and Relative (novel)}})
 
On one summer holiday, Ian holidayed in a seaside town in [[Dorset]]. He met a [[fortune teller]] called [[Rosy Parks]], but when putting out his hand to have his palm read, a wound from a splinter he had removed earlier in the day opened and blood poured out, causing Rosy to leave. At a later date, he attended a party hosted by Barbara, where he met another fortune teller, this time named [[Rosemary (The Splintered Gate)|Rosemary]]. She told him they would have to meet in person for her to be able to read his future properly.
 
The following Friday, he met with Rosemary, who told him that he would go on a long journey and face many great challenges and that he could change his fate by not taking a package from a woman in a café. As Ian took his money out to pay for the session, Rosemary grabbed the money and left, leaving a package - her [[crystal ball]] - behind. Ian took the ball with him, allegedly sealing his fate. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Splintered Gate (short story)}})
 
Every year, he participated in the pupils versus teachers cricket match, as the bowler. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Romans Cutaway (short story)}}) He also coached the Coal Hill [[five-a-side]] football team. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Nine-Day Queen (short story)}})
 
He was intrigued by Susan's advanced scientific knowledge — she saw simple experiments involving inactive chemicals turning from red to blue as child's play and also pointed out to him that a problem involving A, B and C as the three dimensions was impossible to solve without the use of D and E to represent the dimensions of time and space. In talking with Barbara, he found he was not the only one who had noticed Susan's unusual knowledge and ability. ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}})
 
Ian befriended [[River Song]] when she joined the staff as a history teacher and acted as a sort of guide for her, welcoming her to the school and inviting her to join him and other teachers at a pub after work, where he introduced her to Barbara. The trio investigated [[Sheila Page]]'s strange behaviour and found that she and [[Lloyd Walker]] were missing whilst their foster father was dead. Ian and Barbara fetched the police and returned to find that River had located LLoyd, whom they took care of whilst River searched for Sheila. Before leaving Coal Hill, River said a fond goodbye to the two teachers. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Woman (audio story)}})
 
=== Travels in the TARDIS ===
==== Meeting the Doctor ====
[[File:Ian and Barbara Discuss Susan.jpg|thumb|left|On their final day at [[Coal Hill School]] for some time, Ian Chesterton and [[Barbara Wright]] discuss [[Susan Foreman]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}]]
According to [[The Doctor's reality (An Unearthly Child)|most accounts]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Sensorites (TV story)}}, et. al) Ian and Barbara decided to indulge their curiosity about Susan and followed her to [[76 Totter's Lane]] junkyard, coming across [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] and meeting the unhelpful [[First Doctor]]. Believing Susan to be trapped inside of the TARDIS, they forced their way in and, to ensure that they did not tell anybody, the Doctor dematerialised the TARDIS with them inside.
 
Ian initially refused to believe that the TARDIS had travelled anywhere, but soon learnt that the Doctor and Susan were telling the truth. He, Barbara and Susan tried to save the Doctor when he was kidnapped by [[Kal]], but were captured and taken to join him in the [[Cave of Skulls]]. The [[Old Mother|old woman]] freed them and they helped the injured [[Za]], but they were then returned to the cave until Ian devised a way of scaring the cavemen by setting the [[skull]]s on fire, allowing them to escape to the TARDIS and depart. ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)}})
 
According to [[The Doctor's reality (Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks)|another account]], Ian was in [[Shoreditch]] after applying unsuccessfully for a job as a research assistant at [[Donneby's]], being bored of teaching. He was involved in a [[car crash]] at [[Barnes Common]] and met Barbara, Susan and the Doctor for the first time, entering the TARDIS and materialising on [[Skaro]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)}}) During the [[Last Great Time War]], [[the Barber-Surgeon]] met a "version" of the Doctor who explained these events as how they met Ian and Barbara. The [[War Doctor]], however, explained the version of events in the Totter's Lane junkyard. Upon being told of the version involving Ian's car breaking down, the War Doctor declared "that never happened", which the Barber-Surgeon replied to by noting "everything's happened somewhere". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Horror (audio story)}})
 
==== Early adventures ====
[[File:Ian in the Skaro Jungle.jpg|thumb|right|Ian takes in his surroundings on his first [[Skaro|alien planet]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)}})]]
When the TARDIS landed on [[Skaro]], the travellers entered the [[Dalek City]] in search of [[mercury (element)|mercury]] and Ian, the Doctor and Susan were imprisoned by the [[Dalek]]s, after which Ian learnt that the Doctor had lied about mercury and took the [[fluid link]], refusing to return it until they found Barbara. After a failed attempt in which the Daleks incapacitated Ian's legs, they managed to find Barbara and escaped, Ian and the Doctor convincing the [[Thal]]s to attack the city. With the Daleks defeated, the travellers left Skaro for Earth. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)}})
 
The [[fast return switch]] caused strange phenomena in the TARDIS which caused distrust between the schoolteachers and the alien travellers, the Doctor believing that Ian and Barbara had sabotaged the ship. Once the situation was resolved, Ian told the Doctor that he did not have to apologise for how he had acted and what he had said, telling him that he could "read every thought on [his] face". ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Edge of Destruction (TV story)}})
 
[[File:IanSusanPoG.jpg|thumb|Ian often was protective of his fellow travellers. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Planet of Giants (TV story)}})]]
The TARDIS landed in the [[Plain of Pamir]] in [[1289]] where the travellers met [[Marco Polo]] and travelled with him to [[China|Cathay]] after he took possession of the TARDIS and [[TARDIS key|its keys]]. Ian and Marco saved Barbara from [[Malik]] and [[Acomat]] in the [[Cave of Five Hundred Eyes]] and, later, Ian discovered that [[Tegana]] planned to [[assassination|assassinate]] [[Kublai Khan]] and to take the TARDIS as a gift for [[Nogai]]. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's [[duel]] in [[Peking]], the travellers escaped in the repaired TARDIS. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Marco Polo (TV story)}})
 
After leaving China, the travellers arrived on [[Avalon (planet)|Avalon]] in [[2991]] where Ian and the Doctor joined the quest to find [[Merlin's Helm]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Sorcerer's Apprentice (novel)}})
 
The travellers landed in [[1002]] [[Greenland]] and the travellers, requiring [[plutonium]], journeyed with [[Eric the Red]] to [[North America]]. They located plutonic rocks in [[Newfoundland]] and returned to the TARDIS. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Who Discovered America? (short story)}})
 
On [[Marinus]], Ian and Barbara learnt of the location of one of the micro-circuits for the [[Conscience of Marinus]] from [[Darrius]] and recovered it from the cave of the [[Ice Soldier]]s. In [[Millenius]], Ian was framed by [[Aydan]] for the murder of [[Eprin]] and theft of another micro-circuit, resulting in him being charged and tried in a court of law. He was found guilty before Aydan and his accomplices were exposed, after which the travellers returned to the [[Great City]] with the keys. Ian gave [[Yartek]] a fake key which destroyed the Conscience and killed Yartek in the explosion. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Keys of Marinus (TV story)}})
 
Arriving inside the tomb of [[Menkaure]] in [[Egypt]] in [[BC|26th century BC]], the Ian, Barbara, the Doctor and Susan were arrested and taken to the palace. [[Itennu]] planned to assassinate Pharaoh [[Menkaure]] with a poison dart and then blame the travellers. However, the Doctor inadvertently foiled the attempt with his walking stick and, when a more open attack began, the TARDIS crew fled back to the TARDIS. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Forgotten (comic story)}})
 
On an apparently drifting spaceship, he found a dead body in an airlock. After examining the ship with [[Toban]] he was attacked by a Shift. Barbara rescued him from his imprisonment, but was captured herself. This made Ian distraught. He wanted to go after Barbara. He helped the Doctor to build a radiation filter to go after the Shifts. He realised that the Doctor had suggested riding a radiation stream. After the ship was damaged by an electromagnetic pulse he drove it into a gas bubble for protection which [[Myla]] though was suicide. His actions caused the section where the Doctor was to go missing. He went on a spacewalk with Toban to get to the engineering section to restart the engines. Getting into the engineering section he was attacked by the [[Shift (The Age of Endurance)|Shift]]. He and Susan piloted a small ship to lure [[Arran]] back to the Endevour. He then drew Arran back to the ship. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Age of Endurance (audio story)}})
 
The Doctor and his companions arrived in an [[Aztec]] temple in [[Mexico]]. They went through a one-way passage that prevented their return to the TARDIS. Barbara posed as the Aztec [[god]], [[Yetaxa]], with the others as her servants, to find a way back. Ian was declared rival to the warrior [[Ixta]].
 
Susan was to be punished for denying marriage to the [[Perfect Victim]] and Ian to be executed when he was framed by the [[High Priest of Sacrifice]], [[Tlotoxl]], for attacking the [[High Priest of Knowledge]], [[Autloc]]. Autloc's faith in Yetaxa was shattered and he left for the wilderness. The Doctor, Ian and the Doctor's accidental [[fiancée]], [[Cameca]], distracted Ian and Susan's [[Aztec captain|guard]] to escape. Ian prevented Tlotoxl's murder of Barbara and fought off Ixta. They worked on a wheel-and-pulley system to open the doorway back to the TARDIS. As they departed, the [[human sacrifice]] of the Perfect Victim continued as planned. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Aztecs (TV story)}})
 
The Doctor landed inside [[Maitland's ship|a spaceship]] in the [[28th century]], where two crewmembers were suspended in a state resembling death and another, [[John (The Sensorites)|John]], had had his mind opened and turned insane, following an attack on their minds by the [[Sensorite]]s. The [[Sense Sphere]], which the ship had been trapped around, had its aqueducts' water supply [[poison]]ed with [[atropine]] by survivors of a previous [[human]] expedition whose ship had been destroyed.


Ian's scientific mind made him sceptical of anything he had no proof of. When Susan and the [[First Doctor]] told him the police box was, in fact, a machine which travelled through [[time]] and [[space]], he was doubtful. The [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] was a scientific dream he did not expect to see in a junkyard. However, when the Doctor displayed his disgust at Ian's arrogance and ignorance, Ian admitted he wanted to understand. Once he had proof that the TARDIS was indeed a [[space-time vessel]], he accepted the fact and became the most practical of the travellers.
The TARDIS's lock was taken by the Sensorites, leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped on the spaceship. After the Doctor and his companions resisted the Sensorites, the Doctor, Ian and Susan agreed to go down to the Sense Sphere, where the Doctor worked out the cure for this "disease", which had also afflicted Ian, while the Sensorite scientists treated John. The Doctor and Ian, later followed by Barbara, went to the aqueducts where ''[[Atropa belladonna]]'' had been growing. They found the human expedition and pretended to be a welcoming party for them and that the "war" against the Sensorites was won. The expedition were taken into custody on [[Maitland's ship]]. Maitland's ship was free to leave and the TARDIS crew had regained their lock. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Sensorites (TV story)}})


It didn't take long for Ian's practical side to show. When the travellers landed in [[Earth]]'s [[BC#Prehistory|Stone Age]] and ran afoul of the local tribe, it was Ian who freed them from their rope bonds and who 'discovered' [[fire]] by rubbing sticks against stone for friction in an attempt to win their freedom. ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'')
After visiting the Sense Sphere they landed on the ''[[Endeavour]]'' where the Doctor wanted to throw him and Barbara off the ship. Whilst trapped on the ship with the Doctor he met [[James Cook]] soon after they observed the Transit of Venus. He started to hear voices which the Doctor didn't believe was true. He was thrown off the ship by [[Joseph Banks]] or so he believed in a delirium. He was still experiencing the effects of the Sensorite's telepathy, and this allowed Barbara to tell him that she was still alive and hadn't drowned. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Transit of Venus (audio story)}})
[[File:IanBehindBars.jpg |left|thumb||Ian spent a fair amount of time in jail cells, usually in historical settings. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Reign of Terror]]'')]]


Ian's curiosity about the TARDIS never left him, and he quizzed the Doctor about the TARDIS systems and how they worked while the travellers were on [[Skaro]]. Despite being so obviously interested in science and its practical applications, Ian was not lacking in common sense. While on Skaro he was acutely aware of Barbara's discomfort. He saw how much she wished to return to the safety of the TARDIS, rather than explore the [[Dalek City]]. He stood up to the Doctor in an attempt to ensure their safe return. Once Barbara had been captured by the [[Dalek]]s, it was Ian who insisted the travellers could not leave without her.
When the group landed on [[Destination]], Ian and Barbara mistakenly presumed they were landed on Earth in the future; their mistake was proven wrong when their host, [[Robac]], explained to them the meaning of [[Space Year]] [[2003]] (the date on Destination) as the year since when [[Citizen of Destination|the forefathers of Destination]] arrived on the planet. Ian, Barbara and the Doctor followed Robac to the central building to undergo bureaucratic matters, but Ian was sent back by the Doctor to retrieve Susan. He arrived just in time to witness Susan and [[Reena]], Robac's daughter, being summoned to meet the Inventor, the mysterious benefactor of Destination; he went along with them and met {{Dreyfus}}. Hypnotised by him, he told the Master everything about him, Barbara and the Doctor, and was later subdued into sleep. When he woke up, Barbara and the Doctor had joined them, and Ian assisted the Master in explaining to the travellers how he exploited the development of Destination's people to rebuild his TARDIS and leave Destination. Ian was then thrown out in the middle of the war between Destination's colonists and the original people, the [[Dalmari]], as part of the Master's attempt to force the Doctor to give up the [[TARDIS key]]. Together with Susan and Barbara, he found the resistance fighters of Destination and stopped their leader, [[Tanna]], from using [[nuclear energy]] by distracting her with talks of science. He and Barbara then received a call apparently from the Doctor to come back to the TARDIS; when they got here, the Master was waiting for them. He hypnotised them and got them to join him in the TARDIS, promising to take them home. However, Ian and Barbara managed to overcome the hypnosis by focusing on each other, allowing them to subdue the Master and use the [[fast return switch]] to return to the Doctor and Susan. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Destination Wars (audio story)}})


[[File:IanSusanPoG.jpg|thumb|Ian often was protective of his fellow travellers. ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of Giants]]'')]] Headstrong and stubborn, he insisted on being the one to return to the TARDIS for the anti-[[radiation]] drugs the they needed, though his legs had been paralysed in their encounter with the Daleks and the First Doctor and Susan were the only ones who could unlock the TARDIS doors. Eventually it was this stubbornness which prompted Ian to risk his life to warn the [[Thal]]s about the Dalek ambush, and later persuade them to give up their pacifist ways and fight for their survival. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'')
Upon leaving Destination, the TARDIS landed in [[1888]] [[New York City]] where Ian was almost immediately shot and Susan kidnapped. The bullet only grazed Ian, but Barbara insisted on him recuperating in the hospital before realising that the [[Great White Hurricane]] was approaching. After Ian, with a mild concussion, was released from the hospital, he and Barbara helped [[Rosalita (The Great White Hurricane)|Rosalita]] home only for her son Joseph to have been taken away by her husband [[Henry (The Great White Hurricane)|Henry]]. Following him to the train station, they found the tracks frozen over, Ian forcing an opportunist to use his ladder to rescue the people for free. After Rosalita had been reunited with her family, Ian and Barbara returned to the TARDIS. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Great White Hurricane (audio story)}})


After the TARDIS sustained heavy damage from a fault, ([[DW]]: ''[[The Edge of Destruction]]'') it landed in the [[Plain of Pamir]] in [[1289]]. There, he met [[Marco Polo]], who took the TARDIS and its [[TARDIS key|keys]] on his caravan to travel the breadth of [[China|Cathay]] in order to hand it over to [[Kublai|Kublai Khan]] as part of a bargain for his return to [[Venice]]. Along the way, Ian discovered the [[Mongol]] warlord [[Tegana]], also part of Polo's caravan, wanted to take the TARDIS for [[Nogai]] as part of his plan to [[assassination|assassinate]] Kublai. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's duel in [[Peking]], the Doctor and his companions escaped in his repaired TARDIS. ([[DW]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'')
The Doctor attempted to use a temporal slingshot to return to 1963 only to wind up on the planet [[Ashtallah]], home of the [[Ashtallan]]s, an immortal race with prodigious healing abilities. After witnessing their cells quickly healing Barbara, the group conversed with the Ashtallans, Ian telling [[Brenna (The Invention of Death)|Brenna]] about love before a mysterious plague began killing the aliens. As Ian investigated, he found [[Sharlan]] to be the culprit, using a sample of Barbara's blood to kill their people, falling out of a window in his fear to distance himself from them, being found by Susan. Sharlan was eventually convinced to stand down her crusade with Ashthallan cells being used to heal Ian. As the group flew away from the planet, the Doctor wondered what effect Ashtallan biology would have on Ian and Barbara, wondering if they would ever age. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Invention of Death (audio story)}})


Ian's bravery and courage eventually gained the Doctor's respect. He was treated as an equal and friend on board the ship due, not only to his bravery, but to his headstrong, stubborn loyalty. This loyalty extended to Susan and the Doctor as the travellers grew closer throughout their journeys.
When the TARDIS landed in [[19th century]] [[Japan]] before it was opened to [[Westerner]]s, Ian and Susan managed to escape the forces of [[Takagi Mamoru]], being rescued by the Red Samurai. Eventually reuniting with the Doctor and Barbara, the group found themselves in a battle between Mamoru's samurais and the Emperor's forces. As Mamoru's defeat, Susan retrieve the TARDIS, allowing the group to leave. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Barbarians and the Samurai (audio story)}})
[[File:IanHartnellEyesCenter.jpg|thumb|left|Ian and the Doctor prepare to venture out. ([[DW]]: ''[[Marco Polo]]'')]]


Ian revelled in his new life and experiences. When the travellers landed in [[12th century]] Palestine during the [[Crusades]]. Ian was knighted Sir Ian of Jaffa by [[Richard the Lionheart]] and sent as an emissary to search for Barbara who had been abducted by the Saracens. Ian developed his skill as a swordsman during his travels. He was also capable at unarmed combat. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs]]'', ''[[The Crusade]]'') These skills are attributed to time spent in the army for his  National Service.
Soon afterwards, the TARDIS landed in [[Tyre]], where they, Ian in particular, won the favour of [[Princess]] [[Elissa]] and the ire of [[King]] [[Pygmalion]]. As Pygmalion was to bless his new ship, Ian was nearly killed before he was rescued by Elissa and brought aboard the ship as they sailed away from Tyre, fighting off Elissa's flirtations. Arriving at the site of the future [[Carthage]], Ian nearly found himself in Elissa's company forever before the Doctor caught up with them and painted him and his friends as emissaries of the gods. After defeating Pygmalion's fleet, the TARDIS crew took off again, Ian finding that he'd inspired [[Aeneas]], before the ship was drawn to [[Tick-Tock World|a temporally unstable planet]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Phoenicians (audio story)}})


On a number of occasions, Ian endured the severe test of facing his fears. No great swimmer, he had to overcome this when, during a visit to [[Rome]] in AD [[64]], he was sold as a galley slave. His galley sank in a storm and Ian, with his Greek slave friend [[Delos]], escaped and made their way to Rome. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'') While searching for Barbara in Palestine, Ian was captured and staked in the desert, daubed with honey to attract [[ant]]s. Ian's instinctive fear of ants may have been increased with his experiences on [[Vortis]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Web Planet]]'') he suffered from seasickness aboard the ''[[Mary Celeste]]'', but still managed to make it on deck twice. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')
As the ship hurled out of control, Susan suggested drawing power from the [[TARDIS force field]], being supported by an echo from a fading future version of herself, allowing the engines to break free. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Tick-Tock World (audio story)}})


Despite his obvious enjoyment of his travels, Ian never lost sight of his desire to return to his own home and time. When the opportunity arose, Ian and Barbara risked travel in a [[Dalek time machine|Dalek time ship]] to return to 1960s London. When they emerged from the time machine, they were delighted to be back, despite discovering that two years had passed since their departure. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')
During a "night" in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Susan showed Ian and Barbara around the TARDIS before Susan showed her teachers some sketches she'd made of them. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|In-Between Times (comic story)}}) Ian later took a personal tour of the TARDIS, marvelling at the size of the interior. When the ship later landed on [[Path of Skulls|an unnamed planet]], the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara found a path of skulls laid to honour the dead. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Path of Skulls (comic story)}})


== Life after the Doctor ==
A later attempt to use the [[fast return switch]] to get Ian and Barbara home, resulted in the group's return to Skaro, fifty [[cycle]]s after their last visit. Brought to the [[Thal City]], Ian was shown some of their inventions by [[Tryana]] before he, the Doctor, and Tryana returned to the Dalek City to find the missing Susan and [[Jyden]], Tryana's own son. Finding that power still thrummed in the city, the group descended where they reunited with the children and met the [[Dalek Supreme (Return to Skaro)|Dalek Supreme]] who claimed to want peace. Remaining to validate this claim, the Doctor found a secret tunnel that led to the Thal City. While he and Tryana were taken prisoner, Ian managed to escape through the tunnel, witnessing two [[Dalek drone]]s take control of an ionising tower. Reuniting with his friends, Ian rallied the Thals against the Daleks once again, playing the part of a prisoner to free the Doctor who reprogrammed the ionising towers to destroy the Daleks before the group left Skaro again. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Return to Skaro (audio story)}})
[[File:DWM_169_Brief_Encounter.jpg|thumb|left|Ian in the Late 20th Century. ([[BE]]: ''[[Untitled (DWM 169)]]'')]]


After their departure from the Doctor, Ian and Barbara got married. However, despite having left the Doctor behind, they again got 'caught up in his world' when they were contacted by [[UNIT]] in the [[1970s]] to assist in a temporally related problem. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy]]'') Ian and Barbara had a son, [[Johnny Chess|John Alydon Ganatus Chesterton]]. ([[NA]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation]]'', [[PDA]]: ''[[Byzantium!]]'')
The TARDIS then landed in [[Ekaterinburg]], shortly before the [[Russian Civil War]], where Ian and the Doctor were quickly taken prisoner, befriending [[Makerenkov]], a fellow prisoner. Returning to the house of the royals, Makerenkov revealed himself to be an assassin. When the Doctor caught up with them, [[Nicholas II]] revealed that he had come to terms with death and encouraged them to flee. Running back to the TARDIS, the Doctor confided his recent doubts in Ian before the TARDIS unexpectedly lost power. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Last of the Romanovs (audio story)}})


[[File:Ian Chesterton Returns.png|thumb|right|An older Sir Ian recounts his adventure during the [[Crusades]] in a stately room, which includes a knight's suit of armour. ([[VHS]] release of [[DW]]: ''[[The Crusade]]'')]]
With Susan's help, the Doctor managed to restore enough power to the ship to force it to self-repair which necessitated an emergency landing. The travellers found themsleves on a dystopian future Earth where they were taken prisoner and forced to submit to a genetic scan to prove they were human. At the Doctor's order, Ian caused a distraction to allow the Doctor to program a false reading into the machine, allowing Susan to pass as human. The genetic drift of humanity however was so much that Ian and Barbara did not read as human either, sent to work in the mines with the gestalt being [[Brooskin]]. When Ian tried to escape, he wound up exposing himself to the vacuum of space with Brooskin informing the humans that they were not on Earth but on [[Urth]], a space habitat smaller than [[London]]. Following Susan currying the favour of the settlement's rulers, she managed to free her friends before representatives from the remainder of the human race arrived. Convinced that the problems would sort themselves out very shortly, the travellers made for the TARDIS and left. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|For the Glory of Urth (audio story)}})
According to a rumour [[Sarah Jane Smith]] shared, Barbara and Ian had become professors at [[Cambridge]] by the [[2010s]] and reportedly had not aged since the [[1960s]]. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Death of the Doctor]]'') However, Ian stated that he and [[Steven Taylor]] were more than a little bit older when he was brought into the alternative [[Death Zone]] on [[Gallifrey]]. He also mentioned that he had taken up teaching once again. Right before reuniting with Steven, he had taken out a Dalek and hid in its casing, as he had many years before. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'') He met a new incarnation of [[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor]], who now looked younger than him. He also met fellow companions [[Sara Kingdom]], [[Polly Wright]] and [[Nyssa]] for the first time. ([[CC]]: ''[[The Five Companions]]'')
 
When the Doctor was convinced that the ship had been fully repaired, the group found themselves in London [[1601]]. When they attempted to visit the [[Globe Theatre]], they instead found a volatile political climate before they met [[Judith Shakespeare]] who introduced them to [[William Shakespeare]] and hosted them for dinner. After Susan and Judith had bonded over being treated like children and escaped the house, Ian went after them only to be injured and drawn into [[Lady]] [[Penelope Rich]]'s plot to dethrone [[Elizabeth I]]. After this had resulted in Shakespeare's arrest, Ian posed as the [[Robert Devereaux]], injured during a peaceful protest gone awry, before Queen Elizabeth returned and brought the conflict to a swift end. When the time came to leave, Susan, Barbara and Ian expressed a desire to stay and see a play before an outside source activated the TARDIS and sent it flying away from England. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Hollow Crown (audio story)}})
 
At some point during his travels with the Doctor, Susan and Barbara, they visited [[Bob Dovie]] at [[59A Barnsfield Crescent]] in [[Totton]], [[Hampshire]] on [[23 November]] [[1963]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Light at the End (audio story)}})
 
When they landed in [[Alexandria]] and stayed for a while, he became employed as a customs official. He encountered [[Hypatia]] who wanted the books on the ship he impounded. He found Hypatia interesting. He found thanks to Hypatia a book that looked like something from his own time, it was a [[Mim]] reconnaissance mission. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Library of Alexandria (audio story)}})
 
He was intrigued by a play he saw in [[Seville]] about [[Elizabeth I]] and her sentencing of [[Mary Stuart|Mary Queen of Scots]]. He wanted to save the people who were in a house that the [[Spanish Inquisition]] burnt done as the church thought they were stealing from the church. He tried to stop [[Esteban Aribi]] from being arrested but was arrested himself. After he was rescued by Barbara and Susan, he went with Esteban to deliver a message to [[Francis Drake]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)}})
 
They later landed in a flotilla of ships on the planet [[Hydra (planet)|Hydra]] where they were captured by [[Amyra Kaan]] and [[Pan Vexel]] for being stowaways. Whilst helping a rescue mission he discovered that the invaders on the planet were the Voord. He was tasked in interrogating [[Nebrin]]. He joined a landing party to help fight off the Voord in the capital of this world. When he and Susan found the TARDIS he forced Susan to pilot it away from the hands of the Voord. He was later imprisoned and forced to work as a slave. He was later rescued by Amyra and taken to the Doctor. Ian then helped the Doctor destroy the Voord machine. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Domain of the Voord (audio story)}})
 
He found [[Russia]] interesting when he met [[Grigori Rasputin]]. He helped Grigori to find medicine to help the Doctor when he collapsed. He discovered an alien machine that could show the future. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Wanderer (audio story)}})
 
After defeating the Daleks for a second time in the 22nd century, Ian was saddened to lose Susan, who fell in love and remained to lead Dalek resistance, which left only him, the Doctor and Barbara aboard the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)}})
 
==== After Susan ====
Ian came to believe that locking Susan out of the TARDIS was the bravest thing that he ever saw the Doctor do. Soon after leaving Susan the Doctor landed in the [[Orkney]] Isles in [[1956]]. After they left the TARDIS, it vanished with the Doctor in it. They started to explore the island where they were saved from drowning by [[Janet McKay]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Revenants (audio story)}})
 
After Susan left, Ian and Barbara considered leaving the Doctor's side when the TARDIS landed in the 1950s, and they spent three months attempting to adjust to a new life. But in the end, they rejoined the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Set in Stone (short story)}})
 
During a visit to [[19th century]] [[Afghanistan]], at the time of the [[First Afghan War]], Ian endured the most painful experience of his life when he was kidnapped by the brutal Gilzia chieftain, [[Gul Zaheer]], who delighted in playing twisted games of torture. Imprisoned for a month, Ian befriended a fellow British prisoner, [[Symonds]] and struck up a bond with him, a bond so strong that when Symonds was killed by Gul, Ian didn't hesitate in killing Gul by throwing him into a pit. The trauma he faced in the previous months changed Ian forever, and he was haunted at the fact that he was capable of cold-blooded [[murder]] when pushed too far. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Mire and Clay (short story)}})
 
Approaching the Doctor in the TARDIS, Ian and Barbara were shocked to discover that the Doctor was paralysed. Using a [[telepathic helmet]], Ian was able to learn that the [[Dalek]]s were behind this. He was able to find the source of the situation, the [[nerve machine]] being controlled by the Daleks and the Doctor was freed from their control. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Dr. Who and the Nerve Machine (comic story)}})
 
==== Later adventures ====
After landing in the caves of the planet [[Dido]], the murderer [[Bennett (The Rescue)|Bennett]] tried trapping the Doctor and Ian inside with a rockfall to hide his guilt of the murder of the people on board the crash landed ship the ''[[UK-201]]'', separating them from Barbara. After finding another way outside and following the death of Bennett, the Doctor, Ian and Barbara agreed to invite the orphaned [[Vicki Pallister|Vicki]] on board the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Rescue (TV story)}})
[[File:Romans-1 Ian close up.jpeg|thumb|Ian in the house of Giscard with Barbara. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Romans (TV story)}}]]
The travellers stayed in a villa in [[Assisium]] near [[Rome]] for several weeks in the year [[64]]. Ian and Barbara were taken as [[slave]]s by the slave traders [[Sevcheria]] and [[Didius]], with Ian being sold as a galley slave. Ian's galley sank in a storm and he was saved by his slave friend [[Delos]] by bringing him to shore, while they subsequently made their way to Rome. In Rome, Ian and Delos were recaptured and were made to fight each other to the death as [[gladiator]]s, but the two escaped again, and found that Barbara had been sold into the Emperor [[Nero]]'s palace. With the help of [[Tavius]], Ian and Delos sneaked into the palace to rescue Barbara, and Ian and Barbara returned to the villa before the Doctor and Vicki returned from their own adventures in Rome. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Romans (TV story)}})
 
They were next dragged down to the planet [[Vortis]]. When Ian and the Doctor went out to investigate, they were captured by [[Zarbi]]. Ian managed to escape the Zarbi with the help of a [[Menoptera]] named [[Vrestin]]. However, Ian and Vrestin fell underground and met the [[Optera]], who were going to sacrifice them until Ian convinced them that Vrestin was a [[god]]. Ian then convinced the Optera leader, [[Hetra]], to lead an expedition to find [[the Animus]]. When they found the Animus, it was destroyed by Barbara, and the four travellers left again in the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Web Planet (TV story)}})
 
They landed on [[Platform Five]] in the skies of the Planet [[Jobis]]. Soon after they arrived the [[Rocket Men]] and their leader [[Ashman (The Rocket Men)|Ashman]] invaded the station. He managed to disguise himself as one of the Rocket Men in order to find out more of their plans. After Ashman threw Barbara off the station, Ian dived out of the station to save her. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Rocket Men (audio story)}})
 
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki travelled to [[1868]], where they attended a [[lecture]] by [[Thomas Huxley]]. The four of them travelled into the [[London Underground]] to investigate a group of missing students and discovered that the Zarbi had populated themselves in there. Travelling further into the sewers, they found the Animus, who had reformed itself and had moved to [[Earth]] to take revenge on the human race. Ian was able to kill it by driving a [[train]] into it. The Doctor and his companions prepared to leave, but the Doctor discovered that his companions were missing, having been pulled out of time by [[Adam Mitchell]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Unnatural Selection (comic story)}})
 
Along with the Doctor's other companions, he was placed in suspended animation ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Choice (comic story)}}) but was freed soon afterwards to fight {{Ainley}}'s [[Auton]] army, being returned to his proper time and place when Adam stood down. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Endgame (POT comic story)}})
 
[[File:Ian is knighted.jpg|thumb|right|Ian is knighted by [[Richard the Lionheart]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Crusade (TV story)}})]]
When the travellers landed in [[12th century]] [[Palestine]] during the [[Crusades]], Ian was knighted Sir Ian of Jaffa by [[Richard the Lionheart]] and sent as an emissary to search for Barbara who had been abducted by the Saracens. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Crusade (TV story)}})
 
Whilst on [[Hisk]] he was in a trance state and believed he was being interrogated by [[Gerrard]]. He had to tell him about the Doctor and his travels. He realised that the technology that the locals used in their siestas was the same as his teaching machines. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Sleeping City (audio story)}})
 
He worked on a planet in a food preparation facility but he vanished. He noticed some mysterious fluid which was added to everything. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Unwinding World (audio story)}})
 
He was concerned that the Doctor and Vicki were becoming involved when they landed in [[Sonning Palace]]. When he met [[Robert de Wensley]] he used his title Sir Ian of Jaffa. After he heard that King [[Henry IV]] had been attacked Ian became worried for the Doctor's and Barbara's safety and travelled to London with [[Robert de Wensley]]. Whilst in London he met [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]. He was later imprisoned with the Doctor and Chaucer at [[Thomas Arundel]]'s whim. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Doctor's Tale (audio story)}})
 
=== Leaving the Doctor ===
Despite his obvious enjoyment of his travels, Ian never lost sight of his desire to return to his own home and time. When [[Mechonoid Incident|the opportunity arose]], Ian and Barbara risked travel in a [[Dalek time machine|Dalek time ship]] to return home. When they emerged from the time machine, they were delighted to be back and, according to one account, discovered that two years had passed since their departure. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}}) According to another account, the Doctor deliberately sent them to [[1965]] to synchronise the timelines. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Chase (novelisation)}})
 
[[File:Lon-don nine-teen sixty-five.jpg|thumb|left|Barbara and Ian having returned to their home time period ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}})]]
Ian and Barbara explained that their two year absence from London had been due to missionary work in [[Africa]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Who Killed Kennedy (novel)}}) though not many accepted this excuse. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|After the Daleks (audio story)}})
 
At some point, Ian was taken to the [[Black Archive]] by [[UNIT]] to have his record as a [[companion]] of the Doctor taken. His memories of the visit were subsequently erased and he was sent on his way. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Day of the Doctor (TV story)}})
 
=== Life after the Doctor ===
[[File:11 and Ian bicker.jpg|thumb|Ian bickers with the [[Eleventh Doctor]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}})]]
==== Adventure with the Eleventh Doctor ====
Sometime later in [[1965]], Ian and Barbara were pulled into an illusory world, and made to believe they were still at Coal Hill School. They encountered the [[Eleventh Doctor]], who helped them overcome the illusion, though Ian doubted that this was the same man.
 
Travelling to [[Cornucopia]], the three were attacked by "the Hunters of the Burning Stone", whom Ian attacked from behind after the Doctor distracted them. After Barbara had been kidnapped by [[Miss Ghost]], the creators of the metal the hunters sought, the [[Promethean]]s, appeared, revealing that they wanted Ian and Barbara, with the Hunters revealing themselves as the [[Tribe of Gum]], the Prometheans having gifted the tribe their psychic metal just after the TARDIS crew had fled the prehistoric era.
 
The Hunters then blasted Ian, Patrick and the Doctor with psychic energy. Ian and the Doctor were shown [[Patrick Lake]]'s memories, the formation of a new division of a space-focused branch of MI6 founded after a repelled [[Cyberman]] invasion in the early [[21st century]]. The Doctor, realised that the Prometheans were feeding on Patrick's psychic energy and shut down Patrick's conscious mind only for the Prometheans to then turn their attentions on the Time Lord, Ian helping him overcome his doubts and break free.
 
[[File:Ian & Barbara wedding.jpg|thumb|Ian and Barbara are wed. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}})]]When the Prometheans prepared to use a Neural Extractor to revert humanity to the state of caveman, Ian sparked the Doctor's idea to planet the image of the TARDIS in humanity's collective consciousness before Ian and Barbara managed to convince the Tribe to turn on the Prometheans, both sides destroying themselves. Returned to their own time, Ian and Barbara wed, the Doctor acting as Ian's best man. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}})
 
==== Continued association ====
In [[1966]], Ian and Barbara embarked on a cruise aboard the ''[[SS Jolly Wanderer]]'' at the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. They became embroiled in a [[Cold War]] plot involving an alien supercomputer and time travelling [[assassin]] [[Doom]] who accidentally unleashed a swarm of [[nanoform]]s that took over the ship. After Doom scuttled the ship, Ian found his way onto a lifeboat with Barbara and Doom - the latter of whom disappeared using her [[Doom's vortex manipulator|vortex manipulator]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Steel Cascade (audio story)}})
 
[[File:DWM 169 Brief Encounter.jpg|thumb|left|Ian in the late 20th century. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Untitled (DWM 169 short story)}})]]
In [[1968]], Ian authored a treatise on [[time travel]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|After the Daleks (audio story)}})
 
Ian became a science [[lecturer]] at a university, and gained a [[professor]]ship, specialising in [[astronomy]], as well as a wide range of other fields. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Who Killed Kennedy (novel)}}) However, despite having left the Doctor behind, he again got "caught up in his world" when he was contacted by [[UNIT]] in the [[1970s]] to assist in a temporally related problem. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Face of the Enemy (novel)}})
 
Ian and Barbara had a son, [[Johnny Chess|John Alydon Ganatus Chesterton]], who later became a pop singer under the name "Johnny Chess". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}}) The [[Seventh Doctor]]'s companion [[Ace]] was a fan of Johnny Chess. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Maker of Demons (audio story)}})
 
According to a rumour which [[Sarah Jane Smith]] shared with her friends [[Clyde Langer]] and [[Rani Chandra]], Barbara and Ian had become professors at the [[University of Cambridge]] by the [[2010s]] and reportedly had not aged since the [[1960s]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Death of the Doctor (TV story)}}) Other sources suggested that Ian and his wife had aged. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Untitled (DWM 169 short story)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}}, [[HOMEVID]]: {{cs|The Crusade (home video)}})
 
Years after his meeting with Richard the Lionheart, an aged Ian recalled the events in his home. ([[HOMEVID]]: {{cs|The Crusade (home video)}})
 
Sometime in the [[2010s]], an "I. Chesterton" had become the Chairman of the Governors for the [[Coal Hill School|Coal Hill Secondary School]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Day of the Doctor (TV story)}}) He was an old friend of [[the Doctor]]'s and was on his fourth [[honeymoon]] with [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Day of the Doctor (novelisation)}})
 
In their old age, Ian and Barbara mostly kept their stories to themselves, knowing what people were thinking when they found out the truth. Ian occasionally told people about his adventures. ([[HOMEVID]]: {{cs|The Crusade (home video)}}; [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Transit of Venus (audio story)}}, {{cs|The Revenants (audio story)}})
 
Ian and [[Steven Taylor]], among others, were later brought to an alternate [[Death Zone]] on [[Gallifrey]]. There he met the [[Fifth Doctor|fifth incarnation]] of the Doctor, who now looked younger than him. He also met fellow companions [[Sara Kingdom]], [[Polly Wright]] and [[Nyssa]] for the first time and encountered [[Dalek]]s and [[Sontaran]]s. According to this account, Ian Chesterton hadn't met the Doctor since his departure from his first incarnation, nor was he privy to the concept of [[regeneration]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Five Companions (audio story)}})
 
[[File:Ian Susan's War.jpg|thumb|Ian with a [[Sensorite]] during the [[Last Great Time War]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Susan's War (audio anthology)|Susan's War]]'')]]
He was brought by [[Pendolin]] to the [[Time Museum]]. He was shown things from his memories such as Coal Hill School and places from his travels. He had to evade a being who ate memories so Pendolin got him to remember. Pendolin abducted him in order to try and get the Doctor to come to the Museum. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Time Museum (audio story)}})
 
Fifty years after he had last seen [[Susan]], Ian was picked up by [[Veklin]] and taken to [[Gallifrey]] to join his former travelling companion in a diplomatic mission to the [[Sense Sphere]]. Travelling into the [[Interior]] with Susan, Ian helped her defeat a [[Dalek-Sensorite parasite]], winning the Sensorites as allies for the Time Lords. Though Ian was willing to offer more aid, he was returned to the moment he'd been retrieved from. When Barbara returned home, Ian told her of the adventure he'd just been on. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sphere of Influence (audio story)}})
 
Ian and Barbara attended [[Sarah Jane Smith]]'s memorial on a "bright, cold [[Spring]] day", where they discussed Sarah Jane with other guests, and helped fight the [[Jackals of the Backwards Clock]] to foil [[the Trickster]]'s revenge plot. ([[WC]]: {{cs|Farewell, Sarah Jane (webcast)}})
 
[[File:Ian Power of the Doctor 1.jpg|thumb|left|Ian in [[2022]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Power of the Doctor (TV story)}})]]
In [[2022]], Ian attended [[Companion support group|a meeting of many of the Doctor's past companions]], including [[Graham O'Brien]], [[Dan Lewis]], [[Yasmin Khan]], [[Tegan Jovanka]], [[Ace]], [[Melanie Bush]] and [[Jo Jones]]. He expressed surprise upon hearing Dan refer to the Doctor as "[[Thirteenth Doctor|her]]". ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Power of the Doctor (TV story)}}) He attended further meetings with this group, during which he would also meet [[Ryan Sinclair]]. He told them of his adventures involving [[Marco Polo]], [[Robespierre]], [[Richard the Lionheart]], [[Emperor Nero]], the [[Rocket Men|rocket men]], his second encounter with [[Tribe of Gum|prehistoric cavemen]], the [[Salem witch trials]], the [[Venusian (Venusian Lullaby)|Venusian]]s and the [[Zomite]]s, his relationship with [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]], and his travels to the [[22nd century]], the [[25th century]] and [[20th century London|London]] [[1965]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)}})
 
=== Death ===
According to one source, Ian was "a hundred and fifty years dead" as of [[2164]], placing his death circa [[2014]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? (audio story)}})
 
Another source indicated that he died not long after [[2022]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)}})
 
=== Legacy ===
[[File:Loose Ends Ian Memoriam.jpg|thumb|Ian is missed. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)}})]]
After Ian's death, the [[companion support group]] he met up with in [[2022]] gathered again in his memoriam, where they reflected on their time with him and his various stories concerning his travels with the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)}})
 
An [[oak]] tree was planted at the Coal Hill quad in memory of Ian and Barbara. Surviving two [[Dalek]] invasions, it remained to at least the end of the [[22nd century]] when it was found by Susan, who lived in the block of flats which Coal Hill had been converted to over a hundred years prior. Realising that the commemorative plaque had since been replaced more than once, Susan found it did not say when they ultimately [[died]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|All Hands on Deck (audio story)}})
 
He left his [[Swiss Army knife]] in the TARDIS. [[Ace]] found it and used it while she was stranded in the [[SARDIT]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)}})
 
As recounted by [[Susan|Susan Foreman]], the [[2150s Dalek invasion of Earth]] was waged by [[Dalek]]s who, having been [[Thal-Dalek battle|defeated]] by the [[Thal]]s led by Ian, used a [[Dalek time machine|TARDIS]] of their own to [[time travel|travel back through time]] to wreak revenge on Ian's [[human|people]] or, better still, prevent Ian himself from being born. However, they were unable to go any further back than [[2164]] due to a leak in their [[fluid link]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? (audio story)}})
 
=== Alternate timelines ===
Alternate versions of Ian and Barbara encountered the Seventh Doctor during a battle with [[the Valeyard]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Matrix (novel)}})
 
In an alternate version of the events leading to their discovery of the TARDIS imagined by Barbara while affected by a hostile alien intelligence, Barbara confided to Ian that she had been experiencing "episodes". She informed him again after having one while acting as a stand-in for Phys, and despite his concern, he told her that he wouldn't inform [[The Governors|the governors]]. At a later point, they discussed their mutual curiosity about a rather unusual pupil, Susan Foreman, prompting them to follow her to her home address, which Barbara had discovered to be a Junkyard. An old man showed up and questioned the teachers, who explained that they were looking for Susan. Ian mentioned getting the police when the man attacked Ian with a cane. Then Barbara killed the old man with a spear. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)}})
 
When the TARDIS was drawn to and destroyed [[Tick-Tock World|on a world where time was in a constant state of flux]], Ian, along with Barbara and the Doctor, was devoured by the [[Xesto]], creatures that consumed time and all other possible futures. When a future Susan managed to make contact with her past self, the resulting explosion caused by their violation of the [[Blinovitch Limitation Effect]] allowed the future Susan to reach back in time and help the Doctor avert the original crash. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Tick-Tock World (audio story)}})
 
In an aborted timeline created by {{Pratt}} using a conceptual bomb, Ian, Barbara, Susan, and the Doctor, along with the Doctor's other incarnations and companions, were dragged to the [[59A Barnsfield Crescent|same address]] in 1963. Soon, Ian and Barbara's travels and first time meeting the Doctor were erased. This timeline was later negated primarily by the Fifth, [[Sixth Doctor|Sixth]], [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]], and First Doctors. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Light at the End (audio story)}})


== Personality ==
== Personality ==
[[File:Ian dances (sort of).jpg|left|thumb|Ian dances to "[[Ticket to Ride]]". ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')]]
[[File:Ian dances (sort of).jpg|left|thumb|Ian dances to "[[Ticket to Ride]]". ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)|namedep=The Executioners (1)}})]]
Ian was fiercely loyal and would stand by any decision made by the rest of his group even if he disagreed with it himself. Like Barbara, Ian was keen to return home, ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'') prompting him to depart from the Doctor's company at the first chance. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'') He usually put others' interests before his, especially Barbara, whom he always looked after. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'', ''[[The Keys of Marinus]]'')
Ian was fiercely loyal and would stand by any decision made by the rest of his group even if he disagreed with it himself. Like Barbara, Ian was keen to return home, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Sensorites (TV story)}}) prompting him to depart from the Doctor's company at the first chance despite having developed a friendship. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}}) He usually put others' interests before his, especially Barbara, whom he always looked after. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Keys of Marinus (TV story)}}) Despite his loyalty, Ian was not against standing up to the Doctor when he felt he was being unreasonable; when the Doctor called him a "tiresome young man", Ian retorted "And you're a stubborn old man!" ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)|namedep=The Forest of Fear (3)}})
 
Being a science teacher, Ian was initially sceptical about the TARDIS's time-travelling capabilities, having believed that time just happened and then it was finished and that you couldn't get "on and off whenever you like in the past or the future". However, he admitted he would be satisfied if he saw the truth for himself. ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)|namedep=The Cave of Skulls (2)}})


Although Ian was essentially a moral character and had stopped the Doctor from killing the caveman [[Za]] with a rock on their first adventure ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]''), he was willing to kill in defence. Having been forced into hand-to-hand combat, Ian accidentally killed the Aztec warrior [[Ixta]] when he fell over the side of a pyramid. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs]]'') Ian threatened [[Lobos (The Space Museum)|Lobos]], saying that killing him might be enjoyable, though he may have been bluffing. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Space Museum]]'')
On a number of occasions, Ian endured the severe test of facing his fears. While searching for Barbara in Palestine, Ian was captured and staked in the desert, daubed with honey to attract [[ant]]s. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Crusade (TV story)}}) Ian's instinctive fear of ants may have been increased with his encounter with [[Zarbi]] on [[Vortis]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Web Planet (TV story)}})


Barbara noted that it was the quiet girls who interested Ian the most. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Byzantium!]]'')
Although Ian was essentially a moral character and had stopped the Doctor from killing the caveman [[Za]] with a rock on their first adventure, ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)|namedep=The Forest of Fear (3)}}) he was willing to kill if necessary. Having been forced into hand-to-hand combat, Ian accidentally killed the Aztec warrior [[Ixta]] when he fell over the side of a pyramid. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Aztecs (TV story)}}) Ian threatened [[Lobos (The Space Museum)|Lobos]], saying that killing him might be enjoyable, though he may have been bluffing. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Space Museum (TV story)}}) Ian developed his skill as a swordsman during his travels. He was also capable at unarmed combat. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Aztecs (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Crusade (TV story)}}; [[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}}) Barbara noted that it was the quiet girls who interested Ian the most. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Byzantium! (novel)}})


He was well-acquainted with music artists who were popular with his students such as John Smith and the Common Men ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'') and even danced to "[[Ticket to Ride]]" by [[the Beatles]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')
He was well-acquainted with music artists who were popular with his students such as [[John Smith and the Common Men]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|An Unearthly Child (TV story)|namedep=An Unearthly Child (1)}}) and even danced to "[[Ticket to Ride]]" by [[the Beatles]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)|namedep=The Executioners (1)}})
 
According to an account which was unreliable due to the [[mind parasite]], Ian was a supporter of the [[Liberal Party]] whereas Barbara supported the [[Conservative Party]]. She regarded his politics as "wrong but romantic." ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)}})
 
He was a supporter of the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] and participated in the [[Aldermaston]] marches. It was on the marches that he and Barbara first became friends. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Doctor's Tale (audio story)}})
 
Ian was fiercely protective of his companions, unhesitatingly standing up to those who would threaten them. Barbara even noted that Ian seemed to carry the burden of their safety on his shoulders. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Tick-Tock World (audio story)}}) Such did this define his character that the Master was able to quickly bring Ian under his control by promising to keep Barbara safe. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Destination Wars (audio story)}})
 
By his own admission, he was somewhat old-fashioned when it came to women, often assuming a protective attitude towards them. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Tick-Tock World (audio story)}}, {{cs|An Unearthly Woman (audio story)}})


== Appearance ==
== Appearance ==
Ian continued to wear parts of his Coal Hill School attire whilst travelling. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'') His black and emerald green-striped tie (the school colours) was destroyed when the Doctor tested acidic water with it. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Web Planet]]'') He wore a pinstripe shirt on one occasion. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')
Ian was handsome, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Edge of Destruction (novelisation)}}) stocky and well-built ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Sensorites (novelisation)}}) with an open and cheery face. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child (novelisation)}}) His regular features and neatly-parted black hair gave him an air of honest reliability. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Reign of Terror (novelisation)}}) At [[Coal Hill School]], he wore the traditional sports jacket and flannel of a [[teacher|schoolmaster]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child (novelisation)}})


After visiting [[13th century]] [[China]], Ian received a Chinese-style gown. ([[DW]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'') He continued to wear it on Marinus. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keys of Marinus]]'') He also dressed for various historical occasions, including donning a toga with his hair (which almost always remained in its 'square', early '60s styling) combed forward by Barbara ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'') and taking the guise of an Aztec warrior, complete with a bird-headed helmet. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs]]'')
Ian continued to wear parts of his Coal Hill attire whilst travelling. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)}}) His [[Coal Hill School tie|black and emerald green-striped tie]] (the school colours) was destroyed when the Doctor tested acidic water with it. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Web Planet (TV story)}}) He wore a pinstripe shirt on one occasion. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Chase (TV story)}})
 
After visiting [[13th century]] [[China]], Ian received a Chinese-style gown. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Marco Polo (TV story)}}) He continued to wear it on Marinus. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Keys of Marinus (TV story)}}) He also dressed for various historical occasions, including donning a [[toga]] with his hair (which almost always remained in its "square", early 1960s styling) combed forward by Barbara ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Romans (TV story)}}) and taking the guise of an [[Aztec]] warrior, complete with a bird-headed helmet. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Aztecs (TV story)}})


== Behind the scenes ==
== Behind the scenes ==
* The roles of Ian and Barbara as, respectively, science and history teachers were part of the series' original plan to alternate between science-fiction and historical stories. In one of the original format documents, Ian's age is listed as twenty-seven.
=== Overview ===
* In the early 1990s, William Russell reprised the role of an aged Ian for a series of links in BBC Video's restoration of [[DW]]: ''[[The Crusade]]''.
* The roles of Ian and Barbara as, respectively, [[science]] and [[history]] [[teacher]]s were part of the series' original plan to alternate between science-fiction and historical stories. Originally, the character was named "Cliff". ([[DWMSE 7]])
*He was originally supposed to return in ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]],'' but William Russell was unavailable, so his role was re-written for [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|the Brigadier]].
*He was supposed to make a cameo in ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', but [[William Russell]] declined.
*In the late 1990s, [[William Russell]] reprised the role of an aged Ian for a series of links in BBC Video's restoration of ''[[The Crusade (TV story)|The Crusade]]''. It was filmed at his actual house, being passed off as Ian's house.
* Ian and Barbara are the only regular companions from the "black and white era" to meet a "new series" Doctor, having had an adventure with the [[Eleventh Doctor]] in the comic story ''[[Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)|Hunters of the Burning Stone]]''.
* He was named after theologian {{w|G. K. Chesterton}}.
* At one stage, he was named C.E.E Chesterton and was a headmaster.
* The audio story ''[[The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)|The Flames of Cadiz]]'' reveals that Ian spent his early childhood in [[Sunderland]]. This is a reference to Sunderland being the [[place of birth|birthplace]] of William Russell.


=== Information from invalid sources ===
In the [[charity publication|charity]] story ''An Unearthly Palaver'', Ian and Barbara investigated their rude student [[Panda]], back to his "[[Celestial Omnibus|home]]" in [[Putney Common]] with [[Iris Wildthyme]]. Upon seeing the conditions Panda was living in, he threatened to call [[social services]].
{{Coal Hill School}}
{{Companions of the First Doctor}}
{{Companions of the First Doctor}}
{{Companions of the Eleventh Doctor}}


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Latest revision as of 03:44, 3 November 2024

Ian Chesterton
Appearances
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This article needs a big cleanup.

As detailed at Thread:264489, to avoid overly long articles, highly-recurring character pages' biography should only have AT MOST 2-3 sentences per story, not whole paragraphs of plot detail. This page needs a major cleanup in that area.

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Sir Ian Francis Chesterton, Knight of Jaffa, was a companion of the First Doctor.

A science teacher at Coal Hill School in 1960s London, Ian and Barbara Wright unwillingly joined the Doctor and Susan in the TARDIS. The two spent years trying to return home, during which Susan departed and they were joined by Vicki Pallister, before ultimately managing to do so in a Dalek time machine. They went on to marry.

Ian later had adventures with the Fifth and Eleventh Doctors and was reunited with Susan during the Last Great Time War.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Childhood[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian Francis Chesterton (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"]) was born in Reading (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"]) in 1934 or 1935 (PROSE: The Aztecs [+]Loading...["The Aztecs (novelisation)"]) and spent his earliest years in the North East of England, where he supported Sunderland F.C. with his father. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz [+]Loading...["The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)"]) He grew up in London during the Blitz in World War II (AUDIO: The Time Museum [+]Loading...["The Time Museum (audio story)"]) and had a brother and sister with whom he went on family holidays to a cottage in North Wales. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"]) He was raised in the Church of England. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz [+]Loading...["The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)"])

As a child, Father Michael taught Ian the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Tiger (novel)"]) He would visit his grandparents every Sunday and enjoyed climbing the trees in their garden. (AUDIO: A Small Semblance of Home [+]Loading...["A Small Semblance of Home (audio story)"]) As a boy, he holidayed in the Peak District. (AUDIO: The Invention of Death [+]Loading...["The Invention of Death (audio story)"])

Ian was taught Latin at school by Mr Dumbie. His form teacher when he was thirteen was called Mr Quibbs. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])

The young Ian loved the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, whose stories inspired him to pursue a career in science, (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Tiger (novel)"]) and also enjoyed reading the Carter of Mars books. (COMIC: A Religious Experience [+]Loading...["A Religious Experience (comic story)"]) Ian's hero was Sir Francis Drake. He had seen films depicting the Spanish Armada in which Drake was played by Errol Flynn and Queen Elizabeth I were played by Bette Davis and Flora Robson. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz [+]Loading...["The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)"])

Young adulthood[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian went to university and earnt a degree in the sciences. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks [+]Loading...["Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)"]) He was a member of the Harlequins Third XV, playing the position of wing-three quarter, and once got drunk at a rugby club in Bath. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])

During the 1950s, (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Tiger (novel)"]) Ian was a private in the British Army. His national service number was 15110404. (PROSE: The Time Travellers [+]Loading...["The Time Travellers (novel)"]) He served the first part of his national service in Wales, during which time he boxed. (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Tiger (novel)"]) He also served in Cyprus for a time. (AUDIO: Domain of the Voord [+]Loading...["Domain of the Voord (audio story)"]) He later joined the Royal Air Force, serving the remainder of his national service in Malay, (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy [+]Loading...["The Face of the Enemy (novel)"]) from which he was honourably discharged after two years. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])

He would later claim to have never been a soldier. (AUDIO: Sphere of Influence [+]Loading...["Sphere of Influence (audio story)"]) Also in the 1950s, Ian visited Pugwash in Nova Scotia. (PROSE: Who Discovered America? [+]Loading...["Who Discovered America? (short story)"]) In addition, he had always wanted to visit Australia (AUDIO: The Transit of Venus [+]Loading...["The Transit of Venus (audio story)"]) and New York City. (AUDIO: The Great White Hurricane [+]Loading...["The Great White Hurricane (audio story)"]) He visited Geoffrey Chaucer's tomb in Westminster Abbey. (AUDIO: The Doctor's Tale [+]Loading...["The Doctor's Tale (audio story)"])

Ian fell in love with Suzy, who died after being hit by a Ford Anglia. He found out about her death in a newspaper and was devastated, later dreaming that he was there when it happened. (PROSE: Romans Cutaway [+]Loading...["Romans Cutaway (short story)"])

Teaching at Coal Hill[[edit] | [edit source]]

By 1963, he had begun teaching at Coal Hill School in London, as a science teacher, (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"], PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"]) but also taught English and occasionally PE. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"]) At the time, he lived in a small flat (PROSE: A Long Night [+]Loading...["A Long Night (short story)"]) on Fenby Street with Mrs Russell as his landlady. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz [+]Loading...["The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)"]) Whilst some accounts placed his flat in Shoreditch, (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Tiger (novel)"], A Long Night [+]Loading...["A Long Night (short story)"]) one placed it in Paddington. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks [+]Loading...["Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)"])

According to one account, Ian met Barbara Wright during his first year teaching at Coal Hill. That year was also the first time the two of them met outside of the school, with one such occasion being when he helped her with a school history trip to the Tower of London at the end of the summer term in June. Ian had not enjoyed the tour, owing to the scorching heat and the noisy school children accompanying them, who found a plethora of ways to annoy him, including getting lost, dripping ice lollies and screaming, fraying both of the teachers' tempers. (PROSE: The Nine-Day Queen [+]Loading...["The Nine-Day Queen (short story)"])

On one occasion, Ian taught his class about Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin. One student, which Ian recalled was either called Cedric or Sydney, wanted to know if other moulds could affect bacteria and so Ian helped the student to set up an experiment to test this, growing moulds on different food and culturing bacteria on different petri dishes in the student's own time. At the final experiment, another boy told the student the expected result in the experiment, having read it in an encyclopaedia. From that point, the student's interest in science was lost, teaching Ian that one should "never mess with people's dreams". (AUDIO: The Transit of Venus [+]Loading...["The Transit of Venus (audio story)"])

Most accounts agreed that Ian taught Susan Foreman from at least March 1963 (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"], PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"]) in classroom C3. (PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane [+]Loading...["Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)"])

On 26 March 1963, Ian's science class spent forty minutes establishing that magnesium burns, an activity which bored Susan. On 28 March, the heating stopped working at Coal Hill, so Ian had all the bunsen burners on at full blast, which apparently made no difference. On 29 March, all of Year Four were put in the Coal Hill assembly hall and given board games. They were supervised by Ian, who allowed them to play records, even suggesting dancing to keep warm. On 30 March, Ian and Barbara saw the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning at the Rialto. Susan and her friend Gillian Roberts had snuck in to see the X-certificate film, and had to hide themselves from the two teachers to avoid having their ages given away.

On 1 April - as part of an array of pranks played by teachers for April Fools' Day - Ian sent Little Titch Critchley to fetch a "left-handed blackboard rubber" from the supplies cupboard. Later that day, despite the headmaster having banned snowballs, Ian threw a snowball at fellow teacher A. Okehurst, launching a snowball fight between them. While this was going on, the Cold began to awaken and a Cold-controlled snowman stabbed Francis Minto in the leg with a shard of ice. Ian then went for a nurse. The Cold was eventually defeated by the First Doctor, who took it to Pluto in the far future. (PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])

On one summer holiday, Ian holidayed in a seaside town in Dorset. He met a fortune teller called Rosy Parks, but when putting out his hand to have his palm read, a wound from a splinter he had removed earlier in the day opened and blood poured out, causing Rosy to leave. At a later date, he attended a party hosted by Barbara, where he met another fortune teller, this time named Rosemary. She told him they would have to meet in person for her to be able to read his future properly.

The following Friday, he met with Rosemary, who told him that he would go on a long journey and face many great challenges and that he could change his fate by not taking a package from a woman in a café. As Ian took his money out to pay for the session, Rosemary grabbed the money and left, leaving a package - her crystal ball - behind. Ian took the ball with him, allegedly sealing his fate. (PROSE: The Splintered Gate [+]Loading...["The Splintered Gate (short story)"])

Every year, he participated in the pupils versus teachers cricket match, as the bowler. (PROSE: Romans Cutaway [+]Loading...["Romans Cutaway (short story)"]) He also coached the Coal Hill five-a-side football team. (PROSE: The Nine-Day Queen [+]Loading...["The Nine-Day Queen (short story)"])

He was intrigued by Susan's advanced scientific knowledge — she saw simple experiments involving inactive chemicals turning from red to blue as child's play and also pointed out to him that a problem involving A, B and C as the three dimensions was impossible to solve without the use of D and E to represent the dimensions of time and space. In talking with Barbara, he found he was not the only one who had noticed Susan's unusual knowledge and ability. (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"])

Ian befriended River Song when she joined the staff as a history teacher and acted as a sort of guide for her, welcoming her to the school and inviting her to join him and other teachers at a pub after work, where he introduced her to Barbara. The trio investigated Sheila Page's strange behaviour and found that she and Lloyd Walker were missing whilst their foster father was dead. Ian and Barbara fetched the police and returned to find that River had located LLoyd, whom they took care of whilst River searched for Sheila. Before leaving Coal Hill, River said a fond goodbye to the two teachers. (AUDIO: An Unearthly Woman [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Woman (audio story)"])

Travels in the TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Meeting the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

On their final day at Coal Hill School for some time, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright discuss Susan Foreman. (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"]

According to most accounts, (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"], The Sensorites [+]Loading...["The Sensorites (TV story)"], et. al) Ian and Barbara decided to indulge their curiosity about Susan and followed her to 76 Totter's Lane junkyard, coming across the TARDIS and meeting the unhelpful First Doctor. Believing Susan to be trapped inside of the TARDIS, they forced their way in and, to ensure that they did not tell anybody, the Doctor dematerialised the TARDIS with them inside.

Ian initially refused to believe that the TARDIS had travelled anywhere, but soon learnt that the Doctor and Susan were telling the truth. He, Barbara and Susan tried to save the Doctor when he was kidnapped by Kal, but were captured and taken to join him in the Cave of Skulls. The old woman freed them and they helped the injured Za, but they were then returned to the cave until Ian devised a way of scaring the cavemen by setting the skulls on fire, allowing them to escape to the TARDIS and depart. (TV: An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"])

According to another account, Ian was in Shoreditch after applying unsuccessfully for a job as a research assistant at Donneby's, being bored of teaching. He was involved in a car crash at Barnes Common and met Barbara, Susan and the Doctor for the first time, entering the TARDIS and materialising on Skaro. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks [+]Loading...["Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)"]) During the Last Great Time War, the Barber-Surgeon met a "version" of the Doctor who explained these events as how they met Ian and Barbara. The War Doctor, however, explained the version of events in the Totter's Lane junkyard. Upon being told of the version involving Ian's car breaking down, the War Doctor declared "that never happened", which the Barber-Surgeon replied to by noting "everything's happened somewhere". (AUDIO: The Horror [+]Loading...["The Horror (audio story)"])

Early adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian takes in his surroundings on his first alien planet. (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"])

When the TARDIS landed on Skaro, the travellers entered the Dalek City in search of mercury and Ian, the Doctor and Susan were imprisoned by the Daleks, after which Ian learnt that the Doctor had lied about mercury and took the fluid link, refusing to return it until they found Barbara. After a failed attempt in which the Daleks incapacitated Ian's legs, they managed to find Barbara and escaped, Ian and the Doctor convincing the Thals to attack the city. With the Daleks defeated, the travellers left Skaro for Earth. (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"])

The fast return switch caused strange phenomena in the TARDIS which caused distrust between the schoolteachers and the alien travellers, the Doctor believing that Ian and Barbara had sabotaged the ship. Once the situation was resolved, Ian told the Doctor that he did not have to apologise for how he had acted and what he had said, telling him that he could "read every thought on [his] face". (TV: The Edge of Destruction [+]Loading...["The Edge of Destruction (TV story)"])

Ian often was protective of his fellow travellers. (TV: Planet of Giants [+]Loading...["Planet of Giants (TV story)"])

The TARDIS landed in the Plain of Pamir in 1289 where the travellers met Marco Polo and travelled with him to Cathay after he took possession of the TARDIS and its keys. Ian and Marco saved Barbara from Malik and Acomat in the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes and, later, Ian discovered that Tegana planned to assassinate Kublai Khan and to take the TARDIS as a gift for Nogai. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's duel in Peking, the travellers escaped in the repaired TARDIS. (TV: Marco Polo [+]Loading...["Marco Polo (TV story)"])

After leaving China, the travellers arrived on Avalon in 2991 where Ian and the Doctor joined the quest to find Merlin's Helm. (PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice [+]Loading...["The Sorcerer's Apprentice (novel)"])

The travellers landed in 1002 Greenland and the travellers, requiring plutonium, journeyed with Eric the Red to North America. They located plutonic rocks in Newfoundland and returned to the TARDIS. (PROSE: Who Discovered America? [+]Loading...["Who Discovered America? (short story)"])

On Marinus, Ian and Barbara learnt of the location of one of the micro-circuits for the Conscience of Marinus from Darrius and recovered it from the cave of the Ice Soldiers. In Millenius, Ian was framed by Aydan for the murder of Eprin and theft of another micro-circuit, resulting in him being charged and tried in a court of law. He was found guilty before Aydan and his accomplices were exposed, after which the travellers returned to the Great City with the keys. Ian gave Yartek a fake key which destroyed the Conscience and killed Yartek in the explosion. (TV: The Keys of Marinus [+]Loading...["The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"])

Arriving inside the tomb of Menkaure in Egypt in 26th century BC, the Ian, Barbara, the Doctor and Susan were arrested and taken to the palace. Itennu planned to assassinate Pharaoh Menkaure with a poison dart and then blame the travellers. However, the Doctor inadvertently foiled the attempt with his walking stick and, when a more open attack began, the TARDIS crew fled back to the TARDIS. (COMIC: The Forgotten [+]Loading...["The Forgotten (comic story)"])

On an apparently drifting spaceship, he found a dead body in an airlock. After examining the ship with Toban he was attacked by a Shift. Barbara rescued him from his imprisonment, but was captured herself. This made Ian distraught. He wanted to go after Barbara. He helped the Doctor to build a radiation filter to go after the Shifts. He realised that the Doctor had suggested riding a radiation stream. After the ship was damaged by an electromagnetic pulse he drove it into a gas bubble for protection which Myla though was suicide. His actions caused the section where the Doctor was to go missing. He went on a spacewalk with Toban to get to the engineering section to restart the engines. Getting into the engineering section he was attacked by the Shift. He and Susan piloted a small ship to lure Arran back to the Endevour. He then drew Arran back to the ship. (AUDIO: The Age of Endurance [+]Loading...["The Age of Endurance (audio story)"])

The Doctor and his companions arrived in an Aztec temple in Mexico. They went through a one-way passage that prevented their return to the TARDIS. Barbara posed as the Aztec god, Yetaxa, with the others as her servants, to find a way back. Ian was declared rival to the warrior Ixta.

Susan was to be punished for denying marriage to the Perfect Victim and Ian to be executed when he was framed by the High Priest of Sacrifice, Tlotoxl, for attacking the High Priest of Knowledge, Autloc. Autloc's faith in Yetaxa was shattered and he left for the wilderness. The Doctor, Ian and the Doctor's accidental fiancée, Cameca, distracted Ian and Susan's guard to escape. Ian prevented Tlotoxl's murder of Barbara and fought off Ixta. They worked on a wheel-and-pulley system to open the doorway back to the TARDIS. As they departed, the human sacrifice of the Perfect Victim continued as planned. (TV: The Aztecs [+]Loading...["The Aztecs (TV story)"])

The Doctor landed inside a spaceship in the 28th century, where two crewmembers were suspended in a state resembling death and another, John, had had his mind opened and turned insane, following an attack on their minds by the Sensorites. The Sense Sphere, which the ship had been trapped around, had its aqueducts' water supply poisoned with atropine by survivors of a previous human expedition whose ship had been destroyed.

The TARDIS's lock was taken by the Sensorites, leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped on the spaceship. After the Doctor and his companions resisted the Sensorites, the Doctor, Ian and Susan agreed to go down to the Sense Sphere, where the Doctor worked out the cure for this "disease", which had also afflicted Ian, while the Sensorite scientists treated John. The Doctor and Ian, later followed by Barbara, went to the aqueducts where Atropa belladonna had been growing. They found the human expedition and pretended to be a welcoming party for them and that the "war" against the Sensorites was won. The expedition were taken into custody on Maitland's ship. Maitland's ship was free to leave and the TARDIS crew had regained their lock. (TV: The Sensorites [+]Loading...["The Sensorites (TV story)"])

After visiting the Sense Sphere they landed on the Endeavour where the Doctor wanted to throw him and Barbara off the ship. Whilst trapped on the ship with the Doctor he met James Cook soon after they observed the Transit of Venus. He started to hear voices which the Doctor didn't believe was true. He was thrown off the ship by Joseph Banks or so he believed in a delirium. He was still experiencing the effects of the Sensorite's telepathy, and this allowed Barbara to tell him that she was still alive and hadn't drowned. (AUDIO: The Transit of Venus [+]Loading...["The Transit of Venus (audio story)"])

When the group landed on Destination, Ian and Barbara mistakenly presumed they were landed on Earth in the future; their mistake was proven wrong when their host, Robac, explained to them the meaning of Space Year 2003 (the date on Destination) as the year since when the forefathers of Destination arrived on the planet. Ian, Barbara and the Doctor followed Robac to the central building to undergo bureaucratic matters, but Ian was sent back by the Doctor to retrieve Susan. He arrived just in time to witness Susan and Reena, Robac's daughter, being summoned to meet the Inventor, the mysterious benefactor of Destination; he went along with them and met the Master. Hypnotised by him, he told the Master everything about him, Barbara and the Doctor, and was later subdued into sleep. When he woke up, Barbara and the Doctor had joined them, and Ian assisted the Master in explaining to the travellers how he exploited the development of Destination's people to rebuild his TARDIS and leave Destination. Ian was then thrown out in the middle of the war between Destination's colonists and the original people, the Dalmari, as part of the Master's attempt to force the Doctor to give up the TARDIS key. Together with Susan and Barbara, he found the resistance fighters of Destination and stopped their leader, Tanna, from using nuclear energy by distracting her with talks of science. He and Barbara then received a call apparently from the Doctor to come back to the TARDIS; when they got here, the Master was waiting for them. He hypnotised them and got them to join him in the TARDIS, promising to take them home. However, Ian and Barbara managed to overcome the hypnosis by focusing on each other, allowing them to subdue the Master and use the fast return switch to return to the Doctor and Susan. (AUDIO: The Destination Wars [+]Loading...["The Destination Wars (audio story)"])

Upon leaving Destination, the TARDIS landed in 1888 New York City where Ian was almost immediately shot and Susan kidnapped. The bullet only grazed Ian, but Barbara insisted on him recuperating in the hospital before realising that the Great White Hurricane was approaching. After Ian, with a mild concussion, was released from the hospital, he and Barbara helped Rosalita home only for her son Joseph to have been taken away by her husband Henry. Following him to the train station, they found the tracks frozen over, Ian forcing an opportunist to use his ladder to rescue the people for free. After Rosalita had been reunited with her family, Ian and Barbara returned to the TARDIS. (AUDIO: The Great White Hurricane [+]Loading...["The Great White Hurricane (audio story)"])

The Doctor attempted to use a temporal slingshot to return to 1963 only to wind up on the planet Ashtallah, home of the Ashtallans, an immortal race with prodigious healing abilities. After witnessing their cells quickly healing Barbara, the group conversed with the Ashtallans, Ian telling Brenna about love before a mysterious plague began killing the aliens. As Ian investigated, he found Sharlan to be the culprit, using a sample of Barbara's blood to kill their people, falling out of a window in his fear to distance himself from them, being found by Susan. Sharlan was eventually convinced to stand down her crusade with Ashthallan cells being used to heal Ian. As the group flew away from the planet, the Doctor wondered what effect Ashtallan biology would have on Ian and Barbara, wondering if they would ever age. (AUDIO: The Invention of Death [+]Loading...["The Invention of Death (audio story)"])

When the TARDIS landed in 19th century Japan before it was opened to Westerners, Ian and Susan managed to escape the forces of Takagi Mamoru, being rescued by the Red Samurai. Eventually reuniting with the Doctor and Barbara, the group found themselves in a battle between Mamoru's samurais and the Emperor's forces. As Mamoru's defeat, Susan retrieve the TARDIS, allowing the group to leave. (AUDIO: The Barbarians and the Samurai [+]Loading...["The Barbarians and the Samurai (audio story)"])

Soon afterwards, the TARDIS landed in Tyre, where they, Ian in particular, won the favour of Princess Elissa and the ire of King Pygmalion. As Pygmalion was to bless his new ship, Ian was nearly killed before he was rescued by Elissa and brought aboard the ship as they sailed away from Tyre, fighting off Elissa's flirtations. Arriving at the site of the future Carthage, Ian nearly found himself in Elissa's company forever before the Doctor caught up with them and painted him and his friends as emissaries of the gods. After defeating Pygmalion's fleet, the TARDIS crew took off again, Ian finding that he'd inspired Aeneas, before the ship was drawn to a temporally unstable planet. (AUDIO: The Phoenicians [+]Loading...["The Phoenicians (audio story)"])

As the ship hurled out of control, Susan suggested drawing power from the TARDIS force field, being supported by an echo from a fading future version of herself, allowing the engines to break free. (AUDIO: Tick-Tock World [+]Loading...["Tick-Tock World (audio story)"])

During a "night" in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Susan showed Ian and Barbara around the TARDIS before Susan showed her teachers some sketches she'd made of them. (COMIC: In-Between Times [+]Loading...["In-Between Times (comic story)"]) Ian later took a personal tour of the TARDIS, marvelling at the size of the interior. When the ship later landed on an unnamed planet, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara found a path of skulls laid to honour the dead. (COMIC: The Path of Skulls [+]Loading...["The Path of Skulls (comic story)"])

A later attempt to use the fast return switch to get Ian and Barbara home, resulted in the group's return to Skaro, fifty cycles after their last visit. Brought to the Thal City, Ian was shown some of their inventions by Tryana before he, the Doctor, and Tryana returned to the Dalek City to find the missing Susan and Jyden, Tryana's own son. Finding that power still thrummed in the city, the group descended where they reunited with the children and met the Dalek Supreme who claimed to want peace. Remaining to validate this claim, the Doctor found a secret tunnel that led to the Thal City. While he and Tryana were taken prisoner, Ian managed to escape through the tunnel, witnessing two Dalek drones take control of an ionising tower. Reuniting with his friends, Ian rallied the Thals against the Daleks once again, playing the part of a prisoner to free the Doctor who reprogrammed the ionising towers to destroy the Daleks before the group left Skaro again. (AUDIO: Return to Skaro [+]Loading...["Return to Skaro (audio story)"])

The TARDIS then landed in Ekaterinburg, shortly before the Russian Civil War, where Ian and the Doctor were quickly taken prisoner, befriending Makerenkov, a fellow prisoner. Returning to the house of the royals, Makerenkov revealed himself to be an assassin. When the Doctor caught up with them, Nicholas II revealed that he had come to terms with death and encouraged them to flee. Running back to the TARDIS, the Doctor confided his recent doubts in Ian before the TARDIS unexpectedly lost power. (AUDIO: Last of the Romanovs [+]Loading...["Last of the Romanovs (audio story)"])

With Susan's help, the Doctor managed to restore enough power to the ship to force it to self-repair which necessitated an emergency landing. The travellers found themsleves on a dystopian future Earth where they were taken prisoner and forced to submit to a genetic scan to prove they were human. At the Doctor's order, Ian caused a distraction to allow the Doctor to program a false reading into the machine, allowing Susan to pass as human. The genetic drift of humanity however was so much that Ian and Barbara did not read as human either, sent to work in the mines with the gestalt being Brooskin. When Ian tried to escape, he wound up exposing himself to the vacuum of space with Brooskin informing the humans that they were not on Earth but on Urth, a space habitat smaller than London. Following Susan currying the favour of the settlement's rulers, she managed to free her friends before representatives from the remainder of the human race arrived. Convinced that the problems would sort themselves out very shortly, the travellers made for the TARDIS and left. (AUDIO: For the Glory of Urth [+]Loading...["For the Glory of Urth (audio story)"])

When the Doctor was convinced that the ship had been fully repaired, the group found themselves in London 1601. When they attempted to visit the Globe Theatre, they instead found a volatile political climate before they met Judith Shakespeare who introduced them to William Shakespeare and hosted them for dinner. After Susan and Judith had bonded over being treated like children and escaped the house, Ian went after them only to be injured and drawn into Lady Penelope Rich's plot to dethrone Elizabeth I. After this had resulted in Shakespeare's arrest, Ian posed as the Robert Devereaux, injured during a peaceful protest gone awry, before Queen Elizabeth returned and brought the conflict to a swift end. When the time came to leave, Susan, Barbara and Ian expressed a desire to stay and see a play before an outside source activated the TARDIS and sent it flying away from England. (AUDIO: The Hollow Crown [+]Loading...["The Hollow Crown (audio story)"])

At some point during his travels with the Doctor, Susan and Barbara, they visited Bob Dovie at 59A Barnsfield Crescent in Totton, Hampshire on 23 November 1963. (AUDIO: The Light at the End [+]Loading...["The Light at the End (audio story)"])

When they landed in Alexandria and stayed for a while, he became employed as a customs official. He encountered Hypatia who wanted the books on the ship he impounded. He found Hypatia interesting. He found thanks to Hypatia a book that looked like something from his own time, it was a Mim reconnaissance mission. (AUDIO: The Library of Alexandria [+]Loading...["The Library of Alexandria (audio story)"])

He was intrigued by a play he saw in Seville about Elizabeth I and her sentencing of Mary Queen of Scots. He wanted to save the people who were in a house that the Spanish Inquisition burnt done as the church thought they were stealing from the church. He tried to stop Esteban Aribi from being arrested but was arrested himself. After he was rescued by Barbara and Susan, he went with Esteban to deliver a message to Francis Drake. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz [+]Loading...["The Flames of Cadiz (audio story)"])

They later landed in a flotilla of ships on the planet Hydra where they were captured by Amyra Kaan and Pan Vexel for being stowaways. Whilst helping a rescue mission he discovered that the invaders on the planet were the Voord. He was tasked in interrogating Nebrin. He joined a landing party to help fight off the Voord in the capital of this world. When he and Susan found the TARDIS he forced Susan to pilot it away from the hands of the Voord. He was later imprisoned and forced to work as a slave. He was later rescued by Amyra and taken to the Doctor. Ian then helped the Doctor destroy the Voord machine. (AUDIO: Domain of the Voord [+]Loading...["Domain of the Voord (audio story)"])

He found Russia interesting when he met Grigori Rasputin. He helped Grigori to find medicine to help the Doctor when he collapsed. He discovered an alien machine that could show the future. (AUDIO: The Wanderer [+]Loading...["The Wanderer (audio story)"])

After defeating the Daleks for a second time in the 22nd century, Ian was saddened to lose Susan, who fell in love and remained to lead Dalek resistance, which left only him, the Doctor and Barbara aboard the TARDIS. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth [+]Loading...["The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)"])

After Susan[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian came to believe that locking Susan out of the TARDIS was the bravest thing that he ever saw the Doctor do. Soon after leaving Susan the Doctor landed in the Orkney Isles in 1956. After they left the TARDIS, it vanished with the Doctor in it. They started to explore the island where they were saved from drowning by Janet McKay. (AUDIO: The Revenants [+]Loading...["The Revenants (audio story)"])

After Susan left, Ian and Barbara considered leaving the Doctor's side when the TARDIS landed in the 1950s, and they spent three months attempting to adjust to a new life. But in the end, they rejoined the Doctor. (PROSE: Set in Stone [+]Loading...["Set in Stone (short story)"])

During a visit to 19th century Afghanistan, at the time of the First Afghan War, Ian endured the most painful experience of his life when he was kidnapped by the brutal Gilzia chieftain, Gul Zaheer, who delighted in playing twisted games of torture. Imprisoned for a month, Ian befriended a fellow British prisoner, Symonds and struck up a bond with him, a bond so strong that when Symonds was killed by Gul, Ian didn't hesitate in killing Gul by throwing him into a pit. The trauma he faced in the previous months changed Ian forever, and he was haunted at the fact that he was capable of cold-blooded murder when pushed too far. (PROSE: Mire and Clay [+]Loading...["Mire and Clay (short story)"])

Approaching the Doctor in the TARDIS, Ian and Barbara were shocked to discover that the Doctor was paralysed. Using a telepathic helmet, Ian was able to learn that the Daleks were behind this. He was able to find the source of the situation, the nerve machine being controlled by the Daleks and the Doctor was freed from their control. (COMIC: Dr. Who and the Nerve Machine [+]Loading...["Dr. Who and the Nerve Machine (comic story)"])

Later adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

After landing in the caves of the planet Dido, the murderer Bennett tried trapping the Doctor and Ian inside with a rockfall to hide his guilt of the murder of the people on board the crash landed ship the UK-201, separating them from Barbara. After finding another way outside and following the death of Bennett, the Doctor, Ian and Barbara agreed to invite the orphaned Vicki on board the TARDIS. (TV: The Rescue [+]Loading...["The Rescue (TV story)"])

Ian in the house of Giscard with Barbara. (TV: The Romans [+]Loading...["The Romans (TV story)"]

The travellers stayed in a villa in Assisium near Rome for several weeks in the year 64. Ian and Barbara were taken as slaves by the slave traders Sevcheria and Didius, with Ian being sold as a galley slave. Ian's galley sank in a storm and he was saved by his slave friend Delos by bringing him to shore, while they subsequently made their way to Rome. In Rome, Ian and Delos were recaptured and were made to fight each other to the death as gladiators, but the two escaped again, and found that Barbara had been sold into the Emperor Nero's palace. With the help of Tavius, Ian and Delos sneaked into the palace to rescue Barbara, and Ian and Barbara returned to the villa before the Doctor and Vicki returned from their own adventures in Rome. (TV: The Romans [+]Loading...["The Romans (TV story)"])

They were next dragged down to the planet Vortis. When Ian and the Doctor went out to investigate, they were captured by Zarbi. Ian managed to escape the Zarbi with the help of a Menoptera named Vrestin. However, Ian and Vrestin fell underground and met the Optera, who were going to sacrifice them until Ian convinced them that Vrestin was a god. Ian then convinced the Optera leader, Hetra, to lead an expedition to find the Animus. When they found the Animus, it was destroyed by Barbara, and the four travellers left again in the TARDIS. (TV: The Web Planet [+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"])

They landed on Platform Five in the skies of the Planet Jobis. Soon after they arrived the Rocket Men and their leader Ashman invaded the station. He managed to disguise himself as one of the Rocket Men in order to find out more of their plans. After Ashman threw Barbara off the station, Ian dived out of the station to save her. (AUDIO: The Rocket Men [+]Loading...["The Rocket Men (audio story)"])

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki travelled to 1868, where they attended a lecture by Thomas Huxley. The four of them travelled into the London Underground to investigate a group of missing students and discovered that the Zarbi had populated themselves in there. Travelling further into the sewers, they found the Animus, who had reformed itself and had moved to Earth to take revenge on the human race. Ian was able to kill it by driving a train into it. The Doctor and his companions prepared to leave, but the Doctor discovered that his companions were missing, having been pulled out of time by Adam Mitchell. (COMIC: Unnatural Selection [+]Loading...["Unnatural Selection (comic story)"])

Along with the Doctor's other companions, he was placed in suspended animation (COMIC: The Choice [+]Loading...["The Choice (comic story)"]) but was freed soon afterwards to fight the Tremas Master's Auton army, being returned to his proper time and place when Adam stood down. (COMIC: Endgame [+]Loading...["Endgame (POT comic story)"])

Ian is knighted by Richard the Lionheart. (TV: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (TV story)"])

When the travellers landed in 12th century Palestine during the Crusades, Ian was knighted Sir Ian of Jaffa by Richard the Lionheart and sent as an emissary to search for Barbara who had been abducted by the Saracens. (TV: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (TV story)"])

Whilst on Hisk he was in a trance state and believed he was being interrogated by Gerrard. He had to tell him about the Doctor and his travels. He realised that the technology that the locals used in their siestas was the same as his teaching machines. (AUDIO: The Sleeping City [+]Loading...["The Sleeping City (audio story)"])

He worked on a planet in a food preparation facility but he vanished. He noticed some mysterious fluid which was added to everything. (AUDIO: The Unwinding World [+]Loading...["The Unwinding World (audio story)"])

He was concerned that the Doctor and Vicki were becoming involved when they landed in Sonning Palace. When he met Robert de Wensley he used his title Sir Ian of Jaffa. After he heard that King Henry IV had been attacked Ian became worried for the Doctor's and Barbara's safety and travelled to London with Robert de Wensley. Whilst in London he met Geoffrey Chaucer. He was later imprisoned with the Doctor and Chaucer at Thomas Arundel's whim. (AUDIO: The Doctor's Tale [+]Loading...["The Doctor's Tale (audio story)"])

Leaving the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Despite his obvious enjoyment of his travels, Ian never lost sight of his desire to return to his own home and time. When the opportunity arose, Ian and Barbara risked travel in a Dalek time ship to return home. When they emerged from the time machine, they were delighted to be back and, according to one account, discovered that two years had passed since their departure. (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) According to another account, the Doctor deliberately sent them to 1965 to synchronise the timelines. (PROSE: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (novelisation)"])

Barbara and Ian having returned to their home time period (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"])

Ian and Barbara explained that their two year absence from London had been due to missionary work in Africa, (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"]) though not many accepted this excuse. (AUDIO: After the Daleks [+]Loading...["After the Daleks (audio story)"])

At some point, Ian was taken to the Black Archive by UNIT to have his record as a companion of the Doctor taken. His memories of the visit were subsequently erased and he was sent on his way. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"])

Life after the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian bickers with the Eleventh Doctor. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"])

Adventure with the Eleventh Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Sometime later in 1965, Ian and Barbara were pulled into an illusory world, and made to believe they were still at Coal Hill School. They encountered the Eleventh Doctor, who helped them overcome the illusion, though Ian doubted that this was the same man.

Travelling to Cornucopia, the three were attacked by "the Hunters of the Burning Stone", whom Ian attacked from behind after the Doctor distracted them. After Barbara had been kidnapped by Miss Ghost, the creators of the metal the hunters sought, the Prometheans, appeared, revealing that they wanted Ian and Barbara, with the Hunters revealing themselves as the Tribe of Gum, the Prometheans having gifted the tribe their psychic metal just after the TARDIS crew had fled the prehistoric era.

The Hunters then blasted Ian, Patrick and the Doctor with psychic energy. Ian and the Doctor were shown Patrick Lake's memories, the formation of a new division of a space-focused branch of MI6 founded after a repelled Cyberman invasion in the early 21st century. The Doctor, realised that the Prometheans were feeding on Patrick's psychic energy and shut down Patrick's conscious mind only for the Prometheans to then turn their attentions on the Time Lord, Ian helping him overcome his doubts and break free.

Ian and Barbara are wed. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"])

When the Prometheans prepared to use a Neural Extractor to revert humanity to the state of caveman, Ian sparked the Doctor's idea to planet the image of the TARDIS in humanity's collective consciousness before Ian and Barbara managed to convince the Tribe to turn on the Prometheans, both sides destroying themselves. Returned to their own time, Ian and Barbara wed, the Doctor acting as Ian's best man. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"])

Continued association[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 1966, Ian and Barbara embarked on a cruise aboard the SS Jolly Wanderer at the Mediterranean Sea. They became embroiled in a Cold War plot involving an alien supercomputer and time travelling assassin Doom who accidentally unleashed a swarm of nanoforms that took over the ship. After Doom scuttled the ship, Ian found his way onto a lifeboat with Barbara and Doom - the latter of whom disappeared using her vortex manipulator. (AUDIO: The Steel Cascade [+]Loading...["The Steel Cascade (audio story)"])

Ian in the late 20th century. (PROSE: Untitled [+]Loading...["Untitled (DWM 169 short story)"])

In 1968, Ian authored a treatise on time travel. (AUDIO: After the Daleks [+]Loading...["After the Daleks (audio story)"])

Ian became a science lecturer at a university, and gained a professorship, specialising in astronomy, as well as a wide range of other fields. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"]) However, despite having left the Doctor behind, he again got "caught up in his world" when he was contacted by UNIT in the 1970s to assist in a temporally related problem. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy [+]Loading...["The Face of the Enemy (novel)"])

Ian and Barbara had a son, John Alydon Ganatus Chesterton, who later became a pop singer under the name "Johnny Chess". (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)"], PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"]) The Seventh Doctor's companion Ace was a fan of Johnny Chess. (AUDIO: Maker of Demons [+]Loading...["Maker of Demons (audio story)"])

According to a rumour which Sarah Jane Smith shared with her friends Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra, Barbara and Ian had become professors at the University of Cambridge by the 2010s and reportedly had not aged since the 1960s. (TV: Death of the Doctor [+]Loading...["Death of the Doctor (TV story)"]) Other sources suggested that Ian and his wife had aged. (PROSE: Untitled [+]Loading...["Untitled (DWM 169 short story)"], AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"], HOMEVID: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (home video)"])

Years after his meeting with Richard the Lionheart, an aged Ian recalled the events in his home. (HOMEVID: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (home video)"])

Sometime in the 2010s, an "I. Chesterton" had become the Chairman of the Governors for the Coal Hill Secondary School. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]) He was an old friend of the Doctor's and was on his fourth honeymoon with Barbara. (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (novelisation)"])

In their old age, Ian and Barbara mostly kept their stories to themselves, knowing what people were thinking when they found out the truth. Ian occasionally told people about his adventures. (HOMEVID: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (home video)"]; AUDIO: The Transit of Venus [+]Loading...["The Transit of Venus (audio story)"], The Revenants [+]Loading...["The Revenants (audio story)"])

Ian and Steven Taylor, among others, were later brought to an alternate Death Zone on Gallifrey. There he met the fifth incarnation of the Doctor, who now looked younger than him. He also met fellow companions Sara Kingdom, Polly Wright and Nyssa for the first time and encountered Daleks and Sontarans. According to this account, Ian Chesterton hadn't met the Doctor since his departure from his first incarnation, nor was he privy to the concept of regeneration. (AUDIO: The Five Companions [+]Loading...["The Five Companions (audio story)"])

Ian with a Sensorite during the Last Great Time War. (AUDIO: Susan's War)

He was brought by Pendolin to the Time Museum. He was shown things from his memories such as Coal Hill School and places from his travels. He had to evade a being who ate memories so Pendolin got him to remember. Pendolin abducted him in order to try and get the Doctor to come to the Museum. (AUDIO: The Time Museum [+]Loading...["The Time Museum (audio story)"])

Fifty years after he had last seen Susan, Ian was picked up by Veklin and taken to Gallifrey to join his former travelling companion in a diplomatic mission to the Sense Sphere. Travelling into the Interior with Susan, Ian helped her defeat a Dalek-Sensorite parasite, winning the Sensorites as allies for the Time Lords. Though Ian was willing to offer more aid, he was returned to the moment he'd been retrieved from. When Barbara returned home, Ian told her of the adventure he'd just been on. (AUDIO: Sphere of Influence [+]Loading...["Sphere of Influence (audio story)"])

Ian and Barbara attended Sarah Jane Smith's memorial on a "bright, cold Spring day", where they discussed Sarah Jane with other guests, and helped fight the Jackals of the Backwards Clock to foil the Trickster's revenge plot. (WC: Farewell, Sarah Jane [+]Loading...["Farewell, Sarah Jane (webcast)"])

Ian in 2022. (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"])

In 2022, Ian attended a meeting of many of the Doctor's past companions, including Graham O'Brien, Dan Lewis, Yasmin Khan, Tegan Jovanka, Ace, Melanie Bush and Jo Jones. He expressed surprise upon hearing Dan refer to the Doctor as "her". (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"]) He attended further meetings with this group, during which he would also meet Ryan Sinclair. He told them of his adventures involving Marco Polo, Robespierre, Richard the Lionheart, Emperor Nero, the rocket men, his second encounter with prehistoric cavemen, the Salem witch trials, the Venusians and the Zomites, his relationship with Barbara, and his travels to the 22nd century, the 25th century and London 1965. (PROSE: Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam [+]Loading...["Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)"])

Death[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to one source, Ian was "a hundred and fifty years dead" as of 2164, placing his death circa 2014. (AUDIO: Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? [+]Loading...["Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? (audio story)"])

Another source indicated that he died not long after 2022. (PROSE: Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam [+]Loading...["Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)"])

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian is missed. (PROSE: Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam [+]Loading...["Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)"])

After Ian's death, the companion support group he met up with in 2022 gathered again in his memoriam, where they reflected on their time with him and his various stories concerning his travels with the Doctor. (PROSE: Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam [+]Loading...["Loose Ends 5: Ian Memoriam (short story)"])

An oak tree was planted at the Coal Hill quad in memory of Ian and Barbara. Surviving two Dalek invasions, it remained to at least the end of the 22nd century when it was found by Susan, who lived in the block of flats which Coal Hill had been converted to over a hundred years prior. Realising that the commemorative plaque had since been replaced more than once, Susan found it did not say when they ultimately died. (AUDIO: All Hands on Deck [+]Loading...["All Hands on Deck (audio story)"])

He left his Swiss Army knife in the TARDIS. Ace found it and used it while she was stranded in the SARDIT. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Loading...["Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)"])

As recounted by Susan Foreman, the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth was waged by Daleks who, having been defeated by the Thals led by Ian, used a TARDIS of their own to travel back through time to wreak revenge on Ian's people or, better still, prevent Ian himself from being born. However, they were unable to go any further back than 2164 due to a leak in their fluid link. (AUDIO: Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? [+]Loading...["Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? (audio story)"])

Alternate timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alternate versions of Ian and Barbara encountered the Seventh Doctor during a battle with the Valeyard. (PROSE: Matrix [+]Loading...["Matrix (novel)"])

In an alternate version of the events leading to their discovery of the TARDIS imagined by Barbara while affected by a hostile alien intelligence, Barbara confided to Ian that she had been experiencing "episodes". She informed him again after having one while acting as a stand-in for Phys, and despite his concern, he told her that he wouldn't inform the governors. At a later point, they discussed their mutual curiosity about a rather unusual pupil, Susan Foreman, prompting them to follow her to her home address, which Barbara had discovered to be a Junkyard. An old man showed up and questioned the teachers, who explained that they were looking for Susan. Ian mentioned getting the police when the man attacked Ian with a cane. Then Barbara killed the old man with a spear. (PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane [+]Loading...["Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)"])

When the TARDIS was drawn to and destroyed on a world where time was in a constant state of flux, Ian, along with Barbara and the Doctor, was devoured by the Xesto, creatures that consumed time and all other possible futures. When a future Susan managed to make contact with her past self, the resulting explosion caused by their violation of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect allowed the future Susan to reach back in time and help the Doctor avert the original crash. (AUDIO: Tick-Tock World [+]Loading...["Tick-Tock World (audio story)"])

In an aborted timeline created by the Decayed Master using a conceptual bomb, Ian, Barbara, Susan, and the Doctor, along with the Doctor's other incarnations and companions, were dragged to the same address in 1963. Soon, Ian and Barbara's travels and first time meeting the Doctor were erased. This timeline was later negated primarily by the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and First Doctors. (AUDIO: The Light at the End [+]Loading...["The Light at the End (audio story)"])

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian dances to "Ticket to Ride". (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"})

Ian was fiercely loyal and would stand by any decision made by the rest of his group even if he disagreed with it himself. Like Barbara, Ian was keen to return home, (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"], The Sensorites [+]Loading...["The Sensorites (TV story)"]) prompting him to depart from the Doctor's company at the first chance despite having developed a friendship. (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"]) He usually put others' interests before his, especially Barbara, whom he always looked after. (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"], The Keys of Marinus [+]Loading...["The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"]) Despite his loyalty, Ian was not against standing up to the Doctor when he felt he was being unreasonable; when the Doctor called him a "tiresome young man", Ian retorted "And you're a stubborn old man!" (TV: "The Forest of Fear" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"The Forest of Fear (3)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"})

Being a science teacher, Ian was initially sceptical about the TARDIS's time-travelling capabilities, having believed that time just happened and then it was finished and that you couldn't get "on and off whenever you like in the past or the future". However, he admitted he would be satisfied if he saw the truth for himself. (TV: "The Cave of Skulls" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"The Cave of Skulls (2)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"})

On a number of occasions, Ian endured the severe test of facing his fears. While searching for Barbara in Palestine, Ian was captured and staked in the desert, daubed with honey to attract ants. (TV: The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (TV story)"]) Ian's instinctive fear of ants may have been increased with his encounter with Zarbi on Vortis. (TV: The Web Planet [+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"])

Although Ian was essentially a moral character and had stopped the Doctor from killing the caveman Za with a rock on their first adventure, (TV: "The Forest of Fear" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"The Forest of Fear (3)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}) he was willing to kill if necessary. Having been forced into hand-to-hand combat, Ian accidentally killed the Aztec warrior Ixta when he fell over the side of a pyramid. (TV: The Aztecs [+]Loading...["The Aztecs (TV story)"]) Ian threatened Lobos, saying that killing him might be enjoyable, though he may have been bluffing. (TV: The Space Museum [+]Loading...["The Space Museum (TV story)"]) Ian developed his skill as a swordsman during his travels. He was also capable at unarmed combat. (TV: The Aztecs [+]Loading...["The Aztecs (TV story)"], The Crusade [+]Loading...["The Crusade (TV story)"]; COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"]) Barbara noted that it was the quiet girls who interested Ian the most. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])

He was well-acquainted with music artists who were popular with his students such as John Smith and the Common Men, (TV: "An Unearthly Child" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"An Unearthly Child (1)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}) and even danced to "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"})

According to an account which was unreliable due to the mind parasite, Ian was a supporter of the Liberal Party whereas Barbara supported the Conservative Party. She regarded his politics as "wrong but romantic." (PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane [+]Loading...["Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)"])

He was a supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and participated in the Aldermaston marches. It was on the marches that he and Barbara first became friends. (AUDIO: The Doctor's Tale [+]Loading...["The Doctor's Tale (audio story)"])

Ian was fiercely protective of his companions, unhesitatingly standing up to those who would threaten them. Barbara even noted that Ian seemed to carry the burden of their safety on his shoulders. (AUDIO: Tick-Tock World [+]Loading...["Tick-Tock World (audio story)"]) Such did this define his character that the Master was able to quickly bring Ian under his control by promising to keep Barbara safe. (AUDIO: The Destination Wars [+]Loading...["The Destination Wars (audio story)"])

By his own admission, he was somewhat old-fashioned when it came to women, often assuming a protective attitude towards them. (AUDIO: Tick-Tock World [+]Loading...["Tick-Tock World (audio story)"], An Unearthly Woman [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Woman (audio story)"])

Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian was handsome, (PROSE: The Edge of Destruction [+]Loading...["The Edge of Destruction (novelisation)"]) stocky and well-built (PROSE: The Sensorites [+]Loading...["The Sensorites (novelisation)"]) with an open and cheery face. (PROSE: Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child (novelisation)"]) His regular features and neatly-parted black hair gave him an air of honest reliability. (PROSE: The Reign of Terror [+]Loading...["The Reign of Terror (novelisation)"]) At Coal Hill School, he wore the traditional sports jacket and flannel of a schoolmaster. (PROSE: Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child (novelisation)"])

Ian continued to wear parts of his Coal Hill attire whilst travelling. (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"]) His black and emerald green-striped tie (the school colours) was destroyed when the Doctor tested acidic water with it. (TV: The Web Planet [+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) He wore a pinstripe shirt on one occasion. (TV: The Chase [+]Loading...["The Chase (TV story)"])

After visiting 13th century China, Ian received a Chinese-style gown. (TV: Marco Polo [+]Loading...["Marco Polo (TV story)"]) He continued to wear it on Marinus. (TV: The Keys of Marinus [+]Loading...["The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"]) He also dressed for various historical occasions, including donning a toga with his hair (which almost always remained in its "square", early 1960s styling) combed forward by Barbara (TV: The Romans [+]Loading...["The Romans (TV story)"]) and taking the guise of an Aztec warrior, complete with a bird-headed helmet. (TV: The Aztecs [+]Loading...["The Aztecs (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Overview[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The roles of Ian and Barbara as, respectively, science and history teachers were part of the series' original plan to alternate between science-fiction and historical stories. Originally, the character was named "Cliff". (DWMSE 7)
  • He was originally supposed to return in Mawdryn Undead, but William Russell was unavailable, so his role was re-written for the Brigadier.
  • He was supposed to make a cameo in The Five Doctors, but William Russell declined.
  • In the late 1990s, William Russell reprised the role of an aged Ian for a series of links in BBC Video's restoration of The Crusade. It was filmed at his actual house, being passed off as Ian's house.
  • Ian and Barbara are the only regular companions from the "black and white era" to meet a "new series" Doctor, having had an adventure with the Eleventh Doctor in the comic story Hunters of the Burning Stone.
  • He was named after theologian G. K. Chesterton.
  • At one stage, he was named C.E.E Chesterton and was a headmaster.
  • The audio story The Flames of Cadiz reveals that Ian spent his early childhood in Sunderland. This is a reference to Sunderland being the birthplace of William Russell.

Information from invalid sources[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the charity story An Unearthly Palaver, Ian and Barbara investigated their rude student Panda, back to his "home" in Putney Common with Iris Wildthyme. Upon seeing the conditions Panda was living in, he threatened to call social services.

v • e
Coal Hill School
Students
1960s
1980s
1990s
2010s
Teachers
1960s
Ian Chesterton (science) • Barbara Wright (history)
Mr Lamb (German) • Mr Grange (geography) • Mrs Bellweather (music) • Mlle Quelou (French) • A. Okehurst (PE) • River Song (supply teacher)
Mr Cooper (maths) • Mr Foster (English) • Miss Ireland (English) • Colonel Rook • Joseph Liebermann (RE) • Shivani Bajwa • Missy
1990s
2010s
Clara Oswald (English) • Danny Pink (maths)
Ms Brownlee (Head of Year) • Tom • Adrian Davies (English) • Jo • James H
Jeff Delobel (French) • Mrs Temple • Mr Perkins
Andrea Quill (physics)
Miss Shah (history) • Veronica Cutler (assistant) • Mr Harris (chemistry) • Mr Carlisle (literature) • Unnamed 1 • Mr Pringle • Unnamed 2 (French) • Dave Braithwaite • Helen (geography)
Staff
Governors:
Headteachers:
Office staff:
Coaches:
Counsellors:
Maintenance:
Locations
Buildings
Grounds
Rooms
Classes:
C3 • C4 • C6 • 1C • 2A • 2B • 3B • 4B • 9M4 • 10M3 • 11F • B3 • D15
Halls:
Offices:
Other:
Groups
Clubs
Football
Other
Events
Foreman Street / Coal Hill Road
www.coalhillschool.sch.uk
v • e
Companions of the First Doctor
Original to television
Multi-adventure
Narratively ambiguous
Original to prose
Multi-adventure
Single-adventure
Narratively ambiguous
Original to comics
Original to audio
Original to video games
If a medium is not mentioned, then this incarnation did not have companions who were original to that medium; it does not mean that this Doctor failed to appear in that medium.
v • e
Companions of the Eleventh Doctor
Original to television
Multi-story
Single-adventure
Multi-adventure
Original to prose
Original to comics
Multi-story
Single-adventure
Original to audio
Multi-story
Single-adventure
Multi-adventures reference the rare instance when a companion is shown or stated to have multiple adventures with the Doctor but only appears in a single story.
If a medium is not mentioned, then this incarnation did not have companions who were original to that medium; it does not mean that this Doctor failed to appear in that medium.
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