Astrid Peth

Astrid Peth
Place of origin:	Sto
Appearances:	DW: Voyage of the Damned DW: "Journey's End" (re-used footage)
Main actor:	[[actor::Kylie Minogue|Kylie Minogue]]

Biography

Astrid Peth was an alien from the planet Sto who worked as a waitress aboard the Titanic. All her life she dreamed of seeing other planets. She first met The Doctor when she broke a glass and he offered to help her clean it up, but she rejected. Instead he decided to take her on a teleport trip down to Earth. There she met Wilfred Mott who told her and The Doctor that people had abandoned London due to all the alien invasions and that they happened at Christmas. The Doctor and Astrid are teleported back up to the ship. The Doctor noticed that the Titanic's shields were down, and there were three asteroids on course to impact the ship. They all complained to the Steward, but the asteroids hit the ship and killed most of the passengers apart from The Doctor, Astrid and a small group of passengers consisting of Rickston Slade, Foon Van Hoff, Morvin Van Hoff, Bayldon Copper, and Bannakaffalatta. They then discovered that The Heavenly Host where killing all the survivors. They then found their way to safety but Foon, Morvin and Bannakaffalatta died along the way. Astrid then decided to help The Doctor by creeping down to Max Capricorn's lair; prior to this, the Doctor, impressed by her courage, invited her to join him in his travels and she accepted. When she encountered Capricorn, she used a fork lift to push him over the edge of an abyss but he had cut the brakes and Astrid fell down with him into the engines. Using an advanced transmat system, the Doctor attempted to resurrect her but failed so he let her fly as atoms so she could fullfil her dreams of exploring the Galaxy. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

When Davros made the comment "Every where you go there are always deaths". The Doctor has a flashback of people who had died along his journey, Astrid was among those people. (DW: Journey's End)

Personality

To be added

Alternative Timeline

When Donna Noble turned right to the wrong job interview, time was changed as The Doctor was killed on Christmas Eve 2007. He would never have crashed into the Titanic causing Astrid to die a different way, as the ship would have crashed into London killing everyone on board. (DW: Turn Left)

Notes

• Astrid is an anagram of TARDIS. The name Astrid (Old Norse: Ástríðr) is of North Germanic origin, literally meaning "fair goddess" (áss (goodess) and fríð (fair)). Peth is also Welsh for 'part', which whilst implying that Astrid ultimately has some connection to the Doctor's time-ship, proved to be unfounded in the episode.

Behind the scenes

Conception and behind the scenes

• Astrid was originally named Peth Harmone.

• It was officially announced that Kylie Minogue was to feature as Astrid in "Voyage of the Damned" by the BBC on 3 July 2007 following rumours in the press and sightings of her filming.

• Russell T Davies stated the character was always be going to be a "one-off" even before Kylie Minogue was cast and that Astrid would demonstrate "a whole new take - again - on what a companion can be."

• Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant interviewed Kylie Minogue about her role in "Voyage of the Damned" on BBC Radio 2 in X-Amining Kylie first broadcast on 27th November 2007. On Doctor Who Confidential, Minogue describes Astrid as a "dreamer" and that meeting with the Doctor rekindles Astrid's desire to explore. Russell T. Davies reveals that when he first discussed the role of Astrid with Kylie Minogue he had not written that she would be killed off.

• Astrid is the first companion in the revived series of Doctor Who to never set foot in the TARDIS, let alone travel in it. She only sees the TARDIS from a distance adrift.

• As with most "one-time" companions, Astrid's actual status as an "official" companion is a matter of debate among fans. (See also Sara Kingdom, Grace Holloway, and also Donna Noble per The Runaway Bride). Astrid's case is made stronger by the fact that during the course of the story she is directly invited to join the Doctor, much like Grace Holloway, and she directly accepts, albeit she dies before setting foot in the TARDIS.

• The British newspaper "News of the World" released a report before the broadcast of Voyage of the Damned, claiming the Minogue's character would in fact be a sexy Cyberwoman.

As being considered a companion, Astrid was the first companion in 23 years since Turlough who is not human (although the home planet of Jack Harkness has not been stated on screen as being Earth)

See also

to be added