Sylvia Noble
Biography
Sylvia Noble (née Mott) was the daughter of Eileen and Wilfred Mott, the wife of Geoff Noble, and the mother of Donna Noble. At Christmas 2007, she attended her daughter's unsuccessful wedding to Lance Bennett. She did not believe Donna when she returned for the reception, but the reception was soon attacked by Robot Santas and killer Christmas trees. According to her daughter, she cooks enough for twenty every Christmas. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
In 2008, Sylvia lost her husband. Subsequently, Donna moved back at home with her mother and grandfather. Sylvia was shown to be trying to persuade Donna to get a job and find a place of their own. During a night out with her friends, one of them, Suzette Chambers, started producing Adipose infants. Along with other passers-by, Sylvia was witness to the nursery ship picking up the infant creatures. (DW: Partners in Crime)
Encounters with the Doctor
When Donna briefly returned to her family, she opted not to tell Sylvia that she was travelling with the Doctor. However, Sylvia met the Tenth Doctor again just before she saved her father from suffocating in her car. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky.)
Medusa Cascade Incident
When the Earth was moved to the Medusa Cascade, Sylvia was astonished at what had happened. Her father told her to stay inside as it was 'the women' the aliens always wanted. She later went out and along with Wilf, witnessed the Daleks killing an entire family in their own house using total extermination. In a bid to escape, Wilf, armed with a paint gun, fled with a hesitant Sylvia away from the Daleks, but they were stopped in their tracks by a Dalek scout. Wilf tried to disarm its eyestalk with a paint gun, but the Dalek wiped the paint away. Sylvia, entirely worried by now, told her dad to leave it, and when the Dalek was about to exterminate them, Rose Tyler saved them by blowing the Dalek in half. Rose had been trying to find them so she could locate Donna. Sylvia and Wilf took Rose to their house and Sylvia was shocked when Wilf said "Donna phoned last time from the planet Midnight". Being very flippant of the events of the invasion around her, Sylvia did not figure out that Donna was travelling with the Doctor across the stars and it took her father to help her open her eyes. When the subwave network came through from Harriet Jones, Rose was unable to get in touch with the Doctor because of lack of a webcam, which Wilf said was because Sylvia thought they were naughty. Rose was able to see Francine Jones with her daughter Martha, the whole of Torchwood 3 and Sarah Jane Smith with her young son Luke on the laptop.
Harriet Jones, Torchwood 3, Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones were able to send a signal out to the Doctor using the subwave signal and a telephone muber as the signal. Sylvia and Wilf contributed to sending the signal out with their own mobile phones and when contact was made with the TARDIS, asking for good luck, Rose Tyler vanished from Sylvia's living room in a bright flash, much to Sylvia's astonishment. She later feared for Donna's life, but was relieved when the Earth was returned to the Solar System. Sadly, Donna's memory was wiped, as she was now part human, part Time Lord in a Time Lord-human Metacrisis. Sylvia was resentful of the Tenth Doctor, asking him to leave their home. But after these events, she would have a much healthier relationship with her daughter, as in her eyes, Donna was still the most important woman in the universe. (DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End)
Later life
Sylvia and Wilf never mentioned the Doctor to Donna and kept everything secret about him. It was not till Christmas Day 2009 that she saw the Doctor again, when he was chasing the Master, his old enemy. Later that day, when the Master took control of the Immortality Gate, she became part of the Master race along with Donna's fiancé Shaun Temple. Donna was unaffected though did remember everything about the Doctor. When she returned to normal, she watched as Gallifrey returned and was then sent back by the Doctor. She finally accepted the Doctor as a friend, even praying for his help when Gallifrey appeared. When the Doctor returned Wilf at the end of the adventure, she actually smiled at him, something she'd never done before. She later attended Donna's wedding to Shaun and said farewell to the Doctor along with Wilf. The Doctor gave them a winning lottery ticket as a wedding gift for Donna, securing their financial future. Also, when she learned he got the money for the ticket from her husband Geoff, she was clearly shocked and touched by his actions. (DW: The End of Time)
Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline, Sylvia's persistence of Donna going to work for Jival Chowdry succeeds. As a result, Donna never went to work at H.C. Clements and never got engaged to Lance Bennett. Therefore, she was never transported into the TARDIS on her wedding day to meet the Tenth Doctor. The Doctor subsequently died defeating the Racnoss. We learn of Sylvia's despair of her husband Geoff Noble being ill and some time after he sadly passes away. While at a hotel for a Christmas country holiday, Sylvia tells her daughter how her (Donna's) father would have loved the place they were staying in. But then the Titanic crashed down on London. The Nobles were then forced to move into Leeds, where a huge relocation scheme was running. The South of England was now flooded with radiation and conditions were becoming much harsher as Donna and her family moved into a house shared by Rocco Colastanto's family. Sylvia joined in with some of the fun activities the families were playing, like singing Bohemian Rhapsody, but sadly slipped deeper and deeper into depression, thinking each day of someone she knew in London who was now dead. Donna tried to comfort her mother, but it was too late, as Sylvia's mental state collapsed into deep depression. When Donna asked if she had always been a disappointment in her mother's eyes, Sylvia just answered "yeah".
Donna then joined Rose Tyler with UNIT to remove the Time Beetle from her back, but to do so Donna must travel back in time to the vital moment at the T-Junction and turn left, not right like her mother wants her to. This alternate Donna throws herself in front of a delivery van which causes a traffic jam to the right of the junction, encouraging the past Donna to turn left. The original reality returns and the Time Beetle is killed as the Tenth Doctor enters the room but a looming message of Bad Wolf entity warns that the end of the universe is near and the Doctor and Donna rush home to Earth.
Family
- Wilfred Mott - father
- Geoff Noble - husband, deceased
- Donna Temple-Noble - daughter
- Shaun Temple - son-in-law
Personality
Sylvia is known to be a bit bossy, and likes things to be a certain way. She rarely uses tact when talking to others, and is often insulting or condescending when speaking to her father or daughter. She seems to be a bit depressed since her husband died, and doesn't act like she values the rest of her family very much. Sylvia tends to be very practical, and has a hard time believing in aliens, even when presented with very obvious encounters.
Sylvia also deeply mistrusts and dislikes the Doctor, probably stemming from his actions at Donna's first wedding to Lance. Later, after the Doctor returns Donna to her for the final time, she is quite rude to him and basicaly kicks him out of the house. However, in The End of Time, her attitude changes, with her even praying for his help when Gallifrey appeared in the sky. His saving the world again apparently changed her attitude towards him as she gave him a smile when he returned Wilfred home and was very nice to him at Donna's second wedding, even being deeply touched by his actions to help them out.
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