Rita Jalal
Rita was an English medical student who was abducted as her shift was starting and brought abroad the prison ship. She was astute, quickly diagnosing a situation based on her observations. The Eleventh Doctor immediately took a liking to her.
When Rita was doing her A levels she got a B in mathematics. Her father, who was a physician, was appalled at her results and berated her.
Rita was a devout Muslim. Though she accepted the Eleventh Doctor's claims that the "hotel" did not exist on Earth, Rita thought it was actually Jahannam. She was observant and told the Doctor he had a "god complex". Her admirable qualities led the Doctor to jokingly fire Amy and offer Rita her place in his TARDIS.
Rita had already become the third human the Doctor encountered to be possessed by the Minotaur. Her fear was revealed to be her father, a medical doctor whose constant berating her over her grades made her feel deep shame.
Subsequently, Rita hid her devotions to the Minotaur from the Doctor and the others. She separated herself from them. She asked the Doctor to turn off the camera before she died, to remember her as she had been, before her faith was stolen from her. The Doctor shut off the camera so they could not witness her death. The Doctor expressed anger and grief at her death. (TV: The God Complex)
Behind the scenes
- Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, each Doctor has encountered at least one female character who charms him to the extent that he offers her the chance to be a companion, only to have her die soon after. The Ninth Doctor invited Lynda "with a Y" Moss in The Parting of the Ways shortly before she was killed by the Daleks; the Tenth Doctor invited Madame de Pompadour to join him in The Girl in the Fireplace and Astrid Peth Voyage of the Damned — but both died before either could start travelling with him. Jenny, the Doctor's biological daughter as a result of rapid cell cloning, was also set to travel with her father before she took a bullet from Cobb which was meant for the Doctor. Although she did not die, this knowledge was not possessed by the Doctor, so he left her. Clara Oswald was asked as well, but died. This, however, is debatable, because Clara later travelled with the Doctor in a different incarnation. The Twelfth Doctor offered this chance to Osgood in the Season 8 finale, before her death at the hands of Missy.
- DWMSE 31 revealed Rita's surname to be "Afzal", although the name was only used in production paperwork.
