Evangelista
My dad said I had the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased.
Miss Evangelista was one of the explorers on the expedition to the Library in the 51st century, to investigate its abandonment. A young woman in her late teens or early 20s, she was the personal assistant to Strackman Lux (she described herself as his "personal everything" and it is implied that she was hired more for her looks than for her ability). She was considered dumb by other crew members such as Other Dave and Anita, who joked about her mistaking the escape pod for the toilet -- twice. She befriended Donna Noble, who she thought was nice for not caring about her intelligence. She confided in Donna that she felt like the others felt she was stupid because of her looks; even her father had a low opinion of her intelligence, comparing it to plankton, she said. The fact she initially thought this was a good thing served to lower her own feeling of self-worth even further.
After being rebuffed in her efforts to help her shipmates, Evangelista (whose first or last name, if she had one, is not revealed) found a hidden passageway that led to a secluded part of the library. She attempted to tell the others about this, but they ignored her, so she went on to explore it for herself. This proved to be fatal, as she stepped into a shadow Vashta Nerada. Evangelista had her flesh instantly stripped by the Vashta Nerada, leaving her barely enough time to emit a brief scream, but a Data Ghost remained in her comm system and she thus remained conscious for minutes after her death. During this time of limbo, she exchanged words with Professor River Song and especially Donna, before her consciousness faded away with the words "ice cream". Afterwards, Donna described her experience with Evangelista's data ghost as the most horrible experience of her life. (DW: Silence in the Library)
However Evangelista had been saved. She had been sent to the hard-drive by CAL but due to transcriptions errors her face had been disfigured while her intelligence increased (she theorised that a decimal point had shifted in her IQ). Later, when Donna found herself "saved" and experiencing an idyllic family life, Evangelista convinced Donna the world of the hard drive was not real. Later, when Song's consciousness was transferred to the hard drive along with that of her shipmates, CAL was able to restore Evangelista to her original appearance (it's not known if her increased intelligence remained). (DW: Forest of the Dead)
Myths
- Evangelista's last words have occasionally been misinterpreted as "I scream." On the official BBC subtitling, her final words are, "I... Ice cream. Ice cream." Which is in keeping with her (initially) childlike demeanour.
Parallels
- Evangelista shares the name of the character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Evangelist, who periodically appears in the story to guide the protagonist, Christian, to the Celestial City. Miss Evangelista's actions within the alternate reality created by CAL, is reminiscent of Evangelist's in that her actions result in Donna finally seeing that she doesn't really belong in that reality.
Behind the scenes
- The character's second name is never revealed on screen (it is never explicitly indicated whether Evangelista is her given name or surname; given the unusual nature of some names in the episode -- i.e. River Song -- it could be either).
