Adelaide Brooke
Damn you.
Captain Adelaide Brooke (Born 1999 died 2059) was a short-lived companion of the the Doctor. She was head of Bowie Base One on Mars in the late 2050s; in the year 2059, the base came under siege by a water-based entity called the Flood. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Early Life
Adelaide was born in Finchley, North London on 12 May 1999. She was a child during the Daleks' abduction and invasion of Earth in 2009. Her father told her to stay in the house while he searched for her mother, but neither of her parents were ever seen again (possibly becoming victims of the Daleks' Reality bomb test) and were presumed dead. The young Adelaide was spotted by a lone Dalek, but it deliberately spared her. (The Doctor believed the Dalek recognised her as she was a "fixed" point in history.)
The event inspired Adelaide to go into space travel.
She was raised by her grandmother. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
First human to land on Mars
She studied at both Cambridge University (where she achieved a first honours degree in combined Physics and Mathematics) and Rice University, and went on to work for NASA. Despite her young age, she would be selected by NASA to head Project Pit Stop, establishing a refuelling base on the moon.
At the age of 42 (presumably in the year 2041), she was part of a three-man mission to Mars. She was the first woman to land on the planet. Afterwards, she would push hard for Martian colonisation.
In 2058, when Adelaide was now a mother and a grandmother, she led an international team to Mars: the first human colony on that planet. She was famous on Earth as a result. She had contact with Earth due to video link. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Meeting the Doctor
In 2059, after the first 17 months of success, two of her crew were taken over by the Flood. At that very same moment, the Doctor had arrived at Bowie Base One. She tried to contain the infection and, after realising this was impossible, ordered the evacuation of the base. Adelaide soon became suspicious of the Doctor's actions and comments, especially the mention of how her granddaughter would follow her into space travel and human history would be shaped by the Brookes. She eventually forced him to tell her the truth: Bowie Base One was going to be destroyed and the crew killed, and as this was a "fixed" point in time he could not save her.
While she struggled desperately to save the colonists, when the Doctor returned to help she became resigned to detonating the base. However, the Doctor successfully saved her, Mia Bennett, and Yuri Kerenski, returning them all to Earth. Realising that her survival would alter her granddaughter's life and thus human history, she became angry with the Doctor, especially after he arrogantly dismissed the problem and referred to her fellow survivors as "little people". In order to get the timeline back on track, she killed herself. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Legacy
Her granddaughter, Susie Fontana Brooke, would be inspired by her memory and go into space. The rest of her family would follow as well, with one descendant interbreeding with an alien race and creating a new species. But, as shown at the end of The Waters of Mars, the timeline was still incorrect, as Adelaide died on Earth, there were two survivors but her granddaughter still carried on her with grandmothers legacy. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Behind the Scenes
- Adelaide is one of only a few companions to die and the second to die without being "reborn" somehow in the new series (Captain Jack was reborn, Astrid Peth is the only other companion in the new series to die and not be reborn).
- Adelaide is one of the oldest companions the doctor has ever had.
References
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