Frobisher
- Not to be confused with Torchwood's John Frobisher.
Frobisher was the name taken by the Whifferdill companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors. He shared the Doctor's positive outlook of the universe as well as many of his other witticisms. He met a number of the Doctor's friends of his journeys; Peri Brown, Jamie McCrimmon and Ivan Asimoff to name but a few.
Biography
Early life
Frobisher was married to another Whifferdill named Francine, who left him as she felt she was a better detective. He was a con man for the most part. He used his abilities to make money regardless of the cost to others. (DW: The Shape Shifter, BFA: The Maltese Penguin) Being a private detective, Frobisher became used to being knocked unconscious to the point where he almost enjoyed it. (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
Travels with the Doctor
Joining the Doctor
Living as Avan Tarklu, he came across the Doctor when Josiah W. Dogbolter placed a bounty on the Time Lord. Following the Doctor, he infiltrated his TARDIS, shifting into the central column and piloting it. However instead of turning the Doctor in for the money (even though the TARDIS interested Dogbolter more), Tarklu decided that he liked the Doctor and helped him to escape. They stole the money which they split evenly. (DWM: The Shape Shifter)
Early travels
Frobisher then joined the Doctor on his journeys. He assumed the name of Frobisher because he felt that it sounded British, thinking that the Doctor would like that. He also settled on the form of a penguin. Frobisher and the Doctor were assigned by Voyager to return his star charts.
Frobisher saved the Doctor from drowning in the sea by hoisting him onto a rock. (DWM: Voyager) Frobisher helped Ivan Asimoff rescue Polly the Zyglot from a circus. (DWM: Polly the Glot)
Illness
Frobisher became ill with Mono-Morphia, trapping him in the form of a penguin. (DWM: Genesis!)
He travelled back to prehistoric Earth and went swimming, trying to catch a fish. A reptile in the sea began chasing him and Frobisher was unable to change due to his illness.
The Doctor was forced to throw some waste from the future at it. This set history on the course it was intended to follow.
Peri joined them on their travels again after she had taken a break. (DWM: Time Bomb)
Frobisher began to recover from the mono-morphia, he battled a Kymbra Chimera after it infiltrated the TARDIS, his powers holding out long enough for the Doctor to have it sucked out. (DWM: Changes)
Later travels
The Doctor promised to take them to Arcadia but instead, they landed on the Mayflower a spacecraft. They met Kara McAllista and helped her repel the Profiteers of Ephte. (DWM: Profits of Doom)
They attended the Lorduke of Zazz's party on the planet Zazz. There, Frobisher danced and performed for the guests. He helped prepare Professor Strut's rocket to deliver a plague of Self-Replicating Robots to the planet's moon. (DWM: The Gift) Frobisher left the Doctor and resumed work as a detective. The Doctor visited him to see if he wanted to resume travelling; Frobisher declined. Alicia Mulholland approached him and asked him to follow her husband, Arthur Gringax, to see if he was cheating on her.
Frobisher followed Gringax to an inn. There he was taken prisoner by Chandler and delivered to Josiah W. Dogbolter. He escaped but was soon recaptured. The economy broke down after the workers read a joke a became imaginative. Dogbolter then escaped. Alicia revealed herself to be Francine. She told Frobisher that he should leave with the Doctor as he would later regret staying with her. (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
The TARDIS "went on strike" after Frobisher harmed a Gumblejack created by the dimensional stabiliser. She took them to a medieval-style castle. Upon emerging the people were fascinated by "a talking bird". They believed Frobisher to be the Doctor's master.
After the current "god", Pepin VII, abdicated from his rule, he proclaimed Frobisher as his successor and the new god. They found themselves to be in the prison world of Eugene Tacitus. They came under threat from the apparition of Eugene's son. Eugene had his son kill him, removing the threat. The Doctor and Frobisher left in the recovered TARDIS. (BFA: The Holy Terror)
After she had left the TARDIS, Frobisher and the Doctor visited Peri Brown's descendants several times. (DWM: The Age of Chaos)
The Seventh Doctor and Frobisher travelled to the luxury planet A-Lux where they encountered Arryx and his Ice Warriors who had sabotaged the planets weather controls turning it into a snowy wilderness. After defeating them Frobisher decided he would stay behind to enjoy the luxuries of A-Lux. (DWM: A Cold Day in Hell)
Life after the Doctor
Frobisher eventually came to run a bar, Bish's, having morphed into the form of a human. He took on the alias Bish. He met the Eighth Doctor there but did not recognise him as he had regenerated since they had parted ways. He talked with the Doctor, trying to find out why he looked so sad. When a robot called Zalda entered the bar, threatening to blow herself up, the Doctor talked her out of it. Frobisher then called for drinks on the house. When everyone had left the bar apart from his wife Caralla, who worked there, he morphed back into his penguin form. (DWM: Where Nobody Knows Your Name)
An image of Frobisher appeared on one of the Knowsall screens displaying the Tenth Doctor's memories. (DWM: Thinktwice)
With Iris Wildthyme
The renegade Time Lady Iris Wildthyme (who had a habit of claiming that various of the Doctor's adventures had happened to her, not him) once said that she traveled with a mouthy shape-shifter companion who liked to stay in the shape of a penguin. (EDA: The Scarlet Empress)
Personality
Frobisher was similar to the Doctor in the aspect that he made light of threatening situations and tended to make jokes at these and other inappropriate times. Despite this, he became a loyal and trustworthy companion to the Doctor. (DWM: Voyager)
Frobisher joined the private eye business as a result of his wish to say "Follow the cab". (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
He had no qualms about killing, shooting guards at Dogbolter's estate. (DWM: The Shape Shifter) Frobisher was not picky in his eating habits. He ate an Earthworm that was offered to him by Brock. (DWM: Once Upon a Time Lord)
He did not seem to fully understand penguin physiology. At one point he believed himself to have laid an egg. Frobisher was overly active, often landing him in dangerous situations. (DWM: Time Bomb)
Frobisher was keen to party when arriving on Zazz. This led to some conflict between him and the Lorduke. He also annoyed Professor Strut, a hater of music, by performing a rendition of Fireball XL5. (DWM: The Gift)
Frobisher left the Doctor for some time as he felt he was playing second fiddle, with the Doctor always saving the day. He believed the Doctor "cramped his style". Although he felt bad at leaving the Doctor, he surmised that he needed to work solo.
Frobisher stated that the loss of Francine had hurt him deeply. He theorised that no one should ever get too close to another. Frobisher came to realise that he was better suited to rescuing cats than saving the day. (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
Frobisher preferred to catch his food, choosing to hunt Gumblejack over eating canned Tuna. He stated that it had been so long since he heard his real name that he sometimes forgot what it was.
When Pepin VII told him not to get married he replied that he had tried it, in reference to Francine. However, he "was no longer the Ogron she fell in love with".
Frobisher did not believe in heaven. However, he reminded others not to take his word as gospel. Frobisher was reluctant to rule upon his proclamation as a god. He began introducing basic government principals to them, such as free will and voting.
Frobisher told the Doctor that, despite only existing in Eugene's World, the inhabitants were still people. The Doctor compared this to Frobisher's claim that the Gumblejack wasn't real and so Frobisher learned his lesson. (BFA: The Holy Terror)
Abilities
Frobisher had a good knowledge of mechanics and other technological aspects. He was able to play the piano. Frobisher was also a capable singer. (DWM: The Gift)
Frobisher was able to use the TARDIS. He used the dimensional stabiliser to create some Gumblejack. (BFA: The Holy Terror)
Appearance
Clothing
Frobisher usually remained solely in penguin form, undressed. A number of his forms involved dress but these were part of his body. (DWM: War-Game) He once wore a top hat and carried a cane. (DWM: Time Bomb) On occasion he donned headgear and glasses. (DWM: The Gift) On Marinus, the Worldshaper caused Frobisher to moult quickly. (DWM: The World Shapers) He once claimed to be wearing black and white underwear whilst in penguin form. (BFA: The Holy Terror)
Forms
Frobisher's used the form of a pale yellow humanoid, three to four feet in height, with an egg-shaped featureless head, wearing spectacles. (DWM: The Shape Shifter)
While with Francine, Frobisher used the form of an Ogron, at least upon occasion. (BFA: The Holy Terror)
Inside the Doctor's TARDIS, he morphed to change into the time rotor of the TARDIS console. (DWM: The Shape Shifter)
After Francine left him, Frobisher adopted the form of a penguin as she had been fond of that shape. He did this to remember her. While pretending to have captured the Doctor, he assumed his shape, and later that of W.C. Fields. Traveling with the Doctor, Frobisher later adopted the shape of a penguin almost all of the time but he did change between variations of the species. (DWM: Voyager) He temporarily took on the form of the Doctor once more in order to investigate a murder because, as he explained, "A penguin detective would be shocking." (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
On two occasions he morphed to extend his arms to perform strong punches. (DWM: The Shape Shifter, Frobisher's Story)
He temporarily turned into a muscular barbarian-style Near-human on the primitive planet Actinon. (DWM: War-Game)
Frobisher took on the form of a Pantachian Rock Skipper to scale a steep wall. In this form he was able to hoist other up by rope. (DWM: Frobisher's Story)
Frobisher later developed Mono-Morphia, which prevented him from shape-changing for some time, leaving him stuck in the form of a penguin. (DWM: Genesis!) Frobisher later morphed into the form of a big cat to combat a Kymbra Chimera. He then changed into a dinosaur. (DWM: Changes)
Frobisher stretched his penguin form to one similar to a hang-glider. He used this form to save Professor Strut (DWM: The Gift) and later, Jamie McCrimmon. (DWM: The World Shapers)
While investigating Arthur Gringax, he used the form of the Doctor, so as to appear less conspicuous. (BFA: The Maltese Penguin)
When Frobisher was running Bish's, he used a humanoid form. (DWM: Where Nobody Knows Your Name)
Behind the scenes
- Robert Jezek voiced Frobisher with an American accent in BFA: The Maltese Penguin.
- The continuity of Frobisher's travels with the Doctor mostly doesn't mesh well with televised Doctor Who, other than Peri's reference in The World Shapers to having met Jamie McCrimmon in Spain (Peri and Jamie's meeting had happened in The Two Doctors). A Cold Day in Hell occurs in a otherwise unknown period of the Seventh Doctor's life when he and Frobisher travel together without Melanie Bush appearing.
- A mock interview with Frobisher appeared in Doctor Who Magazine after he had left the series. The article mentions Frobisher's unwelcome interest in Nicola Bryant, which caused tension "on set". The interview was reprinted in the graphic novel The World Shapers.
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