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Christopher Rodonanté Cwej (usually called Chris Cwej) was a companion of the Seventh Doctor.
Biography
Chris' surname should technically be pronounced "Shvey", but he pronounced it "Kwedge" rather than keep correcting people.
Chris was born in 2954 to a family who lived in the lower levels of the Overcity. They had a long association with the Adjudicators. Adjudicators were the police force of 30th century Earth, at that time divided into the Overcity and the Undercity. Chris was tall, blonde and muscular. When his adjudicator partner, Roz Forrester, and he first met the Seventh Doctor and Bernice, he had had a "body bepple" (bodily alteration) which made him look like a giant animated teddy bear.
He and Roz were investigating a murder case in Undercity in the year 2975 when they met the Doctor and Bernice. They helped the Doctor defeat his old enemy Tobias Vaughn. (PROSE: Original Sin)
Chris and Roz travelled with the Doctor for many adventures. In this eventful period, Chris fathered two daughters: Jasmine Surprise Cwej-Hutchings with Ishtar Hutchings, and iKrissi with Dep of the People. After Roz's death in battle, Chris continued to travel with the Doctor for a short time. The Doctor and Chris travelled to the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey, where the Doctor faced members of his House and many dark secrets were revealed. After this, Chris decided to travel alone using a time ring given to him by Romana. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
After the Doctor
At some point after leaving the Doctor, Chris was frozen in cryogenic suspension by the Knights of Jeneve, and placed on a planet in the Ardethe System. His memories were affected by the cryogenic process, but he was able to recalled most of them in time. (PROSE: Deadfall)
Work for the Time Lords
Chris, at some point following his awakening, went on to become an agent for the Time Lords some time around 2595. His biochemistry was altered by the Time Lords, giving him the ability to travel in time. The Time Lords also altered Chris' memories of his time with the Seventh Doctor. Those memories were changed to make him think he had been abducted from Earth by the "evil renegade", and to think that it was the Doctor who had killed Roz Forrester. Chris worked for the Time Lords in securing the universe in a bottle and opening a gateway for the Time Lords to invade and destroy a bottle universe version of 1970 Earth. During this time, he also negotiated an alliance with the Daleks on Skaro. (PROSE: Dead Romance)
Whilst in the universe in the bottle, Chris was exposed to lethal amounts of radiation, and regenerated. His new body was shorter than his original, quite stocky, with dark hair and a mellow voice. (PROSE: Dead Romance, Tears of the Oracle) However, after an encounter with the Ferutu, he was reverted down his personal timeline to age thirteen and regained his original body. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods)
The Time Lords also cloned Cwej multiple times, creating the "Cwejen". Some of these Cwejen went mad, warping trace memories of the Seventh Doctor into a "pale god" they called "Mister Seven". Several of these Cwejen, including Septimus, worked with Straxus on Earth in the 19th century, eventually turning on him and forcing his regeneration. Bernice Summerfield and an earlier incarnation of Straxus defeated the mad Cwejen, which were taken back to Gallifrey for dissection. (BFBS: The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel)
Behind the scenes
- The book which depicts Chris's bisexual encounter with a gay man, Damaged Goods, was written by future executive producer of the series, Russell T Davies, whose works often include gay themes. Much like Jack Harkness, an LGBT companion introduced to the TV series proper in Steven Moffat's The Empty Child, Cwej opines that sexuality is not an issue where he comes from.[source needed] Although comic strip companion Izzy Sinclair is often cited as the first LGBT companion, in truth Cwej's same sex encounter comes before Izzy's. That said, Damaged Goods and Izzy's debut were published in the same month: October 1996. Cwej's encounter is also only subtly implied, whereas Izzy is unmistakably shown to be passionately kissing a woman.
- The idea of the Time Lords creating multiple copies of Cwej derives from the Faction Paradox book The Book of the War, which is outside the scope of this wiki. However, the concept was picked up in the Bernice Summerfield audio play The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel, which this wiki considers to be part of the Doctor Who universe.