Hippo Ibbotson

Ibbotson was a student at Brendon Public School and the best friend of Vislor Turlough, who nicknamed him "Hippo".

	Human
	Earth
	Mawdryn Undead
	Stephen Garlick
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Biography

Ibbotson attended Brendon School and befriended Vislor Turlough, (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"]) who was older than him and nicknamed him "Hippo" because of his size. As Ibbotson had no other friends, he tolerated Turlough's insults and was happy to have a nickname as it was public proof of their friendship. (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"]) Turlough, who considered Hippo to be his best friend, (AUDIO: Devil in the Mist ^[+]Loading...["Devil in the Mist (audio story)"]) once spent a half-term with Ibbotson and his family in Weston-super-Mare (AUDIO: The Memory Bank ^[+]Loading...["The Memory Bank (audio story)"]) and the two of them watched a film about Zulu warriors one wet Sunday afternoon. (PROSE: Deep Blue ^[+]Loading...["Deep Blue (novel)"])

In 1983, when Ibbotson was in sixth-form, (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"]) Turlough managed to pressure Ibbotson into joining him in taking Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart's car, which Ibbotson was impressed by, for a joyride. Turlough crashed the car and claimed that Ibbotson, who was unharmed, was responsible, leading Mr Sellick to decide to write to his parents. After Turlough lied and claimed that he had admitted responsibility to Mr Sellick, Ibbotson joined him in leaving the school for the obelisk where Turlough disappeared in a transmat capsule. He told the Brigadier what he had seen, but the Brigadier did not believe him. (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"])

Other references

Huxley, a novelist from Verbatim Six, reminded Turlough of Ibbotson. This led Turlough to refer to him as "Hippo" several times. (AUDIO: Ringpullworld ^[+]Loading...["Ringpullworld (audio story)"])

Personality

Vislor Turlough believed that Ibbotson was a bore and that this was the reason that he had few friends. He was thick-skinned and unaffected by Turlough's insults, even being pleased at being given the nickname of "Hippo" as it was public evidence of their friendship. (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"]) He was knowledgeable of and interested in classic cars. (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"])

Appearance

Ibbotson was fat, had podgy hands and suffered from acne. (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"]) Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart described his body as "disgusting". (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

• Ibbotson has never been identified with a first real name, either in Mawdryn Undead or any spin-off media.