Astrid Peth

For the The Enemy of the World character, see Astrid Ferrier

Biography

Astrid Peth was an native of the planet Sto who worked as a waitress aboard the Titanic. All her life she dreamed of seeing other planets. She first met the Doctor when she broke a glass and he offered to help her clean it up, but she refused. Instead he decided to take her on a teleport trip down to Earth.

There she met Wilfred Mott who told her and the Doctor that people had abandoned London due to all the alien invasions and that they happened at Christmas. The Doctor and Astrid were teleported back up to the ship. The Doctor noticed that the Titanic's shields were down, and there were three asteroids on course to impact the ship.

They all complained to the Steward, but the asteroids hit the ship and killed most of the passengers apart from the Doctor, Astrid and a small group of passengers consisting of Rickston Slade, Foon Van Hoff, Morvin Van Hoff, Bayldon Copper, and Bannakaffalatta. They then discovered that the Heavenly Hosts were killing all the survivors.

They then found their way to safety but Foon, Morvin, and Bannakaffalatta died along the way. Astrid asked the Doctor if she could be his companion and he accepted. Before they parted she kissed him, claiming it is a "tradition". Astrid used a teleportation bracelet to get to Floor 31 to help the Doctor.

To save the Doctor and defeat Max Capricorn, she lifted him and his life support system with a forklift and threw him into the engines; however, the brakes were cut by a halo thrown by a Heavenly Host. She plunged to her death along with Capricorn, but was dematerialized by an automatic function of her teleport bracelet. Using the advanced transmat system, the Doctor attempted to recover Astrid, but only succeeded in creating a partially cohesive form that was neither truly alive nor dead. He allowed her atoms to scatter into space, thus fulfilling her dream of exploring the galaxy (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

When Davros asked "How many more have died in your name?", the Doctor had a flashback of people who had died along his journey, including Astrid. (DW: Journey's End)

Personality

Astrid was a very curious and feisty young woman, who longed for nothing but to discover the wonders of the universe around her, by setting foot on other worlds. She was thrilled when the Doctor finally granted her wish by allowing her to visit Earth. She appeared unhappy with her job as a waitress on the Titanic and was obviously hurt by Brixton's harsh words toward her.

She formed a close bond with the passenger Bannakaffalatta and was distraught when he sacrificed his life to destroy the Host threatening the survivors. She also began to experience romantic feelings for the Doctor, as they kissed twice and she ultimately gave her life to save him and Earth from Max Capricorn's plot.

She was given a second chance at life by the Doctor, who kissed her farewell and allowed her to live on as stardust forever travelling the cosmos.

Alternative Timeline

When Donna Noble turned right to the wrong job interview, time was changed as the Doctor was killed on Christmas Eve 2007. He never crashed into the Titanic, causing Astrid to die a different way as the ship crashed into London killing everyone on board. This timeline was later negated and the original version of events re-established. (DW: Turn Left)

Behind the Scenes

Astrid was originally simply named Peth. (per REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale)

It was officially announced that Kylie Minogue was to feature as Astrid in "Voyage of the Damned" by the BBC on 3 July 2007 following rumours in the press and sightings of her filming.

Russell T Davies stated the character was always be going to be a "one-off" even before Kylie Minogue was cast and that Astrid would demonstrate "a whole new take - again - on what a companion can be."

Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant interviewed Kylie Minogue about her role in "Voyage of the Damned" on BBC Radio 2 in X-Amining Kylie first broadcast on 27th November 2007. On Doctor Who Confidential, Minogue describes Astrid as a "dreamer" and that meeting with the Doctor rekindles Astrid's desire to explore. Russell T Davies reveals that when he first discussed the role of Astrid with Kylie Minogue he had not written that she would be killed off.

Astrid is the first companion in the revived series of Doctor Who to never set foot in the TARDIS, let alone travel in it. She only sees the TARDIS from a distance adrift.

As with most "one-time" companions, Astrid's actual status as an "official" companion is a matter of debate among fans. (See also Sara Kingdom, Grace Holloway, and also Donna Noble per The Runaway Bride). Astrid's case is made stronger by the fact that during the course of the story she is directly invited to join the Doctor, much like Grace Holloway, and she directly accepts. However, she dies before setting foot in the TARDIS.

The British newspaper "News of the World" released a report before Minogue was officially cast as Astrid, claiming the Minogue's character would in fact be a sexy Cyberwoman.

Astrid is the first on-screen companion since Vislor Turlough to be positively identified as coming from a planet other than Earth. Nonetheless, she appeared to be an ordinary, baseline Human (a trait also shared by Vislor Turlough). However, the name of Jack Harkness's homeworld is unknown and it could be off Earth.
Astrid is an anagram of TARDIS. The name Astrid (Old Norse: Ástríðr) is of North Germanic origin, literally meaning "fair goddess" (áss (goddess) and fríð (fair)). Peth is also Welsh for 'thing', which whilst implying that Astrid ultimately has some connection to the Doctor's time-ship, proved to be unfounded in the episode.
Astrid's occupation as a waitress on a luxurious space cruiser, and her skimpy waitress costume bear some similarities to the title character Halo Jones in comics writer Alan Moore's The Ballad of Halo Jones, who for one volume of the comic has a job as a waitress on the luxury space liner the Clara Pandy.