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Mickey Smith was Rose Tyler's boyfriend and later briefly a companion of the Doctor. He later helped defend Earth against the New Dalek Empire. He married to Martha Jones, a former companion of the Doctor.
Profile
Upbringing
Mickey was born around 1981. In at least one version of Mickey's life history, thanks to time travel; he met the adult version of Rose in 1987, whom the Doctor had transported to that time period. Possibly as a result, he had a strong connection to her. (DW: Father's Day)
His father, a keycutter, left him at an early age after Mickey's mother passed away, so that he ended up living with his grandmother, Rita-Anne Smith. The elder Smith was described by Rose Tyler as having "brought up" Mickey until her death "five years ago". Her death was caused by a tear in the carpet stairs, which Mickey had never gotten round to fixing; this left him with feelings of guilt for years after. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen)
Nevertheless, when Mickey appeared to have died at the hands of the Autons, Rose twice told the Doctor, "I'll have to tell his mother," possibly indicating that Rose knew her or at least how to contact her. (DW: Rose)
Later life
Meeting with The Doctor
By 2005, Mickey was a typical working class young man, living on the same council estate as Rose and going out with her. He was caught up in the events of the Auton invasion and introduced to the Doctor, then in his ninth incarnation.
On first meeting him, Mickey felt jealous of the Doctor due to Rose's new relationship with him. While Rose went to visit conspiracy theorist Clive Finch to learn more about the Doctor, Mickey was captured by the Nestene Consciousness. An Auton replica was made of him to gather intelligence about the Doctor. Kept a captive by the Nestenes to maintain the duplicate, he was overwhelmed by the revelation that alien life existed and was in a state of paralysed panic throughout most of the Doctor and Rose's final confrontation with the Nestenes. Mickey's initial cowardice did not impress the Doctor, and when he invited Rose to travel with him, he made it clear that Mickey was not invited. (DW: Rose)
Rose did not return for a year and was declared missing. Mickey was suspected of Rose's murder and was interviewed by the police on five occasions, but was not arrested due to lack of evidence. (DW: Aliens of London) Mickey had also spent the year unearthing information about the Doctor. He took over the www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk website formerly run by the deceased Clive, and often filling it with angry rants about the Doctor and various mysterious events in which the Doctor had had a hand. He became increasingly isolated, as Jackie was convinced that he was Rose's murderer and turned most of the estate against him. This meant that Mickey was one of the last to know of Rose's return and only learned that she was back in the evening, leading to an awkward confrontation between the two Tyler women and Mickey as he told a shocked Rose what had happened during her absence and what her mother had done. Rose managed to convince Mickey that she was sorry about what had happened and that she hadn't meant to stay away so long and the two reconciled.
Return of Rose
Although still dismissive of Mickey (deliberately calling him "Ricky" and terming him "Mickey the Idiot"), the Doctor had to rely on him when the Doctor and Rose were trapped inside 10 Downing Street during the Slitheen takeover of Britain's government. Mickey bravely defended Rose's mother Jackie from the Slitheen. Mickey was the one who killed the Slitheen ultimately as, following the Doctor's orders, he launched a missile at 10 Downing Street, blowing it up and killing them. His help in ending the alien threat earned him a degree of the Doctor's respect. The Doctor finally offered Mickey a place aboard the TARDIS but after considering the offer, Mickey declined, admitting the lifestyle was too much for him. He asked the Doctor not to tell Rose that he had done so and the Doctor in turn gave Mickey a compact disc containing a computer virus that would wipe out all mention of him on the internet. (DW: World War Three)
- Evidently, he did not use it, or more information was added afterwards as Elton Pope found out information on the Doctor online. (DW: Love & Monsters)
Mickey became involved in an alien war being fought by remote control. The "soldiers" in the war were abducted humans controlled by other humans who thought they were playing a video game; under the Doctor's instruction, Mickey organised the game controllers to keep the abducted humans alive (NSA: Winner Takes All)
During another adventure in Cardiff, Mickey told Rose that he had started dating Trisha Delaney, although whether this was true or merely to make Rose jealous and return to him is not certain. (DW: Boom Town) True or not, Mickey made it clear that he was tired of putting his life on pause for Rose and dropping everything when she called. Although he bitterly walked away from Rose at the end of that encounter, he was willing to help Rose get back to the Doctor to help him defeat the Daleks. At first happy to see her back, he was annoyed by how dismissive Rose had become of the life she'd led, until she reminded him that the Doctor had also shown him a better way to live. Mickey remained doubtful about the possibility of getting Rose back to the Doctor until she said there was "nothing" left for her on the estate now. Mickey then swallowed his pride and first used his car, then a tow truck (borrowed by Jackie from someone who owed her a favour) to pull open the TARDIS console so Rose and the TARDIS could communicate. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
With the New Doctor
Mickey again helped the newly regenerated younger Doctor and Rose fight off the Sycorax, being inspired by the Doctor's claim that "this planet is defended!". (DW: The Christmas Invasion) Later, despite evidently being unhappy, saw them off on their travels. (DW: New Earth)
To his annoyance, he spent several days with the Doctor as an uninvited lodger. The Doctor managed to dominate Mickey's life without even trying. He impressed all of his friends, ending Mickey's doomed attempts at a rebound girlfriend, beating him at video games and the like, until Mickey snapped and told him he didn't need impressing and sometimes, people didn't need the Doctor. Realising what he'd done, the Doctor set things up so Mickey could have a normal Sunday with Rose. (This did leave Mickey impressed) (DWM: The Lodger)
He continued his investigations into incidents related to alien activity, renaming his website Defending the Earth! and soliciting help from other enthuisasts online. His investigations twice saw him run into Torchwood Institute operations. [1] [2]
Continuing his investigations into alien life on Earth, Mickey soon discovered unusual activity in Deffry Vale High School and called the Doctor and Rose back home. Meeting Sarah Jane Smith for the first time, Mickey was amused to find his suspicions validated that the Doctor had had other travelling companions before Rose. However, when he met K-9 Mark III he couldn't but help draw a parallel between himself and the computer dog. After helping to evacuate the school, the Doctor accepted Mickey's request to join the TARDIS crew. (DW: School Reunion) He was delighted to visit a futuristic spaceship on his first real trip into time and space. (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace) He was involved in an escapade on the planet Lagnos and, due to Rose's infection by the jealousy-eating Iagnon, played a key role in causing Rose to become intensely jealous to drive out the creature. (DWM: The Green-Eyed Monster)
Leaving for Another Universe
However, his travels only lasted for a short while before a crack in the Time Vortex sent all three into a parallel world where the age of the Cybermen was dawning. He met Ricky, his counterpart from that world, a tougher, resolute character who led the Preachers, a cell of paramilitaries opposed to the Cybermen, and watched him be killed by the creatures; he also discovered that this world's version of his grandmother had not died.
Mickey was responsible for saving both the Doctor and Rose in the final battle against the Cybermen. However, he was increasingly unsure of his place in his home universe and in the TARDIS crew. As a result, he decided to remain in this world to care for his grandmother and, to an extent, replace Ricky. One of his first actions was to head to Paris to liberate it from the Cybermen. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen/ The Age of Steel)
Reunion
Three years passed, from Mickey's perspective, in which he continued to battle the Cybermen. (DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
- This would make the year, from his point of view, now, approximately 2010.
When the Cybermen began to cross the Void to Mickey and Rose's home universe, Mickey was the first to travel back to his original universe (and back three years) in order to defeat them and ensure Rose's safety. He went undercover at Torchwood 1, pretending to be a scientific assistant, and showed far more confidence than before. However, when the sphere, which he believed would contain some form of Cyber-Leader, opened to instead reveal the Cult of Skaro, (DW: Army of Ghosts) Mickey's skills were put to the ultimate test as he took part on the fringes of the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Doctor trapped Cybermen and Daleks in the Void and Mickey was left in the parallel universe with Rose, Jackie and Pete Tyler. (DW: Doomsday)
Return to His Own Universe and marriage
After Rose Tyler left Pete's World to find the Doctor, Mickey and Jackie Tyler, crossed over themselves and arrived on Earth a few days after it was relocated to the Medusa Cascade. Upon arrival, Mickey and Jackie immediately open fire on a group of Daleks preparing to exterminate Sarah Jane Smith. Mickey had a happy reunion with the woman responsible for getting him a chance to travel with the Doctor, telling her "we Smiths have to stick together". He later accompanied Sarah Jane and Jackie aboard the Crucible where he was also reunited with Jack Harkness and, ultimately, the Doctor and Rose (later, the Clone Doctor also greeted him warmly). There appears to be little interaction between Rose and Mickey during the remainder of the adventure, suggesting possible estrangement.
After the Earth was restored to its proper place, Mickey left the TARDIS after a tearful goodbye with Jackie. He explained to the Doctor that there was nothing for him on Pete's World any more, "certainly not Rose" and that his Gran had passed away after living out her final years in Pete Tyler's mansion. He then ran to catch up to Jack Harkness and Martha Jones as they left for their own future adventures. (DW: Journey's End)
He decided to go into "freelance" alien fighting, eventually convincing Martha to join him; ultimately, they were married. One adventure saw them battle a Sontaran, Jask. The two are cornered and are nearly killed (neither realizing it), but they were saved by the Doctor who knocked Jask out from behind as a final gift to the two of them as he was dying and was going to regenerate soon. The two spotted the Doctor, but he walked away without saying anything to them and Mickey and Martha embraced as the TARDIS left, perhaps realizing what the Doctor's appearence meant by their saddened reactions as he left. (DW: The End of Time)
Personality
To begin with, Mickey was portrayed as a bumbling coward; His capture by the Autons, and initial trip in the TARDIS, left him greatly shaken and disturbed. When he encountered the Doctor again, Mickey displayed a great deal of resentment towards the Doctor, for causing him to be considered a murder suspect. He seemed braver then he did previously; He attempted to hold off a Slitheen to give Jackie time to escape. Despite these changes, Mickey still displayed some of his former clumsiness, as evidenced by his pratfall during the attempt to capture Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. Although initially unwilling to travel in the TARDIS, Mickey later changed his mind, inviting himself along with the Doctor and Rose, unwilling to just be "technical support" for them anymore.
Mickey's character reached a turning point when he encountered Ricky, and witnessed his death at the hands of the Cybermen. Made braver and bolder by the experience, Mickey played a crucial part in the defeat of the Cybermen, and decided to remain on the alternate Earth and help to get rid of their remaining numbers. When the Cybermen found a way to cross over to the other Earth, Mickey was the first to follow them, risking himself greatly by going deep undercover within Torchwood. When all of reality was threatened, Mickey once again crossed Earths, this time with Jackie in tow. During this mission, they faced off against Daleks, and Mickey even held their creator, Davros, at gunpoint. Choosing to return to his home Earth, Mickey found new love with Martha Jones, and the two became freelance alien hunters. In a far cry from his original cowardly ways, Mickey now actively pursues dangerous aliens, such as Sontarans.
Relationships
Rose Tyler
Initially being Rose's boyfriend, Mickey felt a great deal of affection for her. Some of this affection turned to resentment following her being absent for a year. He was still loyal to Rose though, travelling all the way to Cardiff to give her her passport. He further at this time helped her return to the Doctor, even after hearing her say there was "nothing left" for her back home. Mickey later appeared to have lost all of his feelings for Rose, not having any interaction during the Medusa Cascade incident and confirming to the Doctor that there was no point in staying in Pete's World with Rose.
Jackie Tyler
When Rose went missing for a year, Mickey was forced to suffer Jackie's suspicions, who also had the rest of the estate turned against him. Despite this, Mickey still came to Jackie's aid when she was being attacked by a Slitheen, and their relationship improved greatly after that. Together, they followed Rose to their home Earth, and when Mickey made plans to stay, he told Jackie he would miss her "most of all". It's likely that Mickey sees Jackie as a replacement for his mother.
The Doctor
Mickey seemed to be terrified of the Doctor during their first meeting, referring to him as a "thing". During the year Rose was missing, Mickey researched the Doctor, learning of the death and destruction that followed him. Although the two made peace shortly after, they still had a very tense relationship. Mickey's relationship with the Doctor's next incarnation was much better, friendlier and less hostile. Mickey often affectionately referred to him as "boss".
Captain Jack Harkness
During their first meeting, Mickey placed scorn on Jack's attitude, deriding him as "cheesy". When the two met on the Dalek Crucible, years later, little seemed to have changed, Mickey referring to Jack as "Captain Cheesecake". However, this was quickly revealed to be playful banter, and the two quickly shared a hug, albeit a longer one than Mickey preferred.
Martha Jones
Although the two had little interaction aboard the Crucible, Mickey would later fall in love with Martha. They married, and became freelance alien-hunters together. Little is known about about their married life, other than Mickey being slightly protective of Martha. It's possible that Mickey and Martha ended up together because of their unrequited love for others: Martha had unrequited feelings for the Doctor, just as Rose had developed feelings for him while she was still dating Mickey.
Other Information
Nicknames
The Doctor at first often called Mickey by the deliberately wrong name of Ricky. (DW: Aliens of London) This made it more ironic for him to run into a parallel version of himself, who really did go by the name Ricky. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel) He also briefly referred to him as "Mickey the Idiot". Jack Harkness teasingly referred to him as "Mickey Mouse". (DW: Journey's End)
Behind the scenes
- Actor Noel Clarke has acknowledged that, assuming that Doctor Who had a younger audience, he tailored his acting accordingly and made him more slapstick, a move criticized by many fans. Realizing otherwise, he toned down the comedic elements of the character for Series 2.
- The ending of Journey's End left open the possibility of Mickey going to work for Torchwood Three during series 3, as fan rumours had also suggested. Mickey Smith was originally meant to appear in Children of Earth, but was cut due to Noel Clarke being cast in a Michael Winterbottom film. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
- Noel Clarke had written the Torchwood Series 1 episode Combat.
- Mickey is the first televised black companion and the first and so far only male black companion.