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Mickey Smith was Rose Tyler's boyfriend and later briefly a companion of the Doctor. He helped defend Earth against both the threats of the Cybermen and the New Dalek Empire. He was married to Martha Jones, a former companion of the Doctor.
Biography
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 taken to that time period. Possibly as a result, he had a strong connection to her. (DW: Father's Day)
His father, a key-cutter, left him at an early age after Mickey's mother died. 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 her tripping and falling from 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 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 was jealous of the Doctor due to Rose's new relationship with him. When Rose went to visit conspiracy theorist Clive Finch to learn more about the Doctor, Mickey was captured by the Nestene Consciousness. An Auton replica of him tried to gather intelligence about the Doctor. Kept a captive by the Nestenes to maintain the duplicate, Mickey was overwhelmed by the revelation that alien life existed. He was in a state of paralyzed panic through 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 spent the year unearthing information about the Doctor and running the www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk website formerly run by the deceased Clive. He filled it with angry rants about the Doctor and various mysterious events in which the Doctor had a hand. He became increasingly isolated. Jackie was convinced he had murdered Rose 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. This led to an awkward confrontation between the two Tyler women and Mickey. He told 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 (calling him "Ricky" and "Mickey the Idiot"), the Doctor relied on him when trapped inside 10 Downing Street during the Slitheen takeover of Britain's government. Mickey defended Rose's mother Jackie from the Slitheen. Mickey killed the Slitheen 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 the Doctor's respect. The Doctor offered Mickey a place aboard the TARDIS but Mickey declined, admitting the lifestyle was too much for him. He asked the Doctor not to tell Rose that he had done. 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 afterward 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 organized the game controllers to keep the abducted humans alive (NSA: Winner Takes All)
In Cardiff, Mickey told Rose he had started dating Trisha Delaney, although whether this was true or merely to make Rose jealous and return to him is not known. (DW: Boom Town) True or not, Mickey made it clear he was tired of putting his life on hold and dropping everything when she called. Although he bitterly walked away from Rose at the end of that meeting, he helped her return to the Doctor to defeat the Daleks. At first happy to see her, he was angered by how Rose's dismissal of the life she'd led, until she reminded him that the Doctor had also shown him a better way. 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 swallowed his pride and first used his car, then a tow truck (borrowed by Jackie from Howard, 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 Tenth Doctor
Mickey helped the newly regenerated and younger-looking Tenth Doctor and Rose fight off the Sycorax. He was inspired by the Doctor's claim that "this planet is defended!". (DW: The Christmas Invasion) Later, evidently unhappy, he saw them off on their travels. (DW: New Earth)
He spent several annoying days with the Doctor as an uninvited guest. The Doctor dominated Mickey's life without even trying. He impressed all of his friends, ended Mickey's doomed attempts at a rebound girlfriend, beat him at video games until Mickey snapped that he didn't need impressing and sometimes people didn't need the Doctor. The Doctor set things up so Mickey could have a normal Sunday with Rose. This pleased Mickey. (DWM: The Lodger)
Mickey continued his investigations into alien activity, renaming his website Defending the Earth! and soliciting help from other enthusiasts. His investigations twice saw him run into Torchwood Institute operations. [1] [2]
Mickey found unusual activity in Deffry Vale High School and called the Doctor and Rose back home. Meeting Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey was amused to find his suspicions validated: the Doctor had had companions before Rose. When he met K-9 Mark III , he drew an unwelcome parallel between the 'tin' dog and himself. He helped to evacuate the school and the Doctor accepted his request to join the TARDIS crew. (DW: School Reunion) Mickey 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, helped make Rose intensely jealous to drive out the creature. (DWM: The Green-Eyed Monster)
Leaving for Another Universe
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 in that world, a tough, resolute character who led the Preachers, paramilitaries opposed to the Cybermen. Mickey saw him killed by the creatures; he also discovered that this world's version of his grandmother had not died.
Mickey saved 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. He chose 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 crossed the Void to his home universe, Mickey was the first to travel there to defeat them and ensure Rose's safety. He went undercover at Torchwood 1, worked as a lab assistant, and showed far more confidence than before. 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) he was put to the ultimate test as he took part in 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 and Marriage
Rose Tyler left Pete's World to find the Doctor. Mickey and Jackie Tyler crossed over and arrived on Earth a few days after it was relocated to the Medusa Cascade. Mickey and Jackie opened fire as they arrived on a group of Daleks about to exterminate Sarah Jane Smith. Mickey had a happy reunion with Sarah Jane, 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 Tenth Doctor and Rose (later, the Clone Doctor also greeted him warmly).
There was 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 ran to catch up to Jack Harkness and Martha Jones as they left for their own futures. (DW: Journey's End)
Mickey decided to go into "freelance" alien fighting, eventually convincing Martha to join him; ultimately, they were married. They were on their honeymoon when the 456 incident of 2009 began. (TW: Children of Earth: Day One) One adventure saw them battle a Sontaran, Jask. Jask got them in his weapon's cross-hairs without their knowing it. Before he could fire, they were saved by the Doctor, who knocked Jask out from behind as a final gift to the two of them. They spotted him and waved, but he walked away without saying anything. Mickey and Martha embraced as the TARDIS left, perhaps realizing what the Doctor's appearance meant. (DW: The End of Time)
Personality
At first, Mickey was seen as a bumbling coward; His capture by the Autons, and initial trip in the TARDIS, left him greatly shaken. When he met the Doctor again, he displayed a great deal of resentment towards him. Already, though, he was braver than he had been; He tried to hold off a Slitheen to give Jackie time to escape. Despite these changes, Mickey still showed some of his former clumsiness, like his pratfall while trying to capture Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. Although still unwilling to travel in the TARDIS, Mickey later changed his mind, inviting himself along, unwilling to just be "technical support" (or the Tin dog) any more.
Mickey reached a turning point when he met Ricky, and witnessed his death at the hands of the Cybermen. Shown a version of himself that was braver, he rose to the challenge. He played a crucial part in the the Cymbermen's defeat and decided to help rid the alternate Earth of their remnants. When the Cybermen found a way to cross over to the other Earth, Mickey was the first to pursue them. When all of reality was threatened, Mickey once again crossed Earths, this time with Jackie in tow. They faced Daleks, and Mickey even held their creator, Davros, at gunpoint. Choosing to return home, Mickey found new love with Martha Jones, and the two became freelance alien hunters. Far from his original cowardly ways, Mickey now actively pursued dangerous aliens.
Relationships
Rose Tyler
As Rose's boyfriend, Mickey felt a great deal of affection for her. This turned to surly resentment after a year's absence. He was still loyal, travelling to Cardiff to give her her passport. He helped her return to the Doctor, even after hearing her say there was "nothing left" for her back home. Mickey later 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. She also turned the rest of the estate against him. Mickey still came to Jackie's aid when she was attacked by a Slitheen, and their relationship improved greatly after that. 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 saw Jackie as a replacement for his mother.
The Doctor
Mickey was terrified of the Doctor at their first meeting, referring to him as a "thing". During the year Rose was missing, Mickey researched him, learning of the death and destruction that followed him. (DW: Aliens of London) Although they made peace, they had a very tense relationship. (DW: World War Three, Boom Town) At first, Mickey's relationship with the Doctor's next incarnation was not much better, (DW: School Reunion) but they became friendlier and less hostile during their later encounters. (DW: Doomsday, Journey's End) Mickey affectionately referred to him as "boss".
Captain Jack Harkness
During their first meeting, Mickey scorned Jack, 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". This was quickly shown to be playful banter, and the two quickly shared a hug, albeit a longer one than Mickey preferred.Mickey also seemed nervous when he met him.
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.
Other Information
Nicknames
The Ninth 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. 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)
- Mickey is the first televised black companion and the first and so far only male black companion.