Astrid Peth

Astrid Peth was an native of the planet Sto who worked as a waitress aboard the Titanic.

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

Biography

For most of her life, Astrid dreamed of seeing other planets. She met the Tenth Doctor when she broke a glass and he offered to help her clean it up. She refused. 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 because of all the alien invasions that happened at Christmas. The Doctor and Astrid were teleported back to the ship, where the Doctor noticed that the Titanic's shields were down, and three asteroids were on course to hit the ship.

He 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 discovered that the Heavenly Hosts were killing all the survivors.

They found their way to safety though Foon, Morvin, and Bannakaffalatta died along the way. Astrid asked the Doctor if she could be his companion and he agreed. Before they parted she kissed him, claiming it was 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. he forklift's 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 tried to recover Astrid, but only succeeded in creating a partially cohesive form that was neither truly alive nor dead, trapped in a non-corporeal form for all eternity. He allowed her atoms to scatter into space, 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 feisty young woman, who longed to discover the wonders of the universe around her and set foot on other worlds. She was thrilled when the Doctor granted her wish by allowing her to visit Earth. She was unhappy with her job as a waitress on the Titanic and was hurt by Rickston'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. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

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. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale)
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 saw 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 strengthened by the fact that during the course of the story she is directly invited to join the Doctor, much like Grace Holloway, and she 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.
Her full name is an anagram of Death's Trip, possibly a reference to the title, Voyage of the Damned.