Joinson Dastari
Joinson Dastari was a highly qualified scientist, especially a bio-geneticist. He was considered a pioneer of genetic engineering by the Sixth Doctor. The Second Doctor once said he had enough letters after his name for two alphabets.
He worked on Space Station Chimera, developing time travel by recreating the Kartz-Reimer experiments. He had used technological augmentation to make an Androgum, Chessene of the Franzine Grig, into a genius.
With Chessene, a prototype time machine and an un-altered Androgum, Shockeye of the Quawncing Grig, Dastari abducted the Doctor from the space station. Having landed in the city of Seville on the planet Earth, he worked to find the secret of the Rassilon Imprimatur for the Sontaran Stike. He later supervised the partial genetic transformation of the Doctor into an Androgum.
Dastari was respected and carried a post of great importance in the Third Zone for his authority at the Space Station. A polymath, he had a hand in the design of the station's fluidic streams, and collected art for his office. Detesting computers, he wrote out his impressive scientific threatises on paper at his old-fashioned wooden desk. His intelligence came with the price of intellectual tunnel vision and he decided a new race should take over for the older, weary ones. (TV: The Two Doctors). He was not a prepossessing figure. Jamie thought little of him, but the Sixth Doctor hesitated to engage him in combat, pointing out that in his youth Dastari was a "champion sampola wrestler." (PROSE: The Two Doctors)
Dastari walked in on Chessene as she lapped up the blood of another incarnation of the Doctor, who had come to rescue his past self. When the disgusted Dastari stated that he considered Chessene as much an animal as ever, she turned on and killed him. (TV: The Two Doctors)
Behind the scenes
- "Dastari" is an an anagram of "A TARDIS".
- The BBC Classic Series website suggests that Dastari's knowledge of Gallifrey implies he hails from a Gallifreyan colony planet, like Minyos (TV: Underworld), Dronid (HOMEVID: Shada) or Mawdryn's homeworld (TV: Mawdryn Undead).
