Barbara Wright
Barbara Wright was one of the earliest companions to travel with the Doctor. Before meeting the Doctor, Barbara was a History Teacher at Coal Hill School, in 1960s London.
Profile
Getting involved
Barbara Wright was one of Susan Foreman's teachers at Coal Hill School, London. When Susan displayed a keen interest in History, Barbara loaned her The French Revolution. On returning the book Susan commented that it was full of inaccuracies. Finding this odd, Barbara asked Susan how many shillings were in the pound, she was astonished to find that the teenager didn't know. This strange knowledge intrigued Barbara, and talking with a fellow teacher, Ian Chesterton, she found that she was not the only person who has noticed something odd about this pupil. One evening, as school was finishing, Ian and Barbara decided to follow Susan home. They were concerned about her, and curious. When they saw Susan enter I.M. Foreman's junkyard in Totter's Lane, the two school teachers became more concerned for Susan's safety. Following her inside the yard, the two discovered a Police Box sitting incongruously with the junk. Barging their way in, when they discovered that Susan was inside, the two teachers found something even more strange ("An Unearthly Child").
Travelling
Although Barbara accepted the seemingly impossible more easily than Ian, her first inclination was to try to rationalise things. She felt that there must be an explanation for the TARDIS, and that it was an illusion Susan and her grandfather had created in their loneliness and isolation. However, Barbara was practical and realistic. Once she had realised that Susan, and the Doctor, have told the truth about the TARDIS she accepted it fully.
Barbara was an instinctive person, and her combination of practicality and intuition made her the ideal mediator, not only in the alien worlds and times, but also within the TARDIS. Many arguments between the Doctor and Ian were smoothed by Barbara's intervention. Her intuition didn't fail her when the travellers arrived on Skaro. She felt uncomfortable, and wanted to return to the safety of the TARDIS. When she was captured by the Daleks, she knew that her fears were reasonable. (DW: The Daleks)
Barbara's strong beliefs, and acceptance of truth, made her a formidable character. When she believed in something, she stood up for it. This was most notable when the travellers arrived in Mexico during the time of Aztecs.. Her interest in history allowed her to see the good and the evil in the Aztec society, and her belief that they could be a truly good race led her to become determined to change the course of history when the Conquistadors arrived. Barbara learnt that history cannot be change, and was disappointed, but she had the strength of character to live with this. Her idealism was admirable, as she wished to preserve all that is good and honourable, whilst driving out the horrors and ignorance of human sacrifice.(The Aztecs)
The strength of character Barbara showed when accepting the fate of the Aztecs allowed her to survive some of the discomforts she faced on her travels. While on Vortis, Barbara survived working for the Zarbi (DW: The Web Planet), and although she was captured and tortured by a Saracen band led by El Akir, she had the strength of mind to survive. (DW: The Crusade)
Passionate about history, Barbara could see both sides to a story. When the travellers arrived in revolutionary France she befriended Leon Colbert. When he died, she was distraught, and defended his treachery. (DW: The Reign of Terror). Barbara believed in the inate goodness of people, and saw that sometimes there is more to a situation than meets the eye. Her knowledge of history also prepared the travellers for the possible hardships they would encounter when they landed in Rome. She warned the others, once they had been captured to be sold as slaves, just how badly Roman slaves were treated. (DW: The Romans)
Barbara and Susan became confidentes, and perhaps because she missed Susan once she has left the TARDIS, Barbara immediately took to Vicki, who they met and helped on the planet Dido. When Barbara accidentally killed Vicki's pet, she was distraught. Despite how well Barbara and Vicki got along, Barbara was not amused when Vicki says that she must be "about five hundred and fifty years old", as she cames from 1963. (DW: The Rescue)
Perhaps Barbara's most treasured keepsake from her travels was the gold bracelet which she was given by Nero. (DW: The Chase)
But her happiest moment was when she realised that she and Ian may be able to return home in the Dalek time ship. She was the first of the two friends to realise this, and her single-minded determination to get home led her to decide to risk her life in the Dalek ship.
On returning home Barbara and Ian were thrilled to have safely arrived. Once they had left the Dalek ship, and it had self-destructed, the two friends realised that they have some explaining to do, as they had arrived home in 1965 - two years after they had left.(DW: The Chase)
Life after the Doctor
Barbara and Ian would later have a child, together, a future rock star named Johnny Chess. (DW: Timwyrm: Revelation)
- See Johnny Chess for more information.
Quotes
"Susan, can't you see that all this is an illusion? It's a game that you and your grandfather are playing, if you like. But you can't expect us to believe it."
"I'm an unwilling adventurer."
"The revolution isn't all bad, and neither are the people who support it. It changed things for the whole world, and good, honest people gave their lives for that change... You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."
"Bad? Have you any idea how the Romans treated their slaves? Or how many escaped?"
"What's that awful noise?"
"I beg your pardon... 'Awful noise'? A good way to talk about my singing!"
"No, Doctor, not that awful noise -- the other one!"
-- Barbara and the Doctor, in "The Chase"
"I know we thrust ourselves upon you, but we've been through a great deal together since then. And all we've been through will remain with us always. It will probably be the most exciting part of my life. But Doctor, we're different people, and now we have a chance to go home. We want to take that chance."
