Gillian Roberts
Gillian Roberts was a close friend of Susan Foreman and John Brent at Coal Hill School.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Gillian was intelligent and a natural leader, but did not perform well in a classroom environment. Abuse at the hands of her father made her highly suspicious of authority. She was frequently disciplined by the teachers at Coal Hill School, including at least one incident of "the Strap", administered by Mr Grange; she was also the only girl ever to have been caned at Coal Hill.
Susan met Gillian not long after starting Coal Hill School in 1963. Susan and Gillian began hanging out together. When weather got colder, they made snowmen together.
She and Susan would often encounter a bully named Francis Minto. "F.M." liked to destroy their snowmen.
One day, however, the snowman he attacked did not disintegrate. It came to life and attacked him. He was put in the hospital after this ordeal and Susan and Gillian were punished with detention for a week.
One day, more snowmen came to life and attacked the teachers and children before school started, killing many of them. They left the school in search of Susan's grandfather, who she hoped would be able to help.
One night Gillian and Susan went off to a club, trying to pass as adults. There they met Zack, a bike rider who tricked Susan into admitting that they were too young to be there.
She planned to leave school to marry Zack when she turned sixteen. This annoyed John. (PROSE: Time and Relative)
Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]
She enjoyed giving nicknames to the people she knew. She called John "the Martian" and Susan "Forehead."
She often got into fights at school and often won. She found it hard to be grateful for John's father's sacrifice to save her life, calling him "crazy."
During the Cold's occupation of London, Susan and Gillian's friendship soured. She used Susan's life as a threat to get the First Doctor to help them. (PROSE: Time and Relative)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Susan's friends Gillian Roberts and John Brent appear to have been named in reference to John and Gillian, the Doctor's grandchildren who served to replace Susan in the 1960s TV Comic Doctor Who stories due to rights issues. However, as Time and Relative's John and Gillian are not siblings, nor show any signs of sharing a grandfather with Susan, they cannot be considered to be the same individuals in-universe. Interestingly, in COMIC: A Christmas Story, the original Gillian encountered "killer snowmen"-type monsters, just like her Time and Relative counterpart.
