Barbara Wright: Difference between revisions

In her teens, Barbara dated a boy who carried a knife. Her mother called these "her rebellious years". Barbara had an aunt named [[Cecilia]]. They met every year in London on [[23 November]], her aunt's birthday. ([[ST]]: ''[[1963 (audio story)|1963]]'')

She wrote her dissertation on the [[Aztec]]s. ([[ST]]: ''[[Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)|Nothing at the End of the Lane]]'')

In [[1954]], she was a student teacher in [[Cricklewood]], living in a rented room. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Witch Hunters]]'')

She was a supporter of the Conservative Party whereas Ian supported the Liberals. She regarded his politics as "wrong but romantic." ([[ST]]: ''[[Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)|Nothing at the End of the Lane]]'')

In [[1963]], Barbara taught [[Susan Foreman]] history at [[Coal Hill School]] in [[Shoreditch]], [[London]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') Her classroom was C4. ([[ST]]: ''[[Nothing at the End of the Lane (short story)|Nothing at the End of the Lane]]'') She had a particular interest in the [[Aztec]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'') The odd gaps in Susan's knowledge and her  knowledge of things she could not know intrigued Barbara. Ian and she followed Susan to [[76 Totter's Lane]], where they learnt that Susan had been kept inside a [[police box]]. They forced their way into the massive [[console room]] of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]].

Susan's grandfather, the [[First Doctor]], kidnapped Ian and Barbara in the TARDIS, which [[Time travel|travelled back in time]]. The TARDIS landed in [[Earth]]'s [[BC#Prehistory|Stone Age]]. The Doctor was taken by [[Kal]], who had apparently seen him produce [[fire]] from his fingers (the Doctor had been lighting his pipe using matches). The others tried to rescue the Doctor, but were taken to the [[Cave of Skulls]]. The [[Old Mother]] released the Doctor and his [[companion]]s and they escaped into [[Forest of Fear|a nearby forest]]. Ian and Barbara aided [[Za]]'s injuries from an animal when he tried to chase after them, but were returned to the cave. Ian produced fire for the tribe and devised a way of scaring the cavemen by setting the skulls on fire. The group escaped to the TARDIS, which took off again. ([[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'')

Having escaped, they assisted the [[Thal]]s in their attack on the Dalek city. The Daleks' power supply was damaged in the attack. The Daleks died and their plans to flood the [[atmosphere]] with [[radiation]] failed. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'')

With the fluid link retrieved, the Doctor left Skaro for Earth, using the [[Fast Return Switch]]. The spring in the switch was faulty, causing it to stick. The TARDIS was sent to the beginning of a solar system and everyone was knocked out in the trip. The TARDIS tried warning the crew about the [[atom]]s forming around them when they came to, but the Doctor assumed that this was Ian and Barbara's sabotage of the ship. Once Barbara figured out what was going on, the Doctor fixed the spring, ending the fault. ([[DW]]: "[[The Rescue (episode)|The Rescue]]", ''[[The Edge of Destruction (TV story)|The Edge of Destruction]]'')

Still heavily damaged and malfunctioning, the TARDIS found its way to Earth, but did not make it to Ian and Barbara's time, instead landing in the [[Plain of Pamir]] in [[1289]]. There, Barbara met [[Marco Polo]], who took the TARDIS along with its [[TARDIS key|keys]] on his caravan across [[China|Cathay]], to hand it to [[Kublai|Kublai Khan]] as part of a bargain for his return to [[Venice]]. Along the way, the [[Mongol]] warlord [[Tegana]], also part of Polo's caravan, tried to take the TARDIS for [[Nogai]] as part of his plan to [[assassination|assassinate]] the Khan. In the chaos of Tegana and Polo's duel in [[Peking]], the Doctor and his companions escaped in his repaired TARDIS. ([[DW]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'')

The Doctor and his companions returned to Arbitan's island, where Arbitan had been murdered. Ian handed the Voord the fake key, which destroyed the Conscience, along with the Voord. They were able to leave in the TARDIS once more. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keys of Marinus (TV story)|The Keys of Marinus]]'')

[[File:Barbara Yetaxa.jpg|thumb|Barbara posing as the [[Aztec]] [[god]] [[Yetaxa]]. ([[DW]]: "[[The Day of Darkness]]")]]The Doctor and his companions arrived in an [[Aztec]] temple in [[Mexico]]. They went through a one-way passage that prevented access to the TARDIS. Barbara posed as the Aztec [[god]] [[Yetaxa]], with the others as her servants to find a way back. Barbara tried and failed to change the Aztecs' history of [[human sacrifice]] for the better, which the Doctor strongly advised her against.

Susan was to be punished for denying marriage to the [[Perfect Victim]] and Ian to be executed when he was framed by the [[High Priest of Sacrifice]] [[Tlotoxl]] for attacking the [[High Priest of Knowledge]] [[Autloc]]. Autloc's faith in Yetaxa was shattered, and he left for the wilderness. The Doctor, Ian and the Doctor's accidental fiancée [[Cameca]] distracted Ian and Susan's [[Aztec Captain|guard]] to escape. Ian prevented Tlotoxl's murder of Barbara and fought off the warrior [[Ixta]]. They worked on a wheel and pulley system (a device unknown to the Aztecs) to open the doorway back to the TARDIS. As they departed, the sacrifice of the Perfect Victim continued as planned. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'')

Passionate about history, Barbara could see both sides to a story. When the travellers arrived in revolutionary France, she befriended [[Léon Colbert]]. When he died, she was distraught and defended his treachery. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Reign of Terror]]'')

On [[22nd century]] Earth, the travellers found the [[Dalek]]s had invaded and occupied the planet. Barbara helped a small resistance group in their plotting and with [[Jenny (The Dalek Invasion of Earth)|Jenny]] took [[Dortmun]] through [[London]]. With the Daleks defeated, Susan left their company. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'')  

When they arrived on the [[planet]] [[Dido]], they met an inhabitant there named [[Vicki]]. Vicki was initially unable to closely bond with Barbara, who had killed Vicki's pet [[sand beast]] [[Sandy]], thinking it to be dangerous. After Barbara offered an apology, the two got on well and Vicki joined them on their travels. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Rescue]]'')

Perhaps owing in part to Barbara missing Susan, she and Vicki became confidantes. Despite how well Barbara and Vicki got along, Barbara seemed unamused when Vicki said that she must be "about five hundred and fifty years old", as she came from 1963. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Rescue]]'')  

The strength of character Barbara showed when accepting the fate of the Aztecs allowed her to persevere through the discomforts she faced on their travels. While on [[Vortis]], Barbara survived working for the [[Zarbi]], ([[DW]]: ''[[The Web Planet]]'') and although she was captured by a [[Saracen]] band led by [[El Akir]], she had the strength of mind to survive this as well. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Crusade]]'')

Barbara's knowledge of history prepared the travellers for the hardships they would encounter when they landed in [[Rome]]. She warned Ian, once they had been captured to be sold as [[slave]]s, just how badly Roman slaves were treated. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'') Here she gained her most treasured keepsake from her travels - the gold bracelet she had been given by [[Nero]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'', ''[[The Chase]]'')

[[File:BarbaraChaseCloseup.jpg|thumb|left|Barbara realises she and [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]] might find their way home. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'') ]]

She was the first to realise that she and Ian might be able to return home in the [[Dalek time machine]]. Determined to get home, she was willing 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 had some explaining to do, as they had arrived home in [[1965]] — two years after they had left. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')

Barbara and Ian claimed to have been missionaries in Africa to account for the time gap. She began a career as a university lecturer, specialising in Aztec history ([[MA]]: ''[[Who Killed Kennedy]]''). Barbara and Ian married ([[SJA]]: ''[[Death of the Doctor]]'') and had a child, [[Johnny Chess|John Alydon Ganatas Chesterton]], who grew up to be a famous musician under the name [[Johnny Chess]] ([[NA]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation]]'', [[PDA]]: ''[[Byzantium!]]''). According to a rumour [[Sarah Jane Smith]] shared with [[Clyde Langer]] and [[Rani Chandra]], Barbara and Ian had become professors at [[Cambridge]] by at least the [[2010s]] and had not aged since the [[1960s]] ([[SJA]]: ''[[Death of the Doctor]]''). However, other sources suggest this was just a rumour. ([[BE]]: ''[[Untitled (DWM 169)|Untitled]]'', [[VHS]]: ''[[The Crusade (TV story)|The Crusade]]'', [[BFA]]: ''[[The Five Companions (audio story)|The Five Companions]]'')

In [[1985]], Barbara wrote a GCSE textbook called ''Journeys Through History: A Sourcebook for GCSE for the Associated Exam Board'' with [[Ian Martin]] in which Lady [[Jane Grey]]'s nine day reign from [[10 July|10]] to [[19 July]] [[1553]] was covered. She, the Doctor and Ian had met Lady Jane shortly after she was deposed by [[Mary I|Queen Mary I]]. ([[VD]]: ''[[The Nine-Day Queen (short story)|The Nine-Day Queen]]'')

Barbara was keen to see the good in all things. She was frequently protected by Ian. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keys of Marinus]]'') She believed in the innate goodness of people and saw that sometimes there was more to a situation than met the eye. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'')

Barbara was also capable of great endurance and feats of bravery. She killed [[Sandy]] with a [[flare gun]] in shock, after which she was keen to make it up with Vicki. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Rescue]]'') While a prisoner, Barbara looked after her fellow captives at risk to herself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'') Barbara would take her aggression out on the [[Dalek]]s. Despite her initial fear, she overcame it and fought them to save her group and the [[Thal]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'') In her second encounter with them, Barbara drove a truck through a roadblock of Daleks, crushing at least one of them. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'') The next time she met the Daleks, Barbara was eager to violently attack them as soon as the Doctor gained the weaponry they needed. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'')