Bessie: Difference between revisions

'''Bessie''', also called '''Betsy''' ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Timebenders (comic story)|Timebenders]]'') and, later, '''Bessie 2''' ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Remembrance (comic story)|Remembrance]]''), was the [[Third Doctor]]'s main mode of transport during his [[exile on Earth]], although other incarnations of [[the Doctor]] have also used the [[car]]. A canary-yellow [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] roadster, she was a key part of his compensation package from [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]], and the only specific demand he made of [[the Brigadier]] when he agreed to be UNIT's [[scientific advisor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'') Despite being beloved by the Doctor, the car was frequently ridiculed and underestimated by the Doctor's friends. Heavily tricked out, the car's many modifications often bewildered his associates. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dæmons (TV story)|The Dæmons]]'', ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]'', ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'') The Brigadier in particular was dismissive of the car's abilities and, at least early on, didn't even believe it was capable of basic locomotion. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ambassadors of Death (TV story)|The Ambassadors of Death]]'')

The Doctor made several [[modifications]] to Bessie during his time at UNIT. These included: an [[anti-thief device|anti-theft]] [[force field]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ambassadors of Death (TV story)|The Ambassadors of Death]]''), which magnetically trapped anyone attempting to steal Bessie; a remote control ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dæmons (TV story)|The Dæmons]]''), with which the Doctor could steer the car from a distance, and enabling him to prevent {{Delgado}}'s attempt to escape following the events at [[Devil's End]]; and a [[Super drive|minimum inertia hyperdrive]], which allowed him to drive at breakneck speed and still come to a sudden stop without the car's occupants being tossed through the windscreen by inertia, which the brakes absorbed. The Doctor made use of this inertia absorption to overtake the Brigadier's [[Land Rover]] after Lethbridge-Stewart had declined to travel in Bessie in fear of the car's reliability. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]'')