Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Waters Of Mars

12. Adelaide Was Nearly Russian

One of the best parts of The Waters of Mars is Captain Adelaide Brooke, played superbly by Lindsay Duncan.

Firm but never unlikeable, Brooke plays a pivotal role as the Bowie Base commander destined to die, in order for her ancestors to go on to greatness.

That is, until a certain "Time Lord Victorious" sticks his beak in.

As the writers wanted Bowie Base One to feel multinational, Adelaide's character was almost a Russian cosmonaut named Valentina Kerenski.

When Brooke became British, her initial name was Grace, until RTD pointed out that Grace was the name of the Eighth Doctor's companion in the TV Movie.

She was soon renamed Adelaide, and her original Russian surname lived on in the form of actual Russian character, Yuri Kerenski.