10 Biggest Feuds In Doctor Who History

Adric, as played by Matthew Waterhouse, usually tops the poll in the least favourite companions. To be fair to the actor, Adric was written as a brash, arrogant misogynist. Waterhouse's acting skills left a lot to be desired and from his very first serial, Full Circle, there were issues.

Tom Baker was the first to speak up. He credited Waterhouse's appearance and suggested that Adric be written as a Manuel to Baker's Basil Fawlty. This was rejected. Lalla Ward was already experiencing difficulties with Baker which then fed into her reception of Waterhouse. There are numerous occasions where Romana is overly curt with Adric on-screen.

Christopher H. Bidmead, who served as both a script editor and writer on the series, wrote Adric off as someone else's mistake, for which Waterhouse paid the price. That person was John Nathan Turner, who wrote the characterisation of Adric as one-dimensional and unlikeable.

Matthew Waterhouse seemed doomed from the beginning. During Adric's death, allegedly both Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding struggled to keep smiles off their faces. Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor admitted that he could save him but that he wouldn't. Despite all of this, Waterhouse seems to have kept a good spirit about his time on the show, though he laments that people often shout "Now I'll never know if I was right" at him in the streets.