10 Classic Doctor Who Absurdities New Fans Won’t Believe
5. The Deadly Companion
Where to start with the oddness that is Vislor Turlough? When we first see him, hes sporting a straw boater and an undersized school uniform, despite actor Mark Strickson being in his mid 20s at the time a piece of casting Dawsons Creek would have been proud of. While Turlough does eventually get to wear some proper clothes he spends a good few weeks racing around an alien spacecraft dressed as a sixth-former, which doesnt lend his evil schemes a great deal of gravitas even when his counterparts are an airhostess, a noblewoman and a man who wears vegetables. And Turloughs schemes are evil indeed! Hes plotting to sabotage the TARDIS and kill the Doctor under the influence of The Black Guardian, a universal force with a grudge against our heroes ever since TV collectathon The Key To Time. The problem is, its all a bit of a stalemate. Turloughs a cowardly, self-serving cynic and while this makes him an excellent foil to the weary-but-optimistic Fifth Doctor, it does make him a rather useless murderer. The Black Guardian apparently agrees, frequently turning up to threaten and berate Turlough while he cowers in the corner and whimpers like Oliver Hardy. The encounters are silly and lack any real threat, with the Guardian all bluster and Turlough too much of a wimp to unfollow him on Space-twitter. The idea of an intelligent, amoral companion has a lot of mileage, and its rather a shame that Turlough only really gets fleshed out in his final serial. Strickson returned for several Big Finish audio dramas that serve to round out his character and make better use of his cunning. Theyre well worth a listen and even better, you dont have to look at that dreadful schoolboy costume.
