10 Most Useless Doctor Who Characters

Kamelion is essentially the Fifth Doctor equivalent of when the Eleventh Doctor shaved his head out of boredom, or when the Twelfth Doctor constructed a clockwork squirrel. The legend goes that the Kamelion prop caught the attention of 1980s Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner, who was focused on taking the show into the future with a properly robotic companion.

The only problem was the automated prop's substantial limitations. K-9 may have struggled to traverse anything other than a smooth studio floor, but Kamelion struggled to achieve even that, and was regularly propped up against a wall. These limitations were further exacerbated when, tragically, the only person who knew how to operate Kamelion, Mike Power, was killed in a boating accident.

This needn't have been a problem however. Kamelion may have been a robot, but he also had the ability to assume any form. For notoriously publicity-hungry producer John Nathan-Turner, this could've been an ideal opportunity for a rolling cast list of special guest stars in the role of Kamelion. Instead, the robot was stuffed into a TARDIS cupboard and rarely seen again.

He made one last appearance in Planet of Fire, when he was taken over by his original owner, the Master. So that's yet another Fifth Doctor companion who conspired against him. Come back Adric, all is forgiven!