Oh man. This guy. This is one of those things that look great on paper, and then it all falls apart when you cast it wrong. Adric's character spec indicated he was a native Alzarian from a parallel universe (E-space) that was a genius with maths in particular. His metabolism was unusually quick (He healed at near-Wolverine levels) and was a bit of an "Artful Dodger"; A clever boy who was quick on his feet to sound out an opportunity and con his way into it. So of course, you'd cast a GREAT child actor for this, right? Someone charismatic, who wouldn't fail to naturally act simple things, like walking, right? No. They didn't. Waterhouse later wrote in his autobiography that his idol, Tom Baker, seemed to regard him with derision. Lalla Ward (then-companion Romana) barely could hide her contempt onscreen. If you watch his episodes, it's easy to understand why: Adric is supposed to come across as described above, but Waterhouse plays him as the most petulant, obnoxious, and turncoat smartass ever seen in sci-fi. All the scorn Wil Wheaton earned as Wesley Crusher in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is NOTHING compared to Adric's outings. Even a new Doctor (Peter Davison) couldn't help him; The writers tried to give him some development by pitching him against this seemingly younger, less brash Doctor (A legitimate good idea, dramatically speaking) but all Waterhouse seems to do with the part is whine, complain about girls, and remind everyone how smart he is. Charming. Amazingly, despite being wretched and totally wrong for the part, he often WORKS, somehow. But it's pretty much down to the man in the title role. Baker pretty much treats him as trash that blew in at first, and then tries to at least school the boy. Which, hey - That's a pretty Doctor-ish thing to do. Again, when Peter Davison shows up as 5, Adric is often pit against him. His attitude actually makes sense as his once towering, blustery authority figure is now a polite, younger, uncertain fellow. Unfortunately, Waterhouse can't do anything else other than be whiny and petulant, which doesn't let us do much to sympathize other than wait for the Doctor to rise to the occasion and shut him up.
(Less than) Shining Moment:
In "Four To Doomsday". Adric gets into a shouting match with Tegan, the Fifth Doctor's other headache companion. After some playschool "I'M RAISING MY VOICE" acting from both of them, Tegan basically lays him out. Waterhouse....crumples and carefully falls against the set. It takes a moment you were already inappropriately cheering for, and lets you just inappropriately laugh and reflect, "Wow, this kid really is in over his head". Adric is famous for being the first proper, multi-story companion to be killed off. In terms of fan-wish-fulfillment, this is certainly a reason to see "Doctor Who" as superior to the aforementioned "Star Trek".
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
