Doctor Who: 11 New Who Moments That Never Made It To Screen
10. Astrid Disappoints The Doctor Voyage Of The Damned
Voyage Of The Damneds Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) was never intended to be a full time companion. While Russell T. Davies was planning Voyage Of The Damned, he was simultaneously workshopping the story outline of what would eventually become Partners In Crime. Which at that point would introduce a new companion named Penny Carter, leaving no room for Astrid. Plus there was no way Auntie Beeb could afford an entire series of Kylie Minogue. So the question was what to do with Astrid. The intention was to write the character as the perfect fit for a companion. Something that Davies did in spades by making her a good-natured and likeable woman desperate to discover something more in life. And as we now know, Astrids ultimate fate was a heroic sacrifice to defeat the episode's arch-villain Max Capricorn and save the Earth. But it wasnt always that way. Early on in the production process, before anything had been written and while negotiations with Minogue were ongoing, Russell T. Davies had the idea of going down the route of Series 1 companion Adam Mitchell, and writing a scene where she does something that makes the Doctor effectively disown her. How exactly? Well Davies himself put it best in an e-mail to Doctor Who Magazines Benjamin Cook:
You think shes going to be the new companion, but then she does something towards the end, to defend the Doctor, but something rash she picks up a laser gun and kills someone in a situation that the Doctor could have easily talked his way out of, so effectively she fails Companion Academy. Hes disappointed in her. Shes left behind at the end because shes Good But Not Good Enough.
While this would have been an interesting new direction to go in, Astrid as she was eventually written was just far too likeable to fit a scene where she kills somebody. Even if it was to save the Doctor.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
