That was juuuust slightly before my time, although thanks to the fact that the main source for that kind of thing in these parts in the mid-'80s was PBS, and they tended to show Doctor Who serials as compiled movies in no particular order whatsoever, I encountered any number of the Doctor's friends at or near that delicate juncture regardless of when they were actually appearing in new episodes. Leela, Zoë, Romana the Second* - I think the first was actually Jo Grant in Terror of the Autons.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

* Interestingly enough, the first person Don Griffin ever really kissed with intent. She was very surprised. He would've been too, if he hadn't been having a psychotic break. I should tell that one properly one of these days as well.

It's true, not many time travelers can legitimately claim to have beaten the crap out of a Dalek with a softball bat.

--G.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?!"
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Second this. Although the mists of time are turning Mel Bush into a better portrayed character too :-).

Also, of course, as discussed below, SJS.

S.

Leela caught my eye, but Romana-2 was The Companion for me. It was my sophomore year of college, and matters were aided by the presence in one of my classes of a lovely young lady who could have been Lalla Ward's almost-but-not-quite-twin sister, so I didn't have to wait for the next broadcast to get my fix. <grin>

-- Bob
-------------------
My race is pacifist and does not believe in war. We kill only out of personal spite.

My favorite thing about Romana the Second was actually not her appearance, although there's nothing there to sneer at, but rather the fact that she was really quite funny. Sometimes that was merely an artifact of her being essentially a Douglas Adams character - he was script editor at the time and, for various reasons to do with scheduling and the unique way in which the BBC was funded, ended up more or less writing many of the episodes - but Ward's performance meant that even in the serious moments that other people had written, there was an undercurrent of latent zaniness going on. The comedy in Romana the First's appearances generally happened at her expense. I prefer comic female characters to be active participants. :)

--G.
"Should we take lift or fly?" "Let's not be ostentatious." "You're right. Let's fly."
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

And sorry again, but from the reboot it's Rose. I was a giggling schoolgirl when I first saw School Reunion. Loved The Doctor's reaction in the scene when he re-met SJ (she obviously didn't know it was him).

For the Leela fans, if you ever get a chance to see an old Brit drama named Tenko, do watch. Louise Jameson was spectacular in that.

(Tenko is set in a Japanese WW2 prison camp. The prisoners in the camp are British, Dutch and Australian civilian women captured during and after the Japanese invasion of Singapore.)

Jeanne

	Jeanne Hedge http://www.jhedge.com
"Never give up, never surrender!"

Oddly enough, though I had seen several of her original serials, I didn't really appreciate Sarah Jane until "School Reunion", after which it promptly became retroactive. I think that's partly because the classic serials I'd seen with her in them were probably not her best ones. Revenge of the Cybermen, for instance, has one great quote (from a scene she's not in), but is on the whole really not very good*, and in my memories of ancient viewings, her appearances with the Third Doctor all seem mainly to involve her being a) cross with him and b) generally not as much fun as Jo.

Nowadays, of course, I shall have nothing said against her. Offhand, I'm hard-pressed to think of another cardboard-sets-era companion who could have carried his or her own series, except maybe the Brigadier.

>And sorry again, but from the reboot it's Rose. I was a giggling
>schoolgirl when I first saw School Reunion.

"Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yes! I'm like 'do you two wanna be alone?'"

--G.
* The Cybermen are wearing cyber flares. Disco Cybermen.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Ah Lis, you went way too soon.

Jeanne

	Jeanne Hedge http://www.jhedge.com
"Never give up, never surrender!"