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Ian
Chesterton
(1963 - 1965) |
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William
Russell |
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Born in 1924 as Russell Enoch
he began acting from the age of 8. Sometimes using
the acting name "William Russell" he appeared
in a number of films including, in 1954, One
Good Turn alongside Norman Wisdom. Further film
roles followed including the 1957 film Nicholas
Nickleby and the television series The Adventures
of Lancelot. After Doctor Who he continued
acting in the theatre and in the late eighties he
became a regular in Coronation Street. He
then became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Unfortunately William Russell died in June 2024 aged 99.
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 A
science teacher at Coal Hill School, Ian Chesterton is persuaded
by fellow schoolteacher Barbara
Wright to investigate Susan who
is one of their pupils at the school. This leads them to investigating
her home which it appears, by the address she has given, to
be a junkyard. Ian is very doubtful that they should be prying
into Susan's private life but like Barbara he too curious about
her strange behaviour in the classroom. It is because of this
that the both of them find themselves inside the TARDIS with
The Doctor and Susan. Fearing that his secret will be revealed
The Doctor kidnaps them both by dematerialising the TARDIS.
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| An Unearthly Child |
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Ian
finds it hard to believe The Doctor and Susan's explanation of the
TARDIS as what he sees and what they tell him is at odds with his
scientific background. ‘This doesn’t roll around on wheels,
you know.’ an exasperated Doctor tells Ian when he disagrees
that the ‘Police Box’ he has just entered is in fact
a space and time machine. Ian took sometime to come to terms with
the concept of time travel and he is still unconvinced that The Doctor
and Susan are telling the truth even after the TARDIS materialises
in a strange alien environment ("An
Unearthly Child"), continuing to sometimes have difficulty
processing the complexities of time travel on some occasions. A particular
example of this was when he took some time to register how far back
in time he’d gone during a trip to Venus, believing that the
natives intended to invade Earth before he fully recognised that
he was over three billion years in the past ("Venusian
Lullaby"), while on another occasion he was attacked by
a group of people on a visit to China, prompting The Doctor to conclude
- much to Ian’s confusion - that the attack was the result
of actions Ian would take in his future on a trip to the past (Although
it was later revealed that the men had actually mistaken Ian for
his own great-grandfather rather than his future self) ("The
Eleventh Tiger").
He
also took longer than Barbara to trust The Doctor and was initially
at odds with him. However, as the series progressed Ian settled into
the idea of being a 'wander in the fourth dimension' and he even
started to enjoy himself, commenting once that the only thing he
didn’t actually enjoy about his time in the TARDIS was that
he hadn’t had a choice in starting his journey ("Venusian
Lullaby"). Ian was the classic old-established mould of the
British gentleman and one of a breed of heroes who had courage in
abundance, as seen most evidently on his first trip to another planet
when he actually entered a Dalek casing
to pose as a Dalek while attempting to escape ("The
Daleks"). Whether aiding the resistance against the Daleks
("The
Dalek Invasion of Earth"), or posing as Robin Hood to ensure
that history unfolded as it should after Robin was killed ("The
Thief of Sherwood"), Ian did his duty, showing great respect,
to those around him and especially Barbara and Susan who he regarded
as his duty to protect.
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| The Aztecs |
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Even
though he had a good sense of humour he did have a tendency on a
number of occasions to lapse into juvenile behaviour. Ian though
wasn't stupid or gullible. His feelings for his fellow travellers
were always a vital motivation in his willingness to become involved,
even coming to respect The Doctor even if his attitude sometimes
frustrated him. He cared deeply for Barbara and certainly they seemed
destined for each other, if only because of the many of their shared
experiences, but there was never any sign of any romance between
the two of them in the television series (Although the novels featured
such moments as the two consummating their relationship during their
time in ancient Rome ("Romans Cutaway") and Ian agreeing
to marry Barbara when they finally got home ("The Eleventh
Tiger")).
Ian's
most predominant characteristic though was his narrow-mindedness
and inability to see things from a more liberal point of view. This
did though improve with time. Even though he was fairly easygoing
it was very difficult for anyone to get the better of him. Despite
not being naturally heroic he saved the lives of his fellow time
travellers on many occasions, such as when he dived into a swimming-pool
to save the currently drowning Susan despite the gunfire taking
place around them ("City
at World's End"). He would always become well involved
in the adventures he found himself in and often became peacemaker.
He frequently saved the day proving that he could use both his athleticism
and intellect to great use when needed, such as when he deduced
that the time travellers find the tomb of the First Emperor of China
- the location where the alien intelligence known as the Mandragora
Helix would arrive on Earth - by finding a nearby water well on
the grounds that the builders would have needed water ("The
Eleventh Tiger"). Fittingly, with his training as a teacher,
Ian was practically minded and he did not resort to using violence
unless it was justified in difficult situations, although he did
acquire some training in areas of combat such as sword -fighting
over time. He relied on thinking of a logical way out of a sticky
situation. This was well demonstrated in "The Dalek Invasion
of Earth" where he used his brain and ended up playing a vital
role in defeating the Daleks.
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| The Chase |
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Despite
the increase in his knowledge and understanding due to the many
varied locations that the TARDIS took him to, like Barbara,
he really wanted to be able to return home as they felt it was
time to get back to Earth to resume a normal lifestyle. It was
therefore no surprise when the opportunity arose, in the form
of a Dalek time machine, that he and Barbara did not hesitate
to persuaded The Doctor to make it possible for them to use
it to return home to London even though it is clear The Doctor
wanted them stay. The fact that they arrived two years after
they had left did not worry them in the slightest, both just glad to be home ("The
Chase").
Shortly after their return to Earth, Ian and Barbara were abducted by an alien race and trapped in a psychic prison that reverted them back to just before they left Coal Hill School to follow Susan, until they were rescued by the Eleventh Doctor after their prison’s psychic energy caused chaos on a ship that he had just landed on ("Hunters of the Burning Stone"). Although Ian in particular doubted The Doctor’s claims to be the same man due to his youth and the TARDIS’s greater reliability, the two joined The Doctor in investigating the origins of their psychic prison and the metal that made it, eventually learning that a race known as the Prometheans had abducted Ian and Barbara due to their role in influencing the Tribe of Gum ("An Unearthly Child" aka "100 000 BC"), the Prometheans attempting to establish themselves as gods before the TARDIS crew inspired the Tribe of Gum to seek their own destiny. With The Doctor having used the Prometheans’ equipment to impose mental barriers on humanity that would prevent the Prometheans influencing them, using the TARDIS as a protective image in the human subconscious, he took Ian and Barbara home, subsequently serving as Ian’s best man at their wedding, assuring his first companions that he valued his time with them as they had helped him become a better person, citing such moments as Ian’s compassion for a caveman when The Doctor had been willing to kill him.
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The Five Companions
(Eddie Robson) |
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Ian
and Barbara were later indirectly reunited with The Doctor when
Ian was hired by UNIT to serve as a substitute scientific advisor
while the Third
Doctor was away ("The
Face of the Enemy"),
where it was revealed that Ian had taken a lecturing position
at the Royal Aircraft Establishment's technical college at Farnborough
after his return to Earth, as well as participating in a year-long
exchange with NASA, during which he did some consulting work
on the US stealth project; his time with UNIT saw him working
with fellow companion The
Brigadier and The Doctor’s old
enemy The
Master to prevent the invasion of an alternate Earth.
The Seventh
Doctor and Ace encountered alternate versions of
Ian and Barbara during their brief arrival in an alternate 1963
where the actions of The
Valeyard had released the Dark Matrix
upon Earth, the alternate Barbara helping The Doctor track down
the point where history had diverged before his departure ("Matrix").
During the Game of Rassilon ("The
Five Doctors"),
Ian was reunited with The Doctor when he was abducted along
with later companions Steven
Taylor, Sara
Kingdom, Polly Wright and Nyssa ("The
Five Companions") and trapped in an
alternative Death Zone, where they were caught up in a conflict
between the Daleks and the Sontarans.
During this struggle, Ian briefly repeated his old feat of escaping
from the Daleks
by hiding in a Dalek casing, and expressed shock when he met
with the now considerably younger-looking Fifth
Doctor, even
if he still accepted this man as his friend before they were
all returned to their own times by the Time Lords.
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The Time Museum
(James Goss) |
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In "Death
of The Doctor" - an episode of spin-off series The
Sarah Jane Adventures, looking at the modern adventures
of the Third and Fourth
Doctor’s companion Sarah
Jane Smith -, Sarah Jane mentioned that her research into
other companions had included reference to Ian and Barbara as
professors at Cambridge, rumours saying that they hadn’t
aged a day since the sixties, although this likely just referred to their still-youthful attitude as Ian has been shown to be noticeably aged when forced back into action. On one occasion, he was captured by the mysterious Pendolin, an entity who fed on memories of time travellers and wanted to use Ian as bait to lure in The Doctor, but Ian was able to use Pendolin's equipment to return home and leave Pendolin to be attacked by his past victims ("The Time Museum"). When Susan was recruited to serve in the Time War ("All Hands on Deck"), circumstances prompted her to propose that the Time Lords recruit the Sensorites as allies to draw on their telepathic abilities, which led to the Time Lords recruiting Ian to help in the subsequent diplomatic talks due to his experience with the Sensorites ("Sphere of Influence"). Despite his age, Ian proved to be a useful asset to the negotiations, helping Susan find a Dalek/Sensorite parasite that was provoking the Sensorites to hostility to prevent them allying with the Time Lords, with Time Lord agent Velkin noting that he was remembered in several historical reports for his actions during his time with The Doctor as he helped inspire other species to stand up against their invaders.
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