Ian Chesterton
From WhoniverseWiki
| Ian Chesterton | |
|---|---|
| Character | |
| Companion of | The First Doctor |
| Created by | Verity Lambert (Producer) |
| Played by | William Russell |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Human |
| First Appearance | An Unearthly Child |
| Native Place | London, Earth |
| Native Time | 20th Century |
| Alias | none known |
| Occupation | Science Teacher |
| Member of | Coal Hill School, The Royal Air Force |
| Known Friends | The First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Vicki Pallister |
| Known Enemies | The Daleks, various enemies of the Doctor |
| Known Relatives | Barbara Chesterton (née Wright) (wife), John Chesterton (son), Joan Wright (mother in law)[1], John (cousin) |
| Base of Operations | London, formerly the Doctor's TARDIS |
Ian Chesterton was a companion of the First Doctor. For the alternative version of the character who appeared in Dr. Who and the Daleks see Ian Chesterton (film)
Contents |
Description
Ian is a schoolteacher who unwillingly joined the Doctor on his travels. During his adventures. Ian's primary concern was for the safety of his fellow travellers. During their travels, he fell in love with Barbara Wright, a colleague of his who was also on the TARDIS.[2] Ian is an atheist.[3] and his politics are Liberal[4] He doesn't like Korean food.[5] and isn't sure if he likes Italian food.[6] He wears spectacles for close work and required treatment for damage caused by exposure to radiation on Skaro following his return home.[7]
Ian has a kid cousin called John, who's into rockets.[8] He has always found the London Underground to be an uncomfortable method of travel.[9]
Abilities
Ian has a car and can drive it.[10] He is capable of making fire the old-fashioned way[11] He has some training in unarmed combat[12] and is able to knock somebody unconscious by placing his thumb between somebody's shoulderblades.[13] He is also able to read spectrographic analyses of planetary masses.[14] He is also capable of wielding a sword[15] and riding a horse.[16] He is familiar with heliograph code.[17]
History
Early Life
Ian Chesterton was born in Reading.[21] He has a brother and a sister and used to go on family holidays to a cottage in North Wales.[22] He flew kites.[23]
Ian was taught the Ten Commandments at Sunday School and despite not being religious he tried to follow those core values.[24]
Aged 13, Ian was taught Latin at school by a teacher called Mr Dumbie, and his form tutor was named Quibbs. He used to bully a Jewish boy named Goldfinkle.[25]
When he was at university and aged 18, Ian fell in love with a girl called Suzy. She got a job offer in another town, and he pretended to lose interest in her so that he didn't stop her from taking the job. A week later, he saw a news story about a girl killed in a car crash that contains her photo. However, when he read the article he realised that it was the wrong photo.[26]
At some point, Ian was a wing-three quarter for Harlequins Third XV. He once got drunk in a Rugby Club in Bath, and spent a terrible weekend in Colchester with a girl from Guildford.[27]
Ian did two years National Service in the RAF at Lynham, in Malaya, and in Wales.[28] Ian's national service number is 15110404 and he was a Private.[29] During this time, Ian boxed.[30]. Ian once saw ants eat through an entire house.[31]
Coal Hill
Ian became a science teacher, and took up a position at Coal Hill School. He would still be in that position by the autumn of 1963.[32] He first met his colleague, history teacher Barbara Wright in a teashop on Tottenham Court Road[33] One of the first times that Ian saw Barbara outside of school, he helped her with a history trip to London that she had organized at the end of the summer term. He also coached the boys five-a-side football on Fridays after school.[34] Ian once asked Barbara out for a drink after a parents evening that dragged on until late.[35]
At this time, Ian had a flat in Shoreditch.[36]
In the summer holidays whilst he was teaching at Coal Hill School, Ian went on holiday to Dorset, and met a palmist called Rosy Parks. He would later meet a palmist called Rosemary at a party organised by Barbara Wright.[37]
Ian and his colleague Barbara Wright became curious about the strange behaviour of their pupil Susan Foreman. One night, they went to her home address, Foreman's Yard, and investigated. They met Susan's grandfather, the first Doctor, before hearing Susan's voice from inside what looked like a Police Box. They forced their way into the box, which was actually the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor, fearful that they might reveal the TARDIS's presence to others, and thus change history, took them in a trip back in time.[38]
TARDIS Travels
Ian was then responsible for helping his travelling companions in an encounter with a tribe of cavemen who had lost the secret of fire. Their next trip was to the planet Skaro, where they defeated the Daleks. When the TARDIS left Skaro, the TARDIS's Fast Return Switch became stuck, and the ship tried to warn the crew by sending strange telepathic messages to them, affecting their behaviour towards one another. After this, Ian, Barbara, Susan, and the Doctor became firm friends.[39]
The travellers enjoyed a number of adventures together, as the Doctor tried to return Ian and Barbara home. These included spending several months travelling with Marco Polo, being trapped on the colony world Avalon, where nanobots had created a society where magic worked, a quest to find the keys to the Conscience of Marinus, and a trip to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, where Barbara was proclaimed a goddess, and Ian almost became the military leader..[40]
They continued travelling, visiting the Sense Sphere and Revolutionary France. At one point, the travellers found themselves in Medieval England, where Ian - who bore an astonishing resemblance to Robin Hood - turned the rogue into the hero of legend. They also spent some time in 1st Century Judea, where Ian and Barbara were trapped inside the besieged town of Masada Ian attempted to rally the defenders, helping them to kill more Romans than they would otherwise have done, but ultimately failed when they collectively decided to commit suicide. After this, they travelled to the city of Arkhaven on the planet Sarath. The planet was about to be rendered uninhabitable, but some of its inhabitants were due to escape in a giant rocket. They also spent some time in the town of Salem, where Susan's telepathic abilities unwittingly intensified the hysteria surrounding that town's infamous Witch Trials. Ian was imprisoned for two weeks for witchcraft and due to be executed, until the Doctor arrived with a pardon.[41]
The TARDIS subsequently returned to Ian and Barbara's time, but the crew were shrunk to a miniscule size. It then arrived in an alternative version of Earth's future, and the Doctor shut down some time travel experiments. During these events, the travellers met an alternative version of Ian from another timeline. This version of Ian had married Barbara. The TARDIS then materialised on 22nd Century Earth. The planet had been occupied by the Daleks, and the Doctor foiled the invaders' plans to turn Earth into a giant spaceship. During these events, Susan fell in love with a freedom fighter named David Campbell. The Doctor deliberately locked Susan out of the TARDIS so that she would be able to marry David without feeling that she ought to stay with him, whilst Ian and Barbara continued their travels with the Doctor.[42]
The TARDIS's next stop was the planet Venus, three billion years in Ian's past. Whilst there, Ian was kidnapped by a number of Venusian groups, who wanted his help with insane schemes to prolong the life of their species. He was briefly trapped on the planet when the Doctor was forced to leave Venus in the TARDIS, although the Doctor did come back for him. They then travelled to Alexandria, and then to 16th century England, where the TARDIS crew befriended Lady Jane Grey. After that, they arrived on the planet Dido, where they picked up a new passenger, Vicki Pallister.[43]
After leaving Dido, the TARDIS materialised on a cliff top, and fell off. There are two different accounts of what happened next. In one account, the TARDIS crew spent some time separated in the city of Byzantium, reuniting in the midst of violent clashes in the city. They then discovered that the TARDIS had been taken to a villa in Italy. In the other account, they had materialised in Italy, and killed a lion. They were unable to save the life of a slave that lived in a nearby villa, and promised to look after the villa for him. In both versions, they ended up living in an Italian villa for a month.[44]
Ian and Barbara were left on their own by the Doctor and Vicki, who went to see Rome. However, Ian and Barbara were kidnapped. They eventually escaped and made their way back to the villa. They subsequently spent some time in China in the 19th Century, where Ian was mistaken for his great grandfather. During this trip, Ian proposed to Barbara, arranging to marry her if they ever got back home. After this, they arrived on the planet Vortis, where they helped the butterfly-like Menoptra overthrow the Animus. They then arrived in the Holy Land during the 12th Century. Barbara was kidnapped by Saracens and Ian was knighted by Richard the Lionheart, before rescuing her.[45]
Their next trip took them to the planet Xeros, where they encountered a possible future version of themselves in the museum there. They managed to avoid this fate. The TARDIS then landed in 1605, where Ian and Barbara were mixed up in the events of the famous Gunpowder Plot. After this, they discovered that a group of Daleks had gained the technology to chase the TARDIS. After a series of stops where they had to escape the Daleks, the TARDIS crew managed to defeat the Daleks. Ian and Barbara were able to use the Daleks' time machine to return themselves home.[46] The date when they returned home was 26th June 1965.[47]
After the TARDIS
On his return home, Ian had to sell all his possessions in order to get a new place to live. He soon got a job teaching at the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Technical College at Farnham. This was due partly to a government department which was aware of his association with the Doctor. A year after their return home, Ian and Barbara married at Gretna Green.[48] He was given a MoD grade of Higher Executive Officer - equivalent to Major. He took part in a year long exchange with NASA, during which he did some consulting work on the US stealth project.[49]
Ian and Barbara had a son, John in 1967.[50]
At some point, Ian dropped out of Project Carnival[51]
References
- ↑ Joan is named in Long Night (Short Trips: Companions) and The Time Travellers
- ↑ This is first made explicit in Byzantium!
- ↑ According to Byzantium!
- ↑ According to Nothing at the End of the Lane (Short Trips and Side Steps)
- ↑ According to Nothing at the End of the Lane (Short Trips and Side Steps)
- ↑ According to Venusian Lullaby
- ↑ According to The Face of the Enemy
- ↑ Venusian Lullaby
- ↑ Venusian Lullaby
- ↑ We see his car in the first episode: An Unearthly Child<
- ↑ He does this in The Firemaker, the fourth episode of An Unearthly Child
- ↑ As seen in Marco Polo (Story) and The Aztecs. This is generally assumed to have been during his national service.
- ↑ Ian uses this "nerve pinch" move in The Aztecs
- ↑ As seen in The Sensorites
- ↑ As seen in The Crusade
- ↑ As seen in Marco Polo (Story)
- ↑ Venusian Lullaby
- ↑ This story's place in the list is somewhat arbitrary, assuming that it isn't Unbound
- ↑ It is unclear how Romans Cutaway and Byzantium! can co-exist
- ↑ It is unclear how Romans Cutaway and Byzantium! can co-exist
- ↑ Ian says so in Byzantium! page 89. A format document from July 1963 says that Ian was born in 1936.
- ↑ Byzantium! page 34
- ↑ The Eleventh Tiger
- ↑ The Eleventh Tiger
- ↑ According to Byzantium! page 56
- ↑ According to Face of the Enemy page 180. Suzy was also mentioned in Romans Cutaway (More Short Trips) page 237
- ↑ According to Byzantium!
- ↑ According to Byzantium! - which mentions Lynham and The Face of the Enemy - which mentions Malaya. Wales, but not the RAF, is mentioned in The Eleventh Tiger
- ↑ The Time Travellers
- ↑ The Eleventh Tiger
- ↑ Ian mentions the ants in The Web Planet. It is unclear when he saw this, but some fans have theorised that it was during his national service.
- ↑ As seen in Time and Relative and An Unearthly Child
- ↑ According to Byzantium!
- ↑ According to The Nine Day Queen (Decalog 2)
- ↑ The Time Travellers
- ↑ This is mentioned in The Eleventh Tiger, and the alternative Ian we see in Matrix (novel) also has such a flat.
- ↑ The Splintered Gate (Short Trips: Companions)
- ↑ This is a summary of the first episode of An Unearthly Child
- ↑ As seen in An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, and The Edge of Destruction
- ↑ As seen in Marco Polo (Story), The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Keys of Marinus, and The Aztecs
- ↑ According to The Sensorites, The Reign of Terror, The Thief of Sherwood (Short Trips: Past Tense), The Last Days (Short Trips), City at World's End, and The Witch Hunters
- ↑ Planet of Giants, The Time Travellers, and The Dalek Invasion of Earth (Story)
- ↑ Venusian Lullaby, The Book of Shadows (Decalog), The Nine Day Queen (Decalog 2), and The Rescue
- ↑ The fall from a cliff is the closing scene of The Rescue and the opening of The Romans. The adventure in Byzantium is from Byzantium!, and that with the lion is Romans Cutaway (More Short Trips). They have spent a month at the villa by the start of The Romans
- ↑ This happened in The Romans, The Eleventh Tiger, The Web Planet, and The Crusades
- ↑ As seen in The Space Museum, The Plotters, and The Chase
- ↑ The Time Travellers
- ↑ As referenced in Face of the Enemy page 44
- ↑ Face of the Enemy
- ↑ John is first mentioned in Face of the Enemy, and is in primary school by page 55 of that book. Byzantium! page 7 establishes that John was either six and a half or six and a quarter during 1973.
- ↑ Professor Chesterton is one of the people said to have dropped out of this in The King of Terror
