Free Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants by Andy Frankham-Allen

the danger they are in, and the concept of ‘nothing’ being outside the ship is something she has no problem understanding. While there, she sees an image of her home city – a sprawling futuristic metropolis quite unlike anything ever seen on twenty-first century Earth! This image is soon swept away when she finds herself alone in the Land of Fiction ( The Mind Robber ); she reacts with sheer terror at being removed from everything she finds familiar. Her knowledge of history is not very good, but she is aware of some of the classic tales, like Theseus and the Minotaur, Perseus’ battle against the Gorgon Medusa and Gulliver’s Travels , and is also a fan of the Karkus’ adventures in The Hourly Telepress . She displays some basic self-defence training, and is temporarily turned into fiction by the Master of the Land of Fiction. Her photographic memory also comes into play when she corrects a mistake the Doctor makes as he reassembles Jamie’s face, thus altering his appearance for a short time.
    Upon arrival in the 1970s ( The Invasion ) Zoe is enticed into a brief stint of model work by fashion photographer, Isobel Watkins, and through the subsequent friendship she discovers a much more normal, fun-loving side of her character. In particular, she finds posing for the camera ‘great fun’. Yet she finds it hard to relax while the Doctor and Jamie are off finding Isobel’s father and can’t help but sense that something is wrong. Isobel and Zoe encourage each other to visit International Electromatics and come up against the robotic secretary. Frustrated by its unwillingness to help, and refusing to be beaten by a ‘brainless’ box, Zoe sets it an unsolvable puzzle by use of the computer language ALGOL, a chance for her to prove that she is better than a machine. It is Zoe that computes the attack patterns needed to defeat the Cybermen spaceships, which leads to one UNIT soldier remarking that she is, ‘so much prettier than a computer’, a comment that pleases Zoe greatly.
    On the planet of the Gonds ( The Krotons ) Zoe displays knowledge of geology. She recognises the mica rocks and likens the Gond city to those built by the Incans. It is while there that the Doctor admits that Zoe is something of a genius, which can be irritating at times, while Zoe believes the Doctor to be almost as clever as she is. This appears to be proven when she initially gets a better score on the Kroton teaching machine but she is trumped as soon as the Doctor realises his mistake.
    She is an expert in space flight and has total recall, which comes in useful when learning to fly Professor Eldred’s rocket in The Seeds of Death .
    Like Jamie, Zoe is returned to her own time by the Time Lords, and her memory of the Doctor is erased, save her initial adventure with him. She doesn’t want to leave him and hopes that they will one day see each other again. It is sad that once she is returned to the Wheel, all that she learned and experienced is taken from her, and so she reverts back to the ‘all brains and no heart’ Zoe we first met. Although for a moment she can’t help but think that she has forgotten something.
    We never see Zoe again, except as a phantom, alongside phantom Jamie, produced by the mind of Rassilon in the Dark Tower on Gallifrey in The Five Doctors .

The Second Doctor
    Expanded Universe
     
    There is a fascination with the companions of the Second Doctor among authors of the Expanded Universe material – what happened to them once they left the Doctor? With the erstwhile companions of the First Doctor, the writers seem more intent on expanding the background of these characters, giving them reasons for acting the way they do on television. Not so with Ben & Polly, Jamie, Victoria and Zoe...
     
    One thing is certain in the minds of the majority of Doctor Who fandom, Ben & Polly end up together and most likely get married. Much like Ian & Barbara, writers of the books and comics seem intent on bringing these