Barbara Wright

Barbara Wright is one of the earliest companions to travel with the Doctor. Before meeting the Doctor, Barbara was a History Teacher at Coal Hill School, in 1960s London.

Character Description
Barbara Wright was one of Susan Foreman's teachers at Coal Hill School, London. When Susan displays a keen interest in History, and Barbara loans her a book about the French Revolution. On returning the book Susan comments that it is full of inaccuracies. Finding this odd, Barbara asks Susan how many shillings are in the pound, she is astonished to find that the teenager doesn't know. This strange knowledge intrigues Barbara, and talking with a fellow teacher, Ian Chesterton, she finds that she is not the only person who has noticed something odd about this pupil. One evening, as school is finishing, Ian and Barbara decide to follow Susan home. They are concerened about her, and curious. When they see Susan enter I.M. Foreman's junkyard in Totter's Lane, the two school teachers become more concerned for Susan's safety. Following her inside the yard, the two discover a Police Box sitting incongruously with the junk. Barging their way in, when they discover that Susan is inside, the two teachers find something even more strange ("An Unearthly Child").

Although Barbara accepts the impossibilities of time travel more easily than Ian, her first inclination is to try to rationalise things. She feels that there must be an explanation for the TARDIS, and that it is an illusion Susan and her grandfather have created in their loneliness and isolation. However, Barbara is practical and realistic. Once she has realised that Susan, and the Doctor, have told the truth about the TARDIS she accepts it fully.

Barbara is an instinctive person, and her combination of practicality and intuition make her the idal mediator, not only in the alien worlds and times, but also within the TARDIS. Many arguments between the Doctor and Ian are smoothed by Barbara's intervention. Her intuition doesn't fail her when the travellers arrive on Skaro. She feels uncomfortable, and wants to return to the safety of the TARDIS. When she is captured by the Daleks, she know that her fears were reasonable.

Barbara's strong beliefs, and acceptance of truth, make her a formidable character. When she believes in something, she stands up for it. This is most notable when the travellers arrive in the Aztec era. Her interest in history allows her to see the good and the evil in the aztec society, and her belief that they can be a truly good race leads her to become determined to change the course of history when the Conquistadors arrive. Barbara learns that history cannot be change, and is disappointed, but she has the strength of character to live with this. Her idealism is admirable, as she wished to preserve all that is good and honourable, whilst driving out the horrors and ignorance of human sacrifice.(The Aztecs)

The strength of character Barbara shows when accepting the fate of the Aztecs allows her to survive some of the discomforts she faces on her travels. While on Vortis, Barbara survives working for the Zarbi (The Web Planet), and although she is captured and tortured by a Saracen band, led by El Akir, she has the strength of mind to survive. (The Crusade)

Passionate about history, Barbara can see both sides to a story. When the travellers arrive in revolutionary France she befriends Leon Colbert. When he dies, she is distraught, and defends his treachery. Barbara believes in the inate goodness of people, and sees that sometimes there is more to a situation than meets the eye. Her knowledge of history also prepares the travellers for the possible hardships they will encounter when they land in Rome. She warns the others, once they have been captured to be sold as slaves, just how badly Roman slaves were treated.

Barbara and Susan become confidentes, and perhaps because she misses Susan once she has left the TARDIS, Barbara immediately takes to Vicki, who they meet and help on the planet Dido. When Barbara accidentally kills Vicki's pet, she is distraught. Despite how well Barbara and Vicki get along, Barbara is not amused when Vicki says that she must be "about five hundred and fifty years old", as she comes from 1963.

Perhaps Barbara's most treasured keepsake from her travels is the gold bracelet which she was given by Nero. But her happiest moment is when she realises that she and Ian may be able to return home in the Dalek time ship. She is the first of the two friends to realise this, and her single-minded determination to get home leads her to decide to risk her life in the Dalek ship.

On returning home Barbara and Ian are thrilled to have safely arrived. Once they have left the Dalek ship, and it has self-destructed, the two friends realise that they have some explaining to do, as they have arriced home in 1965 - two years after they left.

Quotes
"Susan, can't you see that all this is an illusion? It's a game that you and your grandfather are playing, if you like. But you can't expect us to believe it."

An Unearthly Child

"I'm an unwilling adventurer."

The Daleks

"The revolution isn't all bad, and neither are the people who support it. It changed things for the whole world, and good, honest people gave their lives for that change... You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."

Reign of Terror

"Bad? Have you any idea how the Romans treated their slaves? Or how many escaped?"

The Romans

"What's that awful noise?"

"I beg your pardon... 'Awful noise'? A good way to talk about my singing!"

"No, Doctor, not that awful noise -- the other one!"

-- Barbara and the Doctor, in "The Chase"

"I know we thrust ourselves upon you, but we've been through a great deal together since then. And all we've been through will remain with us always.  It will probably be the most exciting part of my life.  But Doctor, we're different people, and now we have a chance to go home. We want to take that chance."

The Chase