Johnny Chess

Johnny Chess and Johnny Chester were stage names of John Alydon Ganatus Chesterton, the son of Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright born in 1967. (PROSE: Byzantium!) Ian and Barbara gave him middle names in memory of Alydon and Ganatus, Thals they had encountered during their visit to Skaro. (TV: The Daleks)

In November 1973, a "six-and-a-half" year-old "Johnny" Chesterton was pretending to be Tony Green at the British Museum. He introduced himself to Julia Franklin, who became a friend of his mother. He told Julia that he wanted to be a pop star, but Barbara said he wanted to be an astronaut the previous week. (PROSE: Byzantium!)

In 1984, a fourteen-year-old Ace originally loved him from afar, but came to loathe him after he became scared of her at a fan club convention. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation) Ace found a picture of him with his shirt off which was published in Teen Beat to be very attractive. (AUDIO: Maker of Demons)

In 1987, Chess released the LP record Things to do on a Wet Tuesday Night, which included his songs "God Knows All About It" and "Preaching to the Converted". (PROSE: The Also People)

"Anarchy, as most people under thirty forget, lives next door to Justice. They're good friends, but sometimes Justice hears the noise from next door and decides it's time to do the shopping . . . there are, of course, many ways to get what you want."

- Paul Travers' review of Johnny Chess live at Moles, 18 July 1998

As "Johnny Chester", he was part of the Star Jumpers with Marty and Kel. They released four LP's together, including Modernism and Can Anyone Tell Me Where the Revolution Is?. In 1991, they went on the "Seems Like a Freeze Out" tour. After that, the band became too big and they stopped enjoying themselves; they went their separate ways by 1999 but remained friends.

"Black and White on Fire" and "Circle Circus" were two of his songs beloved by Dave Milligan.

Johnny published his first novel, Neurotic Boy Outsider and did a book signing on 11 July 1999. Tegan Jovanka attended the signing during her travels with the Fifth Doctor, but had never heard of him. Upon seeing him in person, she had a feeling she had known him intimately for years and suspected she would know him in her future. Upon seeing her, Johnny recognized her and a lumped formed in his throat. (PROSE: The King of Terror)

Ace bought a "Johnny Chess Lives" T-shirt at a Cheldon Bonniface shop in 2010. (PROSE: Happy Endings)

When Bernice Summerfield was eight years old, she met the Immovables, a band that played covers of Arlo Guthrie, P. F. Sloan, and Johnny Chess. (PROSE: The Evacuation of Bernice Summerfield Considered as a Short Film by Terry Gilliam)

In 2570, Ace asked Jan Rydd if he knew any Johnny Chess, and he played the first few chords of "Baby, The Rain Must Fall." (PROSE: Love and War)

Bernice Summerfield had Joseph send selections from The Grey Test Hips of Johnny Chess to Lizbeth Fugard. (PROSE: Another Girl, Another Planet)

Appearance
At the age of six, Johnny had a "gap-toothed ... cheeky, ragamuffin smile". (PROSE: Byzantium!)

In his early thirties, Johnny had short, rusty-coloured hair and an intelligent face with line of sadness around his blue eyes. He wore a leather jacket, a white T-shirt, and tinted glasses. Tegan Jovanka found him handsome in a "streetwise, rugged, slept-in-my-own-mess-for-half-my-adult-life way". (PROSE: The King of Terror)

Behind the scenes
Johnny Chess originated as a fanfiction character by Keith Topping. He and Paul Cornell included Johnny in their published professional Doctor Who fiction. In the fanfiction stories, he marries and divorces Tegan Jovanka. (REF: I, Who 3)