Wilfred Mott

"WOW, an alien hand."

Wilfred Mott was an elderly London stall owner. He was also the father of Sylvia Noble and the grandfather of Donna Noble, and later one of the last companions of the Doctor before he regenerated into his eleventh incarnation.

Biography
December 2007, Wilfred was laid up with Spanish flu and therefore unable to attend his granddaughter's wedding. (DW: The Runaway Bride)Wilfred was manning his newspaper stand in London, on Christmas Eve 2008, when he met the Doctor for the first time. At this point, Earth was aware of alien life and the threat they posed, and, given events surrounding the Sycorax (DW: The Christmas Invasion) and the Racnoss (DW: The Runaway Bride), believed that aliens might attack on Christmas. He claimed to the Doctor and Astrid to be the only person who has remained in London apart from Queen Elizabeth II (and her retinue in Buckingham Palace) as everyone else had fled into the countryside. He was angered when the Titanic hurtled over London. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

An amateur astronomer, he pitched a tent in the backyard of his daughter's house in Chiswick and spent most of his nights on top of a hill with a telescope watching out for aliens among the stars. Donna waved to him from the Doctor's TARDIS while flying away with the Doctor. He was happy that Donna had found what she wanted. (DW: Partners in Crime)

Donna went to visit him and her mother after she had arrived on earth again. She told him about the Doctor but not her mother because she knew she would react badly. She told him about ATMOS and what they were doing when the Doctor turned up with a UNIT soldier and opened the family car to investigate an ATMOS device in more detail. Wilfred was trapped in the car when it was triggered and began to suffocate (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem), later freed by his daughter Sylvia Noble. The next day he told Donna that he would keep her secret safe and not tell her mother. (DW: The Poison Sky)

There is an as-yet unconfirmed account that Wilfred at one point discovered a new star, which was named after him. (NSA: Beautiful Chaos)

When the earth was moved into the Medusa Cascade he and Sylvia tried to fight against the Daleks. Wilf was armed with a paintball gun and fired it at a Dalek. The Dalek then said that his vision was not impaired and the paint dissolved. As it was about to exterminate him Rose Tyler teleported to the scene and killed the Dalek. He and Sylvia then took her to their home. A communication came from a sub level network. Rose asked if they had a webcam but Wilf explained that Sylvia thought they were naughty. He watched as Martha Jones and her Mother, Torchwood 3 and Mr Smith got in touch with Harriet Jones. Rose then located the Doctor as she teleported out; the looks on Wilfred's and Sylvia's faces were shocked ones. (DW: The Stolen Earth) After the Earth was put back in its proper place, they are shown celebrating with each other. When the Doctor brought Donna back to them (without any memory of her adventures with him), Wilf promises to look up at the sky every night and remember him on Donna's behalf. (DW: Journey's End)

Wilf is set to return in events which will chronicle the Master's resurrection, and the Doctor's tenth regeneration. (DW: The End of Time (TV story)).

Donna's World
If his granddaughter Donna had turned right instead of left and never met the Doctor, Wilfred would never have met the Doctor, either: on Christmas Eve 2008 of the alternate timeline, he was in the English countryside, on holiday with his daughter and granddaughter, courtesy of Donna's winning raffle ticket. He and his family were thus spared the destruction of London, but the lingering radiation meant their forced evacuation to Leeds, where they had to share a house with several other families. Wilfred adjusted to this life fairly welljoining in the shanty singing in the kitchen, for example, much to Donna's dismay and was gutted when all non-English residents of England were forcibly deported to "labour camps".

Wilfred set up his telescope in the house at Leeds; it was there that he and Donna first noticed the darkness spreading over the night sky, eating up the stars. It is this sight that finally prompts Donna to find Rose Tyler and repair her timeline. (DW: Turn Left)

Personality
At most times, Wilfred has a positive attitude, even in a crisis, he turns to good war-time spirit. Wilfred has shown to be a strong Monarchist, loyal to Queen Elizabeth and his country. Unlike her mother, Donna has good relationship with her grandfather who encourages her companionship with the Doctor. There's a possibility they have a good relationship because of Donna's encounter with the Doctor, but in the parallel word, Donna seems to get along well with Wilfred and still not believe in aliens. After Donna's loss of memory, Wilfred's strong spirit seemed to have gone, believing she was better with him. As the TARDIS dematerialised, Wilfred saluted in respect. (DW: Journey's End)

Behind the Scenes

 * He is played by actor Bernard Cribbins who first appeared in the Dr. Who movie Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD.
 * The character was not originally concieved to be Donna's grandfather, but was made so following the death of Howard Attfield, who was originally to have reprised his The Runaway Bride role of Donna's father, Geoff. Several scenes with Attfield had already been filmed by the time of his death, and were rewritten and reshot to incorporate Wilfred as Donna's grandfather.
 * From on set photos, it appears that Wilfred will be the Tenth Doctor's companion in the last 2009 Specials (Doctor Who). Donna Noble and Sylvia Noble are also returning. In a BBC Breakfast Interview on 7th April 2009, Russell T. Davies mentioned Cribbins' appearance in the finale and described him as being the companion for the two-part finale of the 2009 specials. This makes Bernard Cribbins the oldest actor to play a Doctor Who companion in history, beating the previous holder, Lindsay Duncan, who appeared in the 2009 special, The Waters of Mars, portraying Adelaide Brooke. Wilfred will also be the oldest known human companion of the Doctor ever depicted (although older non-human companions, particularly Romana, have appeared).
 * This was later confirmed again by David Tennant on a radio broadcast. Further confirmation was provided by Doctor Who Magazine.