Ivan Asimoff

Dr. Ivan Asimoff was a science fiction writer from the planet Sigma.

Biography

 * Dr. Asimoff belonged to an unidentified, vaguely humanoid tentacled species.

Though apparently a professional writer, Dr. Asimoff, a timid soul, lived with his aunt. He was the creator of Commander Courage, often enacting his character's scenes in his head as he wrote his books, sometimes enacting them a little more vigorously than his aunt would have liked. (DWM: The Fabulous Idiot)

He first encountered the Doctor while visiting the Festival of the Five Planets. The pair were invited by Machine-Head of the Freefall Warriors to accompany him on a test flight, during which they were briefly shot down by raiders from the renegade sixth planet. (DW: The Free-Fall Warriors)

Later, having fallen in love with the beauty of the imprisoned Zyglot, Polly, Asimoff was on his way to a Save the Zyglot conference when he once more ran into the the Doctor. He assisted the Doctor and Frobisher in their pursuit of Astrolabus. The Doctor in turn donated a large sum of money stolen from Josiah W. Dogbolter to the Zyglot trust. (DW: Polly the Glot)

Behind the Scenes
The character was created by writer Steve Parkhouse and artist Dave Gibbons. His name was a play on that of the famous science fiction and nonfiction science author Isaac Asimov. He appeared in a solo story: The Fabulous Idiot, in the 1982 Doctor Who Summer Special.