Toby Zed

Tobias Zed was the Walker Expedition's archaeologist. He laboured at discovering the nameless script found on the planet orbiting the black hole designated K37 Gem 5.

Biography
Toby worked at Sanctuary Base 6 when Rose Tyler and the Doctor arrived and were subsequently stranded there.

He explained to the Doctor and Rose what the Walker Expedition was looking for, showing the pair some pottery and the ancient script of Krop Tor.

Shortly afterwards, as the Expedition's excavations reached their late stages, Zed kept hearing the voice of the Beast, which eventually possessed him. While possessed, Toby ventured outside onto the planet's surface.

Later, Scooti Manista, another member of the crew, heard him leave when she was dropping off some paperwork concerning the project. While investigating, she found him outside the base, surviving in deep vacuum without a spacesuit. At first Toby grinned and gestured her towards him. She raised her arm towards him, but broke free and yelled at him to stop. Furious, Zed began to break the window. Scooti tried to escape, but the window shattered before she could. Scooti was dragged out into space screaming.

Toby quickly joined the others to avoid the hull breach. Toby told no one that he killed Scooti. After Ida and the Doctor went down, he was repossessed and he then possessed the Ood and they began killing off the crew. (DW: The Impossible Planet)

Through "freed", the Beast remained free to possess Zed. As the Walker Expedition rocket left the planet with Rose Tyler on board, the Beast manifested itself in his person. Rose unbuckled his seatbelt and used a bolt gun to smash the window. An emergency window prevented the ship from de-pressurising and Toby flew through space, into the black hole and to his death, taking the Beast with him. (DW: The Satan Pit)

Special abilities and features whilst possessed
While the Beast took him over, Toby's irises turned red and the script appeared on his body. He could survive vacuum unscathed (DW: The Impossible Planet), spoke with the voice of the Beast and could issue flame from his mouth. (DW: The Satan Pit).

Personality
Toby Zed had a quiet manner, though Rose also upbraided him for his dramatic nature. He revealed signs of mental instability in some of the graffiti he had written on the base walls: fragments of Krop Tor writing and possibly - unless someone else wrote these words - the message WELCOME TO HELL. While attempting to use the personal fears and weaknesses of the Doctor, the crew and Rose against them, the Beast revealed to the others that Toby, already into his twenties, was a virgin. (DW: The Satan Pit)