Matthew Waterhouse

Matthew Waterhouse (born 19 December 1961 in Hertford) played companion Adric in Doctor Who from "Full Circle" to "Earthshock," with cameo appearances in "Time-Flight" and "The Caves of Androzani." After leaving the series, he began a stage career.

Waterhouse began his career as a clerk in the BBC news department before securing a role in the television drama, To Serve Them All My Days, in 1980. Shortly afterward he auditioned for and won the role of Adric.

Adric was a companion of Tom Baker and Peter Davison's Doctors from 1980 to 1982. Waterhouse was the youngest male actor to play a companion (Jackie Lane, who played Dodo Chaplet, holds the distinction of being the youngest female actor to play a companion). Matthew Waterhouse is openly gay and is believed to be the first actor on Doctor Who to have been open about his sexuality while on the series. He is also credited for playing the first companion to die in the series, at least by those who do not recognize Sara Kingdom, who was played by Jean Marsh in "The Daleks' Master Plan," as an official companion.

Waterhouse's name was used by comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams for a character in their sketch show Little Britain. Waterhouse in the programme is an unsuccessful inventor of bizarre and ridiculous new versions of things such as board games and breakfast cereals. Little Britain has also featured two other characters named after Doctor Who companion actors, Michael Craze and Mark Strickson.

Waterhouse has lived in Connecticut, in the United States, since July 1998. He still appears occassionally at fan conventions and visits the UK. Most recently, he has contributed to the commentary for the DVD releases of "The Visitation" and "Earthshock."