Christina de Souza

Lady Christina de Souza was a friend of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, and had brief adventures with them both. A minor British aristocrat, she was also a thief, Burglar, and an adrenaline junkie who stole more for the thrill than for money. Her exploits were well-publicised — at least in Britain — allowing Rory Williams to recognise her on sight.

Early life
Christina was born to Lord Alfred de Souza and his wife (AUDIO: The Wreck) and was a distant relative of King George II. (AUDIO: Death on the Mile) Alfred had affairs with au pairs, secretaries, yoga instructors and horse trainers whilst her mother was alive and Christina accused him of not being there when she was dying. (AUDIO: The Wreck)

Christina had an expensive education (AUDIO: Long Shot) and went to good schools. In the holidays, her father sent her to ski camp and to language schools, which she did without complaint to keep him happy whilst privately believing that he was trying to keep her out of the way. (AUDIO: The Wreck) She also did ballet for several years (AUDIO: Death on the Mile) and holidayed in the Kalahari. (TV: Planet of the Dead)

Although she rarely saw her, Christina admired her tomb-raiding aunt, Eugenia de Souza, and thought that they were alike. Over the years, they went glamping at Uluru, Kakadu and Ningaloo. (AUDIO: Outback) She became a notorious thief herself, stealing for the thrill of it and being relentlessly pursued by Detective Inspector McMillan. (TV: Planet of the Dead) Jacqui McGee, on the other hand, assumed that she was fictional. (AUDIO: Death on the Mile)

She encountered Jackie Tyler when she came for a job, and offered her £30 per hour to clean. Noticing the necklace that Jackie wore was one which she knew her friend Jonty was interested in. At his auction house, she encountered the Doctor who told her the truth about the necklace. She then helped the Doctor to enter Harry Sullivan's UNIT facility. The Doctor told her that she would forget this meeting due to fall out from the degeneration energy. (AUDIO: Two's Company)

With the Tenth Doctor
On Easter 2009, Christina stole the Cup of Athelstan from the International Gallery and made her escape on the 200 bus, which was transported to San Helios through a wormhole. She established herself as the leader of the passengers, remembering her experiences in the Kalahari to try to dig out the bus, but recognised the Tenth Doctor's superior knowledge and delegated responsibilities to him.

Christina and the Doctor met the Tritovores and, against the Doctor's wishes, she abseiled down a shaft in their ship to collect their anti-gravity clamps and power crystal and inadvertently awoke an inactive Stingray. She was aghast when the Doctor mangled the Cup of Athelstan to serve as a conductor for the clamps and, when they returned to Earth in the flying 200, he refused her request to travel with him but discreetly helped her escape from Detective Inspector McMillan. She took the bus and flew away. (TV: Planet of the Dead)

According to one account, Christina set her sights on treasures acquired by Anatoly and travelled to the plains of Africa and was reunited with the Doctor. She assisted him in thwarting the Deagle's plan to capture, stuff and sell animals near extinction and, fearing that the Doctor would reject her again, she did not ask to join him. Before departing, the Doctor, knowing that he was nearing his regeneration, told her that he had to be alone and that it was nothing personal. (AUDIO: Last Chance) According to another account, the Doctor did not meet her again until he was in his eleventh incarnation. (COMIC: The Eye of Ashaya)

Travels in the 200
After being arrested by Flavia Santos for the murder of Maud Hunter in the French Riviera, Christina contacted Sam Bishop at UNIT with Barclay's mobile phone and ended up bringing Santos and her business of selling alien technology down with Ivo Hislop-Cannon's help. Before leaving in her bus, Christina stole a device that could identify alien items and Ivo's ring. (AUDIO: It Takes a Thief)

Christina befriended Sylvia Noble after detecting an alien artefact at her house, which she would later learn was a ring owned by Donna Noble. She went to a party, where she encountered her father, to crack a safe inside of which she found a telepathy amplification device. Using the device, she and Sylvia defeated the Amber and restored the party guests, after which she stole Sylvia's ring, the contents of the safe and the guests' valuables. (AUDIO: Skin Deep)

Christina had Leon and Lucy Clancy steal Perfection from the International Gallery and teamed up with Sam to search for it after it was stolen by Leslie Plush. She was captured and challenged Plush to actually look at the painting, which was telepathic and absorbed her in a suicidal act. Before Sam could arrest Christina, she escaped. (AUDIO: Portrait of a Lady)

A Slitheen disguised as Sir Edward Scott Cameron charged Christina with stealing George II's war chest from Edinburgh Castle. When she found it, the Slitheen revealed themselves and she, Sam and Jacqui McGee worked to protect Edinburgh from them, which involved Christina using the 200's beam to relocate the castle to Arthur's Seat. Once Edinburgh was saved and the Slitheen were dead, Christina attempted to fake her death and flew away. (AUDIO: Death on the Mile)

Alfred's infection
Christina visited her father uninvited off the coast of Zanzibar and learnt that he had proposed to dancer Bunny Warren with her mother's ring, which appalled her. She helped him search for the shipwrecks believed to be located there and disapproved of how Alfred treated the bodies of two slaves who had become bejewelled statues. After Bunny became infected, Christina called Sam and sent the crashed spacecraft below from which the infection originated back into space. Alfred, who was also infected, escaped on Sam's boat. (AUDIO: The Wreck)

Christina travelled to Scarab Station in the Outback to see Eugenia but learnt that she had apparently been abducted by aliens. Avoiding Jacqui, she investigated Jajutama crater and found that Eugenia had faked her abduction in order to spend her time attempting to access a Fountain of Youth used by giant moths. When Eugenia was mutated by it, Christina found herself unable to kill her and Sam did it instead. She then took Eugenia's treasures and left her estate to John and Maisie Flint, promising to tell Sam if she heard from her father. (AUDIO: Outback)

Learning of her father's presence in London, Christina used Ivo Hislop-Cannon to steal an alpha wave device from UNIT storage and used it to fake Alfred's assassination at the Royal Northcote Races. She had him taken to a secret facility to be kept under sedation if necessary whilst she searched for a long-term solution to his infection. Sam uncovered the deception but agreed to keep her secret, although he was unhappy when Christina engineered a scenario which allowed Jacqui to take a compromising photograph of him and Ivo. (AUDIO: Long Shot)

With the Eleventh Doctor
Christina raided Henry van Statten's sealed vault in Utah and gained the ability to travel into space, where she met and began travelling with Neko. She agreed to help save the Ashayans by reclaiming the Eye of Ashaya and met the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams aboard the Excelsis, who assumed that she was up to no good. At the end of the adventure, the Doctor admitted that he had misjudged her and invited her to join him in the TARDIS, but she declined, telling him that she was nobody's passenger. (COMIC: The Eye of Ashaya)

Undated events
At one point in her life, Christina was caught by Adam Mitchell and trapped alongside many of the Doctor's other companions in Adam's fortress. (COMIC: The Choice, Endgame)

Christina de Souza 2.0
Psychic mould from the Tenth Doctor's psychic paper diary grew into an identical human likeness of Christina with the same name, but her personality also had spores of many other individuals from the Doctor's memories. The Doctor referred to her as Christina de Souza 2.0 and told her that she should keep the name because as a thief, Lady Christina could hardly be upset with her for stealing it. (PROSE: Keeping up with the Joneses)

Personality
Christina was fiercely independent and enjoyed defying the Doctor's wishes. She was an expert thief, but only stole for the adrenaline rush. She was bored by her aristocratic life and had a high opinion of herself. She used her obvious charms and good looks to win people over, often for selfish reasons. She showed great enthusiasm for joining the Doctor on his travels, but quickly forgave him when he refused. She could also speak French fluently, which amused the Doctor. She had an untrustworthy streak in her; she abandoned her partner in crime, who was probably also her lover, when he was caught by guards during her escape from the museum. Despite that, she was kind enough to give the cup over to save lives, though also to save her. She was also mischievous, and took the opportunity to mock the police as she made her escape in the flying 200 bus. (TV: Planet of the Dead)

Behind the scenes
Christina's character bears some similarities to Raine Creevy, a proposed companion for the aborted season 27 of Doctor Who, which would have aired in 1990 and starred Sylvester McCoy. Raine would also have been an experienced cat burglar. Though not an actual member of the nobility like Christina, Raine was pitched as being sophisticated in her manner.

Christina de Souza