Paterson (Survival)

Sergeant Paterson was a non-commissioned officer in the British Territorial Army.

In 1989, he spent Sundays at a youth centre in Perivale, teaching teenagers survival techniques. On Mondays, he taught physical fitness to older men. He was also active in the Neighbourhood Watch.

He encountered the Seventh Doctor and Ace when they came searching for the latter's old friends. He knew something of Ace's past, and disliked her both for her juvenile delinquency and for having never called her mother after her sudden departure (unaware, of course, that Ace could not have telephoned from Iceworld).

Biography
Nothing is known of Sergeant Paterson's early life, although he had a mild Scottish accent.

Paterson followed the Doctor after receiving neighbourhood watch complaints of his antics (in attempting to lure a kitling), but while trying to apprehend him, they both were teleported to the Cheetah World.

He escaped from the world, being teleported back to Earth by Ace, but passed the experience off as a stress related hallucination when he returned to the youth club and his students. Unfortunately, they had been hypnotised by. Paterson was killed by his students who were goaded by a possessed Midge. (TV: Survival)

Behind the scenes

 * In Rona Munro's original script, as well as in her novelisation of the story, Paterson was a police sergeant. However, this was changed to a Territorial Army sergeant for the televised version as it was felt that a police officer behaving in a violent manner would be unsuitable for a family audience.