Commander of the Ark

The , or the First Commander, (PROSE: The Ark) was the leader of the Guardians travelling on the Ark in Earth's far future in order to find a new home for all species of Earth, whose sun was going to destroy the planet.

Biography
This Commander was the leader at the time of the First Doctor's first visit to the Ark, and was the father of Mellium.

The Commander and the Monoids sentenced the Guardian Niash to 700 years of miniaturisation for putting their entire civilisation in danger by inadvertently failing to check the sealing valves aboard the Ark properly. Mellium pleaded with her father, but the Commander told her he was pledged to protect the human race and Niash had to be punished; and proceeded to carry out the sentence, which was the lightest he could impose.

When the Doctor visited the Ark the first time, the Commander welcomed him and his companions. However, the Commander, along with several others, caught Dodo's cold, to which they had no resistance as the cold was eradicated long ago. The Doctor and his companions were put on trial by Zentos, but the Commander, from his sickbed, ordered that the Doctor be allowed to find a cure.

When the Doctor found the cure, he tested it successfully on Steven before curing the Commander and the rest of his people who were infected. (TV: The Ark)