Day 78: The Watcher

We have gained a new addition to the TARDIS crew: Steven, the Doctor's new companion. He's a futuristic space pilot whom we encountered on the planet Mechanus, so let's have a look at how he fares in his first trip in the TARDIS. He brings a nice air of scepticism, choosing not to believe much of what the Doctor and Vicki have to say, but unlike our first sceptic companions, Ian and Barbara, where their disbelief was also that of the audience, here we have the leg-up, and can be entertained by seeing him be perplexed by everything, and immediately search for rational explanations. It helps as well that the Doctor and Vicki are quite nice people now, and so there's less unease about the whole affair, instead just enjoyment, which also could lead to his reactions, being fairly good humoured about everything that's happening, because the Doctor and his companion are helping him along, instead of being a nuisance towards him. It's the first time that we've really seen a character's first trip in the TARDIS since An Unearthly Child, and once again we can see how the show has evolved. Before, it was two school-teachers who were abducted into terror, here it's a space pilot who has unwittingly found himself in adventure. He greets this with a good humour, and is subtly different from what has come before, being far more headstrong than Ian or Barbara and willing to jump into a fight. And so we welcome Steven, on what will surely be the trip of a lifetime.