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Compassion (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
Compassion is a fictional character
in the Eighth Doctor Adventures
novels based upon the British
science fiction
television series, Doctor Who
. Compassion was originally from a people known as the Remote, a splinter group of the time travelling voodoo cult Faction Paradox
. The Eighth Doctor
met her in the novel Interference: Book One
by Lawrence Miles
, and she went on to become one of his companions
. The relationship of the novels with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who spin-offs
, is open to interpretation.
novel Ship of Fools by Dave Stone
set in 2593, although Laura did not appear herself. As stated in Interference, Laura became one of the members of a Remote colony established by Faction Paradox
on the planet Ordifica in 2594. When the Time Lord
s attacked Ordifica two years later, the survivors were evacuated by the Faction to the 18th century to establish a new colony.
The Remote, although originally human, are sterile. When one of them dies, a replacement is created from raw biomass and its personality reconstructed from the memories of the people who knew the deceased. Hence, each iteration is not quite the same as the previous one. Laura Tobin was "remembered" several times through the centuries, until the iteration that would be named Compassion emerged in the late 20th century, meeting the Doctor and his companions in 1996.
Compassion often appeared disdainful of the people around her. Indeed, the name "Compassion" was originally given to that iteration of Laura Tobin as an ironic comment on her caustic personality. She frequently responded to any observation with the dismissive remark, "Obviously."
The Remote also have the ability to pick up transmitted signals and use them to give themselves purpose. When Compassion had travelled in the TARDIS
for some time, the signals of the Doctor's time machine began to turn her into a living TARDIS. The Doctor had previously encountered a living TARDIS in the novel Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles
, a Type 102 which came from his relative future. When Compassion began to evolve, the Time Lords realised that she was meant to be the prototype of the future Type 102s and sought to capture her in attempt to create that new class of time ship. They also believed that she might have the ability to close the Eye of Harmony
on Gallifrey
, the Time Lord homeworld. When the Doctor's TARDIS was lost for a time, the Doctor and Fitz
travelled in Compassion while fleeing from the Time Lords.
Compassion parted company with the Doctor and Fitz at the end of The Ancestor Cell
by Peter Anghelides
and Stephen Cole
, after the Eighth Doctor had destroyed Gallifrey to avert a future war. The aftermath of that act rendered the Doctor amnesia
c and Compassion left him in the late 19th century to recover, along with the recovered but embryonic TARDIS, the size of a matchbox, which would take roughly a century to grow back to its initial police box
size. She next left Fitz at the beginning of the 21st century, to await the Doctor's eventual recovery. She then flew away towards the stars and has not been seen since, although it is strongly hinted that the character of Madame Xing of the planet Espero in Halflife
by Mark Michalowski
was Compassion in disguise. At the conclusion of The Gallifrey Chronicles
by Lance Parkin
, the Doctor sent K-9
on a secret mission to Espero, possibly to seek out "Xing".
These events are difficult to reconcile with the continuity of the re-launched television series. During the events of the 2005 series episodes "The End of the World
" and "Dalek
", the Ninth Doctor
claimed that Gallifrey and the Time Lords had been destroyed in a Time War
. Whether or not Compassion was likewise destroyed has not been addressed, although the Tenth Doctor
believes that his TARDIS is the last in the universe ("Rise of the Cybermen
").
series of novels and audios. In the audios, she uses the alias of Mary Culver and is voiced by Jackie Skarvellis. In the Faction Paradox novel Warring States by Mags L Halliday
, Compassion appears in the guise of Kuan Yin
, the boddhisatva of compassion or "Goddess of Mercy" in Buddhist and Taoist lore.
In the Faction Paradox novel Of the City of the Saved... by Philip Purser-Hallard
, Compassion established an afterlife known as the City of the Saved for all humans and human-descended sentient beings. The original Laura Tobin appears there as well, as does Compassion's son, the living time ship Antipathy.
In the first Faction Paradox book, The Book of the War, the film Mulin: The Ghost Kingdom is a fictionalised version of the events of the audios, relocated to a Japanese village. Compassion is represented by the sorceress Awaremi (Japanese for "compassion").
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Eighth Doctor Adventures
Eighth Doctor Adventures
The Eighth Doctor Adventures are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. 73 books were published overall...
novels based upon the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. Compassion was originally from a people known as the Remote, a splinter group of the time travelling voodoo cult Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox is a fictional time travelling cult/rebel group/organized crime syndicate, originally created by the author Lawrence Miles. The Faction's belief-system as portrayed has some similarities to voodoo, and is sometimes described as such...
. The Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
met her in the novel Interference: Book One
Interference: Book One
Interference: Book One is an original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles is a science fiction author known for his work on original Doctor Who novels and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox...
, and she went on to become one of his companions
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
. The relationship of the novels with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, is open to interpretation.
Character history
Laura Tobin was born on Earth in the 26th century; her name was first mentioned by her sister Alison in the Bernice SummerfieldBernice Summerfield
Bernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
novel Ship of Fools by Dave Stone
Dave Stone
-Biography:Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Judge Dredd.Stone also contributed a number of comic series to 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on the Dreddverse...
set in 2593, although Laura did not appear herself. As stated in Interference, Laura became one of the members of a Remote colony established by Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox is a fictional time travelling cult/rebel group/organized crime syndicate, originally created by the author Lawrence Miles. The Faction's belief-system as portrayed has some similarities to voodoo, and is sometimes described as such...
on the planet Ordifica in 2594. When the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s attacked Ordifica two years later, the survivors were evacuated by the Faction to the 18th century to establish a new colony.
The Remote, although originally human, are sterile. When one of them dies, a replacement is created from raw biomass and its personality reconstructed from the memories of the people who knew the deceased. Hence, each iteration is not quite the same as the previous one. Laura Tobin was "remembered" several times through the centuries, until the iteration that would be named Compassion emerged in the late 20th century, meeting the Doctor and his companions in 1996.
Compassion often appeared disdainful of the people around her. Indeed, the name "Compassion" was originally given to that iteration of Laura Tobin as an ironic comment on her caustic personality. She frequently responded to any observation with the dismissive remark, "Obviously."
The Remote also have the ability to pick up transmitted signals and use them to give themselves purpose. When Compassion had travelled in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
for some time, the signals of the Doctor's time machine began to turn her into a living TARDIS. The Doctor had previously encountered a living TARDIS in the novel Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles is a science fiction author known for his work on original Doctor Who novels and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox...
, a Type 102 which came from his relative future. When Compassion began to evolve, the Time Lords realised that she was meant to be the prototype of the future Type 102s and sought to capture her in attempt to create that new class of time ship. They also believed that she might have the ability to close the Eye of Harmony
Eye of Harmony
The Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
on Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
, the Time Lord homeworld. When the Doctor's TARDIS was lost for a time, the Doctor and Fitz
Fitz Kreiner
Fitzgerald Michael Kreiner, or simply Fitz, is a fictional character in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels based upon the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. The Eighth Doctor first met him in the novel The Taint by Michael Collier — the character was co-created by Stephen Cole...
travelled in Compassion while fleeing from the Time Lords.
Compassion parted company with the Doctor and Fitz at the end of The Ancestor Cell
The Ancestor Cell
The Ancestor Cell is a novel by Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, based on the science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner, Compassion and Romana III- as well as a brief appearance of the Third Doctor in a ghost-like state due to the Faction's...
by Peter Anghelides
Peter Anghelides
Peter Anghelides is an English author and dramatist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC television series Doctor Who.-Work:...
and Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole (writer)
Stephen Cole is an author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing...
, after the Eighth Doctor had destroyed Gallifrey to avert a future war. The aftermath of that act rendered the Doctor amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
c and Compassion left him in the late 19th century to recover, along with the recovered but embryonic TARDIS, the size of a matchbox, which would take roughly a century to grow back to its initial police box
Police box
A police box is a British telephone kiosk or callbox located in a public place for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police...
size. She next left Fitz at the beginning of the 21st century, to await the Doctor's eventual recovery. She then flew away towards the stars and has not been seen since, although it is strongly hinted that the character of Madame Xing of the planet Espero in Halflife
Halflife (Doctor Who)
Halflife is a BBC Books original novel written by Mark Michalowski and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Trix.-Plot:...
by Mark Michalowski
Mark Michalowski
Mark Michalowski is the editor of Shout!, "Yorkshire's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender paper", as well as being an author best known for his work writing spin-offs based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who...
was Compassion in disguise. At the conclusion of The Gallifrey Chronicles
The Gallifrey Chronicles (2005 novel)
For the John Peel book of the same name, see: The Gallifrey Chronicles The Gallifrey Chronicles is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...
, the Doctor sent K-9
K-9 (Doctor Who)
K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
on a secret mission to Espero, possibly to seek out "Xing".
These events are difficult to reconcile with the continuity of the re-launched television series. During the events of the 2005 series episodes "The End of the World
The End of the World (Doctor Who)
"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
" and "Dalek
Dalek (Doctor Who episode)
"Dalek" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 30 April 2005. It should not be confused with the first Dalek serial, The Daleks...
", the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
claimed that Gallifrey and the Time Lords had been destroyed in a Time War
Time War (Doctor Who)
The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. Whether or not Compassion was likewise destroyed has not been addressed, although the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
believes that his TARDIS is the last in the universe ("Rise of the Cybermen
Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode features the return of Cybermen, where they are created on Earth itself. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel"...
").
Other appearances
Compassion and her other iterations continue to appear in the Faction ParadoxFaction Paradox
Faction Paradox is a fictional time travelling cult/rebel group/organized crime syndicate, originally created by the author Lawrence Miles. The Faction's belief-system as portrayed has some similarities to voodoo, and is sometimes described as such...
series of novels and audios. In the audios, she uses the alias of Mary Culver and is voiced by Jackie Skarvellis. In the Faction Paradox novel Warring States by Mags L Halliday
Mags L Halliday
Liz Halliday is an author who writes under the name Mags L Halliday in Doctor Who-series of science fiction. She is distinct from the writer Liz Holliday, who has also contributed to Doctor Who-related science fiction....
, Compassion appears in the guise of Kuan Yin
Kuan Yin
Guanyin is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin which means "Observing the Sounds of the World". She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin Pusa...
, the boddhisatva of compassion or "Goddess of Mercy" in Buddhist and Taoist lore.
In the Faction Paradox novel Of the City of the Saved... by Philip Purser-Hallard
Philip Purser-Hallard
Philip Purser-Hallard is an author and scholar whose interests in science fiction and religion have been expressed both in fiction and non-fiction....
, Compassion established an afterlife known as the City of the Saved for all humans and human-descended sentient beings. The original Laura Tobin appears there as well, as does Compassion's son, the living time ship Antipathy.
In the first Faction Paradox book, The Book of the War, the film Mulin: The Ghost Kingdom is a fictionalised version of the events of the audios, relocated to a Japanese village. Compassion is represented by the sorceress Awaremi (Japanese for "compassion").