Shayde
Encyclopedia
Shayde is a fictional character
who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
comic strip based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. The canonicity of the comic strips, like other Doctor Who spin-off media, is open to interpretation.
Shayde is an artificial being, a construct of the Gallifrey
an Matrix
— the massive computer network that serves as the repository of all Time Lord
knowledge. He was created by the minds of the dead Time Lords that reside within the Matrix, and was a servant of Rassilon
. He first appeared in the story The Tides of Time, published in DWM #61-#67, written by Steve Parkhouse
and drawn by Dave Gibbons
. In that story, he aided the Fifth Doctor
in defeating the otherdimensional demon Melanicus, at first covertly but then, as the Time Lords increased his power levels, he was able to manifest himself and help the Doctor directly.
Among Shayde's powers are the abilities to travel through space and time unaided, fire deadly self-generated "psychic bullets" and be invisible to security systems. He can also phase through solid objects and track people through time and space given enough data.
Shayde next appeared when the TARDIS
was possessed by an Elemental being. Having no instructions from the Time Lords, Shayde was allowed to act on his own and helped the Doctor expel the entity from the TARDIS. When the Doctor was placed on trial by the Time Lords for allowing the possession to take place and possibly placing Gallifrey in danger, Shayde surreptitiously erased the evidence, leading to the Doctor's acquittal (The Stockbridge Horror, DWM #70-#75).
It was nearly fifteen years before Shayde reappeared in the comic strip. At that time, the Doctor was in his Eighth
incarnation and was dying due to the events of the previous adventure (Tooth and Claw, DWM #257-#260). His companions
at the time, Izzy
and Fey
had taken him back to Gallifrey where he was cured and his mind placed within the Matrix to recover. While within the Matrix, an attempt was made on the Doctor's life by a secret Time Lord sect known as the Elysians, and Shayde stopped them. The assassination attempt was part of a plot by Overseer Luther, an insane Time Lord who wanted to rewrite Gallifrey's history and set himself up as a god. The Doctor managed to thwart Luther by short-circuiting his watchtower (a gigantic TARDIS), but apparently at the cost of his eighth body. As Izzy and Fey watched, the Doctor regenerated into a new incarnation. (The Final Chapter, DWM #262-#265).
However, this was a ruse. The Doctor had realised that Fey was under external control when she had managed to pilot the TARDIS even though the TARDIS manual was in Gallifreyan script, which she did not understand. Just before the Doctor prepared to sacrifice himself, Shayde offered to take his place and fake a regeneration. This way, the group that was controlling Fey — the Threshold, a mercenary organisation that the Doctor had tangled with before — would seize the opportunity to bring a newly regenerated and thus weaker Doctor to them. Both disguised with personal chameleon circuits, Shayde would hold their attention while the Doctor sabotaged the Threshold's operations.
In a Wild West town on an alien moon run by the Threshold, the Doctor's plans came to fruition. When Shayde and the Doctor revealed themselves to the Threshold, Shayde had to contend with the Pariah, an immensely powerful being who was his predecessor. The Pariah was another construct of Rassilon, but he had tried to destroy her when she developed free will and rebelled. Now, the Pariah wanted to take revenge, not just on Gallifrey but the whole universe. Shayde was unable to defeat the Pariah on his own, and she crushed his skull. However, Fey merged with the dying Shayde and together they were able to kill the Pariah and eliminate the Threshold. The shared being, dubbed "Feyde" by the Doctor, although both of them retained their own consciousness, decided to leave and deal with what had just happened to them (Wormwood, DWM #266-#271).
Fey returned to her own time period, the 1940s, where, as an agent of the British government, she spent two years fighting the Nazis
and being frustrated that Shayde would not allow her to use their powers to kill Adolf Hitler
, as this would change history. In 1941, she received a sub-ether summons from the Doctor — Izzy had been kidnapped, and the Doctor needed Shayde's abilities to track her whereabouts. Together, they succeeded in recovering Izzy, and "Feyde" returned to World War II
.
Shayde is one of the few characters from the comic strip that has made the cross-over into the other spin-off
media. In a special Big Finish Productions
audio play given away with DWM #326 titled No Place Like Home
, Shayde helped the Fifth Doctor against another force — a mutated Gallifreyan mouse called a rovie — that had infiltrated the TARDIS and was trying to kill the Doctor and his companions. The character of Shayde was voiced by Mark Donovan
.
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...
who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip based on the long-running 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 television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
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...
. The canonicity of the comic strips, like other Doctor Who spin-off media, is open to interpretation.
Shayde is an artificial being, a construct of the 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...
an Matrix
Matrix (Doctor Who)
The Matrix, in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a massive computer system on the planet Gallifrey that acts as the repository of the combined knowledge of the Time Lords....
— the massive computer network that serves as the repository of all 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...
knowledge. He was created by the minds of the dead Time Lords that reside within the Matrix, and was a servant of Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...
. He first appeared in the story The Tides of Time, published in DWM #61-#67, written by Steve Parkhouse
Steve Parkhouse
Steve Parkhouse is a writer, artist and letterer who has worked for many British comics, especially 2000 AD and Doctor Who Magazine.-Biography:...
and drawn by Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
. In that story, he aided the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
in defeating the otherdimensional demon Melanicus, at first covertly but then, as the Time Lords increased his power levels, he was able to manifest himself and help the Doctor directly.
Among Shayde's powers are the abilities to travel through space and time unaided, fire deadly self-generated "psychic bullets" and be invisible to security systems. He can also phase through solid objects and track people through time and space given enough data.
Shayde next appeared when the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
was possessed by an Elemental being. Having no instructions from the Time Lords, Shayde was allowed to act on his own and helped the Doctor expel the entity from the TARDIS. When the Doctor was placed on trial by the Time Lords for allowing the possession to take place and possibly placing Gallifrey in danger, Shayde surreptitiously erased the evidence, leading to the Doctor's acquittal (The Stockbridge Horror, DWM #70-#75).
It was nearly fifteen years before Shayde reappeared in the comic strip. At that time, the Doctor was in his Eighth
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...
incarnation and was dying due to the events of the previous adventure (Tooth and Claw, DWM #257-#260). 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...
at the time, Izzy
Izzy Sinclair
Isabelle "Izzy" Sinclair, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor...
and Fey
Fey Truscott-Sade
Fey Truscott-Sade, also known as Fey or Feyde, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor...
had taken him back to Gallifrey where he was cured and his mind placed within the Matrix to recover. While within the Matrix, an attempt was made on the Doctor's life by a secret Time Lord sect known as the Elysians, and Shayde stopped them. The assassination attempt was part of a plot by Overseer Luther, an insane Time Lord who wanted to rewrite Gallifrey's history and set himself up as a god. The Doctor managed to thwart Luther by short-circuiting his watchtower (a gigantic TARDIS), but apparently at the cost of his eighth body. As Izzy and Fey watched, the Doctor regenerated into a new incarnation. (The Final Chapter, DWM #262-#265).
However, this was a ruse. The Doctor had realised that Fey was under external control when she had managed to pilot the TARDIS even though the TARDIS manual was in Gallifreyan script, which she did not understand. Just before the Doctor prepared to sacrifice himself, Shayde offered to take his place and fake a regeneration. This way, the group that was controlling Fey — the Threshold, a mercenary organisation that the Doctor had tangled with before — would seize the opportunity to bring a newly regenerated and thus weaker Doctor to them. Both disguised with personal chameleon circuits, Shayde would hold their attention while the Doctor sabotaged the Threshold's operations.
Fey returned to her own time period, the 1940s, where, as an agent of the British government, she spent two years fighting the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and being frustrated that Shayde would not allow her to use their powers to kill Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, as this would change history. In 1941, she received a sub-ether summons from the Doctor — Izzy had been kidnapped, and the Doctor needed Shayde's abilities to track her whereabouts. Together, they succeeded in recovering Izzy, and "Feyde" returned to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Shayde is one of the few characters from the comic strip that has made the cross-over into the other spin-off
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....
media. In a special Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio play given away with DWM #326 titled No Place Like Home
No Place Like Home (Doctor Who audio)
No Place Like Home is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, Shayde helped the Fifth Doctor against another force — a mutated Gallifreyan mouse called a rovie — that had infiltrated the TARDIS and was trying to kill the Doctor and his companions. The character of Shayde was voiced by Mark Donovan
Mark Donovan
Mark Donovan is a Welsh character actor best known for grotesque roles in productions such as Shaun of the Dead, Black Books, In Bruges, and Murder Investigation Team. He also played a brief scene of Hamlet in an episode of the David Renwick comedy-drama, Love Soup...
.