Adam Mitchell is a fictional character in the British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', played by

Bruno Langley Bruno Langley (born 21 March 1983) is an English musician and former actor. He is known for his roles as Todd Grimshaw in ''Coronation Street'' (over 700 episodes between 2001 and 2017) and Adam Mitchell in ''Doctor Who'' (2005). In October 2 ...

. Adam is introduced in the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the programme's revival as the second television companion of the

Ninth Doctor The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the serie ...

(

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...

). However, unlike the Ninth Doctor's primary companion,

Rose Tyler Rose Tyler is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Russell T Davies and portrayed by Billie Piper. With the revival of ''Doctor Who'' in 2005, Rose was intro ...

(

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer who is best known for her portrayal as Rose Tyler in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2006, 2008, 2010). She initially gained recognition as a singer a ...

), who provided an effective human contrast to the Doctor's centuries-old alien, Adam was created to provide an example of an inept

time traveller Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

. The character is introduced as a boy genius from the year 2012 who attracts the attention of the Doctor's traveling companion Rose after she and the Doctor meet him in his place of work. Despite Rose's willingness to accept Adam as a fellow traveller, the Doctor is sceptical. After Adam attempts to use information from the future for his own gain, the Doctor throws Adam out of the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. While a TARDI ...

and sends him home. This was the first example of the Doctor forcing a companion to leave because of negative behaviour. Adam was created during

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

's original pitch to the BBC as part of his plans to revive ''

'' for the channel. Though established early in the series' planning, Adam was always intended to be a short-term character. Though reviewers generally reacted negatively to the character, Adam's role as a

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

to the stock companion figure has been praised alongside the moral lessons of his departure.

Appearances

Adam first appears in the

episode "

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of extremely xenophobic mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in th ...

" as a young researcher under the employ of Henry van Statten ( Corey Johnson), who is the owner of a museum of extraterrestrial artefacts in an underground bunker in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Adam mentions that he is a genius, having successfully hacked into the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

computers when he was eight years old. He quickly forms a mutual attraction with Rose and informs her of his desire to see the stars. When a live

manages to break free and slaughter its way through the base, Adam finds himself fleeing along with Rose. At the end of the episode, when van Statten's museum is closed down, Rose asks the Doctor to take Adam along with them in the TARDIS. The Doctor is reluctant, but Rose convinces him to let Adam travel with them in the TARDIS. In the following episode, " The Long Game", the Doctor, Rose, and Adam arrive on a space station in the year 200,000, and Adam is overwhelmed by culture shock. Tempted by the wealth of information and technology available to him, he has an advanced computer interface port, activated by a click of the fingers, installed in his head that allows him to access the future's computer system. He attempts to transmit information back to 21st-century Earth using Rose's modified mobile phone to leave the data on his parents'

answering machine An answering machine, answerphone, or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...

. This backfires when the villains running the station attempt to extract information on the Doctor directly from Adam's brain via his new interface port. As punishment for Adam's breach of trust, the Doctor returns him home and destroys his answering machine and the data transmitted to it. When Adam's mother ( Judy Holt) returns home, she reacts with shock and horror after inadvertently activating the implant installed in his forehead. In the 2013 comic book series ''Prisoners of Time'', released to celebrate the 50th anniversary, Adam is the main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Vortex Manipulator and plans to kidnap the Doctor's companions for revenge due to the Doctor preventing him from acquiring technology that could have saved her, tracking down all eleven Doctors and abducting their companions at various points in their lives. At the end of the story, Adam is revealed to have allied himself with a past version of the Master as the two confront the

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation (otherwise known as regeneration) of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As wi ...

, Adam offering to spare one companion of the Doctor's choice while killing the others. However, the Doctor turns the tables on Adam by summoning his past selves to aid him, as well as arranging for Frobisher to be captured while posing as Peri, allowing him to escape captivity and sabotage Adam's equipment to release the rest of the companions. When the Master reveals his true goal of channeling chronal energy through the TARDIS to destroy the universe, Adam is given a unique chance at redemption as he sacrifices himself to destroy the Master's equipment. In his last moments, he is reconciled with the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, and Rose, and acknowledged as a "companion true" on his gravestone, receiving posthumous validation by the eleven Doctors and his fellow companions. Mitchell appears in ''The Ninth Doctor Chronicles'' which was released in May 2017.

Conceptual history

The character of Adam Mitchell was first conceived, along with Henry van Statten, during

's 2003 pitch to the BBC, in a story heavily based on

Robert Shearman Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his as ...

's audio play ''

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

'', which would later form the base for the episode "Dalek". It was always the intention of the production team for Adam to join the TARDIS after Rose developed a liking for him. To play this role Langley was chosen, mostly because of his role on ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' as

Todd Grimshaw Todd Grimshaw is a fictional character from the British ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', formerly played by Bruno Langley from 2001 to 2017, and now played by Gareth Pierce. The character's debut was broadcast on 14 Janua ...

. He had auditioned for the role on the same day as doing publicity for his leaving storyline in ''Coronation Street''. Reacting to his casting, Langley remarked that "I couldn't have asked for a better next role because ''Doctor Who'' is another great institution." Langley describes Adam as "a bit nerdy" and states of his character's attraction to Rose that "she's a very pretty girl and Adam hasn't seen any girls for a long time." Since 1963, the perennial companion figure in ''Doctor Who'' generally serves to remind the Doctor of his "moral duty". However, Adam was never meant to be a long-term companion. In the behind-the-scenes book ''Doctor Who: The Inside Story'' Davies explains that he "always wanted to do a show with someone who was a rubbish companion" and dubs Adam "the companion that couldn't". In an episode of ''

Doctor Who Confidential ''Doctor Who Confidential'' is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Each episode was broadcast on BBC ...

'' he characterised Adam as "a little bit ambitious" and "a little bit too clever for his own good." Langley added that the character ends up "on the wrong side of the tracks" because he likes "meddling with things" and that "him thinking he's a genius gets him into bother". Explaining Adam's downfall, Davies states that he "doesn't realize he's out for his own good until he's put in a situation of temptation, where knowledge, information and power are put in front of him." Davies felt that Adam's story provided "a chance to see someone starting on that path" before the Doctor cuts his ambitions short. Originally, there were several aspects of the character that were cut before appearing on screen: in early drafts, he was the son of Henry van Statten. In the DVD commentary for "The Long Game" director Brian Grant and actor Bruno Langley discuss Adam's scripted motive of bringing future medical knowledge back home to cure his father, who was suffering from ill health, though this motive did not remain in the final episode. To promote the character during the week "The Long Game" was first broadcast, the in-universe tie-in website "Who is Doctor Who?" announced that "14 year-old Adam Mitchell from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

" had won a competition arranged by van Statten the previous week. Adam's winning essay on "Why I Want To Meet An Alien" mentions a desire to acquire advanced knowledge from them with the explanation "I don't think it's cheating, really. It's just a shortcut".

Reception

Dek Hogan of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

reacted negatively to Adam's introduction in "

", stating that he "didn't really see the point of Todd Grimshaw out of Corrie popping up". He suggested it would have been more entertaining had the episode featured Langley's screen mother from ''

'' instead. Ian Hyland of the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' also disliked Adam's introduction, describing "the introduction of a puppy-love sequence between Rose and a cute English boy" as "very, very irritating". ''

SFX Magazine ''SFX'' is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy. Its name is a reference to the abbreviated form of "special effects". Description ''SFX'' magazine is published every four weeks by Future plc and was founded in 19 ...

'' commented on the similarity between Adam's introduction to the future and that of Rose in " The End of the World", stating "it was clearly a deliberate parallel on Russell's part, as part of his scheme to contrast and compare the reactions of Rose and Adam". Their website reviewer observed that Adam's "comedy faint" marked him out as an unsuitable traveller. Marc Edward DiPaulo of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

notes that Adam's role in "The Long Game" is to provide satire on the media and to function as "a condemnation of those who cannot stop immersing themselves in television, the Internet, iPods, and other nonstop broadcasters of what the Doctor calls 'useless information.'" Fraser McAlpine, reviewing Adam's appearances as companion for

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

's Anglophenia blog, describes him as a "craven meddler" and a "social climber". By virtue of his failures, Adam becomes "the companion that proves the worth of all of the other companions". In their book ''Who is the Doctor?'', Graeme Burk and Robert Smith described Adam in "Dalek" as "somewhat annoying". Burk referred to him in "The Long Game" as "arrogant and narcissistic", which made Rose appear shallow for insisting he travel with them, but felt that Langley did "a superb job" conveying the character's flaws.Burk and Smith? p. 33 He stated that it was "a shame" that the backstory of Adam's motivation was cut from the script, as it would have made his character more believable. The two found a logical flaw in the Doctor's decision to drop Adam off, as it was a possibility that someone could get their hands on the future technology. ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' reviewer Patrick Mulkern gave a positive overview of Adam, describing the character as "bumptious yet likeable" and his departure as "literary precision". He commented that Adam "adds an interesting dynamic, subtly different" from

Mickey Smith Mickey Smith is a fictional character in the BBC One science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by British actor Noel Clarke and was the show's first televised black companion. The character is introduced as the ordinary, ...

and Captain Jack Harkness, who also worked with Rose and the Ninth Doctor. Instead of threatening the Doctor and Rose's relationship, Adam "serves to strengthen it". In 2010, Mark Harrison of Den of Geek listed the character's exit from the TARDIS as the tenth greatest companion farewell scene stating that it was "great to get a glimpse of the Doctor outright booting someone out." He felt that the character "struck out in spectacular fashion" by attempting to steal future technology and that his eventual fate was an example of

poetic justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, h ...

. Charlie Jane Anders also praised the concept of Adam's story arc, positioning his departure as the seventh most depressing exit for a companion in ''Doctor Who''s history. She felt that to have "a companion who flunks out" was one of Davies's "cleverest ideas" as executive producer of the series and that Adam's human flaws made him relatable. In 2010 readers of the ''

'' voted Adam the 45th most popular companion, out of forty-eight viable options.

References

Bibliography

External links

Adam's essay on "Who Is Doctor Who?"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Adam Television characters introduced in 2005 Doctor Who companions Recurring characters in Doctor Who English male characters in television Fictional characters from the 21st century