Zoe Heriot (sometimes spelled Zoe Herriot) is a fictional character played by

Wendy Padbury Wendy Padbury (born 7 December 1947) is a British actress and former talent agent. She has appeared in television series since 1966, including as Zoe Heriot, a companion to Patrick Troughton's Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', from 1968 to 1969. Ear ...

in the long-running 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 ...

''. A young astrophysicist who lived on a space wheel in the 21st century, she was a companion of the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

and a regular in the programme from 1968 to 1969. Zoe appeared in eight stories (48 episodes).

Character history

Zoe first appears in the serial ''

The Wheel in Space ''The Wheel in Space'' is the partly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968. In this seria ...

'', where she is the librarian on board Space Station W3; also known as the Wheel. When the

Cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ...

attack, she aids

the Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

and

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...

in defeating them before stowing away aboard 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 ...

. In David Whitaker's script for ''The Wheel in Space'', Zoe's last name is spelled "Heriot", but the double-"r" misspelling is also seen in reference works. Zoe's age is not given in the series, but according to initial publicity she was fifteen when she joined the TARDIS crew. She holds a degree in pure mathematics and is a genius, with intelligence scores comparable to the Doctor's. Coupled with her

photographic memory Eidetic memory ( ), also known as photographic memory and total recall, is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''photogr ...

and the advanced learning techniques of her era, this makes her somewhat like a human calculator, able to perform complicated mathematics in her head. Part of the reason for her wanting to travel with the Doctor is her chafing at the restrictions and sterile surroundings of her station-bound existence. However, her real-world experience is severely limited, causing her to get herself into trouble frequently. Together with the Doctor and Jamie, she meets the Cybermen again when they invade 20th-century

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, enters the surreal Land of Fiction, fights the Ice Warriors and survives the battlefields of the War Chief's war games. Her journeys with the Doctor come to an end in that serial, when the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

s finally catch up with the Doctor. As well as forcing a regeneration on him and exiling him to Earth, the Time Lords return Jamie and Zoe to their own times, wiping their memories of their experiences with the Doctor (save for their first encounters with him) in the process. An illusory image of Zoe appears to the Second Doctor and the Brigadier in Gallifrey's Death Zone the 20th-anniversary episode, "

The Five Doctors "The Five Doctors" is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced in celebration of the programme's 20th anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago ...

". An older Zoe, still played by Padbury, returns in the 60th-anniversary spin-off ''Tales of the TARDIS''. She and Jamie, drawn from their respective timelines aboard a Memory Tardis, discover their memories of each and the Doctor have been restored. Zoe describes her life after the events of The War Games; she married an Australian man, has a scientist son she named James, and is currently serving her third term as president.

Other appearances

Zoe's life after her return to her own time is not further explored in the series. In the

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

short story "The Tip of the Mind" by Peter Anghelides, it is revealed that although her intellect allows her to resist the memory blocks by the Time Lords, she is unable to access the memories of her time with the Doctor consciously. This causes her strange dreams, and makes her work suffer. An encounter with the

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' ...

makes the memory blocks permanent, but she ultimately never reaches her full potential. Padbury has appeared in ''Doctor Who'' audio adventures from

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

, first as a character other than Zoe in the full-cast audio ''

Davros Davros () is a fictional Character (arts), character from the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was created by screenwriter Terry Nation, originally for the 1975 serial '' ...

'', and then as Zoe in ''

Fear of the Daleks ''The Companion Chronicles'' is a sci-fi audio series produced by Big Finish, detailing adventures usually featuring the Doctor, as told by various former companions of his, with only one further voice actor taking part in the narration. It be ...

'', part of the "Companion Chronicles" talking book series. The latter story portrays an older Zoe having detailed dreams of her adventures with the Doctor; she suspects that something is blocking her memory, but she does not know what, and is seeing a psychiatric counselor in an effort to understand the "dreams". She has returned as Zoe in several more Big Finish plays such as '' Echoes of Grey'' and her second Companion Chronicle, '' Prison in Space'', based on an unmade TV story. ''Echoes of Grey'' and subsequent follow-up stories, ''The Memory Cheats'' and ''The Uncertainty Principle'' depict Zoe being essentially taken prisoner by an unnamed Company whose experiments in creating a new form of life were disrupted by the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe—the TARDIS arriving on Earth a few decades in Zoe's future—in ''Echoes of Grey'', subsequent stories seeing the Company arresting Zoe's older, contemporary self on trumped-up charges to try and provoke Zoe into unlocking her lost memories of her time with the Doctor so that they can harness the secret of time travel. This comes to a head in the audio ''Second Chances'' when Zoe has a 'flashback' of the destruction of a space station that will actually take place a few days in the future from her current point in time, allowing Zoe to interact with her past self as she tries to change her history and prevent the station's destruction. Although this part of her plan fails, the audio ends with Zoe using a computer virus that has mutated to attack physical matter to destroy the Company and escape, although her mental state and memories of her time with the Doctor are still lost. An older Zoe is reunited with the Doctor in his sixth incarnation in '' Legend of the Cybermen'', where she returns to the Land of Fiction after she is nearly converted by the Cybermen after leaving the Doctor, her attempt to trap the Cybermen in the Land resulting in the universe being endangered by the risk that the Cybermen will harness the computer that controls the Land and use that to influence the imagination of the entire universe. After Zoe draws the Doctor into the Land, she created a fictional duplicate of Jamie to protect the Doctor until he learns the full situation and helps Zoe drive the Cybermen out, at the cost of Zoe losing her memories again as the Doctor takes her home. Zoe and Jamie also meet the Sixth Doctor in the audio ''Last of the Cybermen'', but in this case the Sixth Doctor has swapped with the Second shortly before the events of "

The War Games ''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...

", the Doctor's attempt to change his personal history to let his companions keep their memories failing when history is 'reset' as the Second Doctor returns to his proper place in history. The novelisation of the TV serial ''

The Mind Robber ''The Mind Robber'' is the second serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from 14 September to 12 October 1968. The serial is set outside of time ...

'' mentions, in passing; that Zoe discussed that adventure "long afterwards", suggesting that she eventually recovered some or all of her lost memories.

List of appearances

Television

;Season 5 *''

'' (episodes 2–6) ;Season 6 *''

The Dominators ''The Dominators'' is the first serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968. The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) a ...

'' *''

'' *'' The Invasion'' (episodes 1–2 & 4–8) *''

The Krotons ''The Krotons'' is the fourth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 December 1968 to 18 January 1969. In the serial, the time travel ...

'' *'' The Seeds of Death'' *''

The Space Pirates ''The Space Pirates'' is the mostly missing sixth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1969. In this serial, the TARD ...

'' *''

'' ;20th anniversary special *"

" (cameo) ;2023 specials *''

Tales of the TARDIS ''Tales of the TARDIS'' is a companion series to the television series ''Doctor Who'' which features re-releases of stories from the show's original run, enclosed by additional material featuring actors reprising their roles. The series is produce ...

: The Mind Robber''

Audio drama

*''

'' *'' The Glorious Revolution'' (adventure related by Jamie) *'' Legend of the Cybermen'' (with the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual t ...

and a fictional duplicate of Jamie) *'' Echoes of Grey'' *'' Prison in Space'' *'' Tales from the Vault'' *'' The Memory Cheats'' *'' The Uncertainty Principle'' *''Second Chances'' *'' The Rosemariners'' *'' The Queen of Time'' *''Lords of the Red Planet'' *''Last of the Cybermen'' (with the

and Jamie; for Jamie and Zoe, occurs between "

" and "

Short Trips audios

*''A Stain of Red in the Sand'' *''The Five Dimensional Man'' *''Penny Wise, Pound Foolish''

Novels

;

Virgin Missing Adventures The ''Virgin Missing Adventures'' were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the pr ...

*'' The Menagerie'' by Martin Day ;

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were 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. ...

*'' The Final Sanction'' by Steve Lyons *'' The Colony of Lies'' by

Colin Brake Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programmes such as '' Bugs'' and ''EastEnders,'' or '' Greenborne''. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series ''Doctor Who ...

*'' The Indestructible Man'' by Simon Messingham ;

Telos Doctor Who novellas The Telos ''Doctor Who'' novellas were a series of tie-in novellas based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', officially licensed by the BBC and published by Telos Publishing. Each novella was published in tw ...

*'' Foreign Devils'' by

Andrew Cartmel Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British script editor, author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other t ...

;

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidia ...

*'' The Wheel of Ice'' by Stephen Baxter

Short stories

*"Fallen Angel" by

Andy Lane Andrew Lane (born 17 April 1963), as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist best known for the Young Sherlock Holmes series of Young Adult novels. He has written novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Fin ...

('' Decalog'') *"Vortex of Fear" by Gareth Roberts ('' Decalog 2: Lost Property'') *"Aliens and Predators" by Colin Brake ('' Decalog 3: Consequences'') *"War Crimes" by

Simon Bucher-Jones Simon Bucher-Jones (born Simon Jones, 6 September 1964) is an author, poet, and amateur actor. He is best known for his Doctor Who novels for Virgin Books, Virgin and BBC Books, BBC and as a contributor to the Faction Paradox spin-off series. Betw ...

('' Short Trips'') *"uPVC" by Paul Farnsworth ('' More Short Trips'') *"Please Shut the Gate" by Stephen Lock ('' Short Trips and Sidesteps'') *"Constant Companion" by Simon A. Forward ('' Short Trips: Zodiac'') *"The Tip of the Mind" by Peter Anghelides ('' Short Trips: Companions'') *"One Small Step" by

Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Da ...

('' Short Trips: Past Tense'') *"Goodwill Towards Men" by J. Shaun Lyon ('' Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury'') *"That Which Went Away" by Mark Wright ('' Short Trips: Seven Deadly Sins'') *"Undercurrents" by Gary Merchant ('' Short Trips: A Day in the Life'') *"Visiting Hours" by Eddie Robson (''Short Trips: A Day in the Life'') *"Mercury" by Eddie Robson ('' Short Trips: The Solar System'') *"Lepidoptery for Beginners" by John Dorney ('' Short Trips: Defining Patterns'') *"Homework" by Michael Coen (''Short Trips: Defining Patterns'') *"Relative Dimensions" by Andrew Cheverton (''Shelf Life'')

Comics

*"The Vampire Plants" by

David Brian Brian James Davis (August 5, 1914 – July 15, 1993), better known as David Brian, was an American actor. He is best known for his role in '' Intruder in the Dust'' (1949), for which he received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. ...

(''Doctor Who Annual 1970'') *"The Robot King" by

(''Doctor Who Annual 1970'') *"The Tides of Time" (Cameo) by Steve Parkhouse and Dave Gibbons (''Doctor Who Magazine'') *"Land of the Blind" by W. Scott Gray and

Lee Sullivan Lee Terrence Sullivan (born 6 March 1971) is an English drummer for the London-based alternative rock band Bôa. Lee is the son of Terence Sullivan, the drummer for the rock band Renaissance and his wife, Christine Sullivan. He plays drums, ...

(''Doctor Who Magazine'' 224–226) *"Renewal" by Tony Lee and

Pia Guerra Pia Jasmin Guerra is an American-born Canadian comic book artist and editorial cartoonist, best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo title ''Y: The Last Man''. She has worked in the comics industr ...

(''Doctor Who: The Forgotten #2)

References

External links

Zoe Heriot on the BBC's ''Doctor Who'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heriot, Zoe Television characters introduced in 1968 Doctor Who companions Female characters in drama television series Fictional astrophysicists Fictional librarians Fictional mathematicians Fictional female scientists Fictional characters with eidetic memory Fictional characters from the 21st century Teenage characters in television