Dodo Chaplet
Portrayed by: Jackie LaneTravelled with: First Doctor
Series: Classic
Dodo Chaplet was a companion of the First Doctor, after mistaking the TARDIS for a real police box. The First Doctor took to Dodo due to her physical similarities between her and his granddaughter, Susan Foreman. Dodo became the first female human companion of the Doctor to travel with him alone, following the departure of fellow companion Steven Taylor. Dodo had very limited relationships with her fellow companions, only meeting Steven on board the TARDIS prior to his departure, and only briefly meeting Polly Wright, though Dodo left the TARDIS crew before Polly became a member of it. Dodo’s grandfather was French and so she was living with her great-aunt prior to joining the Doctor on his travels. Her relationship with the great-aunt is assumed to be strained as Dodo commented that she would not be missed if she went travelling, and later expressed delight when she discovered that she would not be returning home anytime soon after beginning her travels with the Doctor. As a young adult in the 1960’s, Dodo bore witness to a young boy getting hurt and, seeking help for the child, stumbled upon the TARDIS after believing it to be a police box on the common and entered it where she found the Doctor, instead of a policeman in Bell of Doom (Classic Series).
This gives Dodo something in common with future companion Tegan Jovanka and her Aunt Vanessa as being one of the few people who attempt to use the TARDIS as the police box it represents. Similar to previous companions, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, Dodo’s first trip in the TARDIS was forced upon her with the Doctor giving her no choice in the matter, dematerialising the TARDIS with her inside. However, the cause was different this time, as the Doctor commented that the police that were around would have tried to force their way into the TARDIS had he not dematerialised. Dodo’s travels with the Doctor took her to the Ark where she displayed knowledge of nature after mistaking their location as Whipsnade Zoo. Unfortunately, Dodo had a cold during this adventure and the virus spread among the humans and Monoids that inhabited the Ark. The virus became a plague due to the inhabitants having no resistance to the Earthly virus. Dodo was distraught that she had caused such a terrible event in The Ark (Classic Series). Her caring nature was also most likely what made her dislike unfair, dishonest and cheating behaviour, seen most vividly during the TARDIS crew’s adventure in which they met the Celestial Toymaker and encountered Cyril’s cheating in The Celestial Toymaker (Classic Series).
Dodo’s life-time wish was granted while she travelled with the Doctor, to meet Wyatt Earp following her interest in the Wild West. Unfortunately, the events of the Ark saddened Dodo and even meeting Wyatt Earp could not cheer her back up, her sadness evident as the TARDIS crew continued their adventures. However, she was not frightened of investigating on her own, wandering off alone when the Doctor and Steven became busy with the Elders and Savages, where she discovered the laboratory of Senta in The Savages (Classic Series). After this came the period where Dodo travelled alone with the Doctor for a period of time prior to her departure. Dodo’s reason to depart is unknown. She was due to meet the Doctor at the Inferno nightclub but didn’t show up, instead telling future companion Polly Wright that she would be staying in London instead and passing on her TARDIS key to Polly.