Sunday 20 May 2018

D is for... Duggan


A private detective employed by an influential group of art lovers to investigate the collector Count Scarlioni. He had recently begun selling off a number of valuable art treasures, and Duggan was to check that they were the genuine article. Blunt, and to the point, he liked to let his fists do the talking. Seeing the Doctor and Romana taking an interest in Countess Scarlioni at the Louvre, he decided to follow them - believing they were mixed up with the Count. At a nearby cafe, all three of them were captured by Scarlioni's men and taken to his mansion. Here, Duggan had to come to terms with the fact that he was really dealing with aliens and time travel. Scarlioni had six original Mona Lisa's in his cellar. Duggan and Romana attempted to stop the Count from stealing the one at the Louvre - so that he could sell all seven - but they were too late.
Scarlioni was really Scaroth, last of the warlike alien Jagaroth. He was intending to go back in time to stop the spaceship explosion which had splintered his self through history. However, the blast had helped to create life on Earth in the first place. Duggan travelled back into prehistory in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Romana. Scaroth materialised, but was prevented from warning his ship when Duggan punched him and knocked him out.
Back in 1979, Duggan informed the Doctor and Romana that one of the paintings survived the fire which destroyed Scaroth and his home - one which the Doctor had inscribed as a fake under the paint.

Played by: Tom Chadbon. Appearances: City of Death (1979).
  •  Chadbon returned to Doctor Who in 1986, playing Merdeen in the first four episodes of Trial of a Time Lord.
  • The character of Duggan originated in David Fisher's original version of this story, a detective nicknamed Pug. He was based on the adventure hero Bulldog Drummond, created by H C "Sapper" McNeile - hence the name "Pug".

No comments:

Post a Comment