K is for... Katarina

 

Katarina was a citizen of Troy, where she served as a handmaiden to Cassandra - daughter of King Priam.

Cassandra could foretell the future, and was angered when the Doctor's companion Vicki arrived in the city as she also seemed to be able to predict future events. Vicki was locked up, accused of being a witch and a spy, and given an ultimatum to foretell the city's fate.

When the besieging Greek army vanished overnight, leaving a large wooden horse as a parting gift, Cassandra feared their imminent doom. Vicki was released, but the suspicious Cassandra had Katarina follow her and keep an eye on what she got up to. The Greeks emerged from the horse, opened the city gates, and the city was plunged into chaos. Steven Taylor was injured, and Vicki ordered Katarina to look after him by getting him to the TARDIS. She herself was intending to remain with the fleeing Trojan survivors, after falling in love with Priam's son Troilus.

Katarina thought that the TARDIS was a temple to the gods, which would carry her to them as she had been told that she was to die very soon. The Doctor found it hard to dissuade her of this idea.

The TARDIS arrived on the jungle planet Kembel where they encountered the Daleks. Katarina grew to trust the space agent Bret Vyon, who had attempted to steal the ship so that he could warn Earth of the Dalek threat. She freed him when he was able to cure Steven's wounds.

After stealing the spaceship belonging to Mavic Chen, head of the Solar System but a secret Dalek ally, Katarina and the others found themselves crash-landing on the prison world of Desperus.

The spaceship was able to blast off from there, but a convict named Kirksen had managed to sneak into the airlock. He took Katarina hostage and tried to force them back to Kembel. Knowing that the fate of many depended on the success of the Doctor's mission, Katarina chose to sacrifice herself by opening the airlock's outer doors - killing herself and Kirksen.

Played by: Adrienne Hill. Appearances: The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan (1965).

• Katarina was the first companion to be killed in the series. 
• She only featured in the final episode of The Myth Makers, and the first four episodes of Master Plan.
• Only a single episode of her tenure survives but, thanks to its inclusion on an item about Doctor Who on Blue Peter, part of her death scene also survives.
• Hill's very first work on Doctor Who was her death scene, directed by Douglas Camfield. Producer John Wiles and Story Editor Donald Tosh had quickly realised that a companion from so long ago would be difficult to write for - having to question every single bit of technology she came across. They therefore decided to kill her off as quickly as possible.
• Camfield was contacted by Stanley Kubrick's team to ask about the death scene - Hill and actor Douglas Sheldon filmed on a trampoline from below, in slow motion. Kubrick was preparing 2001: A Space Odyssey at the time.
• Adrienne Hill passed away in 1997, aged 60.