RIP Caroline John

[miss_s_b]

Caroline John: 1940 - 2012

I have been having a bit of a cry to myself this lunchtime, after the official BBC Doctor Who twitter account confirmed the passing of one of my favourite Who alumni, Yorkshire lass Caroline John.

Losing Liz Shaw in the same year as Sarah Jane Smith is a total kick in the teeth for all Who fans, and feminist ones in particular. Acerbically humourous, intellectually brilliant, and personally confident, Liz Shaw was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. She was a proper scientist, too, both full of old learning and open to new learning, both sceptical and curious: in these respects she is streets ahead of her namesake in a certain recent movie.

Her short time as a Who companion (she only did one season, before being dropped in favour of Jo Grant, who was far less threateningly smart) had and has a huge amount of resonance for me; from her first appearance in Spearhead from Space where she puts the Doctor in his place with great aplomb to her cameos in The Five Doctors and Dimensions in Time she owned the screen and claimed my heart.

I wish I had had the opportunity to meet her and tell her how much she meant to me.

Comments

[drunkwriter]

I wish I had had the opportunity to meet her and tell her how much she meant to me.

This.

Liz Shaw was a brilliant character, and though it's a shame she only did one season... at least it was Season 7, you know? Spearhead From Space was one of the first 'classic' stories I watched, in Daniel O'Mahony's living room some time in the late 80s.

Together, Caroline John and Jon Pertwee saved Doctor Who. I just don't think the show would have made it to the mid-70s without Liz Shaw.

RIP indeed.

[(Anonymous)]

She was a great female role-model in the show, at a time when women were usually portrayed as screaming emotional wrecks. A great actress and a sad loss.

[anisiriusmagus]

I was very sad to hear this news. She was a great actor, and I loved Liz. We have Spearhead From Space and Inferno, and she was amazing in both.