Ranking Doctor Who’s modern day companions
By Lacy Baugher
Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth is largely remembered in Doctor Who lore not because her story was particularly captivating, but because the folks in charge got megapopular pop star Kylie Minogue to play her. To be fair, it’s actually really cool that Minogue signed on to do a Doctor Who guest spot when she certainly didn’t need to do so. (My personal headcanon is that she’s a big fan of the show and please don’t disabuse me of this notion.)
In truth, her performance is actually pretty good, imbuing Astrid with a certain steely sweetness that’s very appealing. But it’s hard to argue that her appearance was anything more than blatant stunt casting, particularly since the powers that be at the BBC touted the ratings bump from her guest spot afterward.
Yet, the character of Astrid is something of a cipher, dreaming of adventure in a great wide somewhere, but only really used as a doomed romantic interest for the Doctor rather given a true arc in her own right. Her decision to sacrifice herself to save Ten is, of course, admirable and brave, but seems much more motivated by her sentimental attachment to him than anything else. The heavy handed romance bits really are a bit much, especially when Astrid’s spectral atoms get dragged back together just so the Doctor can say goodbye to her “ghost” properly before releasing her to the stars.
Best episode: Astrid only appears in 2007 Christmas special “Voyage of the Damned,” so it’s doubly a shame that her story didn’t end with her somehow gaining the power to see the universe for herself, the way she always dreamed of. (I mean, technically I guess she sort of did? But the way that happened is well past the definition of bittersweet.)