Peri

Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

An American college student (her passport lists her residence as Pasadena, California) majoring in botany, Peri is a companion of the Fifth and Sixth Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1984 to 1986. She was the first American character to travel with the Doctor, although Bryant herself is actually British, a fact that was downplayed when she joined the series. Bryant's assumed accent slips a bit on occasion and she sometimes uses words of British usage rather than American, such as "lift" instead of "elevator". A "Peri" is a fallen angel from Persian mythology.

Character history

Peri first appears in the Fifth Doctor serial Planet of Fire, in which she encounters the Doctor and Turlough on the island of Lanzarote. After an encounter with the Master and the shapechanging android Kamelion (who disguises himself as her stepfather, Professor Howard Foster), Peri asks to join the Fifth Doctor on his travels, while Turlough departs to return to his home planet of Trion. (The identity of Peri's mother is not revealed in the televised series, but see below.)

Peri is present when the Fifth Doctor regenerates into the Sixth at the end of The Caves of Androzani and continues to travel with him, despite the fact that one of the first things the temporarily unstable Sixth Doctor tries to do is strangle her (The Twin Dilemma).

Peri is a bright, spirited young woman, who travels with the Doctor because, like many of his companions, she wants to see the universe. Although she shares a more abrasive relationship with the Sixth Doctor, there is an undercurrent of affection in their verbal sparring.

Peri travels with the Doctor for an undisclosed period of time; some sources say she travels with him for mere months, while others say years. Between the events of Revelation of the Daleks and the season-long story The Trial of a Time Lord, the character is shown to have matured somewhat (coinciding with an 18-month production break between the two stories) and her relationship with the Doctor less combative.

In the second segment of the Trial story arc, Mindwarp, Peri is abducted by a slug-like creature named Kiv, who apparently transplants his brain into her body. Soon after, the Doctor is led to believe that Peri is dead, and is severely distressed by this. It is later revealed at the end of The Ultimate Foe (the fourth segment of the arc) that the evidence of Peri's death was faked by the Valeyard. Peri has, in fact, survived, presumably recovered from Kiv's transplant (if it ever actually occurred), and married King Yrcanos of Thoros Alpha, a warrior king who had assisted the Doctor and Peri during the Mindwarp incident. It is not known what happens to Peri after she marries Yrcanos, although the various spin-off media give different accounts of her eventual fate.

Peri was one of the more controversial companions, with some critics complaining about the motivation for adding a character who spent much of her time on screen wearing revealing outfits. Series producer John Nathan-Turner admitted that Peri was created in order to add sex appeal to the series. Similar criticisms had been levelled against the character of Leela nearly a decade earlier. Beginning with the story Timelash, and continuing through the Trial season, Peri's mode of dress became more conservative.

Nicola Bryant reprised the role of Peri in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.