Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running
British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess
and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she
was a regular in the programme from 1981 to 1984. Tegan was the longest-serving companion
in terms of years on the series (3 years, 1 month), although Jamie McCrimmon was
in the most episodes and stories.
Character history
Tegan first appears in the Fourth Doctor's last serial, Logopolis. On her way to
Heathrow Airport to start her new job with Air Australia, her car suffers a flat
tire. She enters a roadside police box to seek help, not knowing that it is actually
the Doctor's disguised TARDIS. She is present when the Fourth Doctor falls from the
Pharos Project radio telescope and regenerates into his fifth incarnation, and continues
to journey with the Doctor and his other companions.
Tegan is stubborn, loud, and direct, with a no-nonsense manner and not afraid to
speak her mind (in Earthshock she describes herself as "just a mouth on legs"). Her
time in the TARDIS coincides with that of Adric, Nyssa, Turlough and Kamelion. While
she often bickers with them as well as with the Doctor, her strength of character
keeps them together and her loyalty to her fellow crewmates is unquestionable. She
is close to Nyssa, and is especially saddened at her leaving. The Doctor notes that
she is a good coordinator, and often encourages her with the words, "Brave heart,
Tegan." She is apparently able to speak one of many Indigenous Australian languages
fluently, and shows an ability to use firearms.
According to the Fifth Doctor audio drama The Gathering, she was born on September
22, 1960. However, the canonicity of the spin-off media is unclear.
Despite her strong front, however, her adventures with the Doctor, both thrilling
and terrifying, eventually take a psychological toll. She is deeply upset by the
death of Adric in Earthshock. After being left behind in Heathrow due to a misunderstanding
at the end of Time-Flight she returns to the TARDIS in the subsequent adventure Arc
of Infinity. Soon after she is once again possessed by the alien intelligence known
as the Mara. Nyssa's departure affects her as well, and she is initially suspicious
of Turlough's intentions in joining the Doctor. Eventually, the carnage surrounding
the events of Resurrection of the Daleks prove too much and she bids an emotional
good-bye to the Doctor and Turlough in 1984 London.
An illusory image of Tegan is seen during the Fifth Doctor's regeneration into the
Sixth in The Caves of Androzani (1984).
Tegan is mentioned in the new series in the 2007 Children in Need special episode
"Time Crash" by the Tenth Doctor
