Dr Who Flowers - Katarina

Another very beautiful Doctor Who flower I commissioned from Miss-Alex-Aphey - the young Trojan slave-girl Katarina.

Ah, poor sweet young Katarina...the shortest-lived TARDIS companion ever to appear in the TV series, Katarina was a handmaiden to Princess Cassandra of Troy (the one who famously could foretell the future, but was cursed to never be believed).

When the Doctor, Steven and Vicki arrive in ancient Troy, they meet Katarina, who befriends Vicki (who is given the name Cressida by King Priam of Troy - yes, that Cressida). Lots of shenanigans ensue shortly thereafter, including the Trojan War. Vicki, now going by her fake name Cressida, escapes with Trolius, whom she has fallen in love with (they were there for a few days at least, but it's still a whirlwind romance). Steven (under the fake name Diomede) is injured, and thinking that the Doctor is Zeus, Katarina willingly helps him to his magic box (ie. the TARDIS) and they escape.

Things really go downhill for Katarina from there. Thrust into a space adventure in the 40th century for which the Trojan slave is hopelessly out of her depth (and believing that Zeus/the Doctor will protect her from harm), she is later held hostage in a spaceship airlock by an insane criminal trying to hijack the ship the Doctor et al had stolen from the Daleks. To save the Doctor, Steven and their new associate Space Special Security agent Bret Vyon (a pre-Brigadier Nicholas Courtney), Katarina...opens the airlock, killing the escaped convict and herself in the process.

The character was sadly never going to last very long, being far too unable to understand the events unfolding around her - most companions are from the 20th century or thereabouts, the next-furthest back in the past is Jamie, and he's from the year 1745! But Katarina is from the Trojan War, sometime around the 12th century BC thrown into a world of high technology and the Daleks. She never had a hope. The writers agreed, and wrote her out of the script as soon as possible in the most dramatic way they could.

I just wish I could at least watch the 8 episodes of Doctor Who that she appeared in. Sadly, only 1 of those episodes is known to exist (The Daleks' Masterplan episode 2). She is the most under-represented companion from the surviving classic-era Who serials.

You can also fave Katarina in Miss-Alex-Aphey's gallery by clicking on this link ---> fav.me/db471pf

Doctor Who and its characters of course are © the BBC.