Moderator's Note: This is Mike's original Adric summary:

As long as Tom Baker was around, he could overwhelm Matthew Waterhouse and keep him check. Davison's Doctor couldn't, and a lot of the Doctor/Companion scenes degenerated into shouting matches (this was also due to Tegan). Adric had so little screen presence that, when he wasn't talking, he seemed to vanish from the screen.



Well, speak for yourself - personally I found that Adric's costume gave him admirable on-screen visibility - more so than when he was actually whining, I mean talking. (I do worry about when it got washed, though.)

I've never minded Adric - I was upset by his death (admittedly, I was just as upset about the destruction of his badge for mathematical excellence). But I've just been watching Four to Doomsday, so I'm not going to waste another minute defending the creature. And his remarks about women aside, what's all this about Monarch? He goes along with other meglamaniacs - whatshisname in Kinda, the Master in Castrovalva, and the Vampires in State of Decay - but that's always part of a cunning plan (albeit one that always fails). So why does he genuinely believe in Monarch?

Good point. Turlough was supposed to be the treacherous companion, but it was always Adric that was ready to follow the leader, no matter their agenda. I studied this type of personality in a class I took in college, called "the Road to the Third Reich."

Oh, that's going a bit far. The boy heroically sacrifices himself to save our planet. And at least the fact that he followed a nutter (once!) gave him the opportunity to stick up to the Doctor and not permanently traipse round after him like a pet poodle, in the manner of most other companions ('don't kill him! He's a GOOD man! Kill me instead!')

I think I preferred him the most in "Black Orchid", because he was so completely confused by 20th Century Earth. Waterhouse was great at screwing up his face into this look of utter bewilderment, and he cranked that up to 10 in "Orchid."

What a pity it didn't occur to the writers that Adric, being from another universe, would have been just as confused by every other society encountered in N Space. Or would you have got tired of the bewildered look after a while?

No, that's a very good point. I think TV SF writers tend to have their characters adjust too quickly to alien societies. They should put themselves in their character's place--what are the rules, what can I eat, do they speak the same language, do they have the same body language, what's rude & what's acceptable behavior, etc. Doctor Who is not the only guilty party; Star Trek is famous for having "alien" cultures that are just 20th Century Earth people with funny masks.

I really liked Adric. One thing that makes him bearable is to think of him as a bratty younger brother. In fact, one scene I particularly liked was in Earthshock, at the beginning, when he's talking to Tegan. He says something bratty about how she should study and improve her mind, and he looks for the advanced math book he was studying. And Nyssa looks up from the book she has and says, "Oh, you mean this one? Pretty good, but fairly simple."
That sums him up almost exactly. My brother was older than me, but he reminds me alot of my bother, I mean brother.

Forgot to add.
The reason Adric always 'followed the leader' was because, along with being the bratty younger brother, he was also a male chauvinist (which frequently goes along; I had a brother or two - I know). He was young, he was impressionable, he was foolish.
Altho I never thought he followed the Master under his own volition. I thought the Master kidnapped him.

I think it also bears pointing out that, apparently, the actor was never told exactly how Adric should act. He was merely given the lines to say, and he did the best he could with what he had. And I, for one, really liked him.

Adric was an obnoxious, brainless jerk! Almost every week he got them into trouble. The creators did everyone a great service when they killed him off!

Sharky, I think you need to be to be more circumspect in your analysis. While Adric did get into trouble - put it down to his lack of life experience - you can't dimiss him as brainless, given his mathematical badge for excellence.
That said, I still wish they had kept Varsh instead.

That brings up an interesting point. Just how did Adric get to be such a mathematical genius, considering the messed up world he came from. I mean those morons couldn't figure out how to work their spaceship, and yet we are led to believe that they could produce people who could solve complex mathematical problems? Oh please...

He was similar to an idiot savant (no obvious jokes, please) in that he had an inate talent in one area, but was helpless in others. I will say in Adric's defense that he was the only non-Gallifreyan companion that learned how to operate the TARDIS with any facility.

Shark, Adric's people knew how to operate their ship, they were just afraid to leave. It was inbred in them.

My Adric Alarm goes off every time I watch that scene in which he pronounces 'want' as though it were 'pant' or 'rant'.

*Clears throat*

I would like to apologise most profusely to all my fellow fans. I just...couldn't help myself :(. I thought that, as a Who fan, I had long ago achieved the apotheosis of anorakhood, but obviously there were depths of geekyness still to be plumbed. Let me assure you all that nothing of this sort will ever happen again.

And now...the poem!

Adric of Alzarius’s grandma was a spider
And Adric of Alzarius killed off a Decider.

Adric of Alzarius said he’d like to be a vampire
But Adric of Alzarius turned out to be a liar.

Adric of Alzarius did nothing at Warrior’s Gate
Though doing nothing at that time was everybody’s fate.

Adric of Alzarius helped Traken defeat the Master
But he left before he heard the Time Lord’s triumphant laughter.

Adric of Alzarius watched as groundward the Doctor sped
Why oh why could it not have been Adric who plunged down in his stead?

Adric of Alzarius was rescued by Shardavan -
So there was one man in the universe who was an Adric fan.

Adric of Alzarius declared that Monarch was right
Which, as Monarch was utterly mad, put him in rather a plight.

Adric of Alzarius humoured Hindle the mad man,
But tiring of cardboard people, to the jungle Adric ran.

Adric of Alzarius helped to start London’s Great Fire
Albeit one which was a Terileptil funeral pyre.

Adric of Alzarius did nothing in Black Orchid but eat
Though given the corpses strewn all around, that was no small feat.

Adric of Alzarius died defending the Earth
And yet of Adric admirers there is something of a dearth.

For in yellow-and-green pyjamas was Adric of Alzarius clad
Which may explain why he drives fans so very very mad.

I just don't know what to say, Emily. I'm speechless.

WOW. I don't know what to say. I hate to be repetitive, but I am speechless as well.

Except maybe, Nice One, Emily.

WOW. Way to go Emily! :)

My feeling was that Adric fancied Tegan, but since he never devoloped any social skills due to focus on getting a gold star for mathematics, he kept arguing with her. He tried to impress her with his intellect. But Tegan had her heart set on the Doctor (some say she came back to Earth pregnant, but that is another discussion). Meanwhile, I suspect Nyssa had fancied the Doctor, but never was a "Brave heart, Nyssa," ever said to her. Thus, scorned, she joined a sort of leper colony.

Adric and Nyssa got along more as friends or siblings would, simply in their shared experience of unrequited love for another.

Then again, since there hasn't been a new Doctor Who on TV, I am watching the old episodes more often than I should, and am reading too much into the theoretical behind the scenes story.

Adric and Nyssa were closer in age (he was to be around 15, her around 16), while Tegan was around 21. I can believe the A&N hookup before I believe him and Tegan.

As for Tegan having the Doctor's baby, well, I'll let Emily yell at you for suggesting that.

I disagree about the Doctor not treating Nyssa with respect. She didn't need all the coddling that Tegan required; he was telling her "brave heart" all the time because of her constant complaining. Nyssa was quiet and did a good job when required (like in "The Visitation", when she built the android demolisher).

Mind you, it's interesting Nyssa took off her skirt in the end and not Tegan. It's always the quiet ones.

TEGAN HAVING THE DOCTOR'S BABY? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! Who started THAT silly rumour?

As for all this fancing one another going on in the TARDIS, this must have happened when I wasn't looking. I certainly didn't see anything like that!

I got the impression Adric and Nyssa wouldn't know what sex was if it came up to them and had them.

Yeah, it was the bit between Earthshock and Arc of Infinity. I think she was out at least one episode.

Over TWO YEARS since anyone wanted to talk about Adric?
All I'll say is that after all this time actually feel a little nostalgic for Adric.
And funny how few EDA's have Adric in them.

Well the best thing we can always say about Adric was that he wasn't as much a major pill as Wesley
Crusher!

I think the problem with Adric though was that
he was the fifth wheel and the writers probably never knew what EXACTLY to do with him most of the time.The fact is that he never really fit in,either with the 4th Doctor/Romana/K9 or with
the 5th Doctor/Tegan/Nyssa.

Mind you, would Adric have worked better with Tegan, if Nyssa had died in 4 to Doomsday (as was initially intended)?
Your comments,please

It seems that the Ghost of Adric will turn up, in the forthcoming Past Doctor Book "Empire Of Death" due out in March (?).
According to the synopsis I've read, he tries to lure the Doctor & Nyssa to "The Other Side" !

GOD no, spare us!

On the whole I would say that two Companions is always better than three (except for the original TARDIS crew, for some reason) but if one of the two is Adric, I'm not so sure.

It seems that "The Dork Side of the Force" is about to strike....?
Logopolis
Master: "Nyssa, I am your Father..."
Audience: "Not another Empire Strikes Back reference..? (Groan)"

Adric of Alzareus wanted to share in his brother's strife
Although on the Starliner Adric had the chance of a better life

Adric of Alzareus in the TARDIS chose to hide
And though he didn't save Romana, well, at least he tried

Adric of Alzareus did not do as The Doctor said
And so was there to save him from being shot in the head

On Traken, Adric of Alzareus helped save the day
But unfortunatly, still The Master got away

Adric of Alzareus saved The Doctor from arrest
But was unable to save him when his plans were by The Master messed

Adric of Alzareus created good people like Mergrave and Shardovan, too
Which, when you're captured by The Master, is all the good you can do

Adric of Alzareus' naiveity made him be by Monarch lead
But he soon changed his mind when he heard Monarch wanted all humans dead

Adric of Alzareus alerted The Doctor to Hindle's insanity
And as a result he saved all of Kinda-anity

Adric of Alzareus did his best
When his knowledge of the TARDIS controls was put to the test

Adric of Alzareus was denied the chance to be a Nyssa saver
But Adric didn't understand cricket, which is something in his favour

Adric of Alzareus died heroicly, but in vain
But the lack of Adric fans often drives me insane

For though he would pretend to go along with villains to their evil plans foil
Adric of Alzareus to The Doctor would always remain loyal

*Applauses rapturously* (Especially over the 'Kinda-anity' line.)

When did Adders save the Doc from getting shot in Warrior's Gate?

When what's-his-name tried to, you know, the captain of the slave-trader ship. Adric threatened them with the thing they were going to use on the mirror, the mz or something. You know, when he said about how he didn't know what the buttons on it did, but it was pointing in their direction.

Oh! Actually, the dimmest of memories are starting to stir, though they're obviously completely overshadowed by the Doctor's hilarious antics with that very same machine ('I've put it on automatic' 'It doesn't have an automatic' )

I think we all know why we hate Adric. It's because of his awful dress sense. For some reason the Doctor wearing the same clothes every story seems right (after all, he probably has a Batman Returns-style wardrobe). However, when a companion sees fit to wear the same horrid vomit yellow costume day in day out you have to question his personal hygene and fashion sense.

Not to mention Tegan's purple thing, and Nyssa's fairy skirt...

I honestly NEVER questioned his personal hygene (or Nyssa's, Tegan's, or OF COURSE the Doctor's) for wearing the same clothes for months on end...UNTIL Gary Russell just had to go and write Divided Loyalties about Adric's BO...

Anyway, I don't have a problem with Adric deciding to cling to this last remnant of his lost culture. (And at least it was a bit DIFFERENT, unlike, say, any New Who Companion's clothes EVER.) It's Turlough wearing school uniform all the time that I just don't get. He HATED that school! He was prepared to commit MURDER to get away from it! (A recent audio claimed that he wore it to remind himself that he's an eternal outsider, but with Tegan around to remind him of this fact this excuse didn't really hack it.)

Tom Baker on dear old Adders in a DWM interview:

'Because of his amazing appearance, Matthew should have played Adric like Sabu - a little wild boy who couldn't speak. I would talk to him rather like Basil Fawlty talks to Manuel, and he'd just nod or shake his head. But John didn't like that idea.'

Wouldn't that have been WONDERFUL!

Logopolis:

Adric has a set of skeleton keys since WHEN!

Adric knows what a bicycle is and how to ride one since WHEN!

Adric knows how to shut down the TARDIS since WHEN!

'[Flying the TARDIS] always looks so easy when the Doctor does it' since WHEN!

(Are we to believe that there were millions of missing adventures shoehorned between Warriors Gate/Keeper of Traken or Keeper/Logopolis? Or WHAT?)

'Earth's galaxy has a few more hours left' – how on Earth can Adric TELL, from that hideous confusion on the scanner?

Waterhouse in DWM:

'"Sarah Sutton was so sweet. You just wanted to hug her and hug her and hug her. So I did and she slapped me." Really? "Only in my dreams! But I suspect that Adric got lucky with Nyssa between episodes. It would have been nice to have seen them married off wouldn't it? Actually I think Adric is androgynous, in the correct sense of the word. He would have liked hanging out with boys who wear gashes of lipstick but are not necessarily gay' - what's with the sudden backtracking - did Matthew Waterhouse somehow catch a glimpse of Tim's face halfway through that paragraph?

Adric married to Nyssa? That Swamprat could only DREAM of marrying MY Nyssa!

Mr. Waterhouse's comments about Adric being androgynous are interesting, because he himself is gay.

Mind you, if Adric is gay, then I have nothing to worry about him moving in on Nyssa

being slapped by the Trakenite Princess was probably the highlight of his life!

'The tragedy is about an awkward young man (played by an awkward young actor) who never quite fit in and acted out badly (both the character and the actor). And while the Doctor was outside explaining to Nyssa and Tegan about how the dinosaurs died - knowledge that might have changed Adric's mind about trying to save prehistoric Earth - Adric was inside the TARDIS, sulking...The sad, sick, pathetic thing about it is it was destined to happen because he could never onnect with the Doctor and his friends' - Who's 50. Never thought of it like that. Very good point.

Andrew Smith's DWM interview:

Adric 'became this mathematical genius, which he was never meant to be. He was good at maths in a small community, that's all' - !

What if Adric and Nyssa switched bodies for a day?

I believe it was Steven Moffat himself who said that Waterhouse looked like a member of the audience who wandered on set by mistake and didn't know what the *beep* was going on.

Well I hope he said that BEFORE Blue Box Boy.

Cos we ALL love Matthew Waterhouse after Blue Box Boy...

...Don't we...?

Adric is another case where JN-T insisting the character be a boy instead of a girl was a major misstep. I'm reminded of that episode of Get Smart where a kid genius offers technology to both CONTROL and KHAOS and the suits vetoed the (much funnier) original plan for it to be a bespectled girl in a pretty dress.

Get Smart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart


***for Emily, of course***

Full Circle:

So. Adric chooses THE VERY DAY of Mistfall to decide that all that 'Mistfall' stuff is a bunch of lies...

'It will take off! But I won't be on it...I'll be somewhere else...I just can't explain' - yeah, you certainly CAN'T explain your hitherto unsuspected (and never seen again unless you count the Logopolis novelisation) psychic powers...

'Well, of course I'm better than you. I'm an elite' - Adric TOTALLY hasn't read any How To Win Friends And Influence People books, has he.

Adric causes the First Decider's death, doesn't he. To be fair, he does stay with the guy and TRY to stop him being dragged into the water. On the other hand, he might have the decency to look a BIT guilty.

Is Adric the only person to actually FAINT on entering the TARDIS?

'NO!' - Adric would prefer for his brother (and new chums) to die in Mistfall rather than let them into the TARDIS? Respect.

So. Adric rushes into the TARDIS, slams the doors...and then says 'What are you doing! Romana's out there!' when his chums operate the door-closing mechanism...I suppose one could, charitably, suggest the poor kid's a bit confused...

Is Adric the only person to actually FAINT on entering the TARDIS?
Guess so, but honourable mentions go to Ian and Barbara, the only people to faint on dematerialization.

On the other hand, he might have the decency to look a BIT guilty.

Maybe he does but we can't tell through Matthew Waterhouse's acting?

honourable mentions go to Ian and Barbara, the only people to faint on dematerialization

Didn't Hartnell and Susan keel over on that occasion too? There was SOMETHING weird going on there...Sexy trying to acclimatise to these weird 'human' things, perhaps...

On the other hand, he might have the decency to look a BIT guilty.

Maybe he does but we can't tell through Matthew Waterhouse's acting?

*Reproachful glare*

Adric's casting and character was almost entirely a mistake, I think. Matthew Waterhouse seems to have been disliked by his fellow cast and crew members. The Writer's clearly seemed to have no clue as to what to do with him. J N-T seems to have conceived him as a draw to the youth market, a kind of take off on the Tomorrow People, but he seems to have failed to gel in that role, and perhaps it simply didn't fit into Doctor Who. Within the context of the evolving show, he might have been made to fit, but no one wanted to make the effort to adjust the format to allow for a boy genius.

Adric's most effective serial was Earthshock, because it allowed them to honestly showcase the boy's genuine unhappiness and loneliness on the Tardis. He stopped being a cipher and became a person... long enough to be killed.

On reflection, Adric was a dopier version of Wesley Crusher.

Except that Adders predated Wesley Crusher by about seven years.

Big Finish is proving that, now that he's older, Waterhouse has improved.

Really? Listened to many Adric audios?

Cos I have and unfortunately it's impossible to tell if he's improved as an actor cos the very first thing I expect of an Adric actor is TO BLOODY WELL SOUND LIKE ADRIC.

Take Scrappy Doo, another hated TV character. I still don't understand why people hated Scrappy. I loved him as a kid! Scooby's dumber folksy cousin was mildly annoying, but I also loved that he had a family.

Adric: The Jar Jar Binks of Doctor Who.

Adric wasn't a racist caricature like Jar Jar Binks...

I don't think Jar Jar was intended to be racist. It's just the black actor picked a style of speaking that had unfortunate overtones.

On the other hand, the Trade Federation guys who, IIRC, were speaking Engrish have less of a defense.

Adric was a proto-Wesley Crusher.

A know it all that the fans loathed.

Adric was a proto-Wesley Crusher.

Of course the original Lesley Crusher idea wouldn't have been much better than Wesley - or indeed an Adrienne instead of Adric - "A little love, a little romance..." (shudders)

Wesley did have episodes with a little love and romance.

FL, the writers' pitches for "Lesley" included romance plots specifically because she was a girl in a way that wasn't true with the eventual Wesley.

Shouldn't this be in the TNG forum?

Yes please.

Just think of the complex math problems Adric could do today...had he lived.

at least his last words weren't "Run, you clever boy, and remember."

Except that Clara came back.

Adders, on the other hand, 38 years on and still dead.

Yeah, just keep telling yourself that and don't listen to The Boy That Time Forgot.

Doesn't count.

It was a Fake Adric.

It was a Fake Adric.

played by the "Manuel" actor from "Fawlty Towers".

Entirely beside the point. Big Finish have fake-Threes, Twos, Ones, Nines, Tens, Elevens, Twelves, Brigs, Lizes, Bens, Susans, Ians and Barbaras coming out of their ears these days.

Plus when they finally acquired the REAL Adric he sounds less like himself than all the other ancient TARDIS crews put together. Either he's been smoking twenty a day for the last forty years or he took a bayonet through the throat at some point.

Either he's been smoking twenty a day for the last forty years or he took a bayonet through the throat at some point.
If my greatest claim to fame was playing Adric I think I'd probably want to take up smoking too....or welcoming a bayonet to the back of the throat...

Now, now, we mustn't be jealous, just because Matthew Waterhouse got to stow away aboard the TARDIS and we...didn't.

There's no reason s/he shouldn't come for us when we're eighty, a la Wilf...

played by the "Manuel" actor from "Fawlty Towers".

Que?

Que?

You're not the only one who imagined the character Manuel romancing Nyssa.

Sybil Fawlty: [to Nyssa] "Don't worry, he's from Barcelona!"

Nyssa: *gives Sybil a look of terrified incredulity*

Well at least she'd get on with his 'Siberian hamster'.

This is the woman who got herself a pet CYBERMAT in Spare Parts.

The Boy That Time Forgot

How in the dead gods of Krypton did the Swamprat get off that ship!?

It's something to do with block transfer computations and, hell, I can't remember, read the review, that's what they're there for...

---

quote:

Well at least she'd get on with his 'Siberian hamster'.

This is the woman who got herself a pet CYBERMAT in Spare Parts.

---

Doctor: So. you fights with us on the morrow? Adric: "Goodness no, I thought I'd fight with the enemy."

Listened to The Pogley Wood Murders audio series in which Matthew Waterhouse guest stars in episodes 5 and 6:

soundcloud.com/user-223545720

Look on the bright side, Adric, you could end up marrying in a hurry or going off to combat slavery with a lion.

???????????

Leela - marrying and Romana II - going off with that lion man at the end of Warrior's Gate

Full Circle:

Do we ever actually learn why Adric wanted to become an Outler?

Poor Adders. If only he'd displayed a fraction of these precognitive powers in Earthshock...

So Adric doesn't just shove Decider Draith away once, he attacks him again straight afterwards, directly resulting in his death? Oh-kay...

Adder may have been a genius at math, but his attempt to flirt with Nyssa at the end of Dark River... *wince*!

I think Nyssa's comment of never meeting 'a more marvellous, astounding boy' than him was her way of humouring the poor schlep.

Look, I'm not denying that telling the crushing creep to go •••• himself frequently ends badly for women, but you know what ELSE frequently ends badly for women? ENCOURAGING HIM.

Adric does resonate an incel vibe, doesn't he?

Let me re-write the ending of Dark River then.

Adric: Nyssa, I'm not... I mean I don't.... I mean I'm not.... But I think you are a very amazing girl.

Nyssa: Are you flirting with me!?

Adric: Well, yes.. So...

Nyssa: Forget it, loser. I'm saving myself for sweet Tegan!

Adric: Uhhhhhhh...

Adric does resonate an incel vibe, doesn't he?

To everyone but the writer of The Star Men audio, which provided him with a girlfriend (don't worry, she got gored to death before meeting a fate worse than death).

Let me re-write the ending of Dark River then.

MUCH better.

Let me re-write the ending of Dark River then.

MUCH better.

Thank you.

Nyssa: "My first boyfriend died on a frieghter crash!"
Fivey: "That's rough, buddy!"

Also: https://see-me.co/n1/?n=adric%20of%20alzarius-

I have an idea of Adric surviving the crash (he pseudo-regenerated and also gained Trakenite psychic abilities due to his own Alzarian adaptability.) and thus living on and aging on Earth.

So he explores the Earth, matures, makes his own homes, starts relationships (with men, women, animals, possibly even a few rocks and trees), invents new dishes, helps kickstart civilization, stalks Tegan's ancestors, heck perhaps he even becomes her ancestor or step-ancestor once or twice, becomes a scientist for Torchwood and later on UNIT, starts tracking the various Companions, eventually starts tracking Tegan, moves to Brisbane so he can find her, and eventually after so much he ends up meeting Tegan and Nyssa (and possibly Tremas since he would end up on Earth after the Master steals another body) and maybe also falls in love with Turlough because all the space teenagers would end up back together at one point.

Matthew Waterhouse turns 62 today.

Adric would be 230,000,063.

And to think, the Fourteenth and Fifteen Doctors are looking sadder about his demise than the Fifth on the day it happened...