Former ‘Doctor Who’ companion Deborah Watling has died.
The actress – who lived in Thorpe-le-Soken – was diagnosed with lung cancer just six weeks ago and she has now passed away at the age of 69.
Deborah played Victoria Waterfield opposite Second Doctor Patrick Troughton from 1967 to 1968 but due to the BBC’s wiping policy at the time ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ and ‘The Enemy of the World’ are the only complete serials in existence that feature her on the show.
‘Tomb of the Cybermen’ was discovered in Hong Kong in 1992 and later released on DVD.
Deborah reprised her character in 1993 in ‘Dimensions in Time’, the non-canonical crossover between ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Eastenders’ which was made for the ‘Children In Need’ charity telethon, and some audio adventures and was a regular at Whovian conventions.
In November 2013, she appeared in the one-off comedy homage ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ which was made and broadcast as part of the sci-fi show’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Deborah was the daughter of actors Jack Watling and Patricia Hicks and she began her career as a child actress and her first regular role was playing the niece of Peter Brady in 1958’s ‘The Invisible Man’.
After finding fame in ‘Doctor Who’ she took a short break from acting and opened a boutique but she made a return to the profession in Sir Cliff Richard’s 1973 film ‘Take Me High’ and David Essex’s ‘That’ll Be The Day’ which was released the same year.
Deborah also played Norma Baker in the ITV series ‘Danger UXB’
She is survived by her husband Steve Turner.
Since news of her death broke, tributes have poured in to Deborah on social media.
Her former ‘Doctor Who’ co-star Frazer Hines – who played fellow companion Jamie McCrimmon – posted on Twitter: "I’ve just found out about dear Deb’s. Loved her so much RIP (sic)"
Katy Manning – who played Jo Grant, assistant to the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee – tweeted: "So deeply saddened to hear that the wonderful funny talented #DeborahWatling has gone on her awfully big adventure, one of the absolute best (sic)"
Doctor Who star Deborah Watling dies
