Caroline John

R.I.P. Caroline John (Liz Shaw)

1940 - 2012

My earliest memories of watching Doctor Who are from the first year of Jon Pertwee's TARDIS tenure, featuring Liz Shaw as the companion.

Spearhead from Space, Doctor Who and the Silurians and Inferno remain three of my favourite stories and are all available on DVD. The only remaining regular story to feature Liz Shaw, The Ambassadors of Death, is set to be released soon, following some work on colour restoration.

Caroline John played the character of Dr Elizabeth Shaw, a knowledgeable scientist from Cambridge, drafted into UNIT by the Brigadier. An interesting dynamic existed between Liz and the Third Doctor. The seriousness the character brought to the show is one of the reasons her four stories have stood the test of time so well, despite being first broadcast back in 1970.

I met Caroline several times at conventions (the photo was taken at the 2009 Dimensions event) and she was always very friendly and full of fond memories and interesting anecdotes from her time on the show.

She went on to reprise the role of Liz Shaw several times, most notably in a series of audio adventures produced by Big Finish.