Wednesday 31 May 2017

B is for... Briggs, Samantha


A young woman from Liverpool encountered by the Doctor and Jamie at Gatwick Airport. in July 1966. Her brother had flown to Rome with Chameleon Tours - a budget airline popular with young people - and he hadn't been heard from since taking off. Sam Briggs stationed herself at the airport, determined to find out what had happened to him. She had also been to the Police and felt they were not doing anything to help, unaware that Inspector Crossland had decided to investigate further. Sam bought a ticket to travel with the airline but Jamie stole this so that he could investigate himself, after his companions Ben and Polly had also disappeared. It transpired that the company was a front for an alien infiltration of the airport. A race called the Chameleons were abducting passengers so that their identities could be copied by the faceless creatures. At one point Sam found herself tied up with the Doctor and Jamie as a disintegrator ray inched towards them. Her make up mirror helped to deflect the beam into the weapon, destroying it. Whilst the Doctor confronted the aliens in their orbiting space station, Sam assisted the airport authorities in locating the personnel who had been switched with alien duplicates.

Played by: Pauline Collins. Appearances: The Faceless Ones (1967).

  • The production team wanted Samantha Briggs to become the new female companion to take over from Polly, but Collins did not want to commit to a long-running series. They tried to get her again when Debbie Watling left, but she again declined.
  • Collins did return to the show, nearly 40 years later, to portray Queen Victoria in Tooth and Claw.

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