Wednesday 14 June 2017

B is for... Buckingham, Lady Jennifer


An aristocratic woman who joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1917. She went to France where she worked as an ambulance driver. She was one of thousands who were abducted from Earth and set down on an alien world, mentally conditioned to believe that she was still in the midst of the First World War. Finding herself in No Man's Land, she gave a lift to the Doctor and his companions - Jamie and Zoe. The ambulance was captured by German troops, then liberated by British soldiers under the command of Lt. Carstairs. At the British HQ, in a requisitioned chateau, Lady Buckingham was called upon to act as a witness at the court martial of the time travellers, who had been accused of being German spies. She and Carstairs were concerned at the way the tribunal was conducted, as their conditioning was starting to break down. Together they helped the Doctor and his friends escape and made off in the ambulance. They passed through a strange mist and found themselves confronted by Roman soldiers. Back at the chateau, Lady Buckingham and Carstairs learned the truth of where they were. They moved on to the American Civil War zone, where Lady Buckingham was captured first by Union soldiers, and then by a rebel group. She stayed on to help tend to the wounded.
She would have been returned to Earth after the Doctor had called upon the Time Lords for assistance. Carstairs was last seen hoping to find her again.

Played by: Jane Sherwin. Appearances: The War Games (1969).

  • Sherwin was the wife of the then current producer of Doctor Who, Derrick Sherwin.
  • It would be nice to think that Lady Buckingham and Lt Carstairs found each other and lived happily ever after. However, the Time Lords would certainly have wiped their memories when they sent them home. Then again - both had an aptitude for overcoming mental conditioning.

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