Elizabeth Shaw is a fictional character played by Caroline John in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs. A civilian member of UNIT, an international organisation that defends Earth from alien threats, she was the companion of the Third Doctor for the 1970 season. Although commonly referred to as "Miss Shaw," Liz says that she is, in fact, a medical doctor in the seventh and final episode of Inferno, which was her last appearance. In total, Liz appeared in four stories (25 episodes).

Appearances

Television

Liz Shaw first appears in the first serial of the seventh season (1970), Spearhead from Space, having been drafted from the University of Cambridge by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a scientific advisor to UNIT. She is a brilliant scientist, an expert on meteorites, with degrees in medicine, physics and a dozen other subjects. Her extensive training is still pale in comparison to the Doctor's own knowledge of the universe and scientific principles far beyond those of Earth. Sceptical at first of UNIT's ambit to defend against alien invasion, and The Last Post (2012). The latter introduces Rowana Cooper as Liz's mother, Emily, and the planned sequel was not finished due to John's death in June 2012, and new producer Barry Letts had already decided against renewing her contract. Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks viewed the character as unsuccessful, feeling that she did not fill the companion's role of asking the Doctor for exposition and acting as an audience surrogate. In 1978, John expressed mixed feelings about her role as Liz, saying, "I was excited at first to be a brainy girl, but all the directors wanted really was a sexy piece. It was such an effort looking glamorous on cold clay-pits and rubbish dumps. I enjoyed the series but found it restricting after a while."

John particularly enjoyed her role as the "totalitarian" version of Liz seen in the alternate universe in Inferno, disliking when she had to change to the normal Liz. Liz has been seen as more of an assistant than a traditional companion because she never travelled on the TARDIS. She has also been described as more mature and equal to the Doctor than previous companions. In an analysis of Doctor Who and the Silurians for Doctor Who: The Television Companion, David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker were positive towards Liz, who they said was "very good foil, far removed from the naïve young companions of the past".

Radio Times writer Mark Braxton wrote that, despite her short appearance, "Liz established herself thanks to her brilliant mind, a succession of crazy outfits and Caroline John's consummate professionalism as an actress". Braxton's colleague Patrick Mulkern, while calling John a "gifted actress", criticised the way Liz was "severely styled" in her first appearance. SFX Ian Berriman also criticised Liz in Spearhead from Space, writing that she was "so snarky she's annoying". Will Salmon of the magazine listed Liz's departure as one of the worst in the series since she just "[vanished] between seasons". DVD Talk's John Sinnott felt that John could come across as "a bit stiff" and did not have much chemistry with Pertwee, most likely due to their personal relationship.

In 2010, readers of Radio Times voted Liz the 27th best companion, out of 48 options. In Ridley Scott's 2012 film Prometheus, Noomi Rapace's character is named Dr. Elizabeth Shaw; Dr. Nicolas Pillai, a lecturer from the University of Warwick's Film and Television Studies department, argues that this is a reference to the Doctor Who character, as Scott used to work for the BBC as a designer. However, this is entirely speculation and neither Scott nor the scriptwriters of Prometheus have ever officially stated the name was intentionally used as such.

References

  • Liz Shaw on the BBC's Doctor Who website
  • A series of video compilations of Liz Shaw's appearances on Doctor Who and elsewhere