Professor Edward Travers

Doctorwhocharacter


name=Professor_Edward_Travers
series=Doctor_Who
affiliation=Anne_Travers_(daughter)
race=Human
planet=Earth
era=20th_century
start="The Abominable Snowmen"
finish="The Web of Fear"
portrayed=Jack Watling

Professor Edward Travers, played by Jack Watling, is a fictional anthropologist and explorer who appears in two serials of the BBC television series "Doctor Who".

Character history

Professor Travers first appears in "The Abominable Snowmen" tracking Yeti in Tibet.cite serial | title = The Abominable Snowmen | seriallink = The Abominable Snowmen | series = Doctor Who | serieslink = Doctor Who | credits = Writers Mervyn Haisman, Henry Lincoln, Director Gerald Blake, Producer Innes Lloyd | network = BBC | city = London | began = 1967-09-30 | ended = 1967-11-04] His companion is killed and Travers flees his camp after seeing a creature standing over his friend's body. He seeks refuge in the Detsen Monastery where he meets the Doctor later whom he initially suspects of being responsible for his friend's death and takes to be a sabotaging journalist.

After meeting the Doctor's companions Jamie and Victoria, Travers is convinced of the Doctor's innocence. Upon the discovery of dangerous, killer, robotic Yeti, Travers fears for the real Yeti but is temporarily suspected of controlling the robotic Yeti himself. Travers assists the Doctor in defeating the Great Intelligence, the true controllers of the robotic Yeti. He pursues what he believes to be a real Yeti after glimpsing it as the Doctor and his companions depart.

Professor Travers reappears in "The Web of Fear".cite serial | title = The Web of Fear | seriallink = The Web of Fear | series = Doctor Who | serieslink = Doctor Who | credits = Writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, Director Douglas Camfield, Producer Peter Bryant | network = BBC | city = London | began = 1968-02-03 | ended = 1968-03-09] A robotic Yeti he brought back from Tibet is being exhibited in a museum in England. A Yeti control sphere that the Professor has reactivated is missing and he believes the Yeti now poses a threat. He summons his daughter, Anne, back from America and tries to persuade the museum owner, Julius Silverstein, to part with his exhibit. Silverstein refuses, even turning down the Professor's offer of money.

At his daughter's request, Professor Travers becomes attached to the military to aide them in solving the London crisis - a mysterious, spreading web that is engulfing the city. Later, the Professor is reunited with Jamie and Victoria at the military's headquarters set up in the London Underground, but is puzzled as to why they have not aged significantly in the time between their meetings. Travers persuades the military to find the Doctor who has been separated from his companions.

The Professor is captured by robotic Yeti and becomes a conduit for the voice of the Great Intelligence that takes control of his body. After using him to capture Victoria, the Great Intelligence surrenders its control of Professor Travers. He is reunited with the Doctor and once more assists him in defeating the Great Intelligence.

In "The Invasion", the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe seek out Professor Travers after landing in late twentieth-century London to help them fix the TARDIS's damaged visual stabiliser. However, Professor Travers has left for America, leaving his house in the care of Professor Watkins and his niece, Isobel Watkins.

Behind the scenes

Professor Travers actor Jack Watling is the real life father of his "Doctor Who" co-star Deborah Watling, who played Victoria. Professor Travers was originally to make a third appearance in "The Invasion" but was replaced by the character of Professor Watkins owing to Jack Watling's unavailability for filming.cite video
people =
title = Doctor Who - The Invasion
medium = DVD
publisher = 2 Entertain Video
date = 2006 ]

Appearances

*"The Abominable Snowmen" — 30th September – 4th November 1967 cite web
url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914453/filmoseries#tt0056751
title = Filmography by TV series for Jack Watling
publisher = Internet Movie Database
date = 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-16]
*"The Web of Fear" — 3rd February – 9th March 1968 cite web
url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914453/filmoseries#tt0056751
title = Filmography by TV series for Jack Watling
publisher = Internet Movie Database
date = 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-16]

Other appearances

Jack Watling reprised the role of Professor Travers for the Reeltime Pictures direct-to-video production "Downtime" in 1995, a "Doctor Who" spin-off.cite web
url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914453/
title = Jack Watling
publisher = Internet Movie Database
date = 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-16] In "Downtime", Travers's mind is still possessed by the Great Intelligence and it reanimates his dead body. He is instated as the Chancellor of New World University as the Great Intelligence prepares to conquer the Earth. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sarah Jane Smith and Daniel Hinton collaborate to defeat the Great Intelligence and their robotic Yeti. When the Great Intelligence is defeated, Travers's body dissolves.

"Downtime" was novelised as a "Missing Adventure".cite web
url = http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_ma18.htm
title = Downtime by Marc Platt
publisher = Dominique Boies
date =
accessdate = 2007-08-16] The canonicity of "Doctor Who" spin-off media is unclear.

References