Post by Barbara Wright on Oct 6, 2011 9:55:26 GMT -5
Canon
Name: Barbara Wright
Age: Early thirties (b.1933)
Species: Human
Planet of Origin: Earth
Occupation: History teacher at Coal Hill School, a comprehensive in London, prior to travelling with the Doctor
Physical Description: Medium height, slim, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and intelligent, expressive features (you can usually guess exactly what she’s thinking by looking at her). Often wears a 60s-style bouffant of formidable proportions, but can be persuaded to abandon it on grounds of historical accuracy. Tends to dress very simply, eschewing frills or embellishment.
Personality: It’s easy to misread Barbara’s veneer of mid-20th-century middle-class politeness as an inherent conservatism; in fact, she’s naturally quite open to new ideas, fair-minded and tolerant of difference (more emphatically so since travelling with the Doctor and learning a few difficult lessons).
She’s emotionally articulate and a good judge of people. Her instincts are fundamentally sound, but at times her strong feelings on a particular point can skew her perception of a situation, with potentially damaging consequences (cf. The Aztecs, Planet of Giants). An appeal to her rational side will usually sort this out, but a thoughtlessly phrased reprimand risks bringing out her stubborn streak and making things worse. On the whole, though, she is usually pragmatic enough to recognize when she is in the wrong, and is not afraid to acknowledge her mistakes.
That said, she does tend to worry too much about the implications of poor decisions, and sometimes finds troubling emotions (guilt, for instance) difficult to shake off. The best way to snap her out of this mindset is to point her in the direction of someone who needs her help; she has a definite maternal instinct, and is courageous and capable.
In keeping with the rest of her generation, she’s not inclined to discuss sex or relationships very openly. She’s not prudish, and has little time for repressive ideas of sexual morality, but is very much culturally conditioned to keep all such topics discreetly under the radar. Her rapport with Ian predates their travels with the Doctor and is growing, but it’s not something they’ve discussed.
Broadly speaking, she’s an optimist, level-headed and quite pro-active, motivated by intellectual and moral questions as well as by loyalty, friendship and love.
History: Barbara comes from a reasonably stable, happy background despite having grown up in wartime England. Her parents were somewhat surprised by her academic aspirations, but are loving and reliable, and not unsupportive. They are still alive. She’s an only child. She has an unconventional aunt (Cecilia, as seen in Short Trips: 1963) who supplied her with challenging books and a non-judgemental listening ear throughout her youth, and supported her desire to go to university and have a career.
She studied history because she loved learning about it, and went into teaching primarily in the hope that it would be a rewarding way of using that knowledge; the impulse to educate was there too, but perhaps not the main driving force. She’s always hoped to do some post-graduate study, but before meeting the Doctor, had started to doubt it would ever happen.
Additional medical information: None to speak of.
Name: Barbara Wright
Age: Early thirties (b.1933)
Species: Human
Planet of Origin: Earth
Occupation: History teacher at Coal Hill School, a comprehensive in London, prior to travelling with the Doctor
Physical Description: Medium height, slim, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and intelligent, expressive features (you can usually guess exactly what she’s thinking by looking at her). Often wears a 60s-style bouffant of formidable proportions, but can be persuaded to abandon it on grounds of historical accuracy. Tends to dress very simply, eschewing frills or embellishment.
Personality: It’s easy to misread Barbara’s veneer of mid-20th-century middle-class politeness as an inherent conservatism; in fact, she’s naturally quite open to new ideas, fair-minded and tolerant of difference (more emphatically so since travelling with the Doctor and learning a few difficult lessons).
She’s emotionally articulate and a good judge of people. Her instincts are fundamentally sound, but at times her strong feelings on a particular point can skew her perception of a situation, with potentially damaging consequences (cf. The Aztecs, Planet of Giants). An appeal to her rational side will usually sort this out, but a thoughtlessly phrased reprimand risks bringing out her stubborn streak and making things worse. On the whole, though, she is usually pragmatic enough to recognize when she is in the wrong, and is not afraid to acknowledge her mistakes.
That said, she does tend to worry too much about the implications of poor decisions, and sometimes finds troubling emotions (guilt, for instance) difficult to shake off. The best way to snap her out of this mindset is to point her in the direction of someone who needs her help; she has a definite maternal instinct, and is courageous and capable.
In keeping with the rest of her generation, she’s not inclined to discuss sex or relationships very openly. She’s not prudish, and has little time for repressive ideas of sexual morality, but is very much culturally conditioned to keep all such topics discreetly under the radar. Her rapport with Ian predates their travels with the Doctor and is growing, but it’s not something they’ve discussed.
Broadly speaking, she’s an optimist, level-headed and quite pro-active, motivated by intellectual and moral questions as well as by loyalty, friendship and love.
History: Barbara comes from a reasonably stable, happy background despite having grown up in wartime England. Her parents were somewhat surprised by her academic aspirations, but are loving and reliable, and not unsupportive. They are still alive. She’s an only child. She has an unconventional aunt (Cecilia, as seen in Short Trips: 1963) who supplied her with challenging books and a non-judgemental listening ear throughout her youth, and supported her desire to go to university and have a career.
She studied history because she loved learning about it, and went into teaching primarily in the hope that it would be a rewarding way of using that knowledge; the impulse to educate was there too, but perhaps not the main driving force. She’s always hoped to do some post-graduate study, but before meeting the Doctor, had started to doubt it would ever happen.
Additional medical information: None to speak of.
