Tenth Doctor Month: Meet The Companions - Wilfred Mott



Donna Noble's grandfather Wilfred Mott, or Wilf as he was also known, was an old soldier who had served in the war.
He first met the Doctor on Christmas Day when the Doctor teleported to Earth with a group of space tourists from the Sto based Starship The Titanic. It was a fleeting meeting and there was no hint of the significance that Wilf would play in the Doctor's life. (Voyage Of The Damned).
Wilf was a keen amateur astronomer and would sit for hours at his allotment watching the stars in the night sky, it was whilst doing this that he saw the Doctor and the TARDIS taking his much loved granddaughter Donna away from Earth, waving excitedly to her as she went. He was overjoyed that Donna was with the Doctor, exploring the universe and discovering aliens, he was very proud of her and what she achieved. (Partners In Crime).

Wilf was trapped in an ATMOS gas filled car but was saved by his daughter Sylvia (The Sontarant Stratagem / The Poison Sky). In the altenative world where Donna had never met the Doctor , he was having a Christmas break with Donna and Sylvia out of London when the south of England was devastated by a nuclear explosion. Forced to move to Leeds and billeted in a house with the Colastanto family, he formed a good friendship with Rocco Colastanto - only to despair when the Italian was taken away to a labour camp. Wilfred was prepared to sell his beloved telescope to make ends meet (Turn Left).



When the Daleks invaded Earth, Wilfred was all for fighting back, but when Rose Tyler arrived looking for Donna, he could only say that he had no idea where she and the Doctor were. He didn't vote for Harriet Jones, but admired her. He wasn't able to help Rose use Harriet's Subwave network as Sylvia thought webcams were naughty and wouldn't let him have one. When the Doctor brought Donna home, her mind empty of all her experiences with him, Wilfred was heartbroken but promised the Doctor he would keep an eye on the stars, remembering him on Donna's behalf (The Stolen Earth / Journey's End).

He set up the Silver Cloak, a network of old age pensioners, to keep an eye for the Doctor in case he ever needed their help. When a mysterious woman approached him in church and told him that the the Doctor was returning, Wilfred put the Silver Cloak in to motion and they tracked the Doctor down. He tried to get the Doctor to meet up with Donna, hoping he could safely bring her memories back, but the Doctor refused, knowing it would kill her. He went aboard the TARDIS when the Doctor went after the Master, ending up a prisoner at the Naismith Mansion and then finally getting to go to outer space on the Vinvocci ship, the Hesperus. 
His old soldier skills came to the fore as he fired the Hesperus' laser cannons to stave of a wave of missiles and tried to help the Doctor stop the Time Lords unleashing their Ultimate Sanction.
Trying to save one of Naismith's Gate Room technicians, Wilfred went in to the Nuclear Bold control room and was locked in. The Doctor realised that Wilfred was trapped when he heard him knocking on the glass, and remembered what Carmen had said to him on the 200 bus.
Releasing Wilfred, the Doctor absorbed 500,000 rads himself, which destroyed his body, triggering the regeneration cycle. 
The last time Wilfred saw the Doctor was at Donna's wedding, where he gave him and Sylvia a lottery ticket for Donna paid for by Donna's late father Geoffrey.

Comments