Fey Truscott-Sade

Fey Truscott-Sade, also known as Fey or Feyde, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor. The canonicity of the comic strip with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who spin-offs, is open to interpretation.

Character history

Fey is a native of Earth in the early 20th century. She first appeared in the comic strip story Tooth and Claw, published in DWM #257-#260, written by Alan Barnes and drawn by Martin Geraghty and Robin Smith. In 1939, Fey was an undercover operative working for the British government, and had previously encountered the Doctor in an unpublished adventure involving psychic weasels in Russell Square. The Doctor had given her a Stattenheim Summoner — a device disguised as a tin whistle that could contact the TARDIS — and Fey called on the Doctor and his companion Izzy to help her investigate the sinister Varney.

The events of Tooth and Claw proved costly for the Doctor. Although they ultimately defeated Varney, the Doctor had injected himself with a deadly bacillus and was dying. Fey somehow managed to pilot the TARDIS back to Gallifrey, where the Doctor's body was cured and his mind placed into the Matrix to heal.

While within the Matrix, an attempt was made on the Doctor's life by a secret Time Lord sect known as the Elysians. This was foiled by Shayde, a construct of the Matrix and an old ally of the Doctor's. The assassination attempt was part of a plot by Overseer Luther, an insane Time Lord who wanted to rewrite Gallifrey's history and set himself up as a god. The Doctor managed to thwart Luther by short-circuiting his watchtower (a gigantic TARDIS), but apparently at the cost of his eighth body. As Izzy and Fey watched, the Doctor regenerated into a new incarnation (The Final Chapter, DWM #262-#265).

However, this was a ruse. The Doctor had realised that Fey was under external control when she had managed to pilot the TARDIS even though the TARDIS manual was in Gallifreyan script, which she did not understand. Just before the Doctor prepared to sacrifice himself, Shayde offered to take his place and fake a regeneration. This way, the group that was controlling Fey — the Threshold, a mercenary organisation that the Doctor had tangled with before — would seize the opportunity to bring a newly regenerated and thus weaker Doctor to them. Both disguised with personal chameleon circuits, Shayde would hold their attention while the Doctor sabotaged the Threshold's operations.

In a Wild West town on an alien moon run by the Threshold, the Doctor's plans came to fruition. The Threshold removed an implant from Fey, gloating that she had been an unwitting spy for them ever since they kidnapped her in 1937 and placed the device in her head. Preparing for the final confrontation, Shayde and the Doctor revealed themselves to the Threshold. However, Shayde had to contend with the Pariah, an immensely powerful being who was a prototype version of himself. Shayde was unable to defeat the Pariah on his own, and she crushed his skull.

Comforting the dying Shayde, Fey merged with the Gallifreyan construct and together they were able to kill the Pariah and eliminate the Threshold. The shared being, dubbed "Feyde" by the Doctor, although both of them retained their own consciousness, decided to leave and deal with what had just happened to them (Wormwood, DWM #266-#271).

Fey returned to 1939, where she continued to work for the British government. Fey spent two years fighting the Nazis with Shayde, frustrated that Shayde would not allow her to use their powers to kill Adolf Hitler, as this would change history. In 1941, she received a sub-ether summons from the Doctor — Izzy had been kidnapped, and the Doctor needed Shayde's abilities to track her whereabouts. Together, they succeeded in recovering Izzy, and "Feyde" returned to World War II after sharing a farewell kiss with Izzy (Oblivion, DWM #323-#328).

As a merged entity, Fey is able to share Shayde's powers, including the ability to travel through time and space unaided, phase through solid objects and fire self-generated "psychic bullets". Fey's penchant for dressing in masculine clothing and her relationship with Izzy implied that she was a lesbian, but her actual orientation was never made explicit, however given certain pieces of dialogue with the Doctor, there is evidence that she is actually bisexual. Fey and Shayde have also developed a love/hate relationship over the course of their unison, Fey telling Shayde things of her own life, but often resents his unswerving loyalty to Rassilon and preserving the web of time. Her initial appearance in Tooth and Claw was inspired by Katharine Hepburn.

External links

• Fey Truscott-Sade on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki