Frobisher | |
---|---|
Doctor Who character | |
First appearance | The Shape Shifter |
Last appearance |
Where Nobody Knows Your Name (in story) Prisoners of Time (chronologically) |
Portrayed by | Robert Jezek (voice) |
Information | |
Affiliated |
Sixth Doctor Seventh Doctor |
Species | Whifferdill |
Home planet | Xenon |
Home era | 82nd century |
Where Nobody Knows Your Name (in story)
Frobisher 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 in the 1980s. He was a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors.
Frobisher is a Whifferdill, one of a shape-changing extraterrestrial race. What is assumed to be his natural form, as seen in his first comic strip appearance, is humanoid, pale yellow in colour, three to four feet in height, with a round, featureless head, and wearing spectacles. However, he preferred to spend his free time in the form of a penguin.
When he first appeared in The Shape Shifter (DWM #88-#89), written by Steve Parkhouse with art by John Ridgway, Frobisher was a private investigator calling himself "Avan Tarklu" (a play on the phrase "Haven't a clue"). He came across the Doctor when an enemy of the Time Lord, Josiah Dogbolter, had placed a bounty on the Doctor in an effort to acquire his secrets and his TARDIS. After infiltrating the TARDIS, instead of turning the Doctor in for the money, Tarklu decided that he liked the Time Lord and helped him against Dogbolter; both split the advance bounty Tarklu had been given from Dogbolter. He then joined the Doctor on his journeys. He assumed the name of Frobisher because he felt that it sounded British and thought that the Doctor would like that.
Frobisher was once married to Francine, another Whifferdill, who left him because she was a better detective than he was. Apparently, he was very fond of her in penguin form, and so adopted it to remind himself of her. It is not a static form, however, as Frobisher has been seen emulating different types of penguins.