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Compassion
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Eighth Doctor <br/>
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Remote
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Anathema
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1996
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Interference, Book One
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The Ancestor Cell
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(or '''Laura Tobin''') is a . The
Canonicity of the novels, like other ''Doctor Who''
Spin-off media, is unclear.
Laura Tobin was born on Earth in the
26th Century ; her name was first mentioned by her sister Alison in the
Bernice Summerfield novel ''Ship of Fools'' by
Dave Stone set in 2593, although Laura did not appear herself. She became one of the members of a Remote colony established by Faction Paradox on the planet Ordifica in 2594. When the
Time Lord s attacked Ordifica two years later, the survivors were evacuated by the Faction to the
18th Century to establish a new colony.
The Remote, although originally human, are sterile. When one of them dies, a replacement is created from raw biomass and its personality reconstructed from the memories of the people who knew the deceased. Hence, each iteration is not quite the same as the previous one. Laura Tobin was "remembered" several times through the centuries, until the iteration that would be named Compassion emerged in the late
20th Century , meeting the Doctor and his companions in
1996 .
Compassion often appeared disdainful of the people around her. Indeed, the name "Compassion" was originally given to that iteration of Laura Tobin as an ironic comment on her caustic personality. She frequently responded to any observation with the dismissive remark, "Obviously."
The Remote also have the ability to pick up transmitted signals and use them to give themselves purpose. When Compassion had travelled in the
TARDIS for some time, the signals of the Doctor's time machine began to turn her into a living TARDIS. The Doctor had previously encountered a living TARDIS in the novel ''Alien Bodies'' by
Lawrence Miles , a Type 102 which came from his relative future. When Compassion began to evolve, the Time Lords realised that she was meant to be the prototype of the future Type 102s and sought to capture her in attempt to create that new class of time ship. They also believed that she might have the ability to close the
Eye Of Harmony on
Gallifrey , the Time Lord homeworld. When the Doctor's TARDIS was lost for a time, the Doctor and
Fitz travelled in Compassion while fleeing from the Time Lords.
Compassion parted company with the Doctor and Fitz at the end of ''
The Ancestor Cell '' by
Peter Anghelides and
Stephen Cole , after the Eighth Doctor had destroyed Gallifrey to avert a future war. The aftermath of that act rendered the Doctor
Amnesiac and Compassion left him in the
19th Century to recover, along with the recovered but embryonic TARDIS, the size of a matchbox, which would take roughly a century to grow back to its initial
Police Box size. She next left Fitz at the beginning of the
21st Century , to await the Doctor's eventual recovery. She then flew away towards the stars and has not been seen since, although it is strongly hinted that the character of Madame Xing of the planet Espero in ''Halflife'' by Mark Michalowski was Compassion in disguise. At the conclusion of ''
The Gallifrey Chronicles '' by
Lance Parkin , the Doctor sent
K-9 on a secret mission to Espero, possibly to seek out "Xing".
Gallifrey and the Time Lords were presumably restored some time after. During the events of the 2005 series episodes ''
The End Of The World '' and ''
Dalek '', the
Ninth Doctor claimed that Gallifrey and the Time Lords had been destroyed in a
Time War . Whether or not Compassion was likewise destroyed has yet to be revealed, although the Doctor has since referred to his own TARDIS as unique.
Compassion and her other iterations continue to appear in the ''Faction Paradox'' series of novels and audios. In the audios, she uses the alias of Mary Culver and is voiced by
Jackie Skarvellis . In the ''Faction Paradox'' novel ''Warring States'' by
Mags L Halliday , Compassion appears in the guise of
Kuan Yin , the
Boddhisatva of compassion or "Goddess of Mercy" in
Buddhist and
Taoist lore.
In the ''Faction Paradox'' novel ''Of the City of the Saved...'' by
Philip Purser-Hallard , Compassion established an afterlife known as the City of the Saved for all humans and human-descended sentient beings. The original Laura Tobin appears there as well, as does Compassion's son, the living time ship Antipathy.
