Jackie Lane Tribute

As many of you reading this may have heard, on the 23rd of June it was announced that Jackie Lane had passed away. Born in 1941, she had made a number of appearances in various BBC productions, including a role in the soap opera Compact, before coming to the attention of the Doctor Who production office for the role of Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, when the show launched in 1963. However, at the time, Lane wasn't interested in committing to a year-long role, and passed on the opportunity. However, when the role of Dodo Chaplet came up in 1966, she accepted, and she was introduced in the final episode of "The Massacre".

Lane (and Dodo) was introduced during a time when the show was in flux. Verity Lambert had stepped down as producer the previous summer, and John Wiles had been her replacement. He had introduced a brand-new style and an air of sophistication to the show, which was not a move that was greeted warmly by some of the cast, especially William Hartnell. Add to these, a large number of cast changes took place over a very short period of time: Maureen O'Brien's Vicki was replaced at short notice by Adrianne Hill's Katarina, who was then replaced because it was felt that someone from Troy during the Greek sacking of the city would have to have every technological advance explained to her. She was then replaced in her second story by Jean Marsh's Sara Kingdom, who was then killed off at the end of her first story, "The Daleks' Master Plan". Dodo was her replacement: stumbling into the TARDIS at the end of "The Massacre", she joined the Doctor, Steven, Ben and Polly in five further serials. She only remained with the show, however, until the final story of the season "The War Machines", when she was unceremoniously written out by new producer (the show's third in a year) Innes Lloyd's 'new broom' approach.

As such, Dodo never really had the chance to develop, as the varying approaches to the character meant she never really displayed anything beyond generic characteristics. Added to that was some controversy at the time regarding her accent: initially, Dodo was originally meant to speak with a strong cockney accent, something Jackie Lane did in her first few episodes. However, BBC management were unhappy with this, and demanded that Lane speak in RP (received pronunciation) for the remained of her time on the show. Despite all these sweeping issues and changes, however, Jackie Lane's commitment to the part remained strong throughout. Dodo was a little more forthright that either Susan or Vicki had been, and Lane shone in the scenes where she got to hold her own. "The Gunfighters" and "The Savages" both gave the character moments to shine, and Lane took the opportunity to make the most of these moments. She also had a wonderful chemistry with both William Hartnell and Peter Purves (playing the Doctor and Steven respectively), and they made for one of the more unusual TARDIS teams in the show's history. Sadly, Dodo's departure does make for one of the poorest in the history of Doctor Who, and it seems less like a natural decision, and more like the producer just wanted rid of her. After that, sadly, Dodo was never featured in the TV series again, and Jackie Lane soon gave up acting after finishing on the show. She went to fill a variety of jobs, including as a voice-over agent, and her clients included Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, Brigadier actor Nicholas Courtney and Tegan actress Janet Fielding. In fact, she once turned down the offer of work from Innes Lloyd, because of the way he dismissed her! While never returning to the role, Lane was still held in affection by the fans of the programme, and, in 2013, Lane recorded a special message for Doctor Who fans screened during Doctor Who: The Afterparty, which was since seen as a highlight of the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Jackie Lane - 10th July 1941 to 23rd June 2021.

My condolences to her friends and family. Rest in Peace.