Tributes are coming in for the actresses Jackie Lane, who has passed away at the age of 79.  Jackie played companion Dodo Chaplet to the first Doctor in 1966.

Dodo is introduced at the end of the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve. In that story, the Doctor and Steven travel to 1572 Paris, where they witness the persecution of the city’s Huguenot population. Despite befriending a young woman named Anne Chaplet, the Doctor knows he cannot prevent the coming massacre of 10,000 Huguenots, including Anne, by the Catholic French authorities. He therefore leaves in the TARDIS, taking Steven with him. When Steven finds out, he is furious and considers leaving the Doctor while the TARDIS is in 1960s London.

Steven returns at the same time that a young woman wanders into the TARDIS thinking it was a real police box. The Doctor and Steven are taken aback when she introduces herself as Dodo Chaplet and reveals that her grandfather was French. The Doctor speculates that Dodo might be Anne’s descendant.

At the end of The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve she reveals she has no parents, explaining that she lives with her great-aunt “and she won’t care if she never sees me again”. She witnesses images of herself on the Celestial Toymaker’s memory window from the day her mother died.

In her travels with the Doctor, Dodo travels to the far future, unfortunately bringing the common cold with her to infect humanity’s descendants; faces the mad games of the Celestial Toymaker; witnesses the gunfight at the O.K. Corral; says goodbye to Steven in The Savages; and is hypnotised by the rogue artificial intelligence WOTAN in The War Machines.

Halfway through that last adventure, she abruptly departs for a rest in the country after being hypnotised, and never reappears. At the story’s conclusion, Polly (who, with Ben Jackson, took Dodo’s place as a companion) explains to the departing Doctor that Dodo has decided to remain in the 20th century.

We’re sad to hear that Jackie Lane has passed away, she played the First Doctor’s companion Dodo Chaplet ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2PzirZvwP5

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) June 23, 2021

It is with deep regret that we announce that actress and friend Jackie Lane has sadly passed away. We pass on our sympathies to her family and friends.
Jackie was best known to Doctor Who fans as companion Dodo Chaplet.
RIP 1941 – 2021 pic.twitter.com/z4qACvYbuw

— Fantom Tweets (@fantomfilms) June 23, 2021

https://twitter.com/twilightstreets/status/1407757312765448194

Sorry to hear of the death of Jackie Lane (Dodo in Doctor Who in the 60s). Despite her reticence when it came to giving interviews – she was very shy – she was a lovely, sweet person.

— Toby Hadoke (@TobyHadoke) June 23, 2021

Former Doctor Who star Jackie Lane has died:https://t.co/aoASAltR4x pic.twitter.com/H4OsDq83Vt

— Digital Spy (@digitalspy) June 23, 2021

RIP Jackie Lane. pic.twitter.com/buMChSdPfg

— Big Finish Insider (@bigfinish) June 23, 2021

Prior to joining Doctor Who, Lane had made occasional appearances in BBC television and radio productions, including Anna Neagle’s radio production of Wonderful Things in 1958, with Charlie Drake in the TV production Grandad was a Wrestler in 1959, as a panellist on Juke Box Jury in 1961 and for the role of Rosemary Gray in the early BBC soap opera Compact in 1963.

After leaving Doctor Who, Lane became a theatrical agent, representing Tom Baker, who would play the Fourth Doctor, and Janet Fielding, who would play companion Tegan Jovanka and managed Nicholas Courtney. The agency which she managed was Jackie Lane Ad Voice.

In 2013, the BBC made a ‘docudrama’ called An Adventure in Space and Time, telling the story of the creation and early days of Doctor Who, as part of the programme’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Lane appears as a character in the drama, played by actress Sophie Holt.

Lane made a rare TV appearance in 2013, passing along anniversary greetings in the Doctor Who: The Afterparty, celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who.