Born: 2nd January 1948 (as Deborah Patricia Watling)
Died: 21st July 2017 (aged 69 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1967-1968, 1993

Deborah Watling was born in London into a family of actors. Raised in Epping, Essex, as a child she was an extra in several films starring her father, Jack Watling. Aged nine, she earned her first television credits as a recurring character in The Invisible Man; another regular role followed in 1960's A Life Of Bliss. Watling then focussed on her schoolwork for several years, until poor grades stymied her plans to study dentistry. She instead enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts, but chafed at their approach to teaching and left after three weeks. Acquiring an agent, Watling was almost immediately cast as Alice Liddell, muse to Lewis Carroll, in a 1965 installment of the Wednesday Play, earning her an appearance on the cover of the Radio Times.

Over the next couple of years, Watling appeared in programmes such as Out Of The Unknown and No Hiding Place. She may have auditioned for the role of companion Polly in Doctor Who in 1966, although Watling herself would later deny this. Regardless, a year later, Watling's Radio Times cover inspired producer Innes Lloyd to cast her as new companion Victoria Waterfield. She debuted in 1967's The Evil Of The Daleks, at the end of Doctor Who's fourth season; her powerful screams quickly earned her the nickname “Leatherlungs”. During her time on the show, Watling was twice joined by her father, who played Professor Travers in The Abominable Snowmen and The Web Of Fear. She remained on Doctor Who for a year, but grew wary of her character's limitations and the potential for typecasting. Victoria left the TARDIS in Fury From The Deep, although Watling could be glimpsed at the start of the next story, The Wheel In Space. She subsequently dated her co-star, Frazer Hines, for a time.

A role in The Dave Allen Show prevented Watling from appearing in The Five Doctors

A brief period running a boutique followed her departure from Doctor Who, but Watling soon found herself appearing in the theatre, while also taking a regular role opposite her father in the soap opera The Newcomers during its final weeks in 1969. Seventies television included episodes of Doctor In Charge and Arthur Of The Britons, as well as a recurring role in Danger UXB. She earned her only two movie credits in 1973, in That'll Be The Day with Ringo Starr and second-billed on Take Me High with Cliff Richard. Watling's emphasis was increasingly on the stage, and she starred in a number of farces and pantomimes alongside occasional serious roles. Her television career wrapped up in 1981 with The Jim Davidson Show; a role in The Dave Allen Show prevented her from reprising Victoria Waterfield for 1983's The Five Doctors, but the series wound up being cancelled.

In 1980, Watling was briefly married to actor Nicholas Field. More enduring was her relationship with sound engineer Steve Turner: after dating for a decade, they were wedded in 1992. The following year, Watling made a cameo appearance as Victoria in the thirtieth-anniversary Doctor Who special Dimensions In Time, despite having to conceal a broken arm. In 1995, both she and her father returned to their Doctor Who characters for the Reeltime Pictures video drama Downtime. In 2005, Watling was Auntie in the Fifth Doctor story Three's A Crowd for Big Finish Productions; for the same company, she made the first of several appearance as Victoria in 2008's The Great Space Elevator, an entry in The Companion Chronicles range. Watling was also seen in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, a 2013 comedy special which helped celebrate Doctor Who's golden anniversary.

In 2010, Fantom Publishing released Daddy's Girl, an autobiography co-written with Paul WT Ballard. A visual memoir, Daddy's Girl: In Pictures followed in 2017. Sadly, the same year, Watling was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died six weeks later, on July 21st.