We sat down for an interview with Nicola Bryant, famous for her turn as Doctor Who companion Peri, a part she played for three years, with the Fifth and Sixth Doctors, Peter Davison and Colin Baker respectively. Our topics ranged from action figures (she is one) to zombies (she is certainly not one) and of course her time as Peri, the American companion to The Doctor in the mid-80s as well as Bryant’s trip to New York for the upcoming Long Island Doctor Who Convention in August, her one and only U.S. con appearance in 2024.
“I knew it was a big thing to do Doctor Who,” says Bryant as we connected across time and space for our chat. She from her home in England and me in my house on Long Island. “It was great in one sense that when I got my first job, I could tell people ‘I’m going to be in Doctor Who’ and people knew what it was.”
Back then there weren’t endless channels and apps to binge thousands of hours of content on demand. There was just what you could catch on broadcast television. That meant Doctor Who stood out as both a show that was niche for science fiction fans and well-known to people who might not have been uber-geeks. A big difference from the more obscure plays she had been doing prior to Doctor Who.
“It felt really high profile then,” said Bryant. “Not being able to walk down the street without being recognized. That’s less likely now but the show was more mainstream then.”
Perpugilliam Brown aka Peri, jumped ship and ended up traveling through time with The Doctor for three seasons. She was also introduced as an American girl who would bring a little spice to the role, both as an antagonist to Colin Baker’s Doctor and for the fans. The seasons with Bryant and Baker were to be some of the most controversial for Doctor Who up to that point in time, adding a bit of 1980s blockbuster sexiness and violence to the series.
“Think about what was happening in the 80s,” says Bryant. “Lots of cop action movies. We were becoming more Starsky and Hutch.”
Bryant insists that while they did emulate the era’s trends in movies and television they weren’t a carbon copy either.
“We did not want to look like the A-Team where there’s lots of shooting and no one dies,” Bryant said. “If there’s a Dalek, there’s a consequence. There isn’t violence for violence sake.”
For Bryant, she also saw Peri as empowering.
“I loved Peri when I read the first script,” says Bryant. “She shouted back, she ran and stomped and screamed. I thought she was feisty.”
Although Peri is perceived as sex symbol, the Doctor never treated her like that, according to Bryant.
“We like her for her mind, humanity, compassion, feistiness, bravery and intelligence,” she said. “It’s not just about her sexiness.”
That’s also reflected in the way people still want to play her character at conventions decades after she left the television program. Bryant sees cosplayers doing many of her costumes who tell her how inspiring Peri is to them. The feeling is mutual.
“The cosplay is incredible,” said Bryant. “I’m a huge fan. The young ladies who do Peri are amazing.”
Part of the inspiration for Peri was personal. Bryant felt a familiarity for the character, one that was very close to her heart. Peri had lost her father and her mother was too busy for her. She was a character searching for something, or someone to fill that emptiness and show her an adventure.
“She reminded me of my friend who I knew in school from New York,” she said. “Her mum was always busy with big events. I took that feeling of how busy her mum was and I thought, ‘okay I have a feeling for who she is.’ It felt quite rich.”
The most unlikely of parental figures, always wise yet naive, independent yet at the same time very needy, the Doctor has tended to show people what they are missing in their lives without necessarily figuring that out for himself. He just knows he needs someone to travel with and share his adventures. But his companions, they tend to figure it out in the end. Peri was no exception.
“She stayed in the TARDIS because she didn’t have a dad anymore,” explained Brant when she talks about fleshing out Peri’s backstory. “This guy really reminded her of her dad.”
Peri wasn’t just a young, attractive companion who could go toe-to-toe with the Doctor. She was also American. Doctor Who had already met many people from all over the galaxy but this young American was about to give him a run for his money. Bryant says that after Australian airline stewardess Tegan Jovanka left, bringing an American on the TARDIS made sense.
“The Doctor was bumping into all these people with English accents,” said Bryant. “As we started to hit the 80s that didn’t seem to ring true anymore.”
Doctor Who, which was being broadcast in America on PBS, meant more people around the world were watching, and listening.
“At that time, the world was getting smaller,” said Bryant.
When she first read for the role, she had a good idea about how Peri would do things and say them even if it would cause a ripple effect all the way up the chain of command.
“I would go ‘can i say cop instead of policemen, please.’ or there was a line ‘I’ll put you through the mincer!’ I’d say no it’s a meat grinder. In England it’s called a mincer and I said Peri would have no idea it’s a mincer she’d call it a meat grinder,” Bryant said.
She would argue it to the script editor who took it to the producer who took it to the writer.
“It was a very long-winded way to get anything changed,” Bryant said with a laugh.
Bryant is still playing the role to this day in appearances at conventions and the Big Finish audio dramas where she gets to reconnect with Colin Baker as the Doctor.
“We meet quite regularly,” she said. “We were on stage together doing the Hound of the Baskerville and I saw him at Yorkshire Comic-Con.”
Despite originating the role on television over 40 years ago, Bryant is still recognized in real life for the role.
“Three times in the last month in my hometown I got recognized,” she said. “I live in a little village and a guy just ran up to me and said ‘oh my god can I have a selfie?’ We did the selfie thing in the street.”
Another time while waiting for her mother’s watch to be repaired outside of a shop a man kept looking at her.
“He asked if I was Nicola Bryant,” she said. “And we ended up talking for three hours.”
The next time it was a nurse in the local hospital.
“And I was at a charity event a while ago and this guy came charging in at the end,” Bryant said. “He must have been 18-years-old and he says, ‘I just binged watched you!’ The idea that something from the 80s got binge-watched now and he wanted me to sign something. It happens in the weirdest settings but everyone is so warm, welcoming, and friendly. It’s amazing.”
Peri is also an action figure elevating Bryant to the apex of geek culture. In addition to Doctor Who, the actress has conquered another beloved series, playing a character named Lana in the webseries Star Trek Continues, which has some eerily authentic cinematography and costuming. She’s also starring in a new zombie movie called Elvis vs. Zombies that’s in pre-production. It’s just as irreverent as it sounds.
“It has a lot of very British humor,” said Bryant.
As for the new Doctor Who? Bryant is here for it.
“I just want to be Millie,” she said. “I love what they’re doing and as a Doctor Who fan I love that the whole show is still relevant.
Fun fact: Bryant is so impressed by the modern day TARDIS set that she says she wants to roller skate in it! (We also think that Peri roller skating in the TARDIS is an 80s thing that should happen. In our version, she’s also sporting a walkman.)
Bryant, who does about five comic cons a year, will be doing only one in the United States this year. At Long Island Doctor Who Convention, she’ll be able to meet her American fans and reconnect once again with Colin Baker, who is also scheduled to appear.
There’s also a surprise in store for Long Island Doctor Who convention-goers. But mums the word.
“Ken [Deep] is going to announce that I’m bringing something,” she hinted, obscurely.
It’s either an event, or a thing that she’s bringing with her, she would not say. (It does sound a bit timey-wimey.)
“I hope it will make fans happy and chilled and relaxed and give them a sense of wonderment,” she added.
We’ll have to wait a little longer but for her part Bryant said she’s looking forward to returning to Long Island.
“If it’s half as good as last time I’m sure it will be brilliant,” she said.
Nicola Bryant will appear at Long Island Doctor Who Convention taking place August 23-25, 2024 at the Holiday Inn Long Island at 1730 N. Ocean Avenue in Holtsville. Click here for more info and to get your tickets today!
