WHO IS NYSSA?













Nyssa is one of many characters who has appeared on Doctor Who, the longest running science fiction television series of all time.  The series ran 26 years from 1963-1989 with seven different actors playing the lead role of the Doctor, a Time Lord who can travel through time and space in a machine called a TARDIS.  Nyssa was one of 31 companions who appeared throughout the series to assist the Doctor in his many adventures.


Nyssa is a lovely and highly intelligent nineteen year-old girl from the planet Traken, an empire held together by universal harmony and purity.



















Nyssa first comes into contact with the 4th incarnation of the Doctor upon his visit to Traken.  Nyssa, with the aid of her father, Tremas, helps the Doctor and his companion, Adric, prevent the Doctor's arch-enemy, the Master, from taking control of Traken.


Soon after the Doctor and Adric leave Traken, the Master reappears and takes over Tremas' body to regenerate himself, thereby leaving Nyssa orphaned.



















Nyssa sends a message to the Doctor and Adric about the disappearance of her father and meets the TARDIS crew on the planet Logopolis, where the Master is also waiting.  The Master, in an attempt to control Logopolis, accidentally triggers the collapse of the universe.  The Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, and a new companion, Tegan, travel to Earth in an attempt to halt the collapse.  Using the Pharos Project satellite on Earth, the Doctor reverses the collapse, but not before Traken is destroyed.  In the struggle, the Master causes the Doctor to fall from the satellite, forcing him to regenerate into his 5th incarnation.
















With no parents and now no home in which to return, Nyssa decides to stay with the TARDIS crew in the hopes of building a life with her new found friends.  The Doctor sees it as his responsibility to protect Nyssa and decides to look after her until she is older.  The TARDIS, however, is not used to being so crowded, and the Doctor often finds himself compromising his solitary tendencies in order to take on the role of a surrogate parent.

















At the head of this "dysfunctional family" was a newly regenerated Doctor, a heroic and compassionate incarnation of the character, but with a more vulnerable side to his personality.  Adric, the mathematical boy genius who stowed away in the TARDIS to see the universe rather than return to his own people.  Tegan, the Australian Airline Stewardess who wandered into the TARDIS by accident, thinking it to be a real police box.  And of course, Nyssa, the sweet young aristocrat who proved to be the balance between Adric's recklessness and Tegan's quick temper.  The real pleasure of watching Doctor Who during this time period is in seeing the development of these four characters and how their diverse personalities and backgrounds affected their relationships with each other.  It was a wonderful era.