Mickey Smith was an auto mechanic and resident of the Powell Estate who came to befriend The Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler and another world’s Peter Tyler by virtue of his youthful romantic relationship with Rose Tyler. An apparently typical teenager – obsessed with football, sex and alien conspiracy theories – he rose to become a principal defenderof not just one, but two planets Earth. After years of living with the Tyler family on a parallel Earth, he returned to his “home Earth” and married Martha Jones. Despite close ties to the Torchwood Institutes of two Earths, he and his wife ultimately struck out on their own to become “freelance” alien fighters.
BIOGRAPHY
UPBRINGING
Mickey was born around 1981. He briefly encountered the adult version of Rose in 1987, though the two had minimal contact. (Father’s Day)
His father, a key-cutter, left him at anearly age after Mickey’s mother died. He grew up with his grandmother, Rita-Anne Smith. The elder Smith was described by Rose Tyler as having “brought up” Mickey until her death in 2002. She died after tripping and falling over a tear in the carpet stairs, which Mickey had never gotten round to fixing, this left him with feelings of guilt. (Rise of the Cybermen)
Nevertheless, when Mickey appeared to have died at the hands of the Autons, Rose twice told the Ninth Doctor, “I’ll have to tell his mother, ” possibly indicating that Rose knew heror at least how to contact her. (Rose)
LATER LIFE
MEETING THE NINTH DOCTOR
By 2005, Mickey was a typical working-class young man, living on the same council estate as Rose and going out with her.
The night Rose was almost killed when her workplace, Henrik’s, was blown up, Mickey offered to take her to the pub to recover. She refused, and told him to dispose of an Auton arm she picked up while escaping from the Autons.
The following day, Rose used Mickey’s Internet to find more out about the Ninth Doctor. He took her to the conspiracy theorist, Clive’s, house. While waiting in the car, Mickey saw a bin move on its own. He checked on the bin, which pulled Mickey inside to be replicated as an Auton by the Nestene Consciousness. Kept a captive by the Nestenes to maintain the duplicate Auton, Mickey was overwhelmed by the revelation that alien life existed. He reunited with Rose when she and the Doctor tracked down the Consciousness’ signal, but was in a state of paralysed panic through their confrontation with the Consciousness. Mickey’s cowardice did not impress The Doctor, and when he asked Rose to travel with him, he made it clear Mickey was not invited. (Rose)
Rose did not return for a year and was declared missing. Mickey was suspected of her murder. The police interviewed him five times, but he was not arrested. (Aliens of London) Mickey spent the year unearthing information about The Doctor and running the Defending the Earth formerly run by the deceased Clive. He filled it with angry rants about The Doctor and mysterious events in which The Doctor had a hand. He grew isolated. Jackie was certain he had murdered Rose and turned most of the estate against him. (Aliens of London)
RETURN OF ROSE
Mickey was one of the last to know of Rose’s return in 2006 and learned she was back only in the evening. This led to an awkward confrontation between the two Tylers and Mickey. He told Rose what had happened during her absence and her mother’s actions. Rose convinced Mickey she was sorry and that she hadn’t meant to stay away so long. The two reconciled. (Aliens of London)
Although still dismissive and even contemptuous of Mickey (calling him “Ricky” and “Mickey the Idiot”), The Doctor relied on him while trapped in 10 Downing Street during the Slitheen takeoverof Britain’s government. Mickey defended Rose’s mother Jackie and killed the Slitheen. Following The Doctor’s orders, he launched a missile at 10 Downing Street, blowing it up. His help in ending the alien threat earned him The Doctor’s respect. The Doctor offered him a place aboard the TARDIS but Mickey declined, admitting the lifestyle was too much for him. He asked The Doctor not to tell Rose that he had done so. The Doctor gave Mickey a compact disc containing a computer virus that would wipe out all mention of him on the internet. (World War Three)
Mickey became involved in an alien war being fought by remote control. The “soldiers” in the war were abducted hums controlled by other humans who thought they were playing a video game, under The Doctor’s instruction, Mickey organised the game controllers to keep the abducted humans alive (Winner Takes All)
In Cardiff, Mickey told Rose he was dating Trisha Delaney. This may have been a lie to make Rose jealous. (Boom Town) Although he angrily walked away from Rose at the end of that meeting, he helped her return to The Doctor to defeat the daleksat first happy to see her, he was angered by Rose’s dismissal of the life she’d led, until she reminded him that The Doctor had also shown him a better way. Mickey remained doubtful about getting Rose back to The Doctor until she said there was “nothing” left for heron the estate now. Mickey swallowed his pride and used first his car, then a tow truck to pull open the TARDIS console so Rose and the TARDIS could communicate. (The Parting of the Ways)
WITH THE TENTH DOCTOR
That Christmas, Mickey accidentally helped the newly regenerated and younger-looking Tenth Doctor recover by dropping a flask of tea nearby, revitalising him. He was inspired by The Doctor’s claim to the Sycorax that “[this planet] is defended!”. (The Christmas Invasion) Later he saw them off on their travels. (New Earth)
He spent several annoying days with The Doctor an uninvited guest. The Doctor dominated Mickey’s life without trying. He impressed all of his friends, ended Mickey’s doomed attempts at a rebound girlfriend, beat him at video games until Mickey snapped that he didn’t need impressing and sometimes people didn’t need The Doctor. The Doctor set things up so Mickey could have a normal Sunday with Rose. (The Lodger)
Mickey continued his investigations into alien activity, renaming his website Defending the Earth! and soliciting help from other enthusiasts. His investigations twice saw him run into Torchwood Institute operations.
In 2007 Mickey found unusual activity at Deffry Vale High School and called The Doctor and Rose home. Meeting Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey was amused to find his suspicions validated, The Doctor had had companions before Rose. When he met K9 Mark III, he drew an unwelcome parallel between the ‘tin dog’ and himself. He helped evacuate the school as K9 blew up the Krillitanes and the Doctor accepted his request to join the TARDIS crew. (School Reunion)
Mickey was delighted to visit a futuristic spaceship, the SS Madame de Pompadour in the 51st century, on his first trip in time and space. He travelled through a
He was involved in an escapade on the planet Iagnos. When Rose was infected by the jealousy-eating Iagnon, he helped make her intensely jealous to drive out the creature. (The Green-Eyed Monster)
LEAVING FOR ANOTHER UNIVERSE
His travels only lasted for a short while before a crack in the
Mickey saved The Doctor and Rose in the final battle against the Cybermen. However, he was increasingly unsure of his place in his home universe and the TARDIS. He remained in this world to care for his grandmother and, to an extent, replace Ricky. One of his first actions was to head to Paris to liberate it from the Cybermen. (The Age of Steel)
REUNION
Three years passed, from Mickey’s perspective, in which he continued to battle the Cybermen. (Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
When the Cybermen crossed the Void to his home universe in 2007, Mickey was the first to travel there to fight them and ensure Rose’s safety. He went undercover at Torchwood 1, worked as a lab assistant under the name Samuel and showed far more confidence than before. When the sphere, which he believed would contain a Cyber-Leader, opened to reveal the Cult of Skaro, (Army of Ghosts) he was put to the ultimate test. He took part in the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Doctor trapped Cybermen and Daleks In the Void and Mickey was left in the parallel universe with Rose, Jackie and Pete Tyler. (Doomsday)
RETURN AND MARRIAGE
Rose Tyler left Pete’s World to find The Doctor. Mickey and Jackie later crossed over as well, arriving on Earth after it was relocated to the Medusa Cascade in 2009. As the two arrived, they opened fire on a group of Daleks about to exterminate Sarah Jane. Mickey accompanied Sarah Jane and Jackie aboard the Crucible, where he was also reunited with Jack Harkness and, ultimately, The Doctor and Rose (later, the Meta-Crisis also greeted him warmly).
After the Earth was restored to its proper place, Mickey left the TARDIS after a tearful goodbye with Jackie. He told The Doctor there was nothing for him on Pete’s World any more, “certainly not Rose” and that his grandmother had passed away after living out her final years in Pete Tyler’s mansion. He ran to catch up to Jack Harkness and Martha Jones as they left for their own futures. (Journey’s End)
Mickey went into “freelance” alien fighting along with Martha, ultimately, they were married. (The End of Time) One adventure saw them battle a Sontaran, Jask. Jask had them in his weapon’s cross-hairs without them knowing it. Before he could fire, they were saved by the dying Tenth Doctor, who knocked Jask out from behind as a final gift to them. They spotted him and Mickey called out to him, but he walked away without saying anything. Mickey and Martha embraced as the TARDIS left, perhaps realising what The Doctor’s appearance meant. (The End of Time)
PERSONALITY
When first seen, Mickey was a bumbling coward, his capture by the Autons and initial trip in the TARDIS left him greatly shaken. (Rose) When he met The Doctor again, he displayed resentment towards him. (Aliens of London) Already, though, he was braver than he had been, he tried to hold off a Slitheen to give Jackie time to escape. (World War Three) Despite these changes, Mickey was still clumsy, performing a pratfall while trying to capture Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. (Boom Town) Although still unwilling to travel in the TARDIS, Mickey changed his mind, inviting himself along, unwilling to just be “technical support” (or the tin dog) any more. (School Reunion)
Mickey reached a turning point when he met Ricky and witnessed his death at the hands of the Cybermen. Shown a version of himself that was braver, he rose to the challenge. (Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel) He played a crucial part in the the Cybermen’s defeat and chose to help rid the alternate Earth of their threat. (The Age of Steel) When the Cybermen found a way to cross over to the other Earth, Mickey was the first to pursue them. (Army of Ghosts) When all of reality was threatened, Mickey again crossed Earths, this time with Jackie in tow. They faced Daleks and Mickey held their creator, Davros, at gunpoint. (Journey’s End) Choosing to return home, Mickey found love with Martha Jones, they became freelance alien hunters. Far from his original cowardly ways, Mickey now actively pursued dangerous aliens. (The End of Time)
OTHER INFORMATION
SKILLS
Mickey was skilled with computers and once used this talent to save the world from the Slitheen. He considered himself to be Rose and the Doctors “technical support” or “tin dog” (referring to K9). (World War Three, School Reunion). Mickey was also skilled at using guns and liked weilding large ones much like the Ninth Doctor. (Army of Ghosts, Doomsday. The Stolen Earth, Journey’s End)
NICKNAMES
The Ninth Doctor at first often called Mickey by the deliberately wrong name of Ricky. (Aliens of London) This made it more ironic for him to run into a parallel version of himself, who really did go by the name Ricky. (Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel) He also briefly referred to him as “Mickey the Idiot”. Jack Harkness teasingly referred to him as “Mickey Mouse”. (Journey’s End)
BEHIND THE SCENES
Actor Noel Clarke has acknowledged assuming that Doctor Who had a younger audience and tailoring his acting accordingly, making him slapstick, a move criticised by many fans. He toned down the comedic elements of the character for Series 2.
The ending of Journey’s End left open the possibility of Mickey going to work for Torchwood Three during series 3, as fan rumours had also suggested. Mickey Smith was originally meant to appear in Children of Earth, but was cut due to Noel Clarke being cast in a Michael Winterbottom film. (Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale – The Final Chapter)
Mickey is the first televised black companion and the first and so faronly male black companion.
In the Japanese dubbing of the show, Mickey is played by Setsuji Satō.
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Mickey Smith as in Doomsday
