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Katarina was with the Doctor between The Mythmakers and The Daleks' Master Plan. She was handmaiden to the prophetess Cassandra when the Doctor, Vicki and Steven Taylor visited the besieged city of Troy, in 1184 BC. When Steven was wounded, in a skirmish with a Trojan warrior, Katarina helped carry him inside the TARDIS. Despite coming from a pre-technological society, Katarina coped well with the TARDIS, devoting herself to Steven's care so completely that she was still aboard the TARDIS when it took off, leaving Vicki behind with her new love, Troilus. After leaving Troy the Doctor and Steven became embroilled in an epic battle with the Daleks, during which they were forced to land on a penal planet in a ship belonging to the Guardian of the Solar System, Mavic Chen. They managed to escape, but a homicidal prisoner took Katarina hostage, and she opened the airlock's outer door, sacrificing herself to save the lives of Steven and the Doctor. The Doctor was devestated by her loss.
Plymouth-born Adrienne Hill trained in acting at the Bristol Old Vic, then spent some time with the Old Vic Company in London, followed by eight years' work in repertory theatre. Having been spotted by Doctor Who production assistant Viktors Ritelis while understudying for Maggie Smith in a play called "Mary, Mary", she was invited to audition for the role of Princess Joanna in "The Crusade." Although she did not win that part, director Douglas Camfield remembered her and cast her as Katarina. Katarina was one of the few companions to be killed in the series, and her tenure in the show was brief — appearing in only five episodes in two serials: The Myth Makers and The Daleks' Master Plan.
In the late sixties she had continued success, particularly in radio, and landed a regular role in the BBC's radio soap. "Waggoner's Walk." She then moved abroad with her husband when his work took him first to Holland and later to the USA. In the late seventies, after her marriage broke up, she returned
to England and studied for a degree. She died on October 6th, 1997, of cancer.
"Doctor Who" .... Katarina (5 episodes,
1965)
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