Janet Fielding (born Janet Claire Mahoney, 9 September 1953) is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane. As 'Janet Claire Fielding' she made her UK TV debut in the Hammer House of Horror episode "Charlie Boy", which aired in October 1980 as she was announced as the new Doctor Who companion.Fielding played the part between 1981 and 1984. She made a guest appearance on Jim'll Fix It in a Doctor Who related sketch alongside Colin Baker's Doctor in 1985 (A Fix with Sontarans). And played Mel, during Sylvester McCoy's audition for the part of the Seventh Doctor.In 1982, Fielding married Daily Mirror foreign editor Nicholas Davies. They divorced in 1991. In 1984, she had a role in the ITV children's drama Murphy's Mob, followed in 1985 with a part in Hold The Back Page.In 1991, Fielding gave up acting to take up an administrative position with Women in Film and Television UK. While she maintained the position for only three and a half years, she has continued to work with the group since, managing the Skillset study on successful women in television in 2009. After leaving her position with the group, Fielding worked as a theatrical agent, at one point representing Paul McGann when he took the role of the Eighth Doctor.She returned to acting and the role of Tegan for Big Finish Productions audio plays including The Gathering (2006), Cobwebs and The Cradle of the Snake (2010) alongside Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. She has shown reluctance at reprising the role in the past, but has confirmed that she will be appearing as Tegan in further audio stories in the future. Fielding has also provided audio commentaries for several DVD releases of Tegan's Doctor Who stories. She also appeared in DVD extras for Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks, stories in which she did not appear, where she provided forthright critique on the portrayal of female characters in the serials.Fielding has also worked as the head of finance for a charity. Janet is currently Project Co-ordinator for Project MotorHouse, a charity based in Ramsgate, UK which aims to regenerate the local West Cliff building into an exciting mixed use venue where people of all ages can enjoy themselves and where Thanet’s young people can be introduced to a business culture and get the hands-on experience they need to feel confident about starting their own businesses.Although she has avoided fan conventions in the past, Fielding appeared at the Supanova Pop Culture convention at the Gold Coast in Australia during April 2012. Fielding has organised two Doctor Who conventions for 2013 to help raise funds for Project MotorHouse. The conventions are called ProjectMotorMouth.In September 2012. Fielding was revealed to be fighting cancer.In August 2013, Fielding contributed to the one off s
[on her bafflement at the continuing popularity of Doctor Who (1963)] You do find yourself wondering, because the affection endures: "So what is it that people are so very fond of?".
#
Fact
1
Retired from Acting in 1991.
2
The first companion on ''Doctor Who'' who was born outside of the United Kingdom.
3
Her character Tegan Jovanka in Doctor Who (1963), was the longest serving companion to the Fifth Doctor (played by Peter Davison).
4
Janet's real surname is not Fielding. She took this surname as her stage name, calling herself after her Grandmother (who was also an actress).
5
She graduated from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, with an Arts Degree in Drama. She comes from an academic family. The daughter of a doctor, her two brothers attended the same university as herself - one graduating with a degree in Medicine and the other with a degree in Dentistry.