Duggan

Duggan is a secondary character featured in the BBC television series Doctor Who. Played by actor Tom Chadbon, he was featured in all four episodes of the "City of Death" serial, which ran from September 29th to October 30th of 1979.

Biography
Duggan was a private detective from England known for his take-charge attitude and his penchant for solving problems with his fists. He formerly worked in England as an investigator handling divorce cases, but found his later work much more fulfilling. In 1979, Duggan began investigating rumors of a plot to steal the infamous Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre. He traveled to Paris, France where he met the Time Lord known only as the Doctor. Duggan witnessed the Doctor and his traveling companion Romana steal a bracelet from the wrist of a Louvre patron named Countess Scarlioni. The Doctor tried to keep Duggan out of his affairs, but the man persisted and the Doctor was ultimately forced to let him in on what he was doing.

Reluctantly agreeing to work alongside the Doctor, Duggan discovered that the Countess' husband, Count Carlos Scarlioni was planning on stealing the Mona Lisa. The plot proved to be much more insidious than even Duggan was prepared for when he came to realize that the Count was actually a four-hundred million year old alien known as Scaroth. Scaroth was using the theft of the Mona Lisa to finance the construction of his own time machine, which he intended to use for nefarious purposes. Duggan was captured by Scarlioni and all the Doctor, Romana and he were placed into a dungeon in the cellar of the Count's chateau. The Doctor tried to pick the lock with his sonic screwdriver, but when that failed, Duggan grabbed the screwdriver and began smacking it against the lock, much to the Doctor's chagrin. Ultimately though, the Doctor was able to undo the lock and set them free.

They entered the adjacent laboratory where the Doctor found Scarlioni's scientist Kerensky. Kerensky was the one building the Count's time machine. Duggan had little patience for him and considered the nervous man just another obstacle in his path to freedom. Duggan clubbed him across the back of the head, knocking him out. At this point, Romana discovered a hidden alcove in the cellar that had been bricked up. The Doctor and she began tearing away at the cement, but their progress was too slow for Duggan. Moving them to the side, he rammed his body against the crumbling mortar, pushing away the cement blocks. Behind the wall, they discovered a display case containing multiple versions of the Mona Lisa. Count Scarlioni came downstairs and discovered them in the alcove. He pulled a gun on them, but Duggan distracted him by throwing a lantern onto the floor. At which point, he punched the Count across the jaw, rendering him unconscious.

While trying to leave the house, the group evaded gun shots from the Countess, who had taken up a position behind a counter. Duggan grabbed a vase and hurled it at her, knocking her out as well. The Doctor cared less about the unconscious Countess than he did the fact that Duggan destroyed a priceless Ming vase in the process.

The Doctor separated from Duggan and Romana to investigate the crisis from another angle. Duggan and Romana went to the Louvre in the hopes of preventing Scarlioni's thugs from stealing the genuine Mona Lisa. They arrived too late and Duggan accidentally tripped the alarm system. Before security personnel could enter the room, Duggan hurled himself through a glass window. Romana followed after him and they went to a nearby café to collect their thoughts. They left a message for the Doctor then went back to Scarlioni's chalet. By the time they arrived, the Count was conscious and captured them. He placed Duggan into another cell and blackmailed Romana into finishing his experiment or else he was going to kill Duggan. The Doctor eventually arrived and helped to free Duggan. Unfortunately, Scarlioni's time machine was now up and running.

The Doctor, Romana and Duggan followed Scarlioni into the past, arriving in Earth's primordial era. Scarlioni (in his true guise as Scaroth) approached his original space ship, hoping to prevent himself from pressing a button that would cause the ship to explode. Once again, Duggan laid Scarlioni out with a haymaker, thus saving the timestream. The Doctor complimented Duggan, saying that he just dealt out "the most important punch in history". With the danger averted, the three returned to the year 1979 and parted company.

Notes & Trivia

 * {{Createdby|director Michael Hayes and writers David Fisher, Douglas Adams and Graham Williams under the pseudonym David Agnew.