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Mary Sue Brown
York1
Vital statistics
Planet of Origin: Earth
Original era: 20th Century
Species Human
Gender: Female
First Appearance: The Space Viking
Last Appearance: The Last Minutes
Portrayed By: Susannah York
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Mary Sue Brown was the final associate of the Third Inspector and the first associate of the Fourth. She was played by Susannah York during Seasons 11-14.


Travels with the Inspector[]

Initially introduced to the programme as a feminist photojournalist, she begins travelling with the Inspector after being abducted by his BOOTH. She continued to stay on with the him after he underwent metamorphosis and was assigned to 20th century Earth. During their adventures, she met the Blorgons, Rostraans, Circuit-Chaps, Sulphur Soldiers and Asterozoids.

Mary Sue chose to leave the Inspector in the serial "The Foot of Terror" after he was forced back to Kayaclasch, but not without arguing with him about being overly sensitive towards her human nature. Although never explicitly stated, it is heavily implied that the Inspector had feelings for Mary Sue when she travelled with him as an Associate.

Later on, FE-Line abandons the Inspector and joins Mary Sue. This was supposed to be the key plot of the spin-off FE-Line and Friends, but the series never got off the ground.

Reunion with the Inspector[]

In the revived series, both Mary Sue and FE-Line were reunited with the Tenth Inspector in the Series Two episode "The Embarrassing 15th Anniversary Reunion" while he was investigating happenings at a local nursery school during Picture Day, in which Mary Sue was the photographer. This caused some conflict between herself and Lily, which remains unresolved to this day. She also reappeared in the Series Four episodes "Return to Earth" and "Odyssey's Beginning" and at the end of the 2009 Christmas Special "The Last Minutes" in a non-speaking role.

FE-Line and Friends and The Mary Sue Predicaments[]

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Mary Sue was intended to be the star of an Inspector Spacetime spinoff known as FE-Line and Friends, but it never got off the ground. The character was given her own spinoff in 2006, The Mary Sue Predicaments, where she defends Earth from alien invasions with help from her adopted son Mark, FE-Line, and their teenage friends Elizabeth, Nitya, Stella, and Roy. The show was far edgier and more thoughtful than its precursors but was cut short by the death of its chief protagonist.

Facts[]

Given her role as the Fourth Inspector's associate and that Inspector's rating as the Most Popular Inspector by the public, she has consistently been rated Most Popular Associate, though Lily Taylor and Constable Reggie Wigglesworth have taken over that spot in recent years.

Ms. York's effervescent manner made her extremely popular with fans, who found her independent spirit especially inspiring.  Although she was diagnosed with cancer late in 2010, she refused chemotherapy and filmed three final episodes of the Predicaments.

The Inspector is the only one Mary Sue does not permit to call merely by her first name, Mary. When Nitya corrects him on this, the Inspector states that "She likes it when I call her Mary Sue."

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