Victoria Waterfield comes from nineteenth-century Britain - 1867, to be precise. After her father, Edward, was killed in a battle with the Daleks, the Doctor invited her to join the TARDIS crew. Victoria enjoys travelling with the Doctor, but she misses her father terribly.
While Victoria is easily frightened by horrifying monsters - she is often to be found screaming loudly at the latest menace - she is far from a useless wreck. Victoria feels very strongly that it is important to pitch in and help, and she will rise above her fears to do what needs to be done. She is often irritated by the suggestion of chauvinistic males that she should stay somewhere safe, preferring to make a valuable contribution.
Victoria hates most things monstery, including slimy seaweed. When confronted by them, she is liable to get fairly hysterical, and can become almost petrified with terror. But if an opportunity arises to help defeat them, the focus helps give Victoria strength to do something proactive. She may get caught in the act, but she remains determined to try to escape or pass along information. If villains threaten her life in an attempt to make the Doctor obey them, Victoria would rather sacrifice her life than play a part in the conquering schemes of evil creatures.
However, for all her bravery, Victoria is very wary of doing anything dangerous, and when the Doctor seems ready to stride off and do something foolhardy, Victoria cannot help but try to make sure he knows what he's doing. If he persists, Victoria can only stand by helplessly and watch. Nevertheless, when she is on her own, Victoria's curiosity often gets the better of her, and leads her into perilous situations. If she suspects that her inquisition might yield clues to help the Doctor, she will persist in doing it even when others try to keep her away. Victoria finds that playing the innocent damsel often helps her schemes to succeed.
Due to her Victorian upbringing, Victoria is a very demure young lady. She is polite, gentle, timid and extremely modest. Victoria can cook, and is particularly fond of Kaiser pudding. She is also able to pick locks with a hairpin, a skill she may have picked up during her travels with the Doctor, and is surprisingly comfortable handling and shooting a gun. When she is surprised by something, she exclaims "Mercy!" Victoria prefers being called by her full name, and is liable to get testy with people who insist on calling her "Vic".
Victoria has wavy reddish-brown hair and wide blue eyes. Initially she wears long Victorian dresses with lots of crinolines, but she does eventually become accustomed to the shorter dresses that are more commonly found in the TARDIS wardrobe. (She does not, however, approve of Jamie's appreciation for them!) She sometimes wears a small fob watch pinned to her dress.
In the end, Victoria finds herself fed up with all the trouble that she gets into with the Doctor. The constant state of terror wears her down, and she longs for peace and quiet. Knowing that she would never feel at ease back in Victorian times, with all her ties to it severed, Victoria decides to stay in England after she has helped to defeat a seaweed creature. A couple called the Harrises offer to let her stay with them as long as she likes and, saddened, the Doctor and Jamie say their goodbyes to her.
There is an implication, however, that Victoria rejoined the Doctor and Jamie in their travels, following the Doctor's trial on Gallifrey when he was forced into doing tasks for the Time Lords. At some point during this period, Victoria requested to be dropped off to learn graphology.
