Former Doctor Who companion, Caroline John, has passed away aged 72!

John played  Liz Shaw, assistant to John Pertwee’s Doctor in 1970, as well as reprising the role for a 1983 feature-length special, The Five Doctors.

Unlike many of Doctor Who’s other companions, Shaw was a scientist and therefore treated more equally as the pair sat firmly together on the same intellectual plane.

Born in Yorkshire in 1940, John trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre, touring the country.

Her first appearance in the iconic hit BBC sci-fi family drama was in the episode  Spearhead From Space, alongside Pertwee, the third Doctor in the shows span.

In this episode the Doctor, who had not long been newly regenerated, and Shaw saw the reawakening of The Silurians and helped stop a mad scientist from breaking the earth’s crust in the episode Inferno.

Since leaving the show, John had made several TV appearances in shows such as Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness and the daytime soap, Doctors.

David Parkinson of Big Finish Productions, said: “Carry was always delighted to return to Liz Shaw and reprised the role several times in our audio series Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles.

“She was a brilliant actress and a lovely, kind soul who was a joy to be around and who was interested in everyone. She will be greatly missed.’

A funeral was held for the actress in south-west London on Wednesday.

Watch a tribute the actress in her Doctor Who role in the clip below: