Doctor Who star Deborah Watling has died, following a short battle with cancer.

The actress was best known for her role as companion Victoria Waterfield on the BBC sci-fi series, appearing opposite Patrick Troughton's second Doctor from 1967-68.

The daughter of actress Patricia Hicks and actor Jack Watling – who also appeared in Doctor Who in the '60s as Professor Travers – Deborah was born on January 2, 1948 in Essex.

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She started out young, working as a child actress and booking a regular role in The Invisible Man (1958) television series. She later played the lead role in Alice (1965), Dennis Potter's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the BBC, and appeared opposite Cliff Richard in the 1973 film Take Me High.

Due to the BBC's old policy of wiping television episodes after broadcast, only two of Watling's Doctor Who stories – 1967's 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' and 1968's 'The Enemy of the World' – are currently thought to exist in their entirety.

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Victoria, who came from the Victorian age, joined the Doctor and companion Jamie (Frazer Hines) in the all-time classic story, 'The Evil of the Daleks'. Watling was still playing the role 50 years later in new Doctor Who audio plays from Big Finish.

Hines paid tribute to his friend and former co-star on Twitter upon hearing the news.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. I've just found out about dear Deb's. Loved her so much RIP — Frazer Hines (@WhoFrazer) July 21, 2017

You can watch a classsic scene from 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' featuring Deborah Watling and Patrick Troughton below:

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

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