Her name came from the wonderful Anna Madrigal in Tales of the City. I had read the book several years before her character came to be, and mentally tucked the name away for future use. At the time I wasn't collecting dolls, and it would be several more years before Volks, would unleash the BJD on our unsuspecting masses. but I'm a wannabe writer and a once-time avid writer (or should I say perpetrator?) of fanfiction and I knew there was a character waiting somewhere who would fit the name. It was several more years before I "discovered" her, however.
I discovered Doctor Who in 1996, when Fox (the network, that is) aired the TV movie with Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor. I was immediately intrigued and wanted more. While browsing videos in the local mall, I found a couple of episodes from the original series that looked interesting - "Seeds of Doom" and "Robot."
And I found myself smitten with a madman in a blue box with a twenty-foot scarf. The fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.
In some ways, she was the ultimate Mary Sue, because she was me. She more or less looked like me, dressed like me, did what I would have done (or liked to think I would have) in any given situation. She had a heavily modded and tricked-out laptop that she could do just about anything with, a newer model TARDIS than the Doctor's - hers was a Type 60 - a smart-aleck shapeshifter named Kilbey as a companion and she was madly in love with the Doctor.
Along the way I started hanging out in a Doctor Who chatroom and met, more or less, a guy from Manchester named Joshua. We quickly became online friends and collaborated on several fanfic stories together, It was he who came up with the name of Kilbey's species (zeomorphs) and the backstory of just who Maddy's father was. He was one of the engineers who, along with Rassilon, designed the original time machine, the prototype TARDIS. However, the Type I Mark I had a fatal flaw. It operated outside the Laws of Causality. Basically, with this device, it was possible to do anything and get away unscathed. Murder your parents before you were born? No big deal; you'd still exist. Destroy the planet you came from with you on it? Again, it wouldn't affect you. You would be immune from the consequences of your own actions. It freaked Rassilon out to the point of ordering the prototypes destroyed. Mistakenly fearing for his lives - all however many of them - Maddy's father stole one and took off through time and space. He hid out for a time on Earth, married, had a daughter - only to end up fleeing again when he believed the Time Lords to be hot on his trail. The sad part is, he doesn't realize that they don't intend to imprison him - they just want the Type I Mark I back.
As for her mom - well, I'll get to that.
I really should add that I originally spelled her name "Maddie," not "Maddy." However, when Tom Baker's autobiography was published right about that time, Joshua was able to actually meet him at a book signing and her me (and himself) an autograph. He used my nickname - and Tom spelled it "Maddy." So from that moment on, it became "Maddy" with a "y."
But anyway....
Fast forward a couple of years. Joshua tells me in an email he's got a doctor's appointment to get a few things checked out and not to be concerned if I didn't hear from him for awhile. I asked if he was okay and he said he thought so, but he'd explain everything later and not to worry.
And that was the last I heard from him. And I know it's a cliche, but literally not a day goes by that I don't think about him and hope wherever he is, he's okay.....
That wasn't the reason I stopped writing fanfiction, though. I just started transitioning into writing my own stories with all original characters.
And along the line, Doctor Who got revived. In a huge way.
And I discovered BJD's.
And started playing with the idea of bringing some of tha characters in my head to life.
I had already taken a series of photos with my NS Pukifee Mio, Paisley, "cosplaying" as Maddy. I'd even found a fourth Doctor action figure and a K9 for her to hang out with. Plus a funny little snail from Doll Chateau who became Kilbey.
However, when a white resin Mio turned up in stock at Denver Doll Emporium, I bought her more or less on impulse. The night she arrived, I had my only 3:00 AM epiphany that was actually a good ides - "She's Maddy Baker!" Her eyes were ones I'd bought intending them to be for an incoming doll and her wig was just one I had lying around. And they were perfect for her.
I have a PKF Pio on layaway as we speak who will be a more in-scale version of the fourth Doctor for her. I also have a PKF Cupid on layaway who will be River Song. I'd also like so someday have a PKF Sarah Jane Smith and eleventh Doctor as well.
And then there's the little matter of Maddy's mother.
I've almost decided that River is her mother. Yes, River. There's actually some reasoning behind this that I'll go into later.
Until then, happy times!
Maddy
