Travis

Travis Killian
Player	Dan Peck
Species	Digitally-augmented Human
Home Planet	Earth
Home Era	1998
Current Status	Alive
First Appearance	The Cost of Progress
Last Appearance	The End of History

Travis Parker Killian was one of the Doctor's companions.

Character History

Kidnapping, adventures with the Doctor and Amelia Earhart

Originally from the year 1998, Travis is a librarian from the fictional Sheffield, New Jersey who was plucked out of space and time by an organization from Earth's 51st century to become part of a museum exhibit on "The Cost of Progress".

He was rescued by the Doctor, and left with her and Amelia Earhart in the TARDIS. The Doctor vowed to take him home, but with her TARDIS under the control of a Randomiser, she acknowledged it may take a while. (The Cost of Progress)

Travis went on numerous adventures with the Doctor and Millie, ultimately leading to an encounter with the Sea Devils at the Pacific Missile Control Station. During the events of this adventure Millie became trapped in the base as it sank, and though Travis tried to rescue her, he could not find her in the sinking base. (Devils From The Deep)

Upon discovering that Millie had been rescued by Roman, a past companion of the Doctor's, their search to recover her took them to Sheffield, New Jersey - Travis' home, approximately three months after his initial disappearance. There they found the town under the thrall of the Wire, who was planning to travel to New York to spread through its computer systems and conquer the Earth. Together, the Doctor and Travis stopped the Wire, and though presented with the opportunity to return home, Travis opted to remain with the Doctor and continue the search for Millie. (Hard-Wired)

Their next jaunt in the TARDIS took them to Colony 47, where they saw Millie's face on the side of an electronic billboard promoting the Staycation Dome - a company purportedly offering trips to parallel universes. While investigating the Dome, they were reunited with Millie, but the three of them were then shunted off into parallel universes. Travis' universe was a version of reality where he had teamed up with the Wire and was about to transmit the Wire's consciousness to its home planet for revenge using a large satellite dish built in the center of New York City. The Wire was destroyed when it hit the exterior shell of a rapidly shrinking universe. Using the dish, Travis was able to communicate with Millie and the Doctor in their universes, allowing them to be reunited.

Their return to Colony 47 saw the dome under attack from warped, broken parallel universe versions of its staff (including Millie). This was ultimately averted and reversed by the arrival of Rassilon, who arrested the trio. (Getaway)

Gallifrey, the Digital Mind, and the Other Travis

The three were taken back to Gallifrey. While the Doctor was tortured (Perfection), Travis had a vision of her experience being tortured by Maxil in her parallel universe. They were then informed by a member of the Gallifreyan High Council, Kalan, that Millie had been returned to her own time, fated to die in 1932 - 5 years earlier than recorded in history.

The Doctor and Travis were tasked with traveling into the time vortex to explore Reyla's TARDIS. They chose to steal the Doctor's TARDIS back and escape, though the Doctor decided to investigate Reyla's TARDIS. There they met Captain Greg Kinnear, and discovered that Reyla's TARDIS was in fact Roman's TARDIS - he had been trapped in the vortex for centuries, becoming an old man. They escaped prior to the collapse of the TARDIS. (Active Decay)

Throughout the adventures that followed, Travis increasingly found himself becoming sensitive to technology, even influenced or taken over by it. He learned that, through taking the place of his alternate-reality self who had partnered with the Wire, his brain was now "digital". This made him more sensitive to technology, able to detect and influence technology. (Evolve or Die, Swipe Right) He eventually interfaced with technology from Mondas and increased his own personal understanding of technology. (New Moon Rising)

A trip to Burbank, California circa 2019 resulted in an unexpected date with Carrie Vu, which went about as awkwardly as first dates can go right up until they were attacked by killer robots. Working with Carrie, Travis and the Doctor helped take down the evil dating app Matchmaker. Matchmaker's "silent partner" told Travis they were "proud" of him. (Swipe Right)

After their trip to the lost moon of Mondas, Travis fell unconscious and had a conversation with his own subconscious, taking the form of a version of Roman in inverted colors, opting to call itself Norman. Norman revealed that when Travis traveled back from the parallel universe, he brought the other Travis back with him. (Both Ends Burning) This Travis was appointed Keeper of the Matrix by Rassilon, building something called the Perfector. (Perfection)

Travis, along with Carrie, was given a key to the Matrix by Roman. The pair of them were sent into the Matrix to stop Rassilon and the other Travis from unleashing whatever is in the Matrix. (Both Ends Burning)

A Family Affair

When the TARDIS took the Doctor, Travis and Carrie to the Sheffield Nucleaer Power Plant, Travis discovered his father, Elliott Killian, had been brainwashed by a group called the Fatalists into helping bring about the end of the world. Travis was able to save his dad and stop the nuclear reactor from going critical. At the end of the adventure, Travis opted to remain in Sheffield with his parents. (The End of History)

Personality and Traits

Travis is a keen fan of science fiction and pop culture, which makes him a little genre savvy. Per the rules of the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game he has a Knowledge expertise of Pop Culture up to 1998.

Travis wears a button-down Old Navy shirt and Khakis, the work attire he was wearing when he was abducted. He has a cardigan "waiting somewhere" for him, and would put on a fun pop-culture tee-shirt after work to unwind.

His in-game traits include Clumsy and Reliable. Following the events of Lethargica, Brave was added to his Traits list. In Season 2, he acquired the trait Tech Sensitive.

Being from late-20th century Earth, Travis' Tech Level in-game is 5. It was upgraded to 6 as a result of the events of New Moon Rising.

His starter Pokémon is Squirtle. During the battle in The Handheld War, his first Pokémon is Jolteon.

Appearances

During his run of the podcast, Travis appeared in all episodes except for Roman Holiday and Perfection. He also makes a small non-speaking cameo at the end of The Game of Classilon: Jinkies & Zoinks, and a Patreon-exclusive epilogue serves an account of Travis' life after his departure.

Behind the Scenes

• Travis shares his first name with Travis McElroy, one of the players in The Adventure Zone, and Killian, a character from the Balance arc of the show. His middle name, Parker, was picked to give him the initials TPK, an acronym for Total Player Kill - a gaming term for a gaming session that results in the deaths of all participating players.
• The library Travis is abducted from (like Sheffield, NJ itself) is based on the library in player Dan Peck's home town.
• Travis is the first character we encounter in The Game of Rassilon - the very first scene in episode 1 depicts his abduction.
• When Carrie joining the TARDIS, the Doctor had two companions who were both fans of Star Wars. Both also have entries in the series they had yet to see - Travis was abducted prior to the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and so had seen nothing besides the original trilogy. Carrie, meanwhile, joined the TARDIS shortly before the release of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
• Travis is the longest-serving companion in the podcast to date, having appeared in a total of 51 episodes and 24 serials.