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| Countess Scarlioni | |
| Continuity: | Doctor Who |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Gender: | Female |
| Race: | Human |
| Location: | Paris, France |
| Relatives: | Carlos Scarlioni [1] |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Born: | 1944 [2] |
| Died: | 1979 |
| First: | "City of Death (Part 1)" |
| Final: | "City of Death (Part 4)" |
| Actor: | Catherine Schell |
Countess Scarlioni is a supporting character and an antagonist in the BBC television series Doctor Who. Played by actress Catherine Schell, she appeared in all four episode of the "City of Death" story-arc, which first aired from September 29th to October 20th, 1979.
Biography[]
Countess Scarlioni was the wife of Count Carlos Scarlioni and lived with him at his chateau in Paris, France. The Countess had no knowledge of her husband's alien origins, nor the fact that he was over four-hundred million years old. The Count embroiled his wife in a scheme to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. The Countess thought that they were doing so merely for the wealth and prestige of tackling such an ambitious feat, but in truth, the Count required the money he would earn from selling the infamous painting in order to finance the development of a time machine, which he had hoped to use to send himself backwards in time.
While scouting out the Louvre, the Countess had an encounter with the Fourth Doctor - a time traveler in his own right. The Doctor noticed that the Countess wore a peculiar bracelet of alien origin and took great interest in her. As the Doctor became more involved in the Countess and her husband's schemes, he soon learned the truth about Carlos Scarlioni. The Doctor confronted the Countess and told her that her husband was actually a green, one-eyed alien from a race known as the Jagaroth, who had been ransacking the time stream for his own personal agenda. The Countess cackled at such an absurd accusation, but realized that the Doctor's claim had some merit to it.
She eventually confronted her husband at gunpoint and forced him to reveal the truth about himself. Carlos Scarlioni tore away his human mask, revealing his true face; that of Scaroth of the Jagaroth. He then pressed a switch on his ring, which activated an electrical charge in the Countess' bracelet, killing her instantly.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Countess Scarlioni was created by director Michael Hayes and writers David Fisher, Douglas Adams and Graham Williams under the pseudonym David Agnew.
- Actress Catherine Schell also played the role of Maya on the television series Space: 1999.