Kamelion, voiced by Gerald Flood (from The King's Demons

Kamelion is a fictional character, in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A shape-changing android voiced by Gerald Flood in its default form, it was a companion of the Fifth Doctor and appeared in the programme in two serials between 1983 and 1984.

When we first saw Kamelion in The King's Demons, it was a tool of the renegade Time Lord known as the Master. At the conclusion of the Master's last encounter with the Doctor, he was trapped on the planet Xeriphas. When the Master returned, he had Kamelion with him, calling it a souvenir he had picked up from there. Although Kamelion was sentient to a degree, it was also extremely weak-willed, and therefore open to manipulation by any strong personalities around it. The Doctor freed Kamelion from the grip of the Master, but it eventually fell under the Master's influence again in the serial Planet of Fire. In the end, Kamelion begged the Doctor to destroy it, and the Doctor reluctantly honoured that request.

When Kamelion changed shape, it was played by whichever actor whose form it took. However, when in its default form, it was a true computer-controlled robot. The reason why the Kamelion robot was used only in two serials was that it was very difficult for the Doctor Who production team to control. It malfunctioned frequently, and things were only made worse when its inventor died without leaving the knowledge of the code that controlled it behind. Its absence in the intervening serials was explained by saying that it had been spending its time exploring the TARDIS's systems.

The Kamelion robot made an appearance as an image during the Fifth Doctor's regeneration scene in The Caves of Androzani. Kamelion is also featured in the spin-off novel The Ultimate Treasure by Christopher Bulis, where it is stated that it was the product of a race known as the Gelsandorans.

• Travelled from: The King's Demons to Planet of Fire