Astrid Peth Who Confidential", Minogue describes Astrid as a "dreamer" and that meeting with the Doctor rekindles Astrid's desire to explore. Later in his book "A Writer's Tale" Davies discussed with co-author Benjamin Cook how he had originally named the character "Peth" in a treatment but it bugged him, he later renamed her to "Astrid" giving the reason that it "...sounds more spacey, more like a futuristing Doctor's companion". Despite Davies stating that the companion in "Voyage of the Damned" was "always going to [be] a one-off...little knowing that it would be Kylie Minogue", he has since stated that he would cast
Astrid Peth to say yes to being beamed into millions of homes in the run-up to Christmas. She's got a duff album to sell. In truth, Kylie should be grateful to ["Doctor Who"]." David Belcher of "The Herald" wrote that Minogue looked too old to play a waitress. Sam Wollaston of "The Guardian" claimed Kylie's performance was "disappointing" and did not live up to those of Freema Agyeman or Billie Piper in "Doctor Who". Jim Shelley of "The Mirror" stated that Minogue did not "look vivacious enough to be worth all the fuss". Conversely, Paddy Shennan of the "Liverpool Echo" accused the