Copper ( Voyage of the Damned ) Mr Copper was an employee aboard the " Titanic " who met the Tenth Doctor and Astrid Peth . After the near - destruction of the vessel , the Doctor allowed him to live in 21st century England . Biography . Mr Copper was a travelling salesman , but he reached retirement with little to show for a life ' s work . He pretended to have a first - class degree in " Earthonomics " to get the job of Ship Historian . In reality , he had been a student at Mrs Golightly ' s Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners . Copper helped the Tenth Doctor defeat the Host . After this adventure , he was stranded on Earth with nothing save the clothes on his back and a million - pound credit card . He had been issued this by the Capricorn Cruise Lines for purchasing trinkets from the local life forms , including samples of their local delicacy , beef . After being refused an opportunity to travel with the Doctor ( because the Doctor did not want a new companion at the time ) , the Doctor told Copper that the credit card he had was worth the local equivalent of 50 , 000 , 056 credit s . Ecstatic at his newfound wealth , he planned to make a life on Earth so he wouldn ' t spend the rest of his life in prison on Sto for fraud . ( TV : " Voyage of the Damned " ) Personality . Mr Copper pretended to be knowledgeable about Earth but often made mistakes describing the Earth . Copper had been a travelling salesman but felt that he had not been able to accomplish anything in his life and lied to get a place on the " Titanic " . Nevertheless he was a kind - hearted man , following the Doctor loyally and hoping to travel with him . He also tried to comfort the Doctor about the death of Astrid Peth , telling him to let her go . Mr Copper was ecstatic to find out he was a millionaire and promised to make the Doctor proud . ( TV : " Voyage of the Damned " ) Behind the scenes . First name . The first name of this character is sometimes claimed to be " Bayldon " . But where does " Bayldon " come from ? It ' s certainly not in the episode itself , nor any other narrative source . Nor does it appear on the end credits of " Voyage " . Or the final shooting script . Or the official " Doctor Who " website . Or in DWM 390 and 391 , the two issues of " DWM " most relevant to " Voyage " . In fact , the first name was such an irrelevance that RTD once said he couldn ' t remember it , but that it would make " a great trivia question " . ( PCOM : " Voyage of the Damned " ) The reason RTD had anything to remember is because the character used to have a first name . In one of the first drafts , available to read in at least the original edition of " " , dialogue proclaims that he is " Bayldon " Copper . However , it was deliberately excised from the final script . Because " Bayldon " is so far removed from the episode " as aired " , to ignore it in the naming of this article . Casting . American actor was considered for the role of Mr Copper and was later offered the part of Max Capricorn . The actor was interested in appearing in the show , but Hopper ' s availability proved insurmountable . Nevertheless , the eventual prominence of the character , originally envisaged as a much smaller part , is a direct result of trying to get Hopper to play the role . ( REF : " " ) The Mr Copper Foundation . As viewers learn in " The Stolen Earth " , a Mr Copper Foundation developed the Sub - wave communication network used by Harriet Jones . Though the script for " The Stolen Earth " does not make clear it is " this " Mr Copper who started the foundation , " " certainly does . But that is behind the scenes information , so references to the Foundation do not appear in the article above .