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Companion, in the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, is a term which is often used to describe a character who travels with and shares the adventures of the Doctor. The term is primarily used in Doctor Who fandom; the press and general public often refer to these characters as "assistants". The term was rarely used in the classic series (1963-1989), however the revived series (2005-) makes more frequent use of the term. More often, however, the Doctor merely introduces his fellow leads as his "friends". In the 2005 series, the Ninth Doctor states he "employed Rose Tyler as [his] companion".

The Doctor almost always travels with between one and three companions; the only exception in the television series is the serial The Deadly Assassin, in which he travels alone. In most Doctor Who stories, the companion provides a surrogate with whom the audience can identify, and furthers the story by asking questions and getting into trouble, or (especially in later stories) by helping or rescuing the Doctor.

On occasion, characters have functioned as companions to series villain the Master, among them Chang Lee and his wife, Lucy Saxon, whom he calls his "faithful companion".¹

History of the Doctor Who companion

When Doctor Who was created, the dramatic structure of the programme's cast was rather different from the hero-and-sidekick pattern that emerged later. Initially, the character of the Doctor was almost an antihero, with uncertain motives and abilities. The protagonists were schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, who provided the audience's point-of-view in stories set in Earth's history and on alien worlds. Ian in particular served the role of the action hero. The fourth character was the Doctor's granddaughter Susan, who was initially presented as an "unearthly child"; the programme's makers intended Susan as an identification figure for younger viewers.

Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan, became unhappy with the lack of development for her character, and chose to leave in its second series. The character of Susan was married off to a freedom fighter and left behind to rebuild a Dalek-ravaged Earth, establishing two scenarios to which the series would later return. Doctor Who's producers replaced Susan with another young female character, Vicki. Similarly, when Ian and Barbara left, the "action hero" position was filled by astronaut Steven Taylor. This grouping of Doctor, young heroic male and attractive young female became the programme's pattern throughout the 1960s.

When the programme changed to colour in 1970, its format changed: the Doctor was now Earth-bound, and acquired a supporting cast by his affiliation with the paramilitary organization United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. The Third Doctor, more active and physical than his predecessors, made the role of the "action hero" male companion redundant. In the 1970 season the Doctor was assisted by scientist Liz Shaw and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, along with other UNIT personnel. The intellectual Shaw was replaced by Jo Grant in the 1971 season, and as the programme returned to occasional adventures in outer space, the format shifted once more: while UNIT continued to provide a regular "home base" for Earth-bound stories, in stories on other planets the Doctor and Jo became a two-person team with a close, personal bond. This pattern, the Doctor with a single female companion, became a template from which Doctor Who rarely diverged. The "heroic male" type occasionally returned (for example, Harry Sullivan and Jack Harkness), but the single female companion was Doctor Who's staple.

The role of the companion in Doctor Who

Companions have assumed a variety of roles in Doctor Who, as involuntary passengers, as assistants per se (particularly Liz Shaw), as disciples, as friends, and as fellow adventurers.

The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home, or find new causes — or loves — on worlds they have visited. Some companions (notably Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric, Kamelion and Astrid Peth) have died during the course of the series.

There are some disputes within Doctor Who fandom about the definition of a companion, but most fans agree that over thirty (including K-9 Marks I and II) meet the criteria for "companion" status in the television series, with others being established in the various spin-offs. Most companions travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor for more than one adventure, although there are exceptions; see Disputed companions, below. Sometimes a guest character will take a role in the story similar to that of a companion: one recent example is Lynda in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" while an example from the classic series is photographer Isobel Watkins who plays a significant role in "The Invasion".

Despite the fact that the majority of the Doctor's companions are young, attractive females, the production team for the 1963–1989 series maintained a longstanding taboo against any overt romantic involvement in the TARDIS: for example, Peter Davison, as the Fifth Doctor, was not allowed to put his arm around either Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) or Janet Fielding (Tegan).² However, that has not prevented fans from speculating about possible romantic involvements, most notably between the Fourth Doctor and the Time Lady Romana (whose actors, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, shared a romance and brief marriage). The taboo was controversially broken in the 1996 television movie when the Eighth Doctor was shown kissing companion Grace Holloway. The 2005 series played with this idea by having various characters think that the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler were a couple, which they vehemently denied. Since the series revival, the Doctor has kissed companions Rose, Jack, Martha, Astrid and Donna, although each instance not in a romantic context (see also "The Doctor and romance").

The new series (2005–) has slightly altered the significance of the companion status, partly due to a strong focus on the character of Rose Tyler and characters connected to her. For example, although Adam Mitchell was a companion by the standard definition, he appeared in only two episodes and was arguably a less significant part of the 2005 series than Rose's sometime boyfriend Mickey Smith, who was not technically a companion but appeared in five episodes (or six, including a brief appearance as a child in "Father's Day"). Mickey later gained full-fledged companion status when he joined the TARDIS crew in the 2006 episode "School Reunion". In that episode, Sarah Jane Smith referred to Rose as the Doctor's "assistant", a term to which the latter took offence. This exchange might be regarded as indicating a deliberate shift in approach for the new series.

New series companions have also a more flexible tenure than their classical predecessors. Of the Doctor's six companions over the first three series, two (Jack and Mickey) have left the Doctor's company at some point, only to return later for further adventures. This continued in Series 4, with Mickey, Martha, Rose, Sarah Jane and Jack returning to the show.

List of Television companions

The First Doctor's companions

The Second Doctor's companions

The Third Doctor's companions

The Fourth Doctor's companions

The Fifth Doctor's companions

The Sixth Doctor's companions

The Seventh Doctor's companions

The Eighth Doctor's companions

The Ninth Doctor's companions

The Tenth Doctor's companions

River Song

River Song is an archaeologist who states that she has travelled with the Doctor in his relative future (her relative past).⁸ Although the Doctor first meets her on the Library planet in "Silence in the Library", she states that she has met him on several occasions prior to that in her relative timeline but in a time yet to come for the Doctor.⁹ It is suggested that at some point they share an intimate relationship of some sort, and River Song reveals that she knows the Doctor's real name, which she whispers in his ear, thus gaining his trust.¹⁰ River Song appears to be familiar with the TARDIS,¹¹ and apparently has first-hand knowledge of The Doctor's future conflicts with alien races.¹² She also possesses a sonic screwdriver, which she says a future doctor gave her. This is cited as evidence of his trust in her, and the Doctor considers it highly surprising she should have it - claiming he'd not give anyone else his sonic screwdriver. As the episode unfolds, the Doctor may have had ulterior motives for this, in addition to trust. River Song dies while using her brain as a memory buffer for The Library's data core, thus saving the Doctor, Donna, and the 4,022 people trapped in the data core in "Forest of the Dead".

Disputed companions

Since there is no formal definition of what makes a companion, Doctor Who fans sometimes dispute whether certain characters are really companions or not. Liz Shaw never travelled in the TARDIS in the television series, and Sara Kingdom and Astrid Peth both died in the same adventures in which they made their debut. Some fans define these three as companions and others do not. Fans also disagree on whether Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and other UNIT staff, who sometimes filled the companion's dramatic role during the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, should be counted as companions. For example, Sergeant Benton's only trip in the TARDIS came in The Three Doctors, while the Brigadier travelled with the Doctor on that occasion, and again in Mawdryn Undead and The Five Doctors, but Captain Mike Yates never stepped inside the blue box. Furthermore, companion status cannot simply be based on travelling in the TARDIS, since several stories of the Peter Davison era featured the majority of the cast being transported by the Doctor (it was even invaded by Cybermen on two occasions). On that basis, Sara Kingdom would be considered a companion, but not Bret Vyon, who travelled with the Doctor, Steven and Katarina in the spaceship Spar 7-40 during the same adventure.

The robot Kamelion travelled with the Fifth Doctor, but did not appear frequently. The actual robotic Kamelion prop had chronic technical problems on the set, and therefore appeared in only one story in Season 20 and a second in Season 21, in which it was destroyed. Because Kamelion could change shape into anyone, a number of actors played it. Since it only appeared in two stories (a third appearance was filmed but not aired¹³), its status as a companion is a matter of debate.

There is also dispute over the companion status of Dr Grace Holloway from the 1996 telemovie, who is offered the chance to travel with the Doctor but declines, and therefore appeared only once. Another character from the telemovie, Chang Lee, is sometimes described as a companion as well, although to be accurate he was more a companion of the Master. Jackie Tyler, Rose's mother, had a recurring, non-travelling role in the series, although in the episodes "Army of Ghosts" and "Journey's End", she does travel with the Doctor in his TARDIS and also acts in the role of companion in the former (standing in for Rose); she is not, however, generally considered a companion.

In the new series, the Doctor's primary companion (first Rose Tyler, then Martha Jones, then Donna Noble) plays a distinct role, more significant than other, more transient TARDIS travellers such as Adam, Jack, and Mickey. Indeed, the British press touted Martha as the "first ethnic minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who"¹⁴ or "first black assistant",¹⁵ even though Mickey was also black.

Initially, in the new series, only Billie Piper's name appeared in the programme's opening title sequence along with the Doctor's portrayer (either Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant). The other 'primary companions' are listed in the opening sequence in every episode of the series they are affiliated with, but in the third series, John Barrowman appeared alongside Freema Agyeman in the credits. Piper, Agyeman, John Barrowman and Elisabeth Sladen appeared in the sequence along with Tennant and Catherine Tate in the season finale of series four. The characters played by these actors are listed as companions on the BBC Website for Doctor Who (series 4).¹⁶ Noel Clarke, who acted as a companion in the last episode and is listed as such on the website, was not credited in this way however.

Companion deaths

As noted above, during the course of the show's history, companions have, on rare occasion, been killed while serving with the Doctor.

Katarina dies in "The Traitors", the fourth episode of The Daleks' Master Plan, when she opens the airlock of a spaceship and is blown out into space while trying to protect her friends from the insane Kirkson.¹⁷

Sara Kingdom dies in "Destruction of Time", the twelfth and final episode of The Daleks' Master Plan, when she undergoes extreme aging as an unfortunate side-effect of the First Doctor activating a "Time Destructor" device in order to defeat the Daleks.¹⁸

Adric dies at the end of Episode 4 of Earthshock in the explosion of a bomb-laden space freighter in Earth's atmosphere.¹⁹

Kamelion, an android companion, is destroyed by the Fifth Doctor in Episode 4 of Planet of Fire as an act of mercy after Kamelion is taken over by the Master.²⁰

Astrid Peth sacrifices herself in order to kill Max Capricorn by driving him into a reactor core at the end of "Voyage of the Damned". The Tenth Doctor partially resurrects her and sends her atoms flying into space.

Peri Brown's death is depicted in episode 4 of Mindwarp, the second story arc in The Trial of a Time Lord, as having been killed by King Yrcanos upon his discovering that her brain has been replaced by that of Kiv, a member of the Mentor race.²¹ However, the concluding episode of the Trial of a Time Lord season revealed that Peri had not been killed after all and had instead become Yrcanos' consort, although it is not explained how the brain transplant was undone or even if it actually occurred as several incidents depicted in the arc are revealed to have been fabricated by the Valeyard.²²

Susan Foreman and Romana are implied to have died by the events of "Rose" in the Doctor's personal chronology as the Doctor is said to be the last of the Time Lords following the events of the Time War. Susan is left on 22nd century Earth by the First Doctor in The Dalek Invasion of Earth after she falls in love with David Campbell, whilst Romana chooses to remain in E-space to help the Tharils at the end of Warrior's Gate.

Captain Jack Harkness is killed by Daleks in "The Parting of the Ways" but is soon after brought back to life, and inadvertently given immortality, by Rose Tyler during her "Bad Wolf" manifestation.²⁴ (He then goes on to die a number of times, both on and off screen-but is able to come back to life.)

Rose Tyler is trapped in the parallel universe in "Doomsday" while trying to save the world from a war between Daleks, Cybermen and humans. The Doctor tells her that she has been declared dead in her original universe.²⁵ Like Peri, however, she does not die in actuality, and the Doctor later tells Donna Noble that Rose is "so alive".²⁶

K-9 Mark III sacrifices himself in "School Reunion" in order to save the Doctor and his friends from a group of aliens. Technically, however, this model of K-9 was never officially a companion of the Doctor, having only been given to Sarah Jane Smith in the spin-off K-9 and Company, and the episode does not establish whether the subsequent K-9 Mark IV that the Doctor leaves with Sarah Jane is completely new or if Mark III's files have been transferred to the new machine.²⁷

Many companions died in the episode "Turn Left". Sarah Jane and Martha die when the Royal Hope hospital is transported to the Moon, and Donna is hit by a truck. However, these events do not happen once the timeline is fixed.

Additional companions have died while serving with the Doctor in the various spin-off media (the canonicity of which is unclear); this has included Jamie McCrimmon and Ace, both of whom were killed off in the Doctor Who comic strip published in Doctor Who Magazine (McCrimmon in a Grant Morrison-written strip entitled The World Shapers²⁸ and Ace in Ground Zero).²⁹

Additional spin-off works have also postulated the final fates of some former companions in the years following their travels with the Doctor, such as Dodo Chaplet, whose death is indicated in the novel Who Killed Kennedy,³⁰ Liz Shaw in the novel Eternity Weeps³¹ and Tegan Jovanka who, though her death is not depicted, is described as having a terminal illness in the Big Finish audio production The Gathering.³²

In Journey's End when the Doctor wipes Donna's memories she returns to her pre-Runaway Bride self which makes the Doctor state that the Donna he knew is dead. This thus fulfills Dalek Caan's prophecy that one companion will die.

Miscellaneous notes

Most of the Doctor's companions have been human, with some exceptions such as Kamelion, Nyssa, Adric, Turlough and Romana. Of the non-human companions, all apart from K-9 are (or were) members of humanoid races. To date, Romana and Susan are the only members of the Doctor's own race to travel with him.

Susan, Jamie, Harry and Sarah Jane (and K-9 Mark III) have guest-starred in later stories. Zoe, Liz, Adric, Tegan, Nyssa, Turlough and Kamelion have reappeared in cameo roles, played by the original actors rather than in stock footage or still photos (eg. Romana's later appearance in The Five Doctors).

Vicki, Polly, Mel and Ace/Dorothy are never given surnames on-screen. Polly Wright and Mel Bush are fully named in their original character outlines, while Vicki Pallister and Dorothy McShane gained surnames in spinoff novels. The production team had intended that, if revealed in the course of a story, Ace would either have the last name Gale (an allusion to the movie version of The Wizard of Oz) or whatever would suit the story.

Jamie was played by Hamish Wilson in The Mind Robber episodes 2 and 3, as Frazer Hines was suffering from chicken pox during filming (the surreal nature of that story allowed the change to be written into the plot).

Adam Mitchell was the first companion to be expelled by the Doctor for bad behaviour, attempting to use future technology for personal gain.

Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 Mark III returned in the 2006 series episode "School Reunion". She later reappears and acts as a companion in The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.

Mickey Smith was the first black companion. Martha Jones was the first black female companion.

Sarah Jane has appeared in three television series, namely Doctor Who, K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures. K-9 Mark III has appeared in two, (K-9 and Company and Doctor Who), as have K-9 Mark IV, (Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures) and Captain Jack and Martha (Doctor Who and Torchwood)

During the Tenth Doctor's aborted regeneration ("The Stolen Earth"), Rose, Jack and Donna were all present.

Companions in Spin-off material

References

^ "Last of the Time Lords". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Colin Teague. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 2007-06-30.
^ Commentary on DVD of Castrovalva
^ Robinson, Nigel; Nathan-Turner, John (1981). The Doctor Who Quiz Book. Target Books, pp. 39 and 98. ISBN 0426-20143-4.
Lofficier, Jean-Marc (1994). The Doctor Who Programme Guide Third Edition. Virgin Publishing Ltd, pp. 16, 43 and 45. ISBN 0-426-20342-9.
Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark and Walker, Stephen James (1994). Doctor Who The Handbook – The First Doctor. Virgin Publishing Ltd, p. 297. ISBN 0-426-20430-1.
Richards, Justin; Martin, Andrew (1997). Doctor Who The Book of Lists. BBC Books, pp. 13 and 218. ISBN 0-563-40569-4.
Pixley, Andrew (16 December), Doctor Who Magazine, pp. 21
Campbell, Mark; Duncan, Paul (2000). The Pocket Essential Doctor Who. Pocket Essentials, pp. 20-21. ISBN 1-903047-19-6.
Cornell, Paul; M.Day, K. Topping, D. J. Howe and S. J. Walker (1995, 1998 and 2003). "The Daleks' Master Plan". Doctor Who: Classic Series Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
^ including Children in Need 2005 episode
^ "EG BIG INTERVIEW: JOHN BARROWMAN". thisisnottingham.co.uk (2007-11-09). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ ^a ^b "Companion Piece". BBC News (2007-08-14). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
^ "Who Should Be So Lucky?" (2007-08-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
"Confidential at Christmas". Doctor Who Confidential. 2007-12-25. No. 1, season 4.
^ "The future is already written for both the Doctor and his adventurous companion to come" - Narration: Doctor Who Confidential, Series 4, Episode 9
"Here's a woman who travels with the Doctor, therefore she knows him" - director Euros Lyn to Alex Kingston (Doctor Who Confidential, Series 4, Episode 9)
"You took me to Derillium, to see the Singing Towers. Oh, what a night that was." - River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
^ "Crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet? .... Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" - River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
"It's ok, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space, you watch us run." - River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
^ "One day I'm going to be someone you'll trust.. completely. " -River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
"River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear. There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could." - the Doctor, to River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
^ "The squareness gun ended up in the Tardis" ... "it's the same squareness gun, it's Captain Jack's older one, pilfered from the Tardis locker by River Song" - Steven Moffatt (Doctor Who Confidential, Series 4, Episode 9)
^ "I've seen whole armies turn and run away and he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers" - River Song (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)
"It's a tempting thing isn't it? I mean, there it is, there's you future, there's what's going to happen to you... There's a handy guide to how to win against the... the other monsters, you know? Of course you'd want to have a little look" - Steven Moffatt, referring to River Song's diary (Doctor Who Confidential, Series 4, Episode 9)
^ The Awakening at A brief History of Time Travel
^ Adam Sherwin (2006-07-05). "Sidekick whose time has come", The Times. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.
^ Richard Simpson (2006-07-05). "Doctor Who gets first black assistant", Daily Mail. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.
^ "BBC Doctor Who Series 4 Characters". Retrieved on 2008-07-29.
^ "The Traitors". Writer Terry Nation, Director Douglas Camfield. Doctor Who. BBC. 1965-12-04.
^ "Destruction of Time". Writer Dennis Spooner, Director Douglas Camfield. Doctor Who. BBC. 1966-01-29.
^ Earthshock. Writer Eric Saward, Director Peter Grimwade. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 1982-03-08-1982-03-16.
^ Planet of Fire. Writer Peter Grimwade, Director Fiona Cumming. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC 1. 1984-02-23-1984-03-02.
^ The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp. Writer Philip Martin, Director Ron Jones. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 1986-10-25.
^ The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe. Writer Pip and Jane Baker, Director Chris Clough. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 1986-12-06.
^ Doctor Who. Writer Matthew Jacobs, Director Geoffrey Sax. FOX. 1996-05-14.
^ "The Parting of the Ways". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Joe Ahearne. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 2005-06-18.
^ "Doomsday". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 2006-07-08.
^ "The Runaway Bride". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Euros Lyn. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 2006-12-25.
^ "School Reunion". Writer Toby Whithouse, Director James Hawes. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. 2006-04-29.
^ Morrison, Grant (w), Ridgway, John (p), Perkins, Tim (i). "The World Shapers" Doctor Who Magazine #127–129 (August–October 1987). Marvel UK.
^ Gray, Scott (w), Geraghty, Martin (p), Georgiou, Bambos (i). "Ground Zero" Doctor Who Magazine #238–242 (May 8, 1996 – July 31, 1996). Marvel UK.
^ Bishop, David; "James Stevens" (1997). Who Killed Kennedy. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-426-20497-2.
^ Mortimore, Jim (1996). Eternity Weeps. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-426-20467-0.
^ The Gathering. Writer Joseph Lidster. Director Gary Russell. Big Finish Productions, 2006. ISBN 1 84435 195 5.

Companion (Doctor Who).html

Contents

History of the Doctor Who companion

The role of the companion in Doctor Who