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Companion (Doctor Who)

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Doctor Who companions
A collection of companions from Doctor Who.
Companions
1st row (L-R):	Susan, Barbara, Ian, Vicki, Steven
2nd row (L-R):	Katarina, Sara, Dodo, Polly, Ben
3rd row (L-R):	Jamie, Victoria, Zoe, Liz, Jo
4th row (L-R):	Sarah Jane, Harry, Leela, K-9, K-9 Mark II
5th row (L-R):	Romana, Romana II, Adric, Tegan, Nyssa
6th row (L-R):	Turlough, Kamelion, Peri, Mel, Ace
7th row (L-R):	Grace, Rose, Adam, Jack, Mickey
8th row (L-R):	Donna, Martha, Astrid

Companion, in the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, is a term 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". Neither term is frequently used in the series itself, particularly in the classic series (1963-1989). However several characters have referred to the Doctor having a "companion" in the revived series, including Yvonne Hartman in "Army of Ghosts"^[1], Martha Jones in "Evolution of the Daleks"^[2], referring to Rose, the Doctor's alter ego John Smith in "Human Nature",^[3] and the Doctor himself in his invitation to Joan in "The Family of Blood".^[4] The Doctor usually introduces companions as his friends. He 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, Chantho and his eventual wife, Lucy Saxon, whom he calls his "human companion".^[5] As a technical term, "companion" is more common within fan circles; the press uses the term more loosely, and often refers to the characters as "assistants". The series itself does not apply the term consistently: often, 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", prompting an immediate enquiry into the sexual status of the relationship.

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 someone to whom the Doctor is a mentor, as friends, and as fellow adventurers. Modern companions tend to be invaluable in helping the Doctor out of tight situations; for example, the Doctor credits both Rose Tyler and Martha Jones with saving his life in their initial adventures with him. 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 & 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)^[6]. 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 and Martha, although each instance not in a romantic context (see also "The Doctor and romance"). Previous companions have reappeared in the series, usually for anniversary specials. One former companion, Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen), together with the robotic dog K-9, appeared in one episode of the 2006 series more than twenty years after their last appearances in the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors (1983). The character of Sarah Jane also heads up a Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures. Another companion, Captain Jack Harkness, appears in the spin-off programme Torchwood. 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 will continue in Series 4, with Donna, Martha, Rose and Jack returning to the show.

List of Television companions

Companion	Actor	Season/s	First serial/s	Last serial/s	Number of serials
The First Doctor's companions
Susan Foreman	Carole Ann Ford	1–2	An Unearthly Child	The Dalek Invasion of Earth	10; plus travels pre-An Unearthly Child. Also appears in The Five Doctors.
Barbara Wright	Jacqueline Hill	1–2	An Unearthly Child	The Chase	16
Ian Chesterton	William Russell	1–2	An Unearthly Child	The Chase	16
Vicki	Maureen O'Brien	2–3	The Rescue	The Myth Makers	9
Steven Taylor	Peter Purves	2–3	The Time Meddler	The Savages	9; although first appears in The Chase.
Katarina	Adrienne Hill	3	The Myth Makers	The Daleks' Master Plan	2
Sara Kingdom ^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]	Jean Marsh	3	The Daleks' Master Plan	The Daleks' Master Plan	1
Dodo Chaplet	Jackie Lane	3	The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	The War Machines	6
Polly	Anneke Wills	3–4	The War Machines	The Tenth Planet	9; (3 with the First Doctor).
Ben Jackson	Michael Craze	3–4	The War Machines	The Tenth Planet	9; (3 with the First Doctor).
The Second Doctor's companions
Polly	Anneke Wills	4	The Tenth Planet	The Faceless Ones	9; (7 with the Second Doctor).
Ben Jackson	Michael Craze	4	The Tenth Planet	The Faceless Ones	9; (7 with the Second Doctor).
Jamie McCrimmon	Frazer Hines	4–6	The Highlanders	The War Games	20; also appears in The Two Doctors.
Victoria Waterfield	Deborah Watling	4–5	The Evil of the Daleks	Fury from the Deep	7
Zoe Heriot	Wendy Padbury	5–6	The Wheel in Space	The War Games	8
The Third Doctor's companions
Liz Shaw	Caroline John	7	Spearhead from Space	Inferno	4
Jo Grant	Katy Manning	8–10	Terror of the Autons	The Green Death	15
Sarah Jane Smith	Elisabeth Sladen	11	The Time Warrior	Planet of the Spiders	18; (5 with the Third Doctor).
The Fourth Doctor's companions
Sarah Jane Smith	Elisabeth Sladen	11–14	The Time Warrior	The Hand of Fear	18; (14 with the Fourth Doctor). Also appears in The Five Doctors and "School Reunion".
Harry Sullivan	Ian Marter	12–13	Robot	Terror of the Zygons	6; also appears in The Android Invasion.
Leela	Louise Jameson	14–15	The Face of Evil	The Invasion of Time	9
K-9	voice of John Leeson	15	The Invisible Enemy	The Invasion of Time	5
K-9 Mark II	voice of John Leeson (16 and 18) and voice of David Brierley (17)	15–18	The Ribos Operation	Warriors' Gate	17
Romana and Romana II	Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward	16 and 17–18	The Ribos Operation and Destiny of the Daleks	The Armageddon Factor and Warriors' Gate	6 as Romana I; 11 as Romana II who also appears in The Five Doctors.
Adric	Matthew Waterhouse	18	State of Decay	Logopolis	10; although first appears in Full Circle, (4 with the Fourth Doctor).
Tegan Jovanka	Janet Fielding	18	Logopolis	Logopolis	19; (1 with the Fourth Doctor).
Nyssa of Traken	Sarah Sutton	18	Logopolis	Logopolis	12; although first appears in The Keeper of Traken, (1 with the Fourth Doctor).
The Fifth Doctor's companions
Adric	Matthew Waterhouse	18–19	Logopolis	Earthshock	10; (7 with the Fifth Doctor).
Tegan Jovanka	Janet Fielding	18–21	Logopolis and Arc of Infinity	Time-Flight and Resurrection of the Daleks	19
Nyssa of Traken	Sarah Sutton	18–20	Logopoils	Terminus	12; (12 with the Fifth Doctor).
Vislor Turlough	Mark Strickson	20–21	Mawdryn Undead	Planet of Fire	10
Kamelion	voice of Gerald Flood	20–21	The King's Demons	Planet of Fire	2
Peri Brown	Nicola Bryant	21	Planet of Fire	The Caves of Androzani	11; (2 with the Fifth Doctor).
The Sixth Doctor's companions
Peri Brown	Nicola Bryant	21–23	The Caves of Androzani	The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp	11; (10 with Sixth Doctor).
Melanie "Mel" Bush	Bonnie Langford	23–24	The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids	Time and the Rani	6; (3 with Sixth Doctor).
The Seventh Doctor's companions
Melanie "Mel" Bush	Bonnie Langford	24	Time and the Rani	Dragonfire	6; (4 with Seventh Doctor).
Ace	Sophie Aldred	24–26	Dragonfire	Survival	9; remains with the Doctor post-Survival

Companion	Actor	Production
The Eighth Doctor's companions
Dr. Grace Holloway	Daphne Ashbrook	Doctor Who

Companion	Actor	Series	First episode	Last episode	Number of episodes
The Ninth Doctor's companions
Rose Tyler	Billie Piper	1	"Rose"	"The Parting of the Ways"	27; (to date), (13 with Ninth Doctor).
Adam Mitchell	Bruno Langley	1	"Dalek"	"The Long Game"	2
Captain Jack Harkness	John Barrowman	1	"The Empty Child"	"The Parting of the Ways"	8; (to date), (5 with Ninth Doctor).
The Tenth Doctor's companions
Rose Tyler	Billie Piper	1–2 and 4	"The Parting of the Ways"	"Doomsday"(to date)	27; (to date), (15 with Tenth Doctor).
Mickey Smith	Noel Clarke	2	"School Reunion"	"The Age of Steel"	4; although first appears in "Rose" and guest stars in other episodes.
Donna Noble	Catherine Tate	Christmas Special and 4	"The Runaway Bride"	"The Runaway Bride" (to date)	1; (to date).
Martha Jones	Freema Agyeman	3 and 4	"Smith and Jones"	"Last of the Time Lords" (to date)	13; (to date), (also appeared in the animated serial The Infinite Quest).
Captain Jack Harkness	John Barrowman	3 and 4^[14]	"Utopia"	"Last of the Time Lords" (to date)	8; (to date), (3 with Tenth Doctor).
Astrid Peth	Kylie Minogue	Christmas Special	"Voyage of the Damned" ^[15]	"Voyage of the Damned"	1

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 two 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 aired), 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 episode "Army of Ghosts", she does travel with the Doctor in his TARDIS and also acts in the role of companion (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) 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"^[16] or "first black assistant",^[17] even though Mickey was also from an ethnic minority background. The significance of this "primary companion" role is indicated by the fact that Billie Piper's name appeared in the programme's title sequence (as does Freema Agyeman's; John Barrowman also receives this credit when Jack reappears from "Utopia" onwards).

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 died in "The Traitors", the fourth episode of The Daleks' Master Plan, when she opened the airlock of a spaceship and was sucked into space while trying to protect her friends from the insane Kirkson.^[18]
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.^[19]
Adric dies at the end of Episode 4 of Earthshock in the explosion of a bomb-laden space freighter in Earth's atmosphere.^[20]
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.^[21]
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.^[22] However, the concluding episode of the Trial of a Time Lord season revealed that Peri had not been killed after all, although it is not explained how the brain transplant was undone (if it actually occurred, as several incidents depicted in the arc are revealed to have been fabricated by the Valeyard).^[23] 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 although Susan was left on Earth by the First Doctor in The Dalek Invasion of Earth where she fell in love with David Campbell in the 22nd century. Grace Holloway and Chang Lee die in the 1996 television movie when they are killed by the Master, but are revived by the TARDIS's link to the Eye of Harmony.^[24] 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.^[25] (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.^[26] Like Peri, however, she does not die in actuality, and the Doctor later tells Donna Noble that Rose is "so alive".^[27] 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.^[28] 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 Shapers^[29] and Ace in Ground Zero).^[30] 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,^[31] 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]

Miscellaneous notes

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. 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. Of the companions, Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric, Kamelion, Grace Holloway, Jack Harkness and Astrid Peth have died on-screen. Grace and Jack, however, were both almost immediately resurrected. Peri appeared to have died in The Trial of a Time Lord, but this was later revealed to be a deception by the Valeyard. 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). The series never establishes how the Doctor first meets Mel: she just appears mid-way through The Trial of a Time Lord. The Doctor's first meeting with Mel is recounted in the Past Doctor Adventures novel Business Unusual. Spin-off media have established Ace's surname as McShane. 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. Various novels and audio dramas have offered at least three possible explanations as to how Ace's life progressed after the end of the series. Adam Mitchell was the first companion to be expelled by the Doctor for bad behaviour. Jack Harkness was the first openly LGBT (in this case bisexual) companion. Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 Mark III returned in the 2006 series episode "School Reunion". This was a one-episode guest appearance, similar to her appearance in The Five Doctors. 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 Adventures) and Captain Jack, (Doctor Who and Torchwood). Martha will soon appear in her second television series when she guest-stars in "Torchwood" next year. Nine companions have been with the Doctor through a regeneration:

Ben and Polly - First Doctor to Second Doctor (The Tenth Planet)
Sarah Jane - Third Doctor to Fourth Doctor (Planet of the Spiders)
Adric, Nyssa and Tegan - Fourth Doctor to Fifth Doctor (Logopolis)
Peri - Fifth Doctor to Sixth Doctor (The Caves of Androzani)
Melanie - Sixth Doctor to Seventh Doctor (Time and the Rani)
Rose - Ninth Doctor to Tenth Doctor ("The Parting of the Ways")

A total of 10 companions have accompanied more than one incarnation of the Doctor. In addition to those above, they are:

Captain Jack Harkness - Ninth and Tenth Doctors

Four companions have already been announced for Series 4 (airing in UK Spring 2008):

Donna Noble - Played by Catherine Tate in Series 4, starting Spring 2008
Martha Jones - Played by Freema Agyeman in mid-Series 4, returning to the Doctor from Series 3.
Jack Harkness - Played by John Barrowman^[14]
Rose Tyler - Played by Billie Piper - 3 episodes ^[33]

It has not yet been revealed whether any of these actors will continue with Doctor Who after Series 4. Four companions have been played by actors older than the actor playing the Doctor their character accompanied:

Kamelion - Voiced by Gerald Flood, (who was older than Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison)
Donna Noble - Played by Catherine Tate, (who was older than Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant)
Jack Harkness - Played by John Barrowman, (who was older than Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant)
Astrid Peth - Played by Kylie Minogue, (who was older than Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant)