In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, or shares adventures with, the Doctor. A companion is generally the series' co-lead character alongside the Doctor for the duration of their tenure, and in most Doctor Who stories acts as an audience surrogate by providing the lens through which the viewer is introduced to the story, and often, the series itself. The companion character often furthers the story by asking questions (which helps the audience understand too) and getting into trouble; also by helping, rescuing, or challenging the Doctor. This designation is applied to a character by the show's producers and appears in the BBC's promotional material and off-screen fictional terminology. The Doctor also refers to the show's other leads as their "friends" or "assistants"; the British press have also used the latter term.

History

In the earliest episodes of Doctor Who, 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 unclear, with uncertain motives and abilities. The primary 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 (though initially presented as an "unearthly child") was intended as an identification figure for younger viewers. Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan Foreman, became unhappy with the lack of development for her character and chose to leave in the show's second series. The character of Susan was married off to a freedom fighter and left behind to rebuild a Dalek-ravaged Earth. 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 the Doctor, a young heroic male, and an 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 organisation United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT). 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 following 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 subsequent eras of Doctor Who rarely diverged. In 1974, the character of Harry Sullivan was created by the production team when it was expected that the Fourth Doctor would be played by an older actor who would have trouble with the activity expressed by his predecessor. The role went to 40-year-old Tom Baker, and the part of Harry, no longer required for the action role, was dropped after one season. In the Fourth Doctor's final season (1980-1981), he acquired three companions (Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa), and this situation continued under the Fifth Doctor for much of his first season. Adric was written out by the method, unusual within the series, of being "killed off" in the serial Earthshock. By the time of the Sixth Doctor in 1985, a single companion had become standard again. When the series returned in 2005, a single female companion remained the standard format, though intermittent and short-term companions also featured. More consistent exceptions occurred between series 5 and 7, when the Eleventh Doctor travelled with Amy Pond and Rory Williams, and series 10, where the Twelfth Doctor appeared alongside Bill Potts and Nardole. In conjunction with the introduction of the first female Doctor in 2018, the Thirteenth Doctor's era features multiple companions (both male and female) throughout.

Definition

Although the term "companion" is designated to specific characters by the show's producers and appears in the BBC's promotional material and off-screen fictional terminology, there is no formal definition that constitutes such a designation. The definition of who is and is not a companion becomes less clear in the newer series. During the Doctor's latest incarnations, his primary companions, such as Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, have fulfilled a distinct dramatic role, more significant than other, less prominent TARDIS travellers such as Adam, Jack, and Mickey. The British press referred to Martha as the "first ethnic minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who" despite the presence of Mickey Smith in the previous series—including several episodes in which he travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor. The opening credits do little to clarify the situation. In the first two series of the renewed programme, the only supporting actor to receive a title credit is Billie Piper, although short-term companions Bruno Langley (Adam Mitchell), John Barrowman (Jack Harkness) and Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) all appear. In the third series, Barrowman receives a title credit for his return to the show alongside permanent cast member Freema Agyeman, and in series four Agyeman is restored to the opening titles for her return arc as Martha Jones. Series four also gives Agyeman, Piper, Barrowman, and Elisabeth Sladen title billing for their reappearances in the final two-parter. Clarke also reprises his role in the series four finale; although listed as a companion alongside the other actors on the BBC Doctor Who website, Clarke is not credited in this way. In "The End of Time", John Simm receives title billing for his antagonist role as the Master, ahead of Bernard Cribbins as companion Wilfred Mott. In subsequent years, Claire Skinner, Nick Frost and Mark Gatiss have received title credits in special episodes for roles that are not considered companions, as does Piper for her non-companion return in "The Day of the Doctor". Companions in the new series also have a more flexible tenure than their classical predecessors. Several companion characters have returned to the series after leaving the Doctor's company, most notably in the Series Four finale "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008), which features a record eight past, present and future companions: Donna is joined by a returning Rose, Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, and Mickey, while past companion K9 and future companion Wilfred Mott make appearances. This tendency, plus the increase in "one-off" companions like Astrid Peth and Jackson Lake, has further obscured the matter of who is and is not a companion.

Role

The Doctor's companions have assumed a variety of roles—involuntary passengers, assistants (particularly Liz Shaw), friends, and fellow adventurers; and, of course, he regularly gains new companions and loses old ones. Sometimes they return home, and sometimes they find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. A few companions have died during their travels with the Doctor, such as the 12th Doctor's companion Bill Potts. Some have taken trips in the TARDIS by accident like Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler. Most companions travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor for more than one adventure. Sometimes a guest character takes a role in the story similar to that of a companion, such as photographer Isobel Watkins, who plays a significant role in The Invasion (1968), or Lynda Moss in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" (2005). In the revived era, some guest characters have gained companion status such as Mickey Smith, River Song, Wilfred Mott, and Craig Owens. Despite the fact that the majority of the Doctor's companions are young, attractive females, the production team for the 1963–89 series maintained a long-standing 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 Jovanka). 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 many of his companions, including Rose and Jack, although each instance was not necessarily in a romantic context (see also "The Doctor and romance"). In Series 2 of the revival, the Tenth Doctor and Rose develop a romantic connection. Rose mentions sharing a mortgage with him if he were to ever be trapped with her in "The Satan Pit". At the end of Series 2, in "Doomsday", Rose and the Doctor are forcibly separated. The Doctor "burns up a sun to say goodbye" and Rose tells him "I love you". Rose and Martha each developed romantic feelings toward the Doctor. On the opposite side of the same coin, Amy reacted to the stress of her adventures by very aggressively trying to seduce the Doctor on the eve of her own wedding, despite being in love with her fiancé Rory; the Doctor forcibly pushed her off of himself, though she did not immediately cease her pursuit. The Eleventh Doctor also formed a romantic connection with occasional companion River Song, later marrying her.

Returning to the series

Companions rarely returned during the classic series, with the notable exceptions of The Five Doctors (1983) and The Two Doctors (1985), where companions returned alongside their respective Doctors. Otherwise, only Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) reappears shortly after his departure as a companion in The Android Invasion (1975), and all of the Fifth Doctor's former companions make cameo appearances as he regenerates in The Caves of Androzani (1984). Original companion Ian Chesterton (Wiliam Russell) was planned to return in Mawdryn Undead (1983), but proved unavailable, and Louise Jameson declined an offer to return as Leela for season 19 (1982). Since the programme's return in 2005, companions have returned to the series more routinely. With the exception of Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), all regular companions have returned in some form for their Doctor's final episodes. Additionally, following her initial departure in series 2 (2006), Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) returned in series 4 (2008), appearing briefly throughout the series before fulfilling a starring role in the final three episodes. Piper reprised the role again in the fiftieth anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". Similarly, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) departed in series 3 (2007) but also returned for multiple episodes of series 4, as well as an arc in series 2 of spin-off series Torchwood (2008). Following her initial one-off appearance in "The Runaway Bride" (2006), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) served as the primary companion throughout series 4, before returning again in the sixtieth anniversary specials (2023). Classic era companions have also returned to the new series, beginning with Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Following her initial reappearance in "School Reunion" (2006), Sladen led spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), and returned to Doctor Who in "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" (2008) and "The End of Time" (2010). Former companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) also appeared in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor (2010), where she meets the Eleventh Doctor. In "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) return to the series as one-off companions, with Ian, Jo and Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) also briefly appearing. Melanie subsequently appears in a recurring role as a member of UNIT, alongside the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors.

Families and childhoods

In the classic era, companions' friends and families were rarely depicted, and almost all were kept unaware of the true nature of the Doctor and the TARDIS. Conversely, families and friends of most companions in the revived era are extensively depicted, and their adventures with the Doctor are generally not kept secret. The revived era has also featured a number of companions related to other companions by blood or marriage (Donna Noble's grandfather Wilfred Mott; Amy Pond's fiancé (later husband) Rory Williams, and the couple's daughter River Song; former companions Mickey Smith and Martha Jones who married subsequent to their companionship; Graham O'Brien and step-grandson Ryan Sinclair). No such relationships occurred among companions in the classic era, although original companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are reported in the revived era to have married subsequent to their companionship, and Ben Jackson and Polly are likewise reported to be together. The families of some classic-era companions too have been depicted in the revived era, such as Jo Grant (now known as Jo Jones)'s grandson Santiago Jones; and Sarah Jane Smith's parents, adopted son Luke Smith, adopted daughter Sky Smith, and alternate timeline fiancé Peter Dalton; and Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter Kate Stewart. Another change in the revived era is the depiction of many companions' pre-Doctor lives, particularly their childhoods; no companion was so depicted in the classic era. Companions Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Adelaide Brooke, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song and Clara Oswald have all been portrayed in their youths by juvenile actors on Doctor Who; the pre-companionship lives of the Pond-Williams-Song family being particularly well-documented. Companions Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith have also been depicted in their youths on their respective spin-off series.

Loss of a companion

In the original run of the show, companions were mostly written as leaving of their own accord, with only a few exceptions. The first death of a regular companion was of Adric, in the 1982 serial Earthshock. This is different in the revived era, with companions more often given tragic endings and the show exploring the theme of loss more. Demaris Oxman makes further distinction of the way this theme is explored by different showrunners, arguing that companions in Steven Moffat's time as showrunner tended to have more tragic endings, while Russell T. Davies wrote departures closely tied to each companion's character. The impact of such losses has been explored within the show. For example, the loss of Amy and Rory Williams drives the Eleventh Doctor into solitude in Victorian London where he refuses to get involved in the world's affairs anymore. Series 9 dealt with the Twelfth Doctor's growing fear over the potential of losing Clara Oswald. Her death in "Face the Raven" leads the Doctor to undertake extreme measures to undo her fate, as depicted in the Series 9 finale "Hell Bent". The impact of the death of his wife, River Song, is a subplot of both "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio". Steven Moffat, showrunner between 2010 and 2017, has stated that companion deaths are "wrong for Doctor Who", explaining that he does not believe the show should represent the "grittiness" of real life.

Deaths

Several companions are shown to have died in the show's history: Others are implied (or said) to have died years after parting company with the Doctor:

Mitigations

Not all companion deaths have been permanent. Several companions have been resurrected at some point in the series, including Jack Harkness, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald, and Bill Potts. Other companions died in alternate timelines or alternate lives. In Inferno, evil counterparts of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Liz Shaw, and John Benton died in the destruction of their universe's Earth.

Spin-off media

Several TV companions have died in spin-off media:

List of companions on television

The "last serial" column only includes the last serial in which they appeared in a companion role and excludes minor roles, cameos, flashbacks, and so forth. Also, the table refers solely to adventures with the respective Doctor. Some companions who appear with two or more Doctors appear in separate tables.

First Doctor

Second Doctor

Third Doctor

The final three listed characters, all associated with UNIT during the Third Doctor's exile to Earth, are sometimes considered his companions despite appearing irregularly during his tenure.

Fourth Doctor

Fifth Doctor

Sixth Doctor

Seventh Doctor

Eighth Doctor

Ninth Doctor

Tenth Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

Twelfth Doctor

Thirteenth Doctor

Fourteenth Doctor

Fifteenth Doctor

List of companions from other media

The Doctor Who spin-off media have seen the creation of new characters acting as new companions to the Doctor. Most of them have been created to feature as companions for the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctor, in the new products presenting themselves as a prosecution of their adventures beyond the TV series, but there also are new companions for other Doctors. None of them have been featured on television, except for the mention of some Big Finish Productions original characters in the minisode The Night of the Doctor; however, some of them have passed from one media to another.

First Doctor

Second Doctor

Third Doctor

Fourth Doctor

Fifth Doctor

Sixth Doctor

Seventh Doctor

Eighth Doctor

War Doctor

Ninth Doctor

Tenth Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

Twelfth Doctor

Fugitive Doctor