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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 the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as an audience surrogate. He or she provides the lens through which the viewer is introduced to the series. The companion character often furthers the story by asking questions and getting into trouble, or 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. Until the modern revival of the series in 2005, the term was rarely used on-screen. The Doctor also refers to the show's other leads as his "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 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 its 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 (such as Sergeant Benton). 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 subsequent episodes of Doctor Who rarely diverged. The "heroic male" type occasionally returned (for example, Harry Sullivan, Adric, Vislor Turlough, Jack Harkness, and Rory Williams), but the single female companion was Doctor Who's staple.

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. In the event, the Fourth Doctor part went to 40-year-old Tom Baker, and the part of Harry, no longer required for the action role, was reduced.

In the final season for the Fourth Doctor, he acquired three companions (Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa), and this situation continued under the Fifth Doctor for a while. Adric was written out by the unusual method within the series of being "killed off". By the Sixth Doctor, the Doctor was down to a single companion again.

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. For instance, Stephen Brook in The Guardian newspaper's Organgrinder blog discounted Michelle Ryan as a likely next companion but said that "what constitutes a Doctor Who companion is no longer clear" 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" and the "first black assistant", despite the presence of Mickey Smith in the previous season—including several episodes in which he travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor. Similarly, some characters who appear to qualify as companions are never awarded the title, as in the case of Canton Delaware, who assisted the Doctor for several weeks, traveled in the TARDIS, and was even invited to witness the Eleventh Doctor's supposed death.

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. In subsequent series, Freema Agyeman, and Catherine Tate are credited in all episodes in which they appear. In the third series, John Barrowman receives a title credit for his return to the show. Series Four gave Agyeman, Piper, Barrowman, and Elisabeth Sladen title billing for each of their reappearances. Noel Clarke reprised 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.

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", which features the returns of Rose, Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, and Mickey. 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, and when.

Role

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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.

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 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). 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 many of his companions, including Rose and Jack, although each instance was not necessarily in a romantic context (see also "The Doctor and romance"). Donna Noble vehemently denied a sexual interest in the Doctor when he invited her to join him and explained, "I just want a mate," which she misheard as "I just want to mate." 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 romantically kissed Amy and Rory's daughter, sporadic companion River Song, jokingly proposed marriage to her, and soon married her.

Previous companions have reappeared in the series. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart reunited with later incarnations of the Doctor in Mawdryn Undead and Battlefield. He and Sergeant Benton began as returning characters in the first place, having appeared with the Second Doctor in The Web of Fear and again in The Invasion, prior to starting their full-time association with the Third and Fourth Doctors. Tegan Jovanka was the first full-time companion to part from the Doctor and subsequently return to full-time companionship, although the break in her tenure had been pre-planned.

Most reappearances of companions in the original series, however, were for anniversary specials, such as guest appearances of numerous companions in both "The Five Doctors", the non-canonical "Dimensions in Time", both of which also featured multiple Doctors. One former companion, Sarah Jane Smith, together with the robotic dog K-9, appeared in four and two episodes, respectively, of the revived series more than twenty years after their last appearances in the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors (1983). The character of Sarah Jane also headed up a Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with K-9 until Sladen's death. Another companion, Captain Jack Harkness, is the lead character in the spin-off BBC science fiction programme Torchwood. Not only have these former companions continued to make appearances on Doctor Who, they have sometimes been accompanied by some of their own companions from the spin-offs when doing so, including Jack's colleagues Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones, and Sarah Jane's 'family' Mr Smith, Luke Smith and K-9 Mark IV. Other former companions from both the classic era and revived series have also returned as guest stars in the spin-offs, including Martha Jones on Torchwood, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Jo Grant on The Sarah Jane Adventures. K-9 Mark I has also been spun off into its own series, albeit with an independent continuity.

When Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, the companion characters played a slightly different role, 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 travelled in the TARDIS 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 the new series' shift in approach to the companion role. Adam was also far less significant than Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler, who was a frequently recurring character who travelled in the TARDIS, yet is not considered a companion.

As of the end of the sixth series, Sarah Jane Smith is the only classic era companion to have travelled again with the Doctor in the revived series, and one of two to have done so in the revived era. She declined his invitation in "School Reunion", but subsequently met up with the Doctor aboard a Dalek ship in "Journey's End" and travelled with him, several other companions, and Rose's mother Jackie Tyler in the TARDIS as they towed the Earth back to the solar system. Sarah Jane, her predecessor Jo Jones (née Grant), and their own respective companions subsequently momentarily travelled in the TARDIS with the Eleventh Doctor in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial, Death of the Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor attempted to have Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart travel with him again in "The Wedding of River Song" only to learn of the Brigadier's death months earlier.

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. Exceptions include the very brief portrayals of Susan's future husband David Campbell; Dodo Chaplet's ancestor Anne Chaplet; Victoria Waterfield's father Edward; Jo Grant's future husband Prof. Clifford Jones; the companions' various co-workers at UNIT; Leela's father Sole & future husband or lover Andred; Tegan Jovanka's aunt Vanessa, maternal grandfather Andrew Verney, & cousin Colin Frazer; Nyssa's father Tremas & step-mother Kassia; Vislor Turlough's maths teacher retired Brig. Lethbridge-Stewart; Peri Brown's step-father Prof. Howard Foster, & future husband King Yrcanos; Ace McShane's ex-lover Sabalom Glitz, maternal grandmother Kathleen Dudman, infant mother Audrey Dudman, & a photograph of her maternal grandfather Frank Dudman); and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's second wife Doris. Classic era spin-off media additionally introduced Sarah Jane Smith's aunt Lavina Smith (who had been an unseen character in the original series) & foster brother Brendan Richards, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter Kate (who would later become a recurring guest in the revived series) and grandson Gordon.

Conversely, families and friends of most companions in the revived era are extensively and continually 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; and former companions Mickey Smith and Martha Jones who married subsequent to their companionship). 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 (n/k/a 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, aside from John Benton being temporarily 'de-aged' by The Master). 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. In addition to having been de-aged once in the classic era, John Benton was the first companion whose childhood was chronicled.

A recurring theme of the new series is the toll the loss of companions takes on the Doctor. While he would more or less easily deal with his companions' departures in the classic series, the new series shows the Doctor having a harder time recovering when a companion leaves him, especially when they do so under tragic circumstances. After losing Donna Noble, the Tenth Doctor refused to travel with a companion until after his regeneration, unable to cope with them leaving anymore. Later, the losses of Amy and Rory Williams drive the Eleventh Doctor into a deep depression, with him retreating to Victorian London where he refuses to get involved in the world's affairs anymore. Additionally, "Let's Kill Hitler" shows the Doctor's continuing guilt in relation to several past companions.

List of companions

The 'last serial' column only includes the last serial in which he or she 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

1. Susan travelled with the Doctor prior to the events of An Unearthly Child.
2. Susan leaves the Doctor in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, later appearing in The Five Doctors as companion to the First Doctor (then played by Richard Hurndall).
3. The inclusion of Sara Kingdom as a companion varies; e.g. she does not appear on the BBC website list of companions.
4. ^ Polly and Ben continue travelling with the Doctor following his regeneration in The Tenth Planet.

Second Doctor

1. Jamie is played by Hamish Wilson in parts of The Mind Robber episodes 2 and 3, while Frazer Hines was suffering from chickenpox.
2. Jamie returns to his own time in The War Games, but later appears in the Sixth Doctor-era story The Two Doctors, again as the Second Doctor's companion.
3. ^ Also makes a cameo appearance in The Five Doctors
4. Not including The Wheel in Space, where Deborah Watling is credited for a brief reprisal from Fury from the Deep.
5. First appears in The Web of Fear (as Colonel) and The Invasion alongside the Second Doctor, before appearing as a semi-regular character throughout the Third Doctor's era. He further appears in Robot and Terror of the Zygons alongside the Fourth Doctor, and Mawdryn Undead alongside the Fifth Doctor before serving as the Second Doctor's companion in The Five Doctors.
6. The Brigadier later appears in Battlefield alongside the Seventh Doctor, and The Sarah Jane Adventures story Enemy of the Bane.

Third Doctor

1. Liz also makes a cameo appearance in The Five Doctors.
2. Jo also appears in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor, alongside Sarah Jane Smith and the Eleventh Doctor.
3. Sarah continues to travel with the Doctor following his regeneration in Planet of the Spiders, and after her later departure from the series serves as the Third Doctor's companion once more in The Five Doctors.

UNIT

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

1. Lethbridge-Stewart appears alongside the Second Doctor as a colonel in The Web of Fear and subsequently as a brigadier in The Invasion.
2. Not including The Five Doctors, where the Brigadier appears as the Second Doctor's companion.
3. Benton appears alongside the Second Doctor in The Invasion as Corporal Benton.
4. Subsequently appears with the Fourth Doctor in Robot, Terror of the Zygons and The Android Invasion as WO2 Benton.
5. Also makes a cameo appearance in The Five Doctors

Fourth Doctor

1. ^ Not including The Five Doctors, where Sarah Jane appears as the Third Doctor's companion, and K-9 and Romana appear as the Fourth Doctor's companions.
2. Harry also appears in The Android Invasion.
3. This first incarnation of K-9 returns in the independent spin-off series K-9, regenerating into a newer form.
4. Not including Image of the Fendahl, where the K-9 prop appears but has no lines.
5. A further model of K-9, "Mark III", features in the pilot of K-9 and Company with Sarah Jane Smith, and Doctor Who episode "School Reunion" with the Tenth Doctor and Sarah Jane. Killed and replaced by K-9 Mark IV in the latter episode, he subsequently appears irregularly in The Sarah Jane Adventures, and also the Doctor Who episode "Journey's End".
6. Not including Destiny of the Daleks, where the K-9 prop briefly appears and has no lines.
7. ^ Not including the incomplete and unbroadcast serial, Shada.
8. ^ Adric, Nyssa and Tegan continue travelling with the Doctor following his regeneration in Logopolis.
9. Nyssa appears in the preceding serial The Keeper of Traken, before being reintroduced as a companion mid-way through Logopolis.

Fifth Doctor

1. Adric also makes a cameo appearance in Time-Flight.
2. ^ Also makes a cameo appearance in The Caves of Androzani
3. Tegan is left behind by the Doctor at the conclusion of Time-Flight but returns during the next serial Arc of Infinity, set around a year later in her relative time.
4. Due to problems with the robotic prop, Kamelion was not featured in the five serials between his first and last stories. Planned scenes in the The Awakening were cut and never broadcast.
5. Peri continues travelling with the Doctor following his regeneration in The Caves of Androzani.

Sixth Doctor

1. The series never establishes how Mel meets the Doctor, who first appears as part of the Doctor's future. Their first meeting is recounted in the Past Doctor Adventures novel Business Unusual. Note that the four adventures broadcast under the single title The Trial of a Time Lord are each counted as separate appearances in this table .
2. Mel continues travelling with the Doctor following his regeneration in Time and the Rani.

Seventh Doctor

1. Mel and Ace essentially swapped their men, with Mel flying off with the space smuggler Sabalom Glitz, while Ace took Mel's place beside the Doctor.
2. Ace's fate was unknown past Survival as she does not appear in the following story, the 1996 film. Her post-companionship life was finally revealed in The Sarah Jane Adventures story, Death of the Doctor, in which she is said to have founded a philanthropy, A Charitable Earth (i.e., ACE), and to have raised millions. Sophie Aldred had been contracted by Russell T. Davies to return to the role of Ace in the second half of The Sarah Jane Adventures series 5, before Elisabeth Sladen's death cancelled the series.

Eighth Doctor

1. In the 2013 webcast "The Night of the Doctor", the Eighth Doctor makes reference to a number of his companions from the extensive Big Finish Productions audio series, but this list only concerns televised companions.

Ninth Doctor

1. Julia Joyce portrays a young Rose in "Father's Day"
2. Rose continues travelling with the Doctor following his regeneration in "The Parting of the Ways".

Tenth Doctor

1. Rose departs in "Doomsday", and makes brief cameo appearances in "Partners in Crime", "The Poison Sky" and "Midnight" before returning as a companion from "Turn Left" to "Journey's End". She briefly appears in The End of Time, and in "The Day of the Doctor" as the interface of the Moment device selects an image of Rose to assist the War Doctor.
2. Casey Dyer had previously played a young Mickey in "Father's Day".
3. Mickey is introduced in "Rose" as Rose's boyfriend and recurs regularly before becoming a companion.
4. Mickey departs in "The Age of Steel" and re-appears in "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" before returning as a companion in "Journey's End". He also appears in The End of Time.
5. Introduced in "Doomsday" as "The Bride"
6. After initially refusing to join the Doctor on his travels in "The Runaway Bride", Donna returns as a regular companion from "Partners in Crime". She also appears in The End of Time.
7. Martha departs in "Last of the Time Lords", but returns from "The Sontaran Stratagem" to "The Doctor's Daughter" and again for "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End". She also appears in The End of Time.
8. Young Jack (by whatever name he was known before adopting the late Group Captain Jack Harkness' identity) was portrayed by Jack Montgomery in the spin-off series, Torchwood episode, "Adam".
9. Jack rejoins the Doctor in "Utopia" before departing in "Last of the Time Lords", but returns again for "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End". He also appears in The End of Time.
10. Sarah Jane Smith is portrayed in her infancy, adolescence, and as a teen by, respectively, one or more uncredited babies, Jessica Mogridge, and Jessica Ashworth, in her spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures stories, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith, The Day of the Clown, and Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?.
11. Previously appears with the Tenth Doctor in "School Reunion".
12. Also appears in The End of Time. Additionally, the Doctor appears alongside Sarah Jane in The Sarah Jane Adventures stories The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and Death of the Doctor, in his Tenth and Eleventh incarnations respectively.
13. Rachel Fewell portrays a younger Adelaide in flashback
14. Wilf is introduced in "Voyage of the Damned", and recurs throughout series 4 as Donna's grandfather.

Eleventh Doctor

1. Caitlin Blackwood plays a young Amy (as Amelia) in "The Eleventh Hour", "The Big Bang", "Let's Kill Hitler" and "The God Complex", along with archival footage in "The Angels Take Manhattan"
2. ^ Amy and Rory are left by the Doctor in "The God Complex", but appear briefly in "Closing Time" and feature as companions again in "The Wedding of River Song". They appear in the final scene of "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe", before returning as companions from "Asylum of the Daleks".
3. An illusionary Amy appears to the Doctor before his regeneration in "The Time of the Doctor".
4. A younger Rory is played by Ezekiel Wigglesworth in "Let's Kill Hitler".
5. Also appears in "The Eleventh Hour"
6. Rory is killed in "Cold Blood", but returns in "The Pandorica Opens" as an Auton duplicate before being restored to humanity and resuming his travels with the Doctor and Amy in "The Big Bang".
7. Earlier incarnations of River Song (as Melody Pond) are played by infants Sydney Wade in "The Impossible Astronaut" / "Day of the Moon", and Maya Glace-Green & Nina Toussaint-White in "Let's Kill Hitler".
8. River first appears alongside the Tenth Doctor in "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead", introduced as a companion from his relative future who calls the Doctor to her aid. Progressively younger versions of River subsequently summon the Eleventh Doctor in "The Time of Angels" / "Flesh and Stone" and "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang", before the future Doctor summons her to his death in "The Impossible Astronaut".
9. River refuses the Doctor's offer to travel with her permanently in "Day of the Moon". She subsequently features as a companion in "A Good Man Goes to War", "Let's Kill Hitler" and "The Wedding of River Song", and also appears in "Closing Time". She later appears in "The Angels Take Manhattan" and "The Name of the Doctor".
10. Craig first appeared in "The Lodger" but was not the companion.
11. Sophie Downham appears as young Clara in the prequel to "The Bells of Saint John", "The Rings of Akhaten" and "The Name of the Doctor".
12. Coleman first appeared as Oswin Oswald in "Asylum of the Daleks", a character who shares several characteristics with Clara, and who is revealed in "The Name of the Doctor" to be an echo of Clara, created when Clara jumped into the Doctor's time-stream to defeat the Great Intelligence. Clara dies at the conclusion of "The Snowmen", before a third iteration of the character joins the Doctor permanently in "The Bells of Saint John". "The Name of the Doctor" sees Clara enter the Doctor's personal timeline, splintering herself across time and accounting for her earlier appearances.
13. Clara continues traveling with the Doctor following his regeneration in "The Time of the Doctor".

Twelfth Doctor

List of spin-off companions

Deaths of companions

A few of the companions have died during the course of the series. Katarina sacrificed herself by opening her airlock in order to save the others from the mad fugitive Kirksen; she blew herself and Kirksen into the vacuum of space. In the same serial, Sara Kingdom was rapidly aged to dust by a Time Destructor. While Adric attempted to divert a spaceship from crashing into Earth, a Cyberman destroyed the controls, and they hurtled into the future site of Chicxulub on the Yucatán Peninsula circa 66 million BCE, thereby creating the K-Pg extinction event, fulfilling the Silurians' prophecy, and facilitating the evolution of mammals, ultimately including humanity. The android Kamelion, after coming under the Master's control, convinced the Doctor to destroy him, which the Doctor did with the Master's tissue compression eliminator, suddenly shrinking him to a small, irreparably broken toy. Astrid Peth saved the passengers of the interstellar space liner RMS Titanic, and the residents of greater London, by driving a forklift into the villain Max Capricorn and into the ship's engines. Before River Song's formal companionship began, she sacrificed herself in order to save those trapped in the Library's computer servers' simulations. After the Tenth Doctor saved Adelaide Brooke and her crew from an intelligent virus, Adelaide killed herself with her service pistol in order to restore the timeline such that her granddaughter will explore the galaxy as originally destined. Rory Williams, having previously died and returned from the dead several times in various ways, is touched by a Weeping Angel in 2012 and sent back in time. With the encouragement of her then-living daughter, River Song, and against the Doctor's pleas, Amy Pond allows herself to be touched by a Weeping Angel in 2012 in the hope of being reunited with her husband Rory Williams in the past. In fighting the Ice Governess in the final hour of Christmas Eve 1892, a Victorian era incarnation of Clara Oswald fell off of the cloud on which the TARDIS was parked, plummeting to the ground.

Not all companion deaths have been permanent however. K-9 Mark III returned as K-9 Mark IV when the Doctor transferred the contents of his memory into the new hardware. Jack Harkness invariably resurrects after each death, having been made immortal by Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways"; Rory Williams suffered several deaths, each of which was negated by alternate timelines, paradoxes, resurrection by advanced alien medicine, or the rebooting of the universe; Clara Oswald was seen to have died in Face the Raven, but is revealed to have had her time stream frozen by the Time Lords a split-second before her death, in subsequent episode Hell Bent. Since her time stream has been frozen, she is not technically alive and does not age or have a pulse. After her departure as a companion from the Twelfth Doctor, she is seen travelling with Ashildr in a stolen TARDIS.

Other companions also died in alternate timelines or alternate lives. Brigade Leader Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Section Leader Liz Shaw, and Platoon Leader John Benton all died in the destruction of their universe's Earth. Sarah Jane Smith, her son Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, & Clyde Langer perished whilst trying to stop the Plasmavore and Judoon in Royal Hope Hospital on the Moon in "Turn Left"'s alternative timeline of the events of "Smith and Jones". In the same story, Martha Jones suffocated after giving up her oxygen to classmate/co-worker Oliver Morgenstern while on the Moon. Donna Noble killed herself in order to cause a traffic jam and thus divert her younger self into turning left; she thereby restored the timeline and negated the deaths of Sarah Jane, Martha, and the children. Teenaged Sarah Jane Smith also died after falling from a pier in place of her friend, Andrea Yates; but Maria Jackson convinced adult Yates to correct the timeline, thus restoring Sarah Jane to life. After surviving decades in an alien hospice that was deadly to humans, Amy Pond compelled husband Rory Williams to lock her out of the TARDIS in order to protect her younger self and allow the latter to have the life with Rory that the former missed. Amy and Rory jointly jumped off of a high-rise in New York on a hunch that doing so would create a paradox and deliver themselves from that timeline.

Several other companions have died subsequent to their companionships. Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart's death months earlier (coinciding with that of his actor, Nicholas Courtney) was revealed in "The Wedding of River Song", and he was later remembered fondly by his daughter and the Eleventh Doctor. Harry Sullivan's death was implied by Sarah Jane Smith when he was the only former companion of whom she spoke in the past-tense and she remarked that she loved him. Since the series was relaunched in 2005, the Doctor believes himself to be the only Time Lord to have survived the Last Great Time War, indicating that he at least believes that Susan Foreman and Romana were killed, alongside K-9 Mark II—who remained with Romana and presumably perished with her, assuming that it had not already predeceased her—and Leela, who settled on Gallifrey, which was also believed to have being destroyed in the Last Great Time War. However, the fiftieth anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor" reveals that the planet never burned and is still safe, albeit in a pocket universe. In 2050, Sarah Jane Smith is implied to be dead. Vicki left the First Doctor circa 1250 BCE and passed into legend as Cressida.

List of companion deaths

During the course of the show's history, there have been a few occasions when companions have died while on adventures with the Doctor.

To date, only four non-robotic companions have died for good on screen:

• Katarina, who had been introduced at the end of the preceding story, was deemed by the production team to be an unsuitable character as a long-term companion, and so Katarina is killed when she opens the airlock of a spaceship after being taken hostage by a convict.
• Sara Kingdom, who takes over Katarina's companion role for the remainder of the story, is also killed when she undergoes extreme aging as a side-effect of the First Doctor's activation of a "Time Destructor" device.
• Adric dies at the end of Episode 4 of Earthshock in the explosion of a bomb-laden space freighter in Earth's atmosphere c. 65.5 million years BC, which becomes the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. He was unable to steer the ship away as a Cyberman destroyed the controls. Adric is the first full season and multi-season companion to have died on-screen.
• 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.

Two robotic companions have also died onscreen:

• 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 and asks the Doctor to destroy him.
• K-9 Mark III sacrifices himself in "School Reunion" in order to save the Doctor and his friends from a group of aliens. The subsequent K-9 Mark IV that the Doctor leaves with Sarah Jane tells her that the Mark III's files have been transferred to the new machine.

Other off-screen, implied, or presumed deaths:

• The destruction of Gallifrey in the Time War and the Doctor's belief that he is the last surviving Time Lord imply the deaths of Romana, and Susan Foreman. In "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor's Daughter", the Doctor alludes to having lost his family.
• At the end of "The Waters of Mars", Adelaide Brooke kills herself to preserve a fixed point in time.
• Sarah Jane Smith alludes to the death of Harry Sullivan in the epilogue of "Death of the Doctor", in which she speaks of several former companions in the present tense, and Harry in the past tense.
• The Eleventh Doctor learns of the death of the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in "The Wedding of River Song" via phone call, following the death of his actor, Nicholas Courtney.
• In "The Angels Take Manhattan", Rory Williams and Amy Pond are displaced in time by a Weeping Angel; Amy allows the Angel to send her back so she can be with Rory. A gravestone reveals they died, Amy at the age of 87 and Rory age 82.

Spin-off media

• Lady Serenadellatrova- Serena for short- is shot through both hearts when saving the Duke of Wellington in World Game.
• Roz Forrester, companion of the Seventh Doctor, dies in the novel So Vile a Sin when she is killed as part of a revolution led by her family against the corrupt Earth Empire.
• Evelyn Smythe dies of old age while helping the Doctor stop the powerful Word Lord in A Death in the Family.
• Liz Shaw dies in the 1997 Virgin New Adventures novel Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore, the victim of an extraterrestrial terraforming virus contracted while part of a UNIT team investigating an alien artefact on the Moon. However, in the 2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures episode, Death of the Doctor, it is mentioned that Liz is stationed on UNIT's moon base.
• Traitorous companion Elizabeth Klein is erased from history in The Architects of History in order to undo the damage she had caused to Time after stealing the TARDIS. However another version of her exists in the normal timeline.
• C'rizz is killed in Absolution when he becomes the temporary vessel for a dying race, causing him to burn out.
• Tamsin Drew died during To the Death, though by that time she was working with the Meddling Monk instead of the Doctor. She is killed by Daleks who determine she won't be useful.
• Lucie Miller died in the events of To the Death where she flies a Dalek saucer into the core of the earth causing a timewarp killing her and the Daleks in the area.
• Oliver Harper is killed by a Vardan in The First Wave. He goes on to exist as a noncorporeal entity in the Doctor's TARDIS for the duration of the First Doctor's tenure, reappearing to him during the events of The Tenth Planet.
• Hex dies following complications from a gunshot wound he sustained in The Angel of Scutari at the conclusion of Gods and Monsters
• The Doctor Who Magazine comic strip has Ace being killed in an explosion in the storyline Ground Zero, while veteran companion Jamie McCrimmon dies an elderly man in The World Shapers.
• Cinder, companion of the War Doctor, dies in the New Series Adventures novel Engines of War by George Mann, having been shot by a Time Lord known as Karlax on board The Doctor's TARDIS.

Mitigated

• In The Trial of a Time Lord, Peri Brown is killed by King Yrcanos in Mindwarp, after her brain has been replaced by that of Kiv, a member of the Mentor race. However, in The Ultimate Foe it is revealed that Peri had not been killed and had instead become Yrcanos' consort.
• Grace Holloway is killed by the Master but revived by the TARDIS' link to the Eye of Harmony during the 1996 television movie.
• Jack Harkness is killed by Daleks but is brought back to life and given immortality by Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". He has since died numerous times in both Doctor Who and Torchwood, always returning to life soon after. In "Last of the Time Lords", it is implied that Harkness becomes the Face of Boe, who dies peacefully in Gridlock after living for billions of years.
• River Song sacrifices herself in "Forest of the Dead" to save the Doctor's life, but he is able to upload a digital copy of her consciousness to the data core. River continues to appear in the series at earlier points in her life, and her post-death consciousness reappears in "The Name of the Doctor".
• The alternative timeline from "Turn Left" sees the off-screen deaths of Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones (as well as Sarah Jane's own companions Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, and Clyde Langer), but these events are undone by Donna Noble's own self-sacrifice at the episode's climax.
• Sarah Jane Smith also dies as a teenager in an alternate timeline in "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?".
• Rory Williams is killed by the Eknodine in one of the dream worlds of "Amy's Choice". Realising it is her only chance of seeing Rory again, Amy Pond subsequently kills both herself and the Doctor in the same reality.
• Rory is also killed by the Silurian Restac at the conclusion of "Cold Blood", sacrificing himself to protect the Doctor. He is subsequently consumed by a crack in time, which wipes him from existence. He reappears in "The Pandorica Opens" as an Auton duplicate, created from Amy Pond's memories, and is restored to his old life along with the rest of the universe in "The Big Bang".
• Rory is shown dying of old age in "The Angels Take Manhattan", in front of himself, Amy, the Eleventh Doctor and his daughter River Song. He and Amy negate the timeline by jumping off of roof, thereby preventing him from being sent further back in time to die of old age downstairs. This kills both him and Amy, but both are resurrected as the timeline where they died is negated.
• An older version of Amy Pond is killed by a handbot in "The Girl Who Waited" as it gives her medicine it doesn't know will kill her, but her existence is erased when The Doctor, Amy, and Rory leave that timeline.
• In "Face the Raven", Clara Oswald is killed by a Quantum Shade. However in "Hell Bent", the Doctor saves Clara moments before her death using Time Lord technology, although she is in an ambiguous state and will have to return to Gallifrey and die eventually.

See also

• List of Doctor Who supporting characters
• List of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs
• List of Doctor Who cast members

References

1. Neela Debnath, "Review of Doctor Who ‘An Unearthly Child’ (Series 1)", The Independent blogs, 16 September 2013. Accessed 8 October 2013
2. "'Doctor Who destroyed my career'". .canada.com. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
3. The Handbook: Fourth Doctor p?
4. ^ Brook, Stephen (23 January 2009). "Michelle Ryan guest stars in Doctor Who. But would she make a good companion?". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 1 June 2010. A minor factor in the continual swirl around Doctor Who is that what constitutes a Doctor Who companion is no longer clear. Sure, Rose, Martha, and Donna were all companions. So was Captain Jack. But what about Mickey and Jackie? How do you qualify? Name in the opening credits, regular trips in the Tardis? The Doctor kisses you? I'm no longer sure. Modern TV drama is so difficult.
5. Adam Sherwin (5 July 2006). "Sidekick whose time has come". The Times. UK. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
6. Richard Simpson (5 July 2006). "Doctor Who gets first black assistant". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
7. Doctor Who, episodes "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon".
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9. Commentary on DVD of Castrovalva
10. BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - Doctor Who: The TV Movie - Details, retrieved 21 April 2013
11. "Partners in Crime"
12. "Flesh and Stone", "Meanwhile in the TARDIS... 2"
13. "Day of the Moon"
14. ^ "Let's Kill Hitler"
15. "The Wedding of River Song"
16. Sarah Jane Smith has appeared in "School Reunion", "The Stolen Earth", "Journey's End", and "The End of Time". K-9 has appeared in "School Reunion" and "Journey's End".
17. The Dalek Invasion of Earth
18. The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
19. The Evil of the Daleks
20. The Green Death
21. The Face of Evil
22. ^ The Invasion of Time
23. Logopolis
24. The Awakening
25. Arc of Infinity
26. The Keeper of Traken
27. Mawdryn Undead
28. Planet of Fire
29. The Ultimate Foe
30. Dragonfire
31. The Curse of Fenric
32. ^ Ibid.
33. Battlefield
34. K-9 and Company
35. ^ "The Power of Three", "The Day of the Doctor"
36. Downtime
37. Statement by Mickey Smith to Martha Smith-Jones in "The End of Time"
38. Statement by Sarah Jane Smith to Luke Smith in the epilogue scene of Death of the Doctor part 2
39. Death of the Doctor
40. The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
41. The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith
42. The Time Monster
43. "Father's Day"
44. ^ "The Waters of Mars"
45. "The Eleventh Hour", "The Big Bang", "Let's Kill Hitler", "The God Complex", "The Angels Take Manhattan"
46. "A Good Man Goes to War", "The Impossible Astronaut", "Day of the Moon", "Let's Kill Hitler"
47. The prequel to "The Bells of Saint John"
48. "Adam"
49. The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith, Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
50. The direct-to-video spin-off film, Wartime, produced during the interim between the classic and revived eras, showed Benton as a boy during flashback scenes.
51. BBC - Doctor Who, The Snowmen, retrieved 26 April 2013
52. Robinson, Nigel; Nathan-Turner, John (1981). The Doctor Who Quiz Book. Target Books. pp. 39 and 98. ISBN 0-426-20143-4.
53. Lofficier, Jean-Marc (1994). The Doctor Who Programme Guide Third Edition. Virgin Publishing Ltd. pp. 16, 43 and 45. ISBN 0-426-20342-9.
54. Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1994). Doctor Who The Handbook – The First Doctor. Virgin Publishing Ltd. p. 297. ISBN 0-426-20430-1.
55. Richards, Justin; Martin, Andrew (1997). Doctor Who The Book of Lists. BBC Books. pp. 13 and 218. ISBN 0-563-40569-4.
56. Pixley, Andrew (16 December 1998). "Doctor Who Magazine" (272): 21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
57. Campbell, Mark; Duncan, Paul (April 2014). The Pocket Essential Doctor Who. Pocket Essentials. pp. 20–21. ISBN 1-903047-19-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
58. Cornell, Paul; Day, M.; Topping, K.; Howe, D. J.; Walker, S. J. (1995). "The Daleks' Master Plan". Doctor Who: Classic Series Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
59. Haining, Peter (1983). Doctor Who: A Celebration – Two Decades Through Time And Space. Virgin Publishing Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 0-86369-932-4.
60. "Companions". Doctor Who: Classic Series Episode Guide. BBC. 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
61. Darren Plant portrayed John Benton as a baby in The Time Monster, and Steven Stanley did so as a child in the direct-to-video release, Wartime.
62. "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Adric".
63. "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Tegan Jovanka".
64. "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Nyssa".
65. "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Vislor Turlough".
66. Nathan-Turner, John (1986). Doctor Who — The Companions. New York: Random House. pp. 18–21. ISBN 978-0-394-88291-8.
67. Howe, David J; Stammers, Mark (1995). Doctor Who — Companions. London: Doctor Who Books. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-85227-582-2.
68. "Doctor Who — Classic Series — Companions — Kamelion". BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
69. "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Companions - Kamelion".
70. "Press Office – Doctor Who press pack phase six Episode Seven". BBC. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
71. "Doctor Who – Captain Jack Harkness – Character Guide". BBC. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
72. "Doctor Who – News – Noel natters to DWM". BBC. 21 February 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
73. "Doctor Who – Mickey Smith – Character Guide". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
74. "Doctor Who – Martha Jones – Character Guide". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
75. "Companion Piece". BBC News. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
76. "Who Should Be So Lucky?". 19 December 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
77. "Confidential at Christmas". Doctor Who Confidential. Season 4. Episode 1. 25 December 2007. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
78. "Doctor Who – Sarah Jane Smith – Character Guide". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
79. Olsen, Anton (21 July 2009). "Who's Your Favorite Doctor Who Companion?". Wired.
80. Cook, Benjamin (9 January 2008). "Sands of time". Radio Times. No. 11–17 April 2009. pp. 16–20.
81. "TV – Tube Talk – Ten 'Waters of Mars' teasers". Digital Spy. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
82. "Lindsay Duncan to star in second Doctor Who Special of 2009". BBC. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
83. Davies, Russell T (7 April 2009). "Dr Who's Easter special". BBC News. Retrieved 7 April 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
84. Doctor Who: Best of the Companions (Television production). BBC America. 28 August 2011.
85. Gareth Roberts (24 September 2011). "Open All Hours". Doctor Who Confidential. Episode 12. 4:52 minutes in. BBC. The Doctor allows Craig to come along and play the part of his companion {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
86. ^ The Daleks' Master Plan
87. Earthshock
88. The King's Demons
89. "Voyage of the Damned"
90. "Forest of the Dead", although River used her sonic screwdriver to preserve her "data ghost" which the Doctor uploaded into the servers, thereby giving her immortality, albeit non-corporeal. From the Library's servers, she is able to communicate across time and space with Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, Strax, and Clara Oswald in "The Name of the Doctor"
91. "The Angels Take Manhattan". Rory is sent to presumably 1938 or shortly thereafter. He is almost immediately joined by his wife Amy, with whom he grows old in New York City, dies, and is buried in Queens on the spot from which he will later be sent back in time in 2012.
92. "The Angels Take Manhattan". The plan worked and the two grew old together in New York City, dying in their 80s and being buried in Queens, on the spot from which both will later be sent back in time in 2012.
93. "The Snowmen". Sontaran nurse Strax is able to partially stabilise Clara briefly, but she quickly succumbs to her injuries moments after midnight, Christmas Day.
94. "School Reunion"
95. Inferno
96. "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?"
97. "The Girl Who Waited"
98. "The Angels Take Manhattan"
99. "The Power of Three"
100. "Death of the Doctor"
101. Rani Chandra is depicted living at 13 Bannerman Road, Ealing, London (the former home of Sarah Jane Smith) in 2050 in "The Mad Woman in the Attic". Sarah Jane's son, Luke Smith, and his & Rani's friends Clyde Langer & Maria Jackson are referred to as being alive and well, but no mention is made of Sarah Jane herself who would have been 99 years old were she alive in 2050, her infant self having been depicted in 1951 in "The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith").
102. Vicki, a human teenager, left the First Doctor in order to marry the Greek warrior Troilus circa 1250 BCE, in The Myth Makers]. In the more than three thousand years that have elapsed since then, Vicki passed into legend as Cressida. No on-screen "Whoniverse" story has taken place within Vicki's lifetime after The Myth Makers; as of 2013, the chronologically next depiction is nearly a thousand years later, in "Pond Life"'s momentary scene of the Eleventh Doctor "inventing" pasta, circa 300 BCE.
103. "A Brief History Of Time (Travel): The Daleks' Master Plan".
104. Doctor Who: Companions, 1995

Notes

Bibliography

• David J. Howe, Mark Stammers Doctor Who: Companions 1995 Virgin Publishing 1852275820

External links

• Guide to classic series companions on the BBC's Doctor Who site

• Use dmy dates from November 2012
• Doctor Who companions
• Television sidekicks
• Lists of Doctor Who characters
• Lists of fictional sidekicks
• Doctor Who lists