Doctor Who’s Companions: The Definitive Guide (Part 4)

08/04/2013 by gfunk101

And here we are at the conclusion! If you want to catch up on the previous entries you can find them right here:

Once you’re caught up you can get stuck into this bumper final edition covering the entire companion line up from the reboot.

Played by Billie Piper

Species: Human

Era: Early 21st Century

Doctor: Ninth and Tenth

First Appearance: Rose, the first episode of the Season 1 Reboot. Rose gets caught up in an Auton invasion of London that sees her cross paths with the Doctor a number of times. She is hesitant to join the Doctor in the TARDIS at first but quickly relents.

Profile: Rose may not have endeared herself to fans from the get-go but she certainly grew on us and is now remembered as one of the definitive companions of the series. When the Doctor first met Rose she was working as a shopgirl and living in a small apartment with her mother. Tired with her routine she found travelling with the Doctor liberating and their adventures created a strong bond between them. Rather than functioning as a sidekick Rose would be more outspoken and wouldn’t tolerate the Doctor talking down to her.

Beneath her tough exterior was a strong heart, and she would never back away from doing the right thing. When encountering a Dalek for the first time Rose refused to adhere to the Doctor’s demands that it be destroyed and tried to understand the Dalek. Not that she was naive – she knew the threat that the Daleks posed and what danger they were in when they returned en force.

Rose took a big step towards redefining herself as a person when she willingly absorbed the energy of the time vortex from the core of the TARDIS in order to rescue the Doctor and destroy the Dalek invaders. She did this to rescue people from a point in the future that would never impact on her, putting herself at great risk. This resulted in the Doctor undergoing a regeneration, and Rose continuing her journey with the Tenth Doctor.

Final Appearance: In Doomsday (Season 2 Reboot) the invasion of both Daleks and Cybermen lead to the Doctor and Rose taking drastic action to repel them. The result was Rose being transported to a parallel dimension where she would live out the rest of her life. Rose would on occasion return to the Doctor’s side in later seasons, with him eventually bidding her a final farewell before regenerating.

(Rose is due to return once more in the 50th Anniversary episode.)

Played by Bruno Langley

Species: Human

Era: Early 21st Century

Doctor: Ninth

First Appearance: Dalek (Season 1 Reboot) saw the Doctor and Rose meet Adam while he was working for Henry van Statten in his museum of alien artefacts.

Profile: Adam is something of boy genius, recruited by van Statten to try and make sense of the various items that the millionaire collects. His easy going manner and intellect attracts the attention of Rose, who convinces the Doctor to let him travel with them. Unfortunately he proved to be less reliable than they’d hoped.

Final Appearance: In only his second adventure Adam is unable to resist the chance to cash in on time travel by transmitting data back to his original era. When the Doctor finds out he returns Adam home and deleted the data, leaving him with a port into his brain in The Long Game (Season 1 Reboot).

Played by John Barrowman

Species: Human

Era: 51st Century

Doctor: Ninth and Tenth

First Appearance: When the Doctor and Rose found themselves in London during the WWII Blitz in The Empty Child (Season 1 Reboot) they encounter the dashing and cocky time traveller known as Capt. Jack Harkness.

Profile: Where do we begin with Capt. Jack? When he is first encountered by the Doctor he’s running a con against the time agency, evidently for kicks. When he learns that his actions have had more drastic consequences for the people of Earth he works with the Doctor and Rose to remedy the mistake. Following this he travelled with the pair in the TARDIS, taking a central role in a battle with the Daleks. Harkness was killed in the battle but Rose’s manipulation of the time energy saw him brought back to life… permanently.

Jack’s life was plagued by a tragic event in his childhood. At a young age his home town was invaded by aliens and he lost his younger brother in the attack. Left shouldering the guilt of this loss Jack became a wild character who frequently turned to crime. This lead him to fighting in a number of wars throughout Earth history (legitimately earning the title of Captain) while running scams. Jack is also known for his voracious sexual appetite. Being omnisexual there is nobody and nothing that Jack wouldn’t try to seduce, often successfully. He has pursued both the Doctor, his companions and members of Torchwood.

After having had immortality thrust upon him Jack returned to Earth and eventually joined Torchwood, the UK based organisation who investigation unusual events. He headed up the group for many decades and was heavily involved in key events including ‘Miracle Day’.

Final Appearance: Jack made his last official appearance on Doctor Who in Journey’s End (Season 4 Reboot) along with the Torchwood crew. He also cameoed in The End of Time and continued on in Torchwood.

Played by Noel Clarke

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Ninth and Tenth

First Appearance: Rose (Season 1 Reboot) marked Mickey’s first appearance as Rose’s boyfriend, but it would be another season before he would take flight in the TARDIS.

Profile: Mickey is the self imposed ‘tin dog’ of the series. Beginning as Rose’s put upon boyfriend he was left confused and jealous by Rose leaving to travel with the Doctor and although he would try and move on their frequent re-appearance would make this difficult. Eventually he dedicated himself to fulfilling a technical espionage role and would assist the Doctor on his adventures.

Even after joining the crew of the TARDIS Mickey would remain an embittered character and held the Doctor in contempt. His attitude would shift when faced with the Cybermen in an alternative dimension where he would become a resistance fighter.

Final Appearance: Journey’s End (Season 4 Reboot) saw Mickey return to the real world to help the Doctor defeat Davros. He also popped up in The End of Time.

Played by Catherine Tate

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: The Runaway Bride saw Donna in the titular role when she materialised on the TARDIS, following on from the cliffhanger at the end of Doomsday (Series 2 Reboot).

Profile: Although Donna initially turned down the Doctor’s offer to travel with him she regretted not taking the opportunity and spent the next few months trying to find him again. Donna was quite simple minded and naive, which would lead her into trouble. This isn’t helped along by her ingrained stubbornness. Over the course of her adventures she become more worldly and helped the Doctor save the world by taking on his personality.

Final Appearance: Journey’s End (Season 4 Reboot) featured Donna absorbing the Doctor’s mind and helping save the world, but as a result she had to have her memory of the Doctor erased. She cameoed in The End of Time.

Played by Freema Aygeman

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: Smith and Jones (Season 3 Reboot) sees the Martha and the Doctor ally themselves when the hospital she works in is transported to the moon.

Profile: Whilst the Doctor’s companions are often people looking for something in their life Martha already has things together. She’s an independent 23 year old who is studying medicine at the time that the Doctor came along. Although she had plenty happening in her life Martha could not resist the lure of adventure took off in the TARDIS. She later helped lead the resistance against the Master after his take over of Earth. She eventually left the Doctor’s side when her romantic feelings towards him could not be returned, but her life continued to revolve around adventure as a member of UNIT.

Final Appearance: Last of the Time Lords (Season 3 Reboot) saw her last adventure with the Doctor, but she would cameo in The End of Time and Torchwood.

Played by Alex Kingston

Species: Human/Time Lord

Era: That’s complicated…

Doctor: Tenth and Eleventh

First Appearance: The first time the Doctor met River Song was Silence in the Library (Season 4 Reboot), though their timeline is more complex than that.

Profile: Professor River Song is a mysterious character who appeared in the Doctors life during his Tenth incarnation, seemingly knowing him well although he’d never met her. As it is revealed the Doctor and River have had (will have) a long and complex relationship involving split timelines, assassination attempts, deception and marriage.

River is a bold and adventurous time traveller who is quick on the draw and deadly in a battle. Although she spends quite a bit of time in prison this doesn’t prevent her from leaving her cell on a whim to pursue adventures with the Doctor. When her backstory is eventually revealed a tragic and bizarre history is revealed, with two of the Doctor’s companions revealed to be her parents (although at the time they were younger than her). Shortly after she was married to the Doctor which would bring an end of and a beginning to their journey together.

Final Appearance: The most recent episode, The Name of the Doctor (Season 7 Reboot) saw River back with the Doctor, but as usual it was more complicated than it sounds.

Played by Kylie Minogue

Species: Unspecified

Era: Unspecified

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: Voyage of the Damned (Season 4 Reboot) marked Astrid’s only appearance.

Profile: After the starship Titanic crashed into the TARDIS the Doctor takes the chance to visit the famed vessel. There he meets Astrid, a waitress, and the two of them are thrown together when the owner of the ship tries to destroy it. Astrid is immediately drawn to the Doctor and does kiss him. Their adventure ends in tragedy when she sacrifices herself to defeat the evil Max Capricorn.

Played by David Morrissey and Velile Tshabalala

Species: Human

Era: 19th Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: The Next Doctor (The Specials)

Profile: When the Doctor arrives in 1851 he is surprised to find that ‘the Doctor’ is already there, facing a threat from the Cybermen. The Doctor initially speculated that he’d encountered a future incarnation of himself suffering from amnesia. Instead this new Doctor is a human, Jackson Lake, whose encounter with a Cyberman timestamp lead to him being infused with the Doctor’s memories. With the exceptionally intelligent Rosita filling the role of his companion he’d been acting like the Doctor (complete with a hot air balloon TARDIS). Whilst helping repel the Cybermen the Doctor helps Jackson restore his own memories.

Played by Michelle Ryan

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: Planet of the Dead (Specials) marked de Souza’s only appearance.

Profile: In spite of her aristocratic status (or perhaps because of it) de Souza is a professional burglar who is in it for the thrill. Having just robbed the London Museum she hopped on a bus to slip away, followed by the Doctor. They unexpectantly fall through a wormhole and wind up on a desert planet populated by sting-ray like aliens who destroy everything in sight. Only by teaming up with this quick thinking thief can the Doctor save all the passengers on the bus.

Played by Lindsay Duncan

Species: Human

Era: Mid 21st Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: The Waters of Mars (Specials) is Brookes only appearance on board the Bowie Base One space station.

Profile: While visiting the human races first human colony on Mars in 2056 the Doctor meets up with Capt. Brooke. Here the Doctor finds himself in a difficult situation – the date of his arrival coincides with when the base is destroyed in a nuclear blast. The Doctor wants to avoid becoming involved because he knows that this tragedy would spurn the human race to explore further into the universe. When this information comes to light Brooke doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Doctor on changing history in order to save the ‘small people’, leading to an emotionally shattering conclusion.

Played by Bernard Cribbons

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Tenth

First Appearance: Wilfred first spies the Doctor whilst manning a newspaper stand in London. The Doctor and Astrid teleport down to Earth during Voyage of the Damned (Season 4 Reboot).

Profile: Wilfred is the Grandfather of Donna Noble, and unlike his cynical grand-daughter he’s an avid amateur astronomer with a fervent interest in alien conspiracies. With a presumed military background Wilfred is quick to take up arms to aid the Doctor, even fending off Daleks using a paintball gun. Although it was quite some time before Wilfred would join the Doctor in the TARDIS they would meet often and grow close. Eventually they’ll join forces to try and tackle the Master, an encounter that would end with the Doctor’s regeneration after he sacrifices himself to save Wilfred.

Final Appearance: His first and final trip in the TARDIS occurs in The End of Time (Specials).

Played by Karen Gillan

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Eleventh

First Appearance: The Eleventh Hour (Season 5 Reboot) shows Amy first encounter with the Doctor while she was a child, and her joining him on his journey as an adult.

Profile: After the Doctor’s regeneration the out of control TARDIS crashed to Earth, landing in a backyard and being found by the seven year old Amelia Pond. Once the ‘gangly man’ had found his feet he took off in the TARDIS with the promise of returning straight away to pick her up. By the time the Doctor had repaired his craft and returned twelve years had passed and Amy was grown up, and spent her childhood telling her family about what they assumed was an imaginary friend.

Having grown up with the stigma of being unusual because of her insistance of the ‘gangly man’ being real, Amy had grown to be very guarded with her emotions. Still very passionate and capable her early adventures with the Doctor rarely saw her allow her emotions to come close to the surface. Over time she built her confidence and became more trusting. In part because of her outward show of strength she wasn’t as quick to fall into step with the Doctor and would often lead the way into adventure.

During her time in the TARDIS Amy would undergo many hardships, including the most complicated pregnancy in history, being trapped in a hostile environment for decades and facing down some of the Doctor’s greatest threats including the Dalek’s asylum and the Weeping Angels. Even after all this she kept her feet on the ground, maintaining a home life in England and a variety of different careers in between her adventures with the Doctor.

Final Appearance: Eventually both Amy and her then husband Rory (see below) feel victim to the Weeping Angel’s invasion of New York City, and they were forced to live out their lives as prisoners of the aliens in The Angels Take Manhattan (Season 7 Reboot). Although they were prisoners they were happy so long as they were together.

Played by Arthur Darvill

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Eleventh

First Appearance: Rory first met the Doctor along with the adult Amy Pond in The Eleventh Hour (Season 5 Reboot).

Profile: Rory finds himself in an uncomfortable place when the Doctor barges in on his life. He’s been dating Amy Pond and is very much in love, and very committed to her. Amy is in a different place emotionally – caring very much for Rory but not yet ready to commit until she has her life in order. This becomes even more complicated when Amy takes off with the Doctor to have adventures, leaving Rory behind.

Eventually Amy and Rory do reunite and get married, continuing to travel with the Doctor for years to come. Rory proved his dedication to Amy when (after being turned into an Auton) he remained on guard outside her stasis chamber for over two thousands years. Between meetings with the Doctor, Amy and Rory built their own life on Earth.

Final Appearance: Along with Amy he became a permanent prisoner of the Weeping Angels in Manhattan during The Angels Take Manhattan (Series 7 Reboot).

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: Eleventh

First Appearance: The Lodger (Season 5 Reboot) sees the Doctor moving in with Craig when he can’t land the TARDIS on Earth.

Profile: Craig is best described as a typical bloke. On occasion the Pond’s were inaccessible to the Doctor while in London, and on those occasions he would visit Craig and his infant son Alfie. It should be worth noting that according to the Doctor Alfie prefers the name Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All. Craig would be witness to the Doctor’s attempts to live as a human, even taking on a job and playing football, leaving the often flabbergasted Craig left struggling in his wake.

Final Appearance: Craig’s second and final appearance was in Closing Time (Season 6 Reboot).

Species: Human

Era: 21st Century

Doctor: All of them.

First Appearance: Asylum of the Daleks (Season 7 Reboot) saw the very strange introduction of the ‘impossible girl’, trapped inside the shell of a Dalek.

Profile: The perky and enthusiastic Clara is more than capable of keeping up with the manic Eleventh Doctor, but that’s not why she’s significant in the Doctor Who canon. When the Eleventh first met Clara she had been converted into a Dalek and died. The Doctor was wracked with guilt and was more than a little surprised when he met her again, this time in Victorian London where she once again died.

Eventually the Doctor tracked her down to modern England where she was revealed to be a perfectly normal girl. Wanting to protect her she was convinced to join him in the TARDIS, eventually finding themselves on Trenzalore, the final resting place of the Doctor. When the Doctor’s timeline was being rewritten by the Great Intelligence Clara stepped into the time vortex, appearing throughout the Doctor’s life and saving him whenever she could.

Final Appearance: Clara still travels with the Doctor!