In Doctor Who the Doctor usually travels with one or two regular companions. Doctor Who companions are generally human and more often than not, female. Most of the main companions stay for a series or two and then something happens and they move on or get left.
But the Doctor also encounters other people on his journeys. Often one will take up the role of a companion, just for an episode, joining the regular crew. These folks can be nobodies or Charles Dickens. These five are particularly memorable.
Adelaide Brooks, The Waters of Mars
Adelaide Brooks was the smart, brave no-nonsense leader of Bowie Base One on Mars. At the time she met the Doctor she was a grandmother and a very experienced astronaut. Initially distrustful, she came to believe the Doctor’s claims about her and her crew being a fixed point in time. That events couldn’t be changed without disastrous consequences.
However, the Doctor himself decided to take matters into his own hands. He tried to save the crew, and Adelaide. However, in the end, while he succeeded in getting Adelaide and two others back to earth, she took matters into her own hand. She ensured that her granddaughter would be inspired to become the great astronaut history would remember her as.
Journey Blue, Into the Dalek
Journey Blue was a soldier in the Galactic Resistance. Rescued by the Doctor, she convinced her Uncle that he could help them. It seemed that they’d found a Dalek and it was injured.
One of the more creative episodes, they literally go into a Dalek. Journey proves herself as brave and resourceful. She’s clearly fascinated by the Doctor and intrigued by the life he lives. But in the end, despite her asking, the Doctor tells her that he doesn’t want a soldier as a companion and leaves her behind.
Vincent Van Gogh, Vincent and The Doctor
Vincent and The Doctor is quite possibly the best Doctor Who episode ever made. It’s nearly impossible to watch with dry eyes at the end. And a lot of that is to do with this portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh.
Vincent is unhappy and unpopular. He paints, but despairs that his life will ever have meaning or importance. There’s an alien creature plot, but this episode isn’t really about that. It’s about finding beauty in yourself and the world around you. Amy hopes that the time she spends with Vincent will mean that he lives longer, does more work. But his death still comes when it does. For one moment though, Vincent sees and knows that his life does have meaning.
Reinette, Madame de Pompadour, The Girl in The Fireplace
Madame de Pompadour was an extraordinary woman in real life. In this episode that life is marked by visits from the Doctor, who travels between Reinette’s time and the future via the fireplace.
Many years in the future, the SS Madame de Pompadour is a spaceship in need of repairs. Which is why it creates the link to it’s namesake. Reinette is brave and clever, the Doctor only making brief appearances in her life as he tries to figure out what’s going on. She lives the life she wants to live, looking forward to the Doctor’s arrival, but taking care of herself in the meantime.
Craig Owens The Lodger/Closing Time
The Doctor barged into Craig’s life while investigating a mysterious upstairs neighbor. Craig was very much an every day sort of guy, secretly in love with his best friend, and unable to tell her. By the end of The Lodger, their love for each other saved the day.
In Closing Time the Doctor is visiting people he cares about as his time is running short. He finds that Craig now has a son, Alfie (Though the baby prefers Stormageddon). Craig tries to help with an investigation, but ends up captured. Once again, his love saves the day, this time a father’s love for his son.
There are many Doctor Who companions. The Doctor has touched many lives, and they, in turn, have touched his. Who are your favorite one episode companions?
