I guess most people would consider there to be a difference between a one-night stand which maybe happened again once or twice afterwards... and an actual "ongoing relationship"!
I think I have a great argument for the difference between a companion and someone like the brigadier. For characters like; the brigadier, river song, sabalom glitz, the doctor is part of their lives, among their world, dealing in their affairs. For characters considered companions like; Amy and Rory, Clara, Ace, Sarah-Jane, they are a part of the doctor's life. For example the Brigadier isn't a companion because he's bound to his job, stays on earth and doesn't want to be a time traveller, but has the doctor become a part of that job. River song leads her own life being a time travelling archaeologist or in jail and often bumps into the doctor's timeline, but doesn't become a companion (on screen) whereas Tegan, Adric and Nyssa are a "TARDIS crew" and are companions to the doctor in his life, travelling in the TARDIS.
In the case of Kamelion, the only times we ever saw Kamelion were stories where he was the Master's thrall. He may have been in the TARDIS between those two stories, but he's still in the same category as Chang Lee as far as his role in the story. Kamelion never really acts as an assistant to the Doctor, ergo not a companion.
To be a companion, a character must 1. Appear in more than one story (to clarify, appearing in multiple episodes of the same story still counts as one) 2. Travel in the Tardis at least once That's it, those are my only rules. I end up with a lot more companions than most, but it's better than missing out on characters like the Brig.
so by that definition, Liz Shaw was never a companion. I've always regarded the brig as a companion, the 3rd doctor had a slightly different time to the rest as he was exiled on earth for the first 3 years of his run, so the UNIT crew became his companions, and by your definition both the brig and Benton had travelled in the TARDIS
@@julieeverett7442 The UNIT team is a bit iffy. Liz and the Brigadier are companions in my mind, but Benton and Yates are are more like supporting characters.
I think with Katarina... a new producer comes in and he hears Maureen O'Brien is clearly not happy in the role, she argues with directors and decides "let's get rid of her" but then "oh crap, now I need to replace Vicki; who can I get from the cast of that last story?" Recruits Katarina, and then the writers tell him "wait, I have to frame everything this character says to things an ancient Trojan would know in a space opera? Have you any idea how difficult that is?!?" So they kill her off; draft in Sara Kingdom to stand in for the interim whilst they plan how to introduce the next companion. Katarina was so pretty; I had no idea, with both her stories being missing ones, until very recently now the BBC I player has put up the three remaining episodes of the Dalek Masterplan.
I know what you mean about The Brigadier not seeming like a companion, and up until right now I guess I agreed with that assessment…but really, he WAS a companion. No-one else on the show has been a more significant companion to the Doctor throughout their lives, with the exception of Sarah Jane and River.
The special role of "the" Doctor's Companion is highly sought-after, and most of the "Companion Actors" were deliberately selected for the role amid great competition. To put things in perspective: when Barry Letts was casting Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith, he saw a combined total of almost 200 actresses, most of whom he watched on TV or on stage, but he formally auditioned several of them. Modern would-be Companions face similar competition, and I think it devalues their achievement if we include actors who haven't gone through such a rigorous process. I can't help feeling that doing so is a wee bit disrespectful to the William Russells, Lis Sladens, Karen Gillans (etc) of this world.
But if a companion needs to have travelled in the TARDIS, you discount Liz Shaw, though given that Vincent Van Gogh appeared in two stories and travelled in the TARDIS, your criteria would deem him to be one. This is how I've always viewed it, there isn't one specific criteria that encompasses every companion. Not all companions appeared in a full season (while some non-companions have), not all companions have their actors' name in the opening credits (while some non-companions do), not all companions have travelled in the TARDIS etc... It reaches a point where you simply just have to shift the goal posts based on the character.
Liz was referred to as the Doctor's assistant. In fact using the word "assistant" instead of companion persisted from the Pertwee era through to the Baker era until it got denounced as sexist by people who had no idea of its origin (Liz and Jo were both literally assistants to the scientific advisor; it simply persisted as a habit when it was no longer appropriate. Leela certainly isn't "the Doctor's assistant" and whilst Mary Tamm's Romana quite literally is, appointed as such by the white guardian, at the end of the Key To Time that arrangement is over. Thereafter she is his companion (in that they travel together) and friend (in that they clearly like each other and have bonded). Anyone notice we have never, to my knowledge (please correct me if I am wrong), had a companion refer to the Doctor as her companion, even though that must be reciprocally true. I assume this is because it is always the Doctor making introductions.
@@markpostgate2551 I think the closest we've got to the Doctor being referred to as a companion is when the War Doctor thought the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors were the Doctor's companions before recognising them as his future selves.
@@LaytonMathieson I loved how the War Doctor was used as the voice of the disgruntled classic Who fan critiquing nu-Who, e.g. "why are you holding your sonic screwdriver like that? They're not water pistols!" Why are they all so young? Why do they say things like "timey wimey"? And that leads straight to Capaldi who is thr synthesis of classic and nu-Who, more or less straight after.
In World Enough And Time, Missy refers to Bill and Nardole as exposition and comic relief and I think it's perfectly correct. My personal belief is that there is more than one type of companion, as there's more than one narrative job companions need to do. What you're classing as a companion seems to largely be based on the exposition role a companion takes. All the larger tardis teams (except 13's because they were all just exposition), you can rather nicely boil companions down to individual roles (but not to say that these characters were exclusively that thing or have a monopoly on their "function" either), such as action hero (Jack, River, Brigadier, Ian etc) and Comic Relief (Mickey, Dan, Nardole and Rory). I don't disagree with any of your inclusions but I think that cases could be made for recurring characters being classed as one-off companions. A good example of this would be Vinder. He's met the doctor throughout flux, appeared in multiple stories but in POTD, he somewhat took the role of action hero by shooting the master doctor and for that I'd class him as a one-off companion of 13. By this sort of logic, I'd also class River as a one-off companion for 11. The brigadier deserves a bit more respect, while I'd call him a recurring character for 2, I'd consider him as a proper companion for 3, and one-off for 4, 5, and 7 because he fills a unique role in the stories he appears in. A case could be made for Kate Stewart but I think it would be a harder sell to some fans but I'd also say she's a one-off companion of 12 (she hadn't really been established well enough during 11's era, in my opinion), 13 and 14 (and 15 by this time next year).
What about Lynda from Parting of The Ways? If you are counting Astrid then you should count her. She was going to travel with the doctor but didn’t get to.
Sarah-Jane was in Classic Who with the Third and Fourth Doctors and she got her own spin-off during the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor’s eras, so she counts as a full time companion.
According to the Time of the Daleks tabletop gamev they Are! And let's not forget that early companions were often called 'assistants', especially to Pertwee's Doctor. But that's probably due to him having the official position as UNITs Scientific Advisor.
I agree that the UNIT trio are not companions of the 3rd Doctor, however I think that The Brigadier and Benton are both 2nd Doctor one-off companions for their roles in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors.
I guess most people would consider there to be a difference between a one-night stand which maybe happened again once or twice afterwards... and an actual "ongoing relationship"!
I think I have a great argument for the difference between a companion and someone like the brigadier.
For characters like; the brigadier, river song, sabalom glitz, the doctor is part of their lives, among their world, dealing in their affairs.
For characters considered companions like; Amy and Rory, Clara, Ace, Sarah-Jane, they are a part of the doctor's life.
For example the Brigadier isn't a companion because he's bound to his job, stays on earth and doesn't want to be a time traveller, but has the doctor become a part of that job.
River song leads her own life being a time travelling archaeologist or in jail and often bumps into the doctor's timeline, but doesn't become a companion (on screen)
whereas Tegan, Adric and Nyssa are a "TARDIS crew" and are companions to the doctor in his life, travelling in the TARDIS.
One comment you missed that I should mention
Clyde, Luke and Rani from he SJA could probably count... especially if you mentioned Jo for 11
I was thinking the same thing! Jo's Grandkid too.
@@rhodragesurely not, he never even interacts with the Doctor, he's just in the room at the same time.
In the case of Kamelion, the only times we ever saw Kamelion were stories where he was the Master's thrall. He may have been in the TARDIS between those two stories, but he's still in the same category as Chang Lee as far as his role in the story. Kamelion never really acts as an assistant to the Doctor, ergo not a companion.
To be a companion, a character must
1. Appear in more than one story (to clarify, appearing in multiple episodes of the same story still counts as one)
2. Travel in the Tardis at least once
That's it, those are my only rules. I end up with a lot more companions than most, but it's better than missing out on characters like the Brig.
That would make Liz shaw not a companion, as the tardis was broken for season 7
@@MeatballMusic .......there will be an exception made for Liz because she's awesome.
so by that definition, Liz Shaw was never a companion. I've always regarded the brig as a companion, the 3rd doctor had a slightly different time to the rest as he was exiled on earth for the first 3 years of his run, so the UNIT crew became his companions, and by your definition both the brig and Benton had travelled in the TARDIS
@@julieeverett7442 The UNIT team is a bit iffy. Liz and the Brigadier are companions in my mind, but Benton and Yates are are more like supporting characters.
I think with Katarina... a new producer comes in and he hears Maureen O'Brien is clearly not happy in the role, she argues with directors and decides "let's get rid of her" but then "oh crap, now I need to replace Vicki; who can I get from the cast of that last story?" Recruits Katarina, and then the writers tell him "wait, I have to frame everything this character says to things an ancient Trojan would know in a space opera? Have you any idea how difficult that is?!?" So they kill her off; draft in Sara Kingdom to stand in for the interim whilst they plan how to introduce the next companion.
Katarina was so pretty; I had no idea, with both her stories being missing ones, until very recently now the BBC I player has put up the three remaining episodes of the Dalek Masterplan.
I know what you mean about The Brigadier not seeming like a companion, and up until right now I guess I agreed with that assessment…but really, he WAS a companion. No-one else on the show has been a more significant companion to the Doctor throughout their lives, with the exception of Sarah Jane and River.
The special role of "the" Doctor's Companion is highly sought-after, and most of the "Companion Actors" were deliberately selected for the role amid great competition. To put things in perspective: when Barry Letts was casting Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith, he saw a combined total of almost 200 actresses, most of whom he watched on TV or on stage, but he formally auditioned several of them. Modern would-be Companions face similar competition, and I think it devalues their achievement if we include actors who haven't gone through such a rigorous process. I can't help feeling that doing so is a wee bit disrespectful to the William Russells, Lis Sladens, Karen Gillans (etc) of this world.
My criteria is they have to be in at least two stories and have travelled in the Tardis. Making a fair few Flux characters count
But if a companion needs to have travelled in the TARDIS, you discount Liz Shaw, though given that Vincent Van Gogh appeared in two stories and travelled in the TARDIS, your criteria would deem him to be one.
This is how I've always viewed it, there isn't one specific criteria that encompasses every companion. Not all companions appeared in a full season (while some non-companions have), not all companions have their actors' name in the opening credits (while some non-companions do), not all companions have travelled in the TARDIS etc... It reaches a point where you simply just have to shift the goal posts based on the character.
Liz was referred to as the Doctor's assistant. In fact using the word "assistant" instead of companion persisted from the Pertwee era through to the Baker era until it got denounced as sexist by people who had no idea of its origin (Liz and Jo were both literally assistants to the scientific advisor; it simply persisted as a habit when it was no longer appropriate. Leela certainly isn't "the Doctor's assistant" and whilst Mary Tamm's Romana quite literally is, appointed as such by the white guardian, at the end of the Key To Time that arrangement is over. Thereafter she is his companion (in that they travel together) and friend (in that they clearly like each other and have bonded).
Anyone notice we have never, to my knowledge (please correct me if I am wrong), had a companion refer to the Doctor as her companion, even though that must be reciprocally true. I assume this is because it is always the Doctor making introductions.
@@markpostgate2551 I think the closest we've got to the Doctor being referred to as a companion is when the War Doctor thought the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors were the Doctor's companions before recognising them as his future selves.
@@LaytonMathieson
I loved how the War Doctor was used as the voice of the disgruntled classic Who fan critiquing nu-Who, e.g. "why are you holding your sonic screwdriver like that? They're not water pistols!" Why are they all so young? Why do they say things like "timey wimey"? And that leads straight to Capaldi who is thr synthesis of classic and nu-Who, more or less straight after.
I SEE CRAIG IN THE THUMBNAIL, YAY! (I commented about craig)
do "who had the most (one-off villain) stories" for april fools day
I had considered the Doctor to be Craig Owens companion.
As the Doctor stayed with Craig.
Rather than Craig staying with the Doctor.
🤷♂️
In World Enough And Time, Missy refers to Bill and Nardole as exposition and comic relief and I think it's perfectly correct. My personal belief is that there is more than one type of companion, as there's more than one narrative job companions need to do. What you're classing as a companion seems to largely be based on the exposition role a companion takes. All the larger tardis teams (except 13's because they were all just exposition), you can rather nicely boil companions down to individual roles (but not to say that these characters were exclusively that thing or have a monopoly on their "function" either), such as action hero (Jack, River, Brigadier, Ian etc) and Comic Relief (Mickey, Dan, Nardole and Rory).
I don't disagree with any of your inclusions but I think that cases could be made for recurring characters being classed as one-off companions. A good example of this would be Vinder. He's met the doctor throughout flux, appeared in multiple stories but in POTD, he somewhat took the role of action hero by shooting the master doctor and for that I'd class him as a one-off companion of 13. By this sort of logic, I'd also class River as a one-off companion for 11. The brigadier deserves a bit more respect, while I'd call him a recurring character for 2, I'd consider him as a proper companion for 3, and one-off for 4, 5, and 7 because he fills a unique role in the stories he appears in. A case could be made for Kate Stewart but I think it would be a harder sell to some fans but I'd also say she's a one-off companion of 12 (she hadn't really been established well enough during 11's era, in my opinion), 13 and 14 (and 15 by this time next year).
What about Lynda from Parting of The Ways? If you are counting Astrid then you should count her. She was going to travel with the doctor but didn’t get to.
Lynda doesn’t count due to being a side character, whereas Astrid was the companion for a full on special.
In my opinion no. The Brigadier, River Song and Craig Owens are recurring characters not companions.
suggestion for "how many multi doctor stories did each doctor have"?
the winner there is 2nd, he had e3
They are companions but their special ones such as
Sarah or river or jack
Sarah-Jane was in Classic Who with the Third and Fourth Doctors and she got her own spin-off during the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor’s eras, so she counts as a full time companion.
and the brig
According to the Time of the Daleks tabletop gamev they Are!
And let's not forget that early companions were often called 'assistants', especially to Pertwee's Doctor. But that's probably due to him having the official position as UNITs Scientific Advisor.
Couldn't stand Donna in the Runaway Bride but now she's my favourite
I agree that the UNIT trio are not companions of the 3rd Doctor, however I think that The Brigadier and Benton are both 2nd Doctor one-off companions for their roles in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors.
Goku is the best companion
Craig Owens ? No.