Doctor Who has been on the air for more than 60 years, and in that time, the Doctor has had a lot of people onboard the TARDIS as his brilliant companions. With the show first debuting on the BBC in 1963, the series went on to become a huge hit globally, along with holding the title of longest running sci-fi TV series. Now the series debuts globally on Disney+, and still via the BBC in the UK, where it sets a high standard for sci-fi shows in general.
The series has succeeded for so long because of the incredible stories which play out across all of time and space, but in the middle of these far-flung adventures, the Doctor and his companions save the day. While an alien with a TARDIS is an exciting enough premise, in order to keep the series engaging and connecting with audiences, it relies on the companions. Frequently, they are humans, whether from the past, present or future, but they are the anchor for the audience to tag along on the journey.
While a quick glance at some of the Doctor’s most popular companions may give the impression that the Doctor exclusively travels with young women, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Over the Doctor’s lengthy life, they have chosen to travel with a broad variety of companions. Many are young, and possess the same youthful energy and glee as the Doctor, but there are several who are more advanced in age as well.
Graham O’Brien is a wonderful example of someone who traveled along with the “Doc” alongside the Thirteenth Doctor. The Thirteenth Doctor had the appearance of a young woman herself, and so, Graham initially mistook them for a naive and youthful girl. However, the Doctor and Graham continue traveling together. Which led to the pair developing a mutual respect and appreciation for each other that was not always present in the Doctor’s other relationships.
Bill Potts was a unique young woman with a thirst for knowledge and adventure. While the Twelfth Doctor was spending an extended break teaching at a university, Bill was one of the lunch servers. However, Bill adored learning, and especially enjoyed the Doctor’s lectures. Bill would frequently attend his lectures just to listen and take everything in.
When the Doctor finally took her on adventures in the TARDIS, she jumped in head first, and helped the Doctor to rekindle his sense of adventure. Bill met a slow and upsetting end when she was separated from the Doctor on a large ship near a black hole. However, she managed to be rescued by a girl she fell for back on Earth, and got another shot at exploring the universe.
Ian Chesterton was one of the first companions the Doctor ever took on board his TARDIS during his First regeneration. While he had spent some time traveling with his granddaughter, Ian and Barbara stumbled onto the spaceship while checking in on their student, Susan. Ian was a science teacher on Earth, before being swept up in the Doctor’s travels.
While the Doctor was an advanced alien from outer space who had already lived for hundreds of years, Ian was often a voice of reason, and frequently stepped up to save the Doctor and the others. Whether the Doctor was still immature as a Gallifreyan with an enormously long lifespan, or Ian just had a hero’s heart, the two clashed often. However, Ian’s contributions and time on the TARDIS were huge for the Doctor, and helped him to open up to others in the lifetimes that followed.
Jo Grant is one of the few companions who have met and interacted with different incarnations of the Doctor. While she spent most of her time in the TARDIS traveling with the Third Doctor, she was present for multiple adventures with multiple Doctors, and she met the Eleventh Doctor many years after she left the TARDIS behind. Jo met the Doctor when she worked at UNIT, and he was exiled to Earth.
They spent many years working together as colleagues, and Jo was present when the Doctor was granted his freedom to travel again by the Time Lords, which led to the pair having many more adventures. Jo was a confident and headstrong young woman in an era when it was less common to be so. She helped the Doctor through one of the most difficult periods of his life, and continued to stand by him for some time after.
Jack Harkness has frequently dipped in and out of the Doctor’s life on several occasions, but he always makes an impression. Originally, Jack and the Doctor met under precarious circumstances, when Jack was trying to con potential buyers with a defunct missile. However, the pair became fast friends, and when Jack’s life was extended indefinitely by Rose Tyler, who absorbed the power of the Time Vortex, his almost endless life was permanently tied with the time-traveling Doctor’s.
Jack became a significant force for good when he restored and built UNIT to help fight off alien threats. And as he continued to grow older, he eventually became the Face of Boe, a legendary being who had great influence throughout the universe. However, due to the time-travel and his almost endless life, Jack has popped up on multiple other occasions.
Ace and the Doctor had a tumultuous relationship while the Doctor was in his Seventh regeneration. The pair were both brash, stubborn and strongly opinionated, which led to frequent arguments. However, Ace and the Doctor also formed a close relationship which resembled that between a caring father, and a rebellious, but equally loving teenage daughter.
Ace helped the Doctor to fight many of his most terrifying rivals, and even witnessed visions of multiple possible futures for herself. Despite her potential to become a Time Lord, and continue traveling the universe in her own TARDIS, she was eventually restored to Earth. However, she continued to make major waves, setting up an incredible charity, and meeting the Doctor through UNIT once again to face more of his most powerful enemies.
Jamie McCrimmon is one of very few companions to have spent so long traveling with the Doctor. Previously being raised in the Highlands of Scotland during the 18th Century, when he came aboard the TARDIS, he spent almost the entire of the Second Doctor’s lifetime traveling with him, until eventually being sent back to Earth with his memories erased. Jamie was a caring and kind companion who helped to bring out the humanity of the Doctor.
Despite often being from the earliest point in Earth’s history, and surrounded by people with much better educations, Jamie was the heart of the TARDIS team during his travels. Jamie was also a strong and capable fighter who helped the Doctor and his friends to get out of many sticky situations. Jamie fortunately had his memories restored, as revealed in Tales of the TARDIS.
Clara Oswald, otherwise known as “The Impossible Girl,” was a significant mystery to the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors before her fate was eventually revealed. Clara, and several almost identical versions of her with slightly different memories, met the Doctor on multiple occasions before finally becoming a companion. As fate would have it, she would one day jump into the Doctor’s personal timeline and be split across his history, guiding and protecting him from the shadows.
However, Clara was already adept at saving the Doctor before she jumped into his timeline. Clara meets the Doctor after he lost some of his closest friends, Amy and Rory. She was then placed in a position where she had to take the lead, and push the Doctor forward to be the hero he always had been. Later, while traveling with the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor, she struggled to adjust to the change, but it wasn’t long before the pair were incredibly close again.
Susan Foreman is the only blood relative of the Doctor’s to ever join him as a companion on the TARDIS. She is also the very first companion who traveled with her grandfather after he stole a TARDIS and fled from Gallifrey. Together, they spent their time exploring other worlds, like Earth, and growing ever fonder of what the universe had to offer away from their home planet.
Susan’s own intelligence rivaled the Doctor’s, and she frequently had tremendous insights that the others failed to see. Susan was also somewhat quirky, and had a more challenging time fitting in on planets like Earth, where she struggled to conceal her extra-terrestrial knowledge. Ultimately, the Doctor pushed his granddaughter to pursue a life with love, rather than simply keeping him company, but she struggled to leave the Doctor behind.