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Not everyone gets the chance to become a Doctor Who companion... but there are those who definitely deserved it!
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00:00The Doctor has never met anyone who wasn't important, but only a select few actually get
00:04the honour of travelling the stars, though that doesn't mean there haven't been plenty of others
00:09who were also worthy candidates. I'm Ellie for Who Culture here with 12 Doctor Who characters
00:14who should have been companions. Number 12. Linda with a Y
00:18Honestly, Doctor, Linda with a Y could have won the prize of her life, quite literally,
00:24on Futuristic Big Brother having got to the final two, but you had to drag her into your mess,
00:29didn't you? In Among the Deadly Game shows, there's a lot of joy to be found in Jo Joyner's
00:33performance as Linda. Her complete skippy innocence is comforting, especially when she shares those
00:39sweetly awkward moments with the Doctor, and beneath all the sweetness, Linda has a steeliness that
00:44makes her such a well-rounded character. It's one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show,
00:49when, having been reassured by the Doctor that she's safe from the Daleks, she turns toward
00:54the observation window to see death tortuously rising up, followed by a horrible scream and
00:59anguished look on the Doctor's face. Death aside, Linda would have made a great companion,
01:04and coming from this odd futuristic society that's being held back intellectually would
01:08have been an interesting angle to play with the character. It's a little boring that almost all
01:13of the new series companions are 21st century women, but Linda is close enough to the traditional
01:18template that people are comfortable with while still adding something different and exciting.
01:22She worked well with the Doctor, and over the course of two episodes,
01:25she was sympathetic enough that we were all pretty devastated when she died.
01:30Number 11. Handles
01:31In an episode featuring Weeping Angels, Sontarans, and Daleks, it was a disembodied
01:38Cyberhead that stole the show. Handles served as the 11th Doctor's companion during his centuries
01:43on Trenzalore, and though far from the traditional mould the Doctor looks for in his friends,
01:48the two had a heartwarming and hilarious bond. Handles spoke to the deep loneliness within the
01:53Doctor. This is a character so afraid of being on his own that he resorted to talking to the
01:57head of one of his greatest enemies. And when Handles eventually goes to the great cyber fleet
02:02in the sky, the Doctor is distraught, and we are too. Everything has its time, and everything ends,
02:07even seemingly invulnerable metal robot heads. Still, it would have been brilliant to see Handles
02:12continue on. His pure logic-driven mind and complete inability to grasp any sarcasm or subtlety in the
02:18conversation made for several fun interactions between him and 11th. So can you imagine how
02:24iconic it would have been to see the much less patient 12 deal with Handles quirks? If nothing
02:29else, it would have been a breath of fresh air to see the Doctor travel with a companion as radically
02:32different as this. And hey, when all you need is a cyberhead lying around, the BBC would have saved
02:37a ton of money on the lead cast.
02:40Number 10. Duggan
02:41City of Death's Duggan is one of those great Doctor Who-supporting characters who deserve to
02:47become a full-time companion. He immediately developed a rapport with both Thor and Romana,
02:52and seemed to be the sort of guy who could take unusual situations in his stride. Duggan also
02:56managed to be of actual use to the Doctor, and brought a wonderful sense of humour to proceedings.
03:01I've always found that companions work best when they provide a stark contrast with our main character,
03:06and compared to the Doctor, Duggan was much more comfortable using violence to solve his problems,
03:11so it would have been fun to see them both reconcile their very different methods.
03:15His punch-first, ask-questions-later attitude was a perfect counterpoint to the intellectual and
03:20ponderous Fourth Doctor and Romana too. I can't imagine him sticking around the TARDIS for too
03:24long, but his interactions with the Doctor and Romana were easily worth a season or so.
03:29Number 9. Riggsie
03:31Riggsie was introduced in the episode Flatline as a graffiti artist who encounters some deadly
03:36creatures from a different dimension. This episode showed him as a man who can handle his own,
03:41and made us want to know more about the character beyond the Doctor's fluorescent pudding-brain
03:45summation of him. Moreover, the way he reluctantly leaves indicates he'd like to enjoy some TARDIS
03:51time and space, and someone who calls his mum must be a nice lad. Though Peter Capaldi and Jenna
03:56Coleman had incredible chemistry together, Clara being presented as the Doctor's equal took away from
04:01some of the more relatable aspects of the show, and the companion role. Riggsie could have filled that
04:06void, especially with the revelation that he's a father. Seeing him constantly attempt to make his
04:11way home while Clara and Twelve bicker like an odd-married couple would have made for a fun
04:15series arc. And Lord knows, it can't have been any worse of a get-back-to-my-kids storyline than
04:20whatever half-baked mess just happened with Season 2 and Belinda.
04:24Number 8. Jenny
04:25Georgia Moffat brought enormous amounts of sass and guile to the role of Jenny, the Doctor's daughter.
04:31However, she doesn't immediately endear herself to her father. All she knows is how to fight,
04:36and sadly, how to die. A few hearts-to-hearts with the Doctor start to slowly build their
04:40relationship, which blossoms very sweetly throughout. The turning point, quite literally,
04:45is her somersaulting her way through those deadly lasers. He's clearly a hard man to impress.
04:50Moreover, there's just an easy-going chemistry between the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny that's very
04:55entertaining to watch, and would have been great for a further episode or two. It makes her death,
05:00while assuming the cradled master position, all the more affecting. But thankfully,
05:04it turns out she really is like her father. Nothing has been seen of Jenny since her one
05:09encounter with the Doctor back in 2008. And despite Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davis once joking that
05:15she crashed into a moon and died off-screen, we all know she's still out there somewhere.
05:19And with the Doctor channeling his inner Vin Diesel and being a lot more obsessed with family lately,
05:24wouldn't it be a story worth telling to reunite the two characters once more? You're always looking for
05:28different dynamics and relationships inside the TARDIS. And so the Doctor travelling with her own
05:33flesh and blood would be a unique spin for a season of the show.
05:36Number 7. River Song. The best character.
05:40She's the Doctor's wife. Need I say more?
05:42While it was great seeing River interact with the Doctor alongside her parents, Amy and Rory,
05:47and that whole storyline was so intriguing, it's such a shame we never got to see River Song
05:53as a true companion for her own season. Eleven even asked her to travel with him at the end
05:59of The Angels Take Manhattan. And I don't know about anybody else, but I was so excited at the
06:03prospect of seeing River fill the role of her parents as the companion. But sadly, that was not
06:09meant to be. Similarly to the dynamic of having the Doctor and Jenny travelling together and that
06:14father-daughter relationship, it would have been so interesting to witness the husband and wife
06:19dynamic of these characters on a more regular basis than what we got in series 5 and 6.
06:25Obviously you'd want them to be careful not to venture too far into a romance drama or a rom-com,
06:30but I think the dynamic of those characters would work incredibly well, especially as a duo that
06:34fight monsters together. I suppose the one saving grace with River Song is she's one of the few
06:39characters on this list that could still potentially return in the future. So here's holding out hope
06:45that River Song will return one day. Number 6. Rita. The Doctor takes an immediate shine to Rita
06:52after she quickly deduces that he, Amy and Rory are friendlies. Oh you're good, he tells her. Oh
06:59she's good. Amy, with regret, you're fired. That last bit sounds like early sixth Doctor, but he's spot
07:04on. She is good. Rita is calm personified, making tea for everyone despite suddenly finding herself
07:10trapped in a 1980s Shining-esque hotel. Take your pick. The terrifying twins or a minotaur? She
07:16astutely questions the Doctor with not a single word wasted. In other words, she's got her shit
07:21together. Her poop in a group, if you will. Rita would have been one of the most capable companions
07:26to travel in the TARDIS and would have been a real asset to the Doctor in terms of working through
07:30sticky situations. It's therefore quite gut-wrenching when she secretly turns to the security camera and
07:35says those two chilling words. Praise him. The Doctor's incandescent reaction to her death,
07:41along with his earlier offer for her to travel the stars with him, says it all.
07:45Number 5. Madame de Pompadour. The Doctor gives Captain Jack's flirting a run for his money when
07:51he meets Renette, aka Madame de Pompadour. Yet while the two become rather infatuated with each other
07:57rather quickly, it never comes across as an irritating, soppy romance. It's a tragically beautiful
08:02connection that crosses boundaries, with the Doctor looking into the windows of Renette's life while
08:06on the other side she dreams about his. That poetic representation devised by Stephen Moffat can be
08:12seen as them reflecting each other, two sides of a coin, or should that be a fireplace, both running
08:17from the stuffy bureaucracy of their home lives, both yearning for adventure and freedom. Sadly,
08:22anyone who's read a history book or two knows that the original girl who waited will very soon run
08:27out of time. But since when has that stopped Doctor Who? Given how Renette calmly reconciles the fact
08:32that a 51st century spaceship is living next door, it would have been interesting having a historical
08:37figure take a trip to somewhere like Raxacoricophallopatorius or New New York. Their dynamic would have
08:43perhaps been a bit too similar to Ten and Rose, but as previously mentioned, any companion that moves
08:48us away from the contemporary young woman mould is worth exploring in my book.
08:52Number 4. D84. D84 is a secret agent robot. That's it? That should be the entry over. Is there a cooler
09:01sentence in the English language than secret agent robot? Seriously, the idea of having a robot capable
09:07of independent thought, higher reasoning, and kick-arsery is brilliant, and it meshes so well
09:12with the Doctor Who universe that I'm shocked that they didn't get more mileage out of it. And this guy
09:16is a billion times cooler than that nerd chameleon, so don't even bother mentioning him. How awesome would it
09:22have been to see D84 travel around with the Doctor? Think about it. All the advantages of having a
09:27robot on board, with none of the annoying logistical problems that K-9 introduced behind the scenes.
09:32It would have been far easier to incorporate him into various storylines without having to worry
09:36about whether or not he would actually function on the sets built for different planets. And yeah,
09:40that means missing out on K-9. But they could have had D84 during Leela's run and saved K-9 for
09:46Romana. That way, everyone's happy. I can only assume they didn't go for it because his robot face
09:51is freaking terrifying. Number 3, Sally Sparrow. In some ways, it's good that Carey Mulligan said no
09:58when offered the chance to become a full-time companion, because she is so synonymous with one
10:03of the greatest Doctor Who episodes of all time. Plus, she would have been devastated at not making
10:07it onto this amazing list. Even just via a DVD easter egg, Sally and the Doctor bounce off each other
10:13so well. Add in her adeptness at peeling off wallpaper at the perfect time, and she definitely
10:18deserved her own TARDIS key. She was intuitive, brave, and had a keen knack for problem-solving
10:23that the Doctor always seems to prize in his companions. In fact, she had the range of a great
10:28Doctor. The way Sally pieces all the clues together with intrepid determination, how she deals with the
10:33bittersweet loss of Kathy and Billy, has a companion in the form of Larry, and even wears a natty scarf
10:38and long coat. Her forthright line of, I'm clever and I'm listening, and don't patronise me because
10:43people have died and I'm not happy, is very Doctor Coded as well. Sadly, with Carey Mulligan's rising
10:49star in Hollywood and the Weeping Angels just this side of done to death, we're unlikely to see a
10:53reprisal of the character anytime soon. But at the time, it was a fantastic opportunity. And Russell,
10:59if you're listening to this, we could totally settle for Inspector Billy Shipton as the smoothest
11:03companion we've ever had.
11:052. Anita Benn
11:07All the excitement leading up to the 2024 Christmas special was centred around getting to see Nicola
11:13Coughlin's interaction with Shooty Gatworth. But coming out of nowhere to steal the whole thing
11:17was Steph DeWally's hotel manager turned queen of space-time, Anita Benn. It speaks volumes that
11:22the best thing about an episode featuring a T-Rex, a magic hotel, and the Doctor going full-on
11:27Indiana Jones is a short vignette about the Doctor and Anita's lives. And yet, it just goes to show
11:32that character and story is absolutely everything, as there's more sweetness, humour, and tragedy
11:37packed into these 10 short minutes than almost anything we saw from Doctor Who in 2024.
11:41Anita's return in the reality war as an employee of the Time Hotel turned her from solid companion
11:47material to perfect companion material, giving her a deep knowledge of the universe to complement
11:52her likability and heart. And surely she gets a decent annual holiday allowance. The Doctor would
11:57no doubt want to spend more time with Anita, and they'd be a lovely duo to watch week to week.
12:02So this is a match-up that's just begging to happen. Who knows, maybe Billy Piper will give her a call.
12:07Number 1. Shona
12:09Anyone who can dance to Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade while navigating a room full of facehugger
12:15rip-offs is clearly perfect companion material. Not only was Shona prepped in case a dance-off
12:20with the Cybermen was needed to save the galaxy, but she also had the requisite charm, bite,
12:25and wit to almost steal an episode from Father Bloody Christmas. It's a real shame that Shona didn't get
12:31to enjoy a Weatherspoons curry club Thursday with Clara and the Doctor, and even more of a shame that
12:36we never got to see Faye Marseille as a full-time companion, which at one point Stephen Moffat was
12:41seriously considering as a replacement for Jenna Coleman. Shona would have brought less of the
12:45doe-eyed optimism that so many companions bring to the TARDIS, and a bit more ragtag realism,
12:51and frankly chaos, that would clash so well with the Doctor's wondrous worldview. But it wasn't to be.
12:56Jenna Coleman decided to stick around for one more series, and the rest is history. But for the
13:00Doctor, what is history, if not a book that's still being written? Shona could easily be
13:05revisited, or even brought back full-time. And you know what? I pay good money to see it.
13:10And that concludes our list. Now which of these characters would have made the best full-time
13:14companion in your opinion? And are there any that we didn't include that you think are worthy of
13:19being on this list? Let us know in the comments down below. In the meantime, I've been Ellie for
13:22WhoCulture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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