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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 have been
01:09an interesting angle to play with the character. It's a little boring that almost all of the new
01:13series companions are 21st century women, but Linda is close enough to the traditional template
01:18that people are comfortable with, while still adding something different and exciting. She worked
01:23well with the Doctor, and over the course of two episodes, she was sympathetic enough that we were
01:27all pretty devastated when she died. 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, the two
01:48had a heartwarming and hilarious bond. Handles spoke to the deep loneliness within the Doctor. This is a
01:54character so afraid of being on his own that he resorted to talking to the rundown head of one
01:58of his greatest enemies. And when Handles eventually goes to the great cyber fleet in the sky, the
02:02Doctor is distraught, and we are too. Everything has its time, and everything ends, even seemingly
02:08invulnerable metal robot heads. Still, it would have been brilliant to see Handles continue on. His pure
02:13logic-driven mind and complete inability to grasp any sarcasm or subtlety in the conversation made for
02:19several fun interactions between him and 11th. So can you imagine how iconic it would have been
02:25to see the much less patient 12 deal with Handles quirks? If nothing else, it would have been a breath
02:30of fresh air to see the Doctor travel with a companion as radically different as this. And hey, when all
02:35you need is a cyberhead lying around, the BBC would have saved a ton of money on the lead cast.
02:4010. Duggan
02:41City of Death's Duggan is one of those great Doctor Who-supporting characters who deserve to become
02:47a full-time companion. He immediately developed a rapport with both Thor and Romana, and seemed to
02:52be the sort of guy who could take unusual situations in his stride. Duggan also managed to be of actual
02:58use to the Doctor, and brought a wonderful sense of humour to proceedings. I've always found that
03:02companions work best when they provide a stark contrast with our main character, and compared
03:06to the Doctor, Duggan was much more comfortable using violence to solve his problems, so it would have
03:11been fun to see them both reconcile their very different methods. His punch-first, ask-questions-later
03:17attitude was a perfect counterpoint to the intellectual and ponderous Fourth Doctor and
03:21Romana too. I can't imagine him sticking around the TARDIS for too long, but his interactions with
03:26the Doctor and Romana were easily worth a season or so.
03:299. 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
03:45brain summation of him. Moreover, the way he reluctantly leaves indicates he'd like to enjoy
03:50some TARDIS time and space, and someone who calls his mum must be a nice lad. Though Peter Capaldi
03:55and Jenna Coleman had incredible chemistry together, Clara being presented as the Doctor's equal took
04:00away from some of the more relatable aspects of the show, and the companion role. Riggsie could have
04:05filled that void, especially with the revelation that he's a father. Seeing him constantly attempt to
04:10make his way home while Clara and Twelve bicker like an odd married couple would have made for a
04:15fun series 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.
04:248. 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, it turns out she
05:05really is like her father. Nothing has been seen of Jenny since her one encounter with the Doctor
05:10back in 2008. And despite Stephen Moffat and Russell T. Davis once joking that she crashed
05:15into a moon and died off-screen, we all know she's still out there somewhere. And with the Doctor
05:19channeling his inner Vin Diesel and being a lot more obsessed with family lately, wouldn't it be
05:24a story worth telling to reunite the two characters once more? You're always looking for different
05:29dynamics and relationships inside the TARDIS. And so the Doctor travelling with their own flesh and
05:33blood would be a unique spin for a season of the show. Number 7. River Song. The best character.
05:40She's the Doctor's wife. Need I say more? While it was great seeing River interact with the Doctor
05:45alongside her parents, Amy and Rory, and that whole storyline was so intriguing, it's such a shame
05:51we never got to see River Song as a true companion for her own season. Eleven even asked her to travel
05:58with him at the end of The Angels Take Manhattan. And I don't know about anybody else, but I was so
06:03excited at the prospect of seeing River fill the role of her parents as the companion. But sadly,
06:08that was not meant to be. Similarly to the dynamic of having the Doctor and Jenny travelling together,
06:14and that father-daughter relationship, it would have been so interesting to witness the husband and
06:19wife dynamic of these characters on a more regular basis than what we got in Series 5 and 6.
06:24Obviously 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,
07:03but he's spot on. She is good. Rita is calm personified, making tea for everyone despite
07:09suddenly finding herself trapped in a 1980s shining-esque hotel. Take your pick, the terrifying
07:14twins or a minotaur? She astutely questions the Doctor with not a single word wasted. In other words,
07:20she's got her s*** together. Her poop in a group, if you will. Rita would have been one of the most
07:25capable companions to travel in the TARDIS and would have been a real asset to the Doctor in
07:29terms of working through sticky situations. It's therefore quite gut-wrenching when she
07:33secretly turns to the security camera and says those two chilling words. Praise him. The Doctor's
07:39incandescent reaction to her death, along with his earlier offer for her to travel the stars with him,
07:44says it all. Number 5, Madame de Pompadour. The Doctor gives Captain Jack's flirting a run for
07:50his money when he meets Renette, aka Madame de Pompadour. Yet while the two become rather infatuated
07:56with each other rather quickly, it never comes across as an irritating, soppy romance. It's a
08:01tragically beautiful connection that crosses boundaries, with the Doctor looking into the
08:05windows of Renette's life while on the other side she dreams about his. That poetic representation
08:10devised by Stephen Moffat can be seen as them reflecting each other, two sides of a coin,
08:15or should that be a fireplace, both running from the stuffy bureaucracy of their home lives,
08:20both yearning for adventure and freedom. Sadly, anyone who's read a history book or two knows
08:25that the original girl who waited will very soon run out of time. But since when has that stopped
08:29Doctor Who? Given how Renette calmly reconciles the fact that a 51st century spaceship is living next door,
08:35it would have been interesting having a historical figure take a trip to somewhere like
08:39Raxacoracofallopatorius or New New York. Their dynamic would have perhaps been a bit too similar
08:44to Ten and Rose, but as previously mentioned, any companion that moves us away from the
08:49contemporary young woman mould is worth exploring in my book.
08:53Number 4. D-84
08:55D-84 is a secret agent robot. That's it, that should be the entry over. Is there a cooler sentence
09:01in the English language than secret agent robot? Seriously, the idea of having a robot capable of
09:07independent thought, higher reasoning and kick-arsery is brilliant, and it meshes so well with the
09:12Doctor 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
09:22would it have been to see D-84 travel around with the Doctor? Think about it, all the advantages of
09:27having a robot on board with none of the annoying logistical problems that K-9 introduced behind the
09:32scenes. It would have been far easier to incorporate him into various storylines without having to worry about
09:36whether or not he would actually function on the sets built for different planets. And yeah, that
09:41means missing out on K-9. But they could have had D-84 during Leela's run and saved K-9 for Romana.
09:46That way, everyone's happy. I can only assume they didn't go for it because his robot face
09:51is freaking terrifying.
09:53Number 3. Sally Sparrow
09:55In some ways, it's good that Carey Mulligan said no when offered the chance to become a full-time
10:00companion, because she is so synonymous with one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes of all time.
10:05Plus, she would have been devastated at not making it onto this amazing list.
10:09Even just via a DVD easter egg, Sally and the Doctor bounce off each other so well. Add in her
10:14adeptness at peeling off wallpaper at the perfect time, and she definitely deserved her own TARDIS
10:19key. She was intuitive, brave, and had a keen knack for problem-solving that the Doctor always seems
10:24to prize in his companions. In fact, she had the range of a great Doctor. The way Sally pieces all the
10:30clues together with intrepid determination. How she deals with the bittersweet loss of Kathy and
10:35Billy, has a companion in the form of Larry, and even wears a natty scarf and long coat. Her forthright
10:40line of, I'm clever and I'm listening, and don't patronise me because people have died and I'm not
10:45happy, is very Doctor Coded as well. Sadly, with Carey Mulligan's rising star in Hollywood and the
10:50Weeping Angels just this side of done to death, we're unlikely to see a reprisal of the character
10:55anytime soon. But at the time, it was a fantastic opportunity. And Russell, if you're listening to
10:59this, we could totally settle for Inspector Billy Shipton as the smoothest companion 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 the best thing
11:23about an episode featuring a T-Rex, a magic hotel, and the Doctor going full-on Indiana Jones is a
11:28short vignette about the Doctor and Anita's lives. And yet, it just goes to show that character and
11:33story is absolutely everything, as there's more sweetness, humour, and tragedy packed into these
11:3710 short minutes than almost anything we saw from Doctor Who in 2024. Anita's return in the reality war
11:43as an employee of the Time Hotel turned her from solid companion material to perfect companion
11:49material, giving her a deep knowledge of the universe to complement her likeability and heart.
11:54And surely she gets a decent annual holiday allowance. The Doctor would no doubt want to
11:58spend more time with Anita, and they'd be a lovely duo to watch week to week. So this is a match-up
12:03that's just begging to happen. Who knows, maybe Billy Piper will give her a call.
12:081. 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 with
12:20the 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
12:30didn't get to enjoy a Weatherspoons curry club Thursday with Clara and the Doctor, and even more
12:35of a shame that we never got to see Faye Marseille as a full-time companion, which at one point Stephen
12:40Moffat was seriously considering as a replacement for Jenna Coleman. Shona would have brought less of
12:45the doe-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 Doctor,
13:01what is history if not a book that's still being written? Shona could easily be revisited,
13:05or 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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