10 Doctor Who Companions Who Deserved Better
Not every Doctor Who companion gets the red carpet treatment.
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00:00 As the old saying goes, not every story has a happy ending, and that's certainly true
00:04 for several of Doctor Who's companions.
00:07 Whether they were victims of error on the Doctor's part, in the wrong place at the
00:11 wrong time, or a casualty of the BBC's decision to shake up the format of the show, there
00:16 have been quite a few companions in Doctor Who's history who have departed in the worst
00:20 and most unsatisfying ways possible.
00:23 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Doctor Who Companions Who Deserved
00:29 Better.
00:30 10.
00:31 Sarah Kingdom
00:32 Although she was only with First Doctor William Hartnell for his legendary 12-part serial The
00:37 Daleks Master Plan, Sarah Kingdom is instrumental in the defeat of the Daleks, and their plan
00:42 to destroy the universe, in this story.
00:44 Much of the serial is built around the weapon the Time Destructor, which accelerates time
00:49 to an extreme degree and rapidly ages everyone and everything around it.
00:53 As part of his plan to destroy the Daleks, the Doctor plans to detonate the Time Destructor
00:57 and send his companions back to the TARDIS so they do not get caught in its field.
01:02 However, Sarah follows the Doctor before he sets off the Time Destructor, and she begins
01:06 to age rapidly before becoming so old she turns to dust and dies.
01:10 Yeah, that's grim.
01:12 Sadly, Sarah's death scene is missing, like most of the serial, but the audio still survives.
01:17 She would have been a great long-term companion, and she definitely deserved better than brutally
01:22 dying in her very first appearance.
01:25 9.
01:26 Martha Jones
01:27 Across her run with the Doctor, it's fair to say that Martha Jones was something of
01:31 a rebound for the Time Lord, who was still mourning the loss of Rose Tyler.
01:36 Martha joins the TARDIS at the start of Series 3 after saving the Doctor's life in the first
01:40 episode, and quickly falls for her dashing new friend, only to be repeatedly rejected
01:44 by him throughout the series.
01:46 Things come to a head in the three-part finale involving the return of the Master, where
01:50 Martha's entire family is tortured by him.
01:53 During this time, Martha spends an entire year travelling the world and telling everyone
01:58 about the Doctor, only for time to be reversed and that entire year erased from history.
02:02 Martha then, only then, realises that the Doctor will never reciprocate the feelings
02:07 she has for him.
02:08 I mean, it was a bit obvious, Martha.
02:10 Come on, read the room.
02:12 And she decides to leave the TARDIS to be with her family.
02:15 Upon her departure, she gives the Doctor her mobile number, and then receives a hilariously
02:19 awkward friendzone hug from him.
02:21 I mean, you just gotta feel a bit sorry for her, really, haven't you?
02:24 And in true Doctor and Martha fashion, he never once actually called her.
02:29 8.
02:30 Jamie and Zoe
02:31 After Jamie accompanies the second Doctor for three full seasons, along with Zoe for
02:35 his final season, they both suffer a rather unfortunate fate at the manipulative hands
02:40 of the Time Lords.
02:41 At the end of Patrick Troughton's epic final story, the Doctor is placed on trial for interfering
02:46 with history, and the Time Lords decide to take drastic action on account of his frequent
02:50 meddling.
02:51 As a result, Jamie and Zoe's memories of the Doctor are completely erased, in a deliberately
02:56 unsatisfying ending to Patrick Troughton's tenure.
02:59 This was particularly frustrating for fans of Jamie McCrimmon, who had appeared alongside
03:03 Patrick Troughton in over 100 episodes of the show.
03:06 After the erasure, they are placed back in their timelines at the exact moment before
03:10 they met the Doctor, with Jamie being placed back in medieval Scotland, and Zoe back aboard
03:14 the space station she was a crew member of.
03:16 The pair were briefly seen together again for a very short scene in The Five Doctors,
03:21 which wasn't exactly the greatest final appearance for this iconic duo.
03:25 7.
03:26 Donna Noble
03:27 After suffering through the most regrettable wedding day in history, Donna Noble accompanied
03:32 the Tenth Doctor in his final full series, and just like Ten's companions before her,
03:36 her ending was rather unfortunate.
03:39 Russell T. Davies' series finales are well known for their high stakes, with The Stolen
03:43 Earth and Journey's End being the most ambitious produced during his tenure.
03:48 In a plot involving the creation of a Tenth Doctor clone, Donna accidentally absorbs so
03:53 much Time Lord knowledge that, after she helps save the day of course, her memories must
03:57 be wiped.
03:58 The Doctor then does just that, erasing her memories involving him, the TARDIS, and any
04:02 of her adventures.
04:03 Even worse, the effects of this are so bad that if she ever remembers anything, her brain
04:08 will burn up and she will die.
04:10 Despite this, Donna does reappear in Ten's final story, with the Doctor secretly giving
04:14 her a winning lottery ticket, thank you very much, yes please, before slipping away and
04:19 never getting the chance to see her ever again.
04:21 Or so we thought.
04:23 Ring on 2023!
04:25 6.
04:26 Liz Shaw
04:27 Sometimes, due to various reasons, an actor or character suddenly departs from a show
04:32 without getting a proper exit.
04:34 And sadly, this was the case for Liz Shaw, who was given one of the least satisfying
04:38 companion endings in Doctor Who history.
04:41 Appearing alongside Jon Pertwee in his first season as the Doctor, Liz Shaw, played by
04:45 Caroline John, was a total change of pace for the show, as she was a scientist nearly
04:50 as intelligent as the Doctor.
04:52 As a result, however, the producers weren't keen on the dynamic between Liz and the Doctor,
04:57 and instead wanted a more traditional female companion whose role was to be more human
05:01 and relatable.
05:02 Despite being popular with fans, Liz left the show after the production of the serial
05:06 Inferno, in a mutual decision between Jon and the producers.
05:10 In the next story, Terror of the Autons, her departure is explained with only two sentences
05:14 from the Brigadier, making for an appallingly unsatisfying exit for such a terrific character.
05:20 5.
05:21 Mickey Smith
05:22 Mickey Smith appeared alongside the Doctor and Rose sporadically across the first four
05:27 series of the revived show.
05:29 Initially, he is apprehensive of the Doctor and Rose, and after Rose disappears with the
05:33 Doctor, he is even questioned by the police and made a suspect regarding Rose's disappearance.
05:37 Mickey is constantly belittled and made fun of by both the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and
05:42 against his will becomes involved in death-defying plots surrounding the Autons and the Slitheen.
05:47 He's even dragged into a plot involving his alternate self after the TARDIS accidentally
05:51 ends up in a parallel universe.
05:53 After two years of constantly being sidelined, Mickey decides enough is enough and opts to
05:58 stay in the parallel universe to fight against the Cybermen and be with his family.
06:02 At points, the Doctor's treatment of Mickey goes from innocent to hateful in seconds,
06:07 and it does seem a bit out of place with the Doctor's character when re-watching this
06:11 era of the show.
06:13 4.
06:14 Perry Brown
06:15 In her two seasons in the TARDIS, Nicola Bryant Perry is unfortunate enough to be on the receiving
06:20 end of a sixth Doctor who is totally out of control, and witnesses a regeneration after
06:25 knowing the Doctor for just over one full story.
06:28 Beginning in the twin dilemma, the Doctor is so damaged by his regeneration that he
06:32 strangles Perry and mistakes her for an alien spy.
06:35 Across Six's first season, Perry is constantly annoyed by an angry Doctor, and the two spend
06:40 so much time bickering in the TARDIS that it's hard to even fathom why she stayed with
06:44 him for so long.
06:45 This all culminates in the story Mind Warp, where the Doctor knowingly betrays Perry and
06:50 she's seemingly killed off - she wasn't, thankfully - before the Time Lords intervene
06:54 and pull the Doctor out of time.
06:56 After suffering with the Doctor for two full seasons, Perry never even got a satisfactory
07:00 goodbye, nor had the Doctor wish her well.
07:02 Her final moments with the Doctor after a frankly horrendous experience in the TARDIS
07:06 were him betraying her after all they'd been through.
07:10 3.
07:11 Rose Tyler
07:12 For avid fans of Doctor Who, this one comes as no surprise, as this was and still is one
07:17 of the grimmest companion departures in the show.
07:20 After spending two full series travelling with the Doctor, even saving his life several
07:24 times and helping him through a difficult regeneration, Rose Tyler faced an extremely
07:29 cruel fate.
07:30 After completely falling in love with the Doctor and vowing never to stop travelling
07:33 with him, Rose found herself in a difficult situation - she was accidentally trapped in
07:37 a parallel universe.
07:38 Bummer.
07:39 To make things worse, she was then declared dead in her own universe and had no knowledge
07:43 of what happened to the Doctor.
07:45 The Doctor is eventually able to say goodbye, burning up a sun to do so in one of the most
07:49 heartbreaking scenes in the show.
07:51 Although, a more positive end for Rose did come in Series 4, when the Doctor left her
07:56 with the Metacrisis Doctor from Journey's End.
07:59 And this clone has all the same memories and experiences of the Doctor, but has a human
08:03 body and will age with Rose.
08:05 So actually, it did end quite well for her.
08:08 2.
08:09 Adric
08:10 Despite being one of the least popular companions in the classic series, Adric's fate still
08:15 felt a little bit unfair.
08:17 In a plot involving the Cybermen trying to crash a large space freighter into an Earth
08:21 peace conference, the end of Earthshock sees the Fifth Doctor and his companions left on
08:25 a ship hurtling towards Earth.
08:27 After attempting to steer away the ship, Adric accidentally sends it 65 million years into
08:32 the past before seemingly exiting in an escape pod.
08:35 At the last second, Adric jumps out of the escape pod to try one last time to steer the
08:39 ship away from Earth.
08:41 Just as he is about to input the final command to save the ship, a lone Cyberman shoots the
08:45 control panel, leaving Adric speeding towards Earth with no way of escape.
08:49 The Doctor and his companions watch from the TARDIS as the ship hurtles towards the Earth,
08:53 and we see it explode on impact, wiping out both Adric and the dinosaurs in the process.
08:58 We're then treated to a totally silent credits sequence, a solemn goodbye for one of the
09:03 few Doctor Who companions to actually die.
09:06 1.
09:07 Bill Potts
09:08 Starting out as a normal university student, Bill went on to travel with Peter Capaldi's
09:13 Doctor across his final season, and her refreshingly down-to-Earth personality proved a huge hit
09:18 with viewers.
09:19 After her short but sweet time with the Doctor, Bill Potts' tenure came to an end as she
09:23 and the Doctor faced off against the Cybermen.
09:25 After being shot and then taken to a cyber hospital, Bill is saved by being grimly converted
09:30 into one of the metallic emotionless foes.
09:33 This is worsened by the fact that Bill retains all of her emotions and memories as a Cyberman,
09:38 and is particularly distressed by looking in the mirror and seeing her now converted
09:41 self.
09:42 In the end, Bill's life is spared and she is able to escape thanks to her partner Heather
09:46 converting her into another creature, this time capable of showing a human form.
09:51 With this bittersweet ending, Bill had to endure an entire decade of being a Cyberman
09:55 and going through the trauma of a cyber conversion, and she did it all alone, without the Doctor.
10:01 And that concludes our list.
10:02 If you think we missed someone, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
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10:16 across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
10:19 I have been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.