Not every Doctor Who companion gets the red carpet treatment.
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00:00As the old saying goes, not every story has a happy ending, and that's certainly true
00:04for several of Doctor Who's companions.
00:07Whether they were victims of error on the Doctor's part, in the wrong place at the
00:11wrong time, or a casualty of the BBC's decision to shake up the format of the show, there
00:16have been quite a few companions in Doctor Who's history who have departed in the worst
00:20and most unsatisfying ways possible.
00:23So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Doctor Who Companions Who Deserved
00:29Better.
00:3010.
00:31Sarah Kingdom
00:32Although she was only with First Doctor William Hartnell for his legendary 12-part serial
00:37The Daleks Master Plan, Sarah Kingdom is instrumental in the defeat of the Daleks, and their plan
00:42to destroy the universe, in this story.
00:44Much of the serial is built around the weapon the Time Destructor, which accelerates time
00:49to an extreme degree and rapidly ages everyone and everything around it.
00:53As part of his plan to destroy the Daleks, the Doctor plans to detonate the Time Destructor
00:57and send his companions back to the TARDIS so they do not get caught in its field.
01:02However, Sarah follows the Doctor before he sets off the Time Destructor, and she begins
01:06to age rapidly before becoming so old she turns to dust and dies.
01:10Yeah, that's grim.
01:12Sadly, Sarah's death scene is missing, like most of the serial, but the audio still survives.
01:17She would have been a great long-term companion, and she definitely deserved better than brutally
01:22dying in her very first appearance.
01:259.
01:26Martha Jones
01:28Across her run with the Doctor, it's fair to say that Martha Jones was something of
01:31a rebound for the Time Lord, who was still mourning the loss of Rose Tyler.
01:36Martha joins the TARDIS at the start of Series 3 after saving the Doctor's life in the first
01:40episode, and quickly falls for her dashing new friend, only to be repeatedly rejected
01:44by him throughout the series.
01:46Things come to a head in the three-part finale involving the return of the Master, where
01:50Martha's entire family is tortured by him.
01:53During this time, Martha spends an entire year travelling the world and telling everyone
01:58about the Doctor, only for time to be reversed and that entire year erased from history.
02:02Martha then, only then, realises that the Doctor will never reciprocate the feelings
02:07she has for him, and she decides to leave the TARDIS to be with her family.
02:15Upon her departure, she gives the Doctor her mobile number, and then receives a hilariously
02:19awkward friendzone hug from him.
02:21I mean, you just gotta feel a bit sorry for her, really, haven't you?
02:24And in true Doctor and Martha fashion, he never once actually called her.
02:298.
02:30Jamie and Zoe After Jamie accompanies the second Doctor
02:33for three full seasons, along with Zoe for his final season, they both suffer a rather
02:38unfortunate fate at the manipulative hands of the Time Lords.
02:41At the end of Patrick Troughton's epic final story, the Doctor is placed on trial for interfering
02:46with history, and the Time Lords decide to take drastic action on account of his frequent
02:50meddling.
02:51As a result, Jamie and Zoe's memories of the Doctor are completely erased, in a deliberately
02:56unsatisfying ending to Patrick Troughton's tenure.
02:59This was particularly frustrating for fans of Jamie McCrimmon, who had appeared alongside
03:03Patrick Troughton in over 100 episodes of the show.
03:06After the erasure, they are placed back in their timelines at the exact moment before
03:10they met the Doctor, with Jamie being placed back in medieval Scotland, and Zoe back aboard
03:14the space station she was a crew member of.
03:16The pair were briefly seen together again for a very short scene in The Five Doctors,
03:21which wasn't exactly the greatest final appearance for this iconic duo.
03:257.
03:26Donna Noble After suffering through the most regrettable
03:29wedding day in history, Donna Noble accompanied the Tenth Doctor in his final full series,
03:34and just like Ten's companions before her, her ending was rather unfortunate.
03:39Russell T. Davies' series finales are well known for their high stakes, with The Stolen
03:43Earth and Journey's End being the most ambitious produced during his tenure.
03:48In a plot involving the creation of a Tenth Doctor clone, Donna accidentally absorbs so
03:53much Time Lord knowledge that, after she helps save the day of course, her memories must
03:57be wiped.
03:58The Doctor then does just that, erasing her memories involving him, the TARDIS, and any
04:02of her adventures.
04:03Even worse, the effects of this are so bad that if she ever remembers anything, her brain
04:08will burn up and she will die.
04:10Despite this, Donna does reappear in Ten's final story, with the Doctor secretly giving
04:14her a winning lottery ticket, thank you very much, yes please, before slipping away and
04:19never getting the chance to see her ever again.
04:21Or so we thought.
04:23Ring on 2023!
04:256.
04:26Liz Shaw Sometimes, due to various reasons, an actor
04:30or character suddenly departs from a show without getting a proper exit.
04:34And sadly, this was the case for Liz Shaw, who was given one of the least satisfying
04:39companion endings in Doctor Who history.
04:41Appearing alongside Jon Pertwee in his first season as the Doctor, Liz Shaw, played by
04:45Caroline John, was a total change of pace for the show, as she was a scientist nearly
04:50as intelligent as the Doctor.
04:52As a result, however, the producers weren't keen on the dynamic between Liz and the Doctor,
04:57and instead wanted a more traditional female companion whose role was to be more human
05:01and relatable.
05:03Despite being popular with fans, Liz left the show after the production of the serial
05:06Inferno, in a mutual decision between Jon and the producers.
05:10In the next story, Terror of the Autons, her departure is explained with only two sentences
05:14from the Brigadier, making for an appallingly unsatisfying exit for such a terrific character.
05:205.
05:21Mickey Smith Mickey Smith appeared alongside the Doctor
05:24and Rose sporadically across the first four series of the revived show.
05:29Initially, he is apprehensive of the Doctor and Rose, and after Rose disappears with the
05:33Doctor, he is even questioned by the police and made a suspect regarding Rose's disappearance.
05:37Mickey is constantly belittled and made fun of by both the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and
05:42against his will becomes involved in death-defying plots surrounding the Autons and the Slitheen.
05:47He's even dragged into a plot involving his alternate self after the TARDIS accidentally
05:51ends up in a parallel universe.
05:53After two years of constantly being sidelined, Mickey decides enough is enough and opts to
05:58stay in the parallel universe to fight against the Cybermen and be with his family.
06:02At points, the Doctor's treatment of Mickey goes from innocent to hateful in seconds,
06:07and it does seem a bit out of place with the Doctor's character when re-watching this
06:11era of the show.
06:134.
06:14Perry Brown In her two seasons in the TARDIS, Nicola Bryant
06:18Perry is unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a sixth Doctor who is totally out of
06:23control and witnesses a regeneration after knowing the Doctor for just over one full
06:27story.
06:28Beginning in the twin dilemma, the Doctor is so damaged by his regeneration that he
06:32strangles Perry and mistakes her for an alien spy.
06:35Across Six's first season, Perry is constantly annoyed by an angry Doctor, and the two spend
06:40so much time bickering in the TARDIS that it's hard to even fathom why she stayed with
06:44him for so long.
06:45This all culminates in the story Mind Warp, where the Doctor knowingly betrays Perry and
06:50she's seemingly killed off.
06:51She wasn't, thankfully.
06:53Before the Time Lords intervene and pull the Doctor out of time.
06:56After suffering with the Doctor for two full seasons, Perry never even got a satisfactory
07:00goodbye, nor had the Doctor wish her well.
07:02Her final moments with the Doctor after a frankly horrendous experience in the TARDIS
07:06were him betraying her after all they'd been through.
07:103.
07:11Rose Tyler For avid fans of Doctor Who, this one comes
07:14as no surprise, as this was and still is one of the grimmest companion departures in the
07:19show.
07:20After spending two full series travelling with the Doctor, even saving his life several
07:24times and helping him through a difficult regeneration, Rose Tyler faced an extremely
07:29cruel fate.
07:30After completely falling in love with the Doctor and vowing never to stop travelling
07:33with him, Rose found herself in a difficult situation.
07:36She was accidentally trapped in a parallel universe.
07:38Bummer.
07:39To make things worse, she was then declared dead in her own universe and had no knowledge
07:43of what happened to the Doctor.
07:45The Doctor is eventually able to say goodbye, burning up a sun to do so in one of the most
07:49heartbreaking scenes in the show.
07:51Although, a more positive end for Rose did come in Series 4, when the Doctor left her
07:56with the Metacrisis Doctor from Journey's End.
07:59And this clone has all the same memories and experiences of the Doctor, but has a human
08:03body and will age with Rose.
08:05So actually, it did end quite well for her.
08:082.
08:09Adric Despite being one of the least popular companions
08:13in the classic series, Adric's fate still felt a little bit unfair.
08:17In a plot involving the Cybermen trying to crash a large space freighter into an Earth
08:21peace conference, the end of Earthshock sees the Fifth Doctor and his companions left on
08:25a ship hurtling towards Earth.
08:27After attempting to steer away the ship, Adric accidentally sends it 65 million years into
08:32the past before seemingly exiting in an escape pod.
08:35At the last second, Adric jumps out of the escape pod to try one last time to steer the
08:39ship away from Earth.
08:41Just as he is about to input the final command to save the ship, a lone Cyberman shoots the
08:45control panel, leaving Adric speeding towards Earth with no way of escape.
08:49The Doctor and his companions watch from the TARDIS as the ship hurtles towards the Earth,
08:53and we see it explode on impact, wiping out both Adric and the dinosaurs in the process.
08:58We're then treated to a totally silent credits sequence, a solemn goodbye for one of the
09:03few Doctor Who companions to actually die.
09:061.
09:07Bill Potts Starting out as a normal university student,
09:11Bill went on to travel with Peter Capaldi's Doctor across his final season, and her refreshingly
09:15down-to-Earth personality proved a huge hit with viewers.
09:19After her short but sweet time with the Doctor, Bill Potts' tenure came to an end as she
09:23and the Doctor faced off against the Cybermen.
09:25After being shot and then taken to a cyber hospital, Bill is saved by being grimly converted
09:30into one of the metallic, emotionless foes.
09:33This is worsened by the fact that Bill retains all of her emotions and memories as a Cyberman,
09:38and is particularly distressed by looking in the mirror and seeing her now converted
09:41self.
09:42In the end, Bill's life is spared, and she is able to escape thanks to her partner Heather
09:46converting her into another creature, this time capable of showing a human form.
09:51Despite this bittersweet ending, Bill had to endure an entire decade of being a Cyberman
09:55and going through the trauma of a cyber conversion, and she did it all alone, without the Doctor.
10:01And that concludes our list, if you think we missed someone then do let us know in the
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10:19I have been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.