The Doctor has made many new friends on his travels through the cosmos, many of whom would have made great Doctor Who companions. How close did they get to the doors of the TARDIS?
Duggan
“If it moves, hit it!” The first of our potential Doctor Who companions is the detective Duggan, who so ably (and violently) assisted the Time Lord and Romana in their fight against the Jagaroth in ‘City of Death.’ Duggan was a private detective who had been sent to Paris to find out if anything unusual was happening in the art world and, coincidentally, it was – there was a stranded alien trying to steal the Mona Lisa in order to fund a deadly series of time travel experiments.
Duggan was not known for his subtlety, and would certainly have paired well with Leela; in fact, they may have been the most violent Doctor Who companions in history! And unlike many of the characters on this list, Duggan did actually get a trip in the TARDIS, with the Fourth Doctor taking him back in time to the earliest days of planet Earth.
For more on Duggan, check out this post, which details our plans for a Duggan spin-off…
Todd
The TARDIS was rather crowded at the start of the Fifth Doctor’s era, with no fewer than three Doctor Who companions travelling in the famous police box: Adric, Nyssa and Tegan. And yet, curiously, Nyssa was almost completely absent from one particular story, ‘Kinda,’ due to contracting complications. Thus, she was ‘replaced,’ for want for a better word, by a new character: the scientist Todd, played by Nerys Hughes.
Todd was a very intelligent, no-nonsense scientist and did essentially become one of the Doctor Who companions for ‘Kinda’ – or, at least, filled the companion role for much of the story. This was because of Nyssa’s absence, explained by a sudden bout of illness, Tegan’s possession by the Mara, and Adric being stuck in a laboratory. She had great chemistry with the Fifth Doctor and it would have been fascinating to see what she made of TARDIS life, although it would have left us with a rather crowded roster; it’s hard to imagine a TARDIS with Adric, Nyssa, Tegan and Todd, and later Kamelion. One of them would have to go.
Still, this is a series about time travel, so there’s no reason why the Doctor can’t travel back for a reunion with Todd at some point…
Miss Hampden
The next of our potential Doctor Who companions is the character of Miss Hampden played by Polly James. She appeared in the Fifth Doctor story ‘The Awakening’ – a brief adventure in which the Doctor and his friends find themselves in a sleepy country village in the present day, whose inhabitants have become obsessed with recreating the English civil war.
Miss Hampden is by far the most intelligent character in the story, although this isn’t really saying much given that most of the people around her have lost touch with reality. At the same time, as a former school teacher, she clearly knows her stuff and is not afraid to stand up to the nonsense dolled out by the local villagers. It would have been fascinating if she had joined the Time Lord on his subsequent Season 21 adventures such as ‘The Caves of Androzani,’ as a showdown between Miss Hampden and Sharaz Jek would have been a joy to see. Or even Davros, for that matter…
Will
Not all of the Doctor Who companions come from contemporary Earth. There have been many ‘historical’ Doctor Who companions over the years such as Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, and the character of Will (also from ‘The Awakening’) would have made an interesting addition to the TARDIS crew. Like Jamie, he would have needed many things explaining to him, but that needn’t have been a barrier, and actually one could argue that (to some extent) this is the companion’s role – to ask the Doctor questions and have them answered.
Will was certainly a brave soul, if easily confused, and he did bring some light comic relief to ‘The Awakening.’ And, interestingly, he also got a brief trip in the TARDIS at the end of the adventure, along with Miss Hampden and half the village of Little Hodcombe, so he didn’t miss out completely.
Ray
A number of potential Doctor Who companions were looked at in Season 24. Mel Bush was leaving the TARDIS, and the producer John Nathan-Turner had a number of ideas for people who could replace her.
However, one thing he was certain of was that he wanted the next of the Doctor Who companions to be a motorbike rider, and he certainly found this in Ray from ‘Delta and the Bannermen.’ Ray certainly knew her wheels and took a repair kit with her wherever she went, believing it was important to “always be prepared.”
And whilst she was a talented rider, she was also rather love-sick, spending most of ‘Delta and the Bannermen’ coming to terms with the fact that her crush, Billy, had fallen in love with the Queen of the Chimerons. We’ve all been there, right?
As we all know, the next of the Doctor Who companions turned out to be Ace played by Sophie Aldred – an actor who could also ride a motorbike, even if her skills were never called upon. And whilst we wouldn’t want to replace Sophie Aldred for the world, it would be fun to see what an alternative reality would have been like – one in which Ray joined the Seventh Doctor in the TARDIS, taking her love for biking repairs into time and space.
Still, there’s no reason why the Doctor can’t go back and visit her one day. Maybe she’ll be recruited to assist UNIT, following in the footsteps of Tegan, Ace and Mel? We can but hope.
In the meantime, tell us: which of these characters do you think would have made great Doctor Who companions? And who would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
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