# Companion (Doctor Who)

In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, or shares adventures with, the Doctor. A companion is generally the series' co-lead character alongside the Doctor for the duration of their tenure, and in most Doctor Who stories acts as an audience surrogate by providing the lens through which the viewer is introduced to the story, and often, the series itself.
The companion character often furthers the story by asking questions and getting into trouble; also by helping, rescuing, or challenging the Doctor. This designation is applied to a character by the show's producers and appears in the BBC's promotional material and off-screen fictional terminology. The Doctor also refers to the show's other leads as their "friends" or "assistants"; the British press have also used the latter term.

## History

In the earliest episodes of Doctor Who, the dramatic structure of the programme's cast was rather different from the hero-and-sidekick pattern that emerged later. Initially, the character of the Doctor was unclear, with uncertain motives and abilities. The primary protagonists were schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, who provided the audience's point of view in stories set in Earth's history and on alien worlds. Ian in particular served the role of the action hero. The fourth character was the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, who (though initially presented as an "unearthly child") was intended as an identification figure for younger viewers.
Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan Foreman, became unhappy with the lack of development for her character and chose to leave in the show's second series. The character of Susan was married off to a freedom fighter and left behind to rebuild a Dalek-ravaged Earth. Doctor Who's producers replaced Susan with another young female character, Vicki. Similarly, when Ian and Barbara left, the "action hero" position was filled by astronaut Steven Taylor. This grouping of the Doctor, a young heroic male, and an attractive young female became the programme's pattern throughout the 1960s.
When the programme changed to colour in 1970, its format changed: the Doctor was now Earth-bound and acquired a supporting cast by his affiliation with the paramilitary organisation United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT). The Third Doctor, more active and physical than his predecessors, made the role of the "action hero" male companion redundant. In the 1970 season, the Doctor was assisted by scientist Liz Shaw and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, along with other UNIT personnel. The intellectual Shaw was replaced by Jo Grant in the following season, and as the programme returned to occasional adventures in outer space, the format shifted once more: while UNIT continued to provide a regular "home base" for Earth-bound stories, in stories on other planets, the Doctor and Jo became a two-person team with a close, personal bond. This pattern, the Doctor with a single female companion, became a template from which subsequent eras of Doctor Who rarely diverged.
In 1974, the character of Harry Sullivan was created by the production team when it was expected that the Fourth Doctor would be played by an older actor who would have trouble with the activity expressed by his predecessor. The role went to 40-year-old Tom Baker, and the part of Harry, no longer required for the action role, was dropped after one season.
In the Fourth Doctor's final season (1980-1981), he acquired three companions (Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa), and this situation continued under the Fifth Doctor for much of his first season. Adric was written out by the method, unusual within the series, of being "killed off" in the serial Earthshock. By the time of the Sixth Doctor in 1985, a single companion had become standard again.
When the series returned in 2005, a single female companion remained the standard format, though intermittent and short-term companions also featured. More consistent exceptions occurred between series 5 and 7, when the Eleventh Doctor travelled with Amy Pond and Rory Williams, and series 10, where the Twelfth Doctor appeared alongside Bill Potts and Nardole. In conjunction with the introduction of the first female Doctor in 2018, the Thirteenth Doctor's era features multiple companions (both male and female) throughout.

## Definition

Although the term "companion" is designated to specific characters by the show's producers and appears in the BBC's promotional material and off-screen fictional terminology, there is no formal definition that constitutes such a designation. The definition of who is and is not a companion becomes less clear in the newer series. During the Doctor's latest incarnations, his primary companions, such as Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, have fulfilled a distinct dramatic role, more significant than other, less prominent TARDIS travellers such as Adam, Jack, and Mickey. The British press referred to Martha as the "first ethnic minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who" despite the presence of Mickey Smith in the previous series—including several episodes in which he travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor.
The opening credits do little to clarify the situation. In the first two series of the renewed programme, the only supporting actor to receive a title credit is Billie Piper, although short-term companions Bruno Langley (Adam Mitchell), John Barrowman (Jack Harkness) and Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) all appear. In the third series, Barrowman receives a title credit for his return to the show alongside permanent cast member Freema Agyeman, and in series four Agyeman is restored to the opening titles for her return arc as Martha Jones. Series four also gives Agyeman, Piper, Barrowman, and Elisabeth Sladen title billing for their reappearances in the final two-parter. Clarke also reprises his role in the series four finale; although listed as a companion alongside the other actors on the BBC Doctor Who website, Clarke is not credited in this way. In "The End of Time", John Simm receives title billing for his antagonist role as the Master, ahead of Bernard Cribbins as companion Wilfred Mott. In subsequent years, Claire Skinner, Nick Frost and Mark Gatiss have received title credits in special episodes for roles that are not considered companions, as does Piper for her non-companion return in "The Day of the Doctor".
Companions in the new series also have a more flexible tenure than their classical predecessors. Several companion characters have returned to the series after leaving the Doctor's company, most notably in the Series Four finale "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008), which features a record eight past, present and future companions: Donna is joined by a returning Rose, Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, and Mickey, while past companion K9 and future companion Wilfred Mott make appearances. This tendency, plus the increase in "one-off" companions like Astrid Peth and Jackson Lake, has further obscured the matter of who is and is not a companion.

## Role

The Doctor's companions have assumed a variety of roles—involuntary passengers, assistants (particularly Liz Shaw), friends, and fellow adventurers; and, of course, he regularly gains new companions and loses old ones. Sometimes they return home, and sometimes they find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. A few companions have died during their travels with the Doctor, such as the 12th Doctor's companion Bill Potts. Some have taken trips in the TARDIS by accident like Rose's mother, Jackie Tyler.
Most companions travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor for more than one adventure. Sometimes a guest character takes a role in the story similar to that of a companion, such as photographer Isobel Watkins, who plays a significant role in The Invasion (1968), or Lynda Moss in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" (2005). In the revived era, some guest characters have gained companion status such as Mickey Smith, River Song, Wilfred Mott, and Craig Owens.
Despite the fact that the majority of the Doctor's companions are young, attractive females, the production team for the 1963–89 series maintained a long-standing taboo against any overt romantic involvement in the TARDIS: for example, Peter Davison, as the Fifth Doctor, was not allowed to put his arm around either Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) or Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka). The taboo was controversially broken in the 1996 television movie when the Eighth Doctor was shown kissing companion Grace Holloway. The 2005 series played with this idea by having various characters think that the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler were a couple, which they vehemently denied. Since the series revival, the Doctor has kissed many of his companions, including Rose and Jack, although each instance was not necessarily in a romantic context (see also "The Doctor and romance"). In Series 2 of the revival, the Tenth Doctor and Rose develop a romantic connection. Rose mentions sharing a mortgage with him if he were to ever be trapped with her in "The Satan Pit". At the end of Series 2, in "Doomsday", Rose and the Doctor are forcibly separated. The Doctor "burns up a sun to say goodbye" and Rose tells him "I love you". Rose and Martha each developed romantic feelings toward the Doctor. On the opposite side of the same coin, Amy reacted to the stress of her adventures by very aggressively trying to seduce the Doctor on the eve of her own wedding, despite being in love with her fiancé Rory; the Doctor forcibly pushed her off of himself, though she did not immediately cease her pursuit. The Eleventh Doctor also formed a romantic connection with occasional companion River Song, later marrying her.

### Returning to the series

Companions rarely returned during the classic series, with the notable exceptions of The Five Doctors (1983) and The Two Doctors (1985), where companions returned alongside their respective Doctors. Otherwise, only Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) reappears shortly after his departure as a companion in The Android Invasion (1975), and all of the Fifth Doctor's former companions make cameo appearances as he regenerates in The Caves of Androzani (1984). Original companion Ian Chesterton (Wiliam Russell) was planned to return in Mawdryn Undead (1983), but proved unavailable, and Louise Jameson declined an offer to return as Leela for season 19 (1982).
Since the programme's return in 2005, companions have returned to the series more routinely. With the exception of Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), all regular companions have returned in some form for their Doctor's final episodes. Additionally, following her initial departure in series 2 (2006), Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) returned in series 4 (2008), appearing briefly throughout the series before fulfilling a starring role in the final three episodes. Piper reprised the role again in the fiftieth anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" (2013). Similarly, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) departed in series 3 (2007) but also returned for multiple episodes of series 4, as well as an arc in series 2 of spin-off series Torchwood (2008). Following her initial one-off appearance in "The Runaway Bride" (2006), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) served as the primary companion throughout series 4, before returning again in the sixtieth anniversary specials (2023).
Classic era companions have also returned to the new series, beginning with Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Following her initial reappearance in "School Reunion" (2006), Sladen led spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), and returned to Doctor Who in "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" (2008) and "The End of Time" (2010). Former companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) also appeared in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor (2010), where she meets the Eleventh Doctor. In "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) return to the series as one-off companions, with Ian, Jo and Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) also briefly appearing. Melanie subsequently appears in a recurring role as a member of UNIT, alongside the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors.

## Families and childhoods

In the classic era, companions' friends and families were rarely depicted, and almost all were kept unaware of the true nature of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
Conversely, families and friends of most companions in the revived era are extensively depicted, and their adventures with the Doctor are generally not kept secret. The revived era has also featured a number of companions related to other companions by blood or marriage (Donna Noble's grandfather Wilfred Mott; Amy Pond's fiancé (later husband) Rory Williams, and the couple's daughter River Song; former companions Mickey Smith and Martha Jones who married subsequent to their companionship; Graham O'Brien and step-grandson Ryan Sinclair). No such relationships occurred among companions in the classic era, although original companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are reported in the revived era to have married subsequent to their companionship, and Ben Jackson and Polly are likewise reported to be together. The families of some classic-era companions too have been depicted in the revived era, such as Jo Grant (now known as Jo Jones)'s grandson Santiago Jones; and Sarah Jane Smith's parents, adopted son Luke Smith, adopted daughter Sky Smith, and alternate timeline fiancé Peter Dalton; and Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter Kate Stewart.
Another change in the revived era is the depiction of many companions' pre-Doctor lives, particularly their childhoods; no companion was so depicted in the classic era. Companions Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Adelaide Brooke, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song and Clara Oswald have all been portrayed in their youths by juvenile actors on Doctor Who; the pre-companionship lives of the Pond-Williams-Song family being particularly well-documented. Companions Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith have also been depicted in their youths on their respective spin-off series.

## Loss of a companion

In the original run of the show, companions were mostly written as leaving of their own accord, with only a few exceptions. The first death of a regular companion was of Adric, in the 1982 serial Earthshock. This is different in the revived era, with companions more often given tragic endings and the show exploring the theme of loss more. Demaris Oxman makes further distinction of the way this theme is explored by different showrunners, arguing that companions in Steven Moffat's time as showrunner tended to have more tragic endings, while Russell T. Davies wrote departures closely tied to each companion's character.
The impact of such losses has been explored within the show. For example, the loss of Amy and Rory Williams drives the Eleventh Doctor into solitude in Victorian London where he refuses to get involved in the world's affairs anymore. Series 9 dealt with the Twelfth Doctor's growing fear over the potential of losing Clara Oswald. Her death in "Face the Raven" leads the Doctor to undertake extreme measures to undo her fate, as depicted in the Series 9 finale "Hell Bent". The impact of the death of his wife, River Song, is a subplot of both "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio".
Steven Moffat, showrunner between 2010 and 2017, has stated that companion deaths are "wrong for Doctor Who", explaining that he does not believe the show should represent the "grittiness" of real life.

### Deaths

Several companions are shown to have died in the show's history:
* Katarina, killed in episode 4 of The Daleks' Master Plan when she opens the airlock of a spaceship after being taken hostage by a convict.
* Sara Kingdom is killed in episode 12 of The Daleks' Master Plan when she undergoes extreme ageing as a side effect of the First Doctor's activation of a Time Destructor device.
* Adric dies at the end of Episode 4 of Earthshock while trying to prevent the explosion of a bomb-laden space freighter in Earth's atmosphere.
* Kamelion, an android companion, is destroyed by the Fifth Doctor in Episode 4 of Planet of Fire as an act of mercy after Kamelion is taken over by the Master and asks the Doctor to destroy him.
* K9 Mark III sacrifices himself in "School Reunion" to save the Doctor and his friends from a group of aliens. The subsequent K-9 Mark IV that the Doctor leaves with Sarah Jane tells her that the Mark III's files have been transferred to the new machine.
* Astrid Peth sacrifices herself to kill Max Capricorn by driving him into a reactor core at the end of "Voyage of the Damned". The Tenth Doctor partially resurrects her and sends her atoms into space.
* Adelaide Brooke kills herself in "The Waters of Mars" to preserve a fixed point in time.
Others are implied (or said) to have died years after parting company with the Doctor:
* The Eleventh Doctor learns of the death of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in "The Wedding of River Song" via phone call, coinciding with the death of actor Nicholas Courtney.
* Sarah Jane Smith is confirmed to be dead by 2023 in "The Giggle" by the Fifteenth Doctor when talking to the Fourteenth Doctor about what they had lost, adding that they "loved her". The 2020 webcast ‘Farewell Sarah Jane’ depicts her funeral, with numerous past companions attending as well as the children she mentored in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
* Clara Oswald is implied to have at some point died a permanent death but is able to continue living indefinitely after departing the Doctor.

#### Mitigations

Not all companion deaths have been permanent. Several companions have been resurrected at some point in the series, including Jack Harkness, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald, and Bill Potts. Other companions died in alternate timelines or alternate lives. In Inferno, evil counterparts of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Liz Shaw, and John Benton died in the destruction of their universe's Earth.
* In The Trial of a Time Lord Peri Brown is killed by King Yrcanos in Mindwarp after her brain is replaced by that of Kiv, a member of the Mentor race. In The Ultimate Foe, however, it is revealed that Peri had not been killed and had become Yrcanos's consort.
* Grace Holloway is killed by the Master, but revived by the TARDIS's link to the Eye of Harmony during the 1996 television movie.
* Jack Harkness is killed by Daleks, but is brought back to life and given immortality by Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". He died several times in Doctor Who and Torchwood, always returning to life soon afterwards. In "Last of the Time Lords" it is hinted that Harkness might become the Face of Boe, who dies peacefully in "Gridlock" after living for billions of years.
* River Song sacrifices herself in "Forest of the Dead" to save the Doctor's life, but he uploads a digital copy of her consciousness to the data core. River continues to appear in the series at earlier points in her life, and her post-death consciousness reappears in "The Name of the Doctor"
* Rory Williams is killed several times throughout his run. First by the Silurian Restac at the end of "Cold Blood", sacrificing himself to protect the Doctor. He is consumed by a crack in time, which wipes him from existence. Rory reappears in "The Pandorica Opens" as an Auton duplicate created from Amy Pond's memories, and is restored to his old life with the rest of the universe in "The Big Bang". He is shown dying of old age in "The Angels Take Manhattan", in front of himself, Amy Pond, the Eleventh Doctor and his daughter River Song. He and Amy negate the timeline by jumping off a roof, preventing him from being sent further back in time to die of old age downstairs. This kills them both, but they are resurrected when the timeline where they died is negated.
* Amy and Rory are touched by a Weeping Angel and become stuck in Manhattan in "The Angels Take Manhattan". They then die of old age.
* An older version of Amy is erased from existence in "The Girl Who Waited" after helping the Doctor and Rory rescue a younger Amy. When the Doctor admits that both Amys cannot exist in the same timeline, the older Amy chooses to stay behind.
* Clara is killed during "Face the Raven" but resurrected by the Doctor in "Hell Bent".
* Bill Potts is shot and killed by the colony ship's last crew member to halt the advance of the Cybermen in "World Enough and Time". She is converted into an original Mondasian Cyberman and, during "The Doctor Falls", is saved from her grim fate by being turned into sentient humanoid oil by an alien from her first episode.

#### Spin-off media

Several TV companions have died in spin-off media:
* Liz Shaw dies in the 1997 Virgin New Adventures novel Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore, the victim of an extraterrestrial terraforming virus contracted while part of a UNIT team investigating an alien artefact on the Moon. This is contradicted by The Sarah Jane Adventures episode Death of the Doctor, which indicates that Liz Shaw is alive and working on the Moon in 2010; the novel is set in 2003.
* Ace is killed by an explosion in the comic storyline Ground Zero while a companion of the Seventh Doctor. This is also contradicted by the Sarah Jane Adventures storyline Death of the Doctor which indicates she is still alive in 2010, no longer travelling with the Doctor, and running a charity called ACE. Ace then appeared in 2022's The Power of the Doctor.
* Jamie McCrimmon dies an elderly man in the comic storyline The World Shapers.
* Tegan's death is at least implied in the audio "The Gathering", which features the Fifth Doctor meeting her in 2006 and learning that she has an inoperable brain tumor, apparently due to her exposure to alien technology. This is contradicted by her return to the TV series in "The Power of the Doctor", which depicted her assisting UNIT and living a much fuller life in 2022.
* Adam Mitchell is killed by an explosion in the comic storyline Prisoners of Time, sacrificing himself to thwart the Master's attempt to destroy reality and saving all eleven Doctors and their companions.
* Leela dies long after Gallifrey is destroyed (it is implied that she survived the Time War) in a trilogy of Big Finish's Companion Chronicles stories, where she is held prisoner by an alien race called the Z'nai.
* In the 2020 web story Farewell, Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane Smith is said to have died; this has since been confirmed in "The Giggle".

## List of companions on television

The "last serial" column only includes the last serial in which they appeared in a companion role and excludes minor roles, cameos, flashbacks, and so forth. Also, the table refers solely to adventures with the respective Doctor. Some companions who appear with two or more Doctors appear in separate tables.

### First Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Susan Foreman | Carole Ann Ford | 1, 2, 1983 special | An Unearthly Child | "The Five Doctors" |
| Barbara Wright | Jacqueline Hill | 1, 2 | An Unearthly Child | The Chase |
| Ian Chesterton | William Russell | 1, 2 | An Unearthly Child | The Chase |
| Vicki | Maureen O'Brien | 2, 3 | The Rescue | The Myth Makers |
| Steven Taylor | Peter Purves | 2, 3 | The Chase | The Savages |
| Katarina | Adrienne Hill | 3 | The Myth Makers | The Daleks' Master Plan |
| Sara Kingdom | Jean Marsh | 3 | The Daleks' Master Plan | The Daleks' Master Plan |
| Dodo Chaplet | Jackie Lane | 3 | The Massacre | The War Machines |
| Polly | Anneke Wills | 3, 4 | The War Machines | The Tenth Planet |
| Ben Jackson | Michael Craze | 3, 4 | The War Machines | The Tenth Planet |

### Second Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Polly | Anneke Wills | 4 | The Power of the Daleks | The Faceless Ones |
| Ben Jackson | Michael Craze | 4 | The Power of the Daleks | The Faceless Ones |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Frazer Hines | 4, 5, 6, 22 | The Highlanders | The Two Doctors |
| Victoria Waterfield | Deborah Watling | 4, 5 | The Evil of the Daleks | Fury from the Deep |
| Zoe Heriot | Wendy Padbury | 5, 6 | The Wheel in Space | The War Games |
| Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart | Nicholas Courtney | 1983 special | "The Five Doctors" | "The Five Doctors" |

### Third Doctor

The final three listed characters, all associated with UNIT during the Third Doctor's exile to Earth, are sometimes considered his companions despite appearing irregularly during his tenure.
| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Liz Shaw | Caroline John | 7 | Spearhead from Space | Inferno |
| Jo Grant | Katy Manning | 8, 9, 10 | Terror of the Autons | The Green Death |
| Sarah Jane Smith | Elisabeth Sladen | 11, 1983 special | The Time Warrior | "The Five Doctors" |
| UNIT |||||
| Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart | Nicholas Courtney | 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 | Spearhead from Space | Planet of the Spiders |
| Sergeant John Benton | John Levene | 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 | The Ambassadors of Death | Planet of the Spiders |
| Captain Mike Yates | Richard Franklin | 8, 9, 10, 11 | Terror of the Autons | Planet of the Spiders |

### Fourth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Sarah Jane Smith | Elisabeth Sladen | 12, 13, 14 | Robot | The Hand of Fear |
| Harry Sullivan | Ian Marter | 12, 13 | Robot | Terror of the Zygons |
| Leela | Louise Jameson | 14, 15 | The Face of Evil | The Invasion of Time |
| K9 | John Leeson / David Brierly (voices) | 15, 16, 17, 18 | The Invisible Enemy | Warriors' Gate |
| Romana I | Mary Tamm | 16 | The Ribos Operation | The Armageddon Factor |
| Romana II | Lalla Ward | 17, 18, 1983 special | Destiny of the Daleks | "The Five Doctors" |
| Adric | Matthew Waterhouse | 18 | Full Circle | Logopolis |
| Nyssa | Sarah Sutton | 18 | Logopolis | Logopolis |
| Tegan Jovanka | Janet Fielding | 18 | Logopolis | Logopolis |

### Fifth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Adric | Matthew Waterhouse | 19 | Castrovalva | Earthshock |
| Nyssa | Sarah Sutton | 19, 20 | Castrovalva | Terminus |
| Tegan Jovanka | Janet Fielding | 19, 20, 21 | Castrovalva | Resurrection of the Daleks |
| Vislor Turlough | Mark Strickson | 20, 21 | Mawdryn Undead | Planet of Fire |
| Kamelion | Gerald Flood (voice) | 20, 21 | The King's Demons | Planet of Fire |
| Peri Brown | Nicola Bryant | 21 | Planet of Fire | The Caves of Androzani |

### Sixth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Peri Brown | Nicola Bryant | 21, 22, 23 | The Twin Dilemma | Mindwarp |
| Mel Bush | Bonnie Langford | 23 | Terror of the Vervoids | The Ultimate Foe |

### Seventh Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Mel Bush | Bonnie Langford | 24 | Time and the Rani | Dragonfire |
| Ace | Sophie Aldred | 24, 25, 26 | Dragonfire | Survival |

### Eighth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Seasons | First serial | Last serial |
| Grace Holloway | Daphne Ashbrook | – | Doctor Who | Doctor Who |

### Ninth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Rose Tyler | Billie Piper | 1 | "Rose" | "The Parting of the Ways" |
| Adam Mitchell | Bruno Langley | 1 | "Dalek" | "The Long Game" |
| Captain Jack Harkness | John Barrowman | 1 | "The Empty Child" | "The Parting of the Ways" |

### Tenth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Rose Tyler | Billie Piper | 2, 4 | "The Christmas Invasion" | "Journey's End" |
| Mickey Smith | Noel Clarke | 2, 4 | "School Reunion" | "Journey's End" |
| Donna Noble | Catherine Tate | 2006 special, 4 | "The Runaway Bride" | "Journey's End" |
| Martha Jones | Freema Agyeman | 3, 4 | "Smith and Jones" | "Journey's End" |
| Captain Jack Harkness | John Barrowman | 3, 4 | "Utopia" | "Journey's End" |
| Astrid Peth | Kylie Minogue | 2007 special | "Voyage of the Damned" | "Voyage of the Damned" |
| Sarah Jane Smith | Elisabeth Sladen | 2, 4 | "The Stolen Earth" | "Journey's End" |
| Jackson Lake | David Morrissey | 2008 special | "The Next Doctor" | "The Next Doctor" |
| Rosita Farisi | Velile Tshabalala | 2008 special | "The Next Doctor" | "The Next Doctor" |
| Lady Christina de Souza | Michelle Ryan | 2009 Easter special | "Planet of the Dead" | "Planet of the Dead" |
| Adelaide Brooke | Lindsay Duncan | 2009 Autumn special | "The Waters of Mars" | "The Waters of Mars" |
| Wilfred Mott | Bernard Cribbins | 2009–10 specials | "The End of Time Part One" | "The End of Time Part Two" |

### Eleventh Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Amy Pond | Karen Gillan | 5, 6, 7 | "The Eleventh Hour" | "The Angels Take Manhattan" |
| Rory Williams | Arthur Darvill | 5, 6, 7 | "The Vampires of Venice" | "The Angels Take Manhattan" |
| River Song | Alex Kingston | 6 | "The Impossible Astronaut" | "The Wedding of River Song" |
| Craig Owens | James Corden | 6 | "Closing Time" | "Closing Time" |
| Clara Oswald | Jenna Coleman | 7, 2013 specials | "The Snowmen" | "The Time of the Doctor" |

### Twelfth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Clara Oswald | Jenna Coleman | 8, 9 | "Deep Breath" | "Hell Bent" |
| River Song | Alex Kingston | 2015 special | "The Husbands of River Song" | "The Husbands of River Song" |
| Nardole | Matt Lucas | 2016 special, 10 | "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" | "The Doctor Falls" |
| Bill Potts | Pearl Mackie | 10, 2017 special | "The Pilot" | "Twice Upon a Time" |

### Thirteenth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Graham O'Brien | Bradley Walsh | 11, 12, 2021 special | "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" | "Revolution of the Daleks" |
| Ryan Sinclair | Tosin Cole | 11, 12, 2021 special | "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" | "Revolution of the Daleks" |
| Yasmin Khan | Mandip Gill | 11, 12, 13, 2022 specials | "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" | "The Power of the Doctor" |
| Captain Jack Harkness | John Barrowman | 2021 special | "Revolution of the Daleks" | "Revolution of the Daleks" |
| Dan Lewis | John Bishop | 13, 2022 specials | "The Halloween Apocalypse" | "The Power of the Doctor" |
| Ace | Sophie Aldred | 2022 specials | "The Power of the Doctor" | "The Power of the Doctor" |
| Tegan Jovanka | Janet Fielding | 2022 specials | "The Power of the Doctor" | "The Power of the Doctor" |

### Fourteenth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Donna Noble | Catherine Tate | 2023 specials | "The Star Beast" | "The Giggle" |

### Fifteenth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First episode | Last episode |
| Ruby Sunday | Millie Gibson | 14, 15 | "The Church on Ruby Road" | — |
| Joy Almondo | Nicola Coughlan | 2024 special | "Joy to the World" | "Joy to the World" |
| Belinda Chandra | Varada Sethu | 15 | — | — |

## List of companions from other media

The Doctor Who spin-off media have seen the creation of new characters acting as new companions to the Doctor. Most of them have been created to feature as companions for the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctor, in the new products presenting themselves as a prosecution of their adventures beyond the TV series, but there also are new companions for other Doctors. None of them have been featured on television, except for the mention of some Big Finish Productions original characters in the minisode The Night of the Doctor; however, some of them have passed from one media to another.

### First Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| John and Gillian | — | TV Comic strips | The Klepton Parasites (1964) | The Experimenters (1966) |
| Oliver Harper | Tom Allen | Big Finish Productions audios | The Perpetual Bond (2011) | The First Wave (2011) |

### Second Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| John and Gillian | — | TV Comic strips | The Extortioners (1966–67) | Invasion of the Quarks (1968) |

### Third Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Jeremy Fitzoliver | Richard Pearce | BBC Radio dramas | The Paradise of Death (1993) | The Ghosts of N-Space (1996) |

### Fourth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Sharon Davies | Rhianne Starbuck | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Doctor Who and the Star Beast (1980) | Dreamers of Death (1981) |
| Mrs Wibbsey | Susan Jameson | BBC audiobooks | The Stuff of Nightmares (2009) | Survivors in Space (2011) |
| Ann Kelso | Jane Slavin | Big Finish Productions audios | The Sinestran Kill (2019) | The Perfect Prisoners (2019) |
| Margaret Hopwood | Nerys Hughes | Big Finish Productions audios | Ice Heist! (2023) | The Ghost of Margaret (2023) |
| Naomi Cross | Eleanor Crooks | Big Finish Productions audios | The Storm of the Sea Devils (2024) | Dominant Species (2024) |

### Fifth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Gus Goodman | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Lunar Lagoon (1983) | The Moderator (1984) |
| Erimem | Caroline Morris | Big Finish Productions audios | The Eye of the Scorpion (2001) | The Bride of Peladon (2008) |
| Thomas Brewster | John Pickard | Big Finish Productions audios | The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008) | A Perfect World (2008) |
| Amy | Ciara Janson | Big Finish Productions audios | The Judgement of Isskar (2009) | The Chaos Pool (2009) |
| Hannah Bartholomew | Francesca Hunt | Big Finish Productions audios | Moonflesh (2014) | Masquerade (2014) |
| Brooke | Joanna Horton | Big Finish Productions audios | The Lady in the Lake (2018) | The Furies (2018) |
| Marc | George Watkins | Big Finish Productions audios | Tartarus (2019) | Nightmare of the Daleks (2021) |

### Sixth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Frobisher | Robert Jezek | Doctor Who Magazine strips | The Shape Shifter (1984) | The World Shapers (1987) |
| Grant Markham | — | Virgin Missing Adventures | Time of Your Life (1995) | Killing Ground (1996) |
| Evelyn Smythe | Maggie Stables | Big Finish Productions audios | The Marian Conspiracy (2000) | Thicker than Water (2005) |
| Charley Pollard | India Fisher | Big Finish Productions audios | The Condemned (2007) | Blue Forgotten Planet (2009) |
| Mila | India Fisher, Jess Robinson | Big Finish Productions audios | Patient Zero (2009) | Blue Forgotten Planet (2009) |
| Thomas Brewster | John Pickard | Big Finish Productions audios | The Crimes of Thomas Brewster (2011) | Industrial Evolution (2011) |
| Flip Jackson | Lisa Greenwood | Big Finish Productions audios | The Curse of Davros (2012) | TBC |
| Constance Clarke | Miranda Raison | Big Finish Productions audios | Criss-Cross (2015) | TBC |
| Hebe Harrison | Ruth Madeley | The Rotting Deep (2022) | The Wrong Side of History (2023) | TBC |

### Seventh Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Frobisher | Robert Jezek | Doctor Who Magazine strips | A Cold Day in Hell! (1987–88) | A Cold Day in Hell! (1987–88) |
| Olla | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | A Cold Day in Hell! (1987–88) | Redemption! (1988) |
| Bernice Summerfield | Lisa Bowerman | Virgin New Adventures | Love and War (1992) | Happy Endings (1996) |
| Roz Forrester | Yasmin Bannerman | Virgin New Adventures | Original Sin (1995) | So Vile a Sin (1997) |
| Chris Cwej | Travis Oliver | Virgin New Adventures | Original Sin (1995) | Lungbarrow (1997) |
| Hex Schofield | Philip Olivier | Big Finish Productions audios | The Harvest (2004) | Signs and Wonders (2014) |
| Elizabeth Klein | Tracey Childs | Big Finish Productions audios | A Thousand Tiny Wings (2010) | Daleks Among Us (2013) |
| Lysandra Aristedes | Maggie O'Neill | Big Finish Productions audios | Project: Destiny (2010) | Gods and Monsters (2012) |
| Raine Creevy | Beth Chalmers | Big Finish Productions audios | Crime of the Century (2011) | UNIT: Dominion (2012) |
| Sally Morgan | Amy Pemberton | Big Finish Productions audios | House of Blue Fire (2011) | Afterlife (2013) |
| Will Arrowsmith | Christian Edwards | Big Finish Productions audios | Persuasion (2013) | Daleks Among Us (2013) |
| Naomi Cross | Eleanor Crooks | Big Finish Productions audios | London Orbital (2022) | TBC |

### Eighth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Stacy Townsend | — | Radio Times strips | Dreadnought (1996) | Coda (1997) |
| Ssard | — | Radio Times strips | Dreadnought (1996) | Coda (1997) |
| Izzy Sinclair | Jemima Rooper | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Endgame (1996) | Oblivion (2002–03) |
| Fey Truscott-Sade | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Tooth and Claw (1997) | Wormwood (1998) |
| Destrii | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Ophidius (2001) | The Flood (2004–05) |
| Bernice Summerfield | Lisa Bowerman | Virgin New Adventures | The Dying Days (1997) | The Dying Days (1997) |
| Sam Jones | — | Eighth Doctor Adventures | The Eight Doctors (1997) | Interference – Book Two (1999) |
| Fitz Kreiner | Matt Di Angelo | Eighth Doctor Adventures | The Taint (1999) | The Gallifrey Chronicles (2005) |
| Compassion | Jackie Skarvellis | Eighth Doctor Adventures | Interference – Book One (1999) | The Ancestor Cell (2000) |
| Anji Kapoor | — | Eighth Doctor Adventures | Escape Velocity (2001) | Timeless (2003) |
| Trix MacMillan | — | Eighth Doctor Adventures | Time Zero (2002) | The Gallifrey Chronicles (2005) |
| Charley Pollard | India Fisher | Big Finish Productions audios | Storm Warning (2001) | The Girl Who Never Was (2007) |
| C'rizz | Conrad Westmaas | Big Finish Productions audios | The Creed of the Kromon (2004) | Absolution (2007) |
| Lucie Miller | Sheridan Smith | Big Finish Productions audios | Blood of the Daleks (2007) | To the Death (2011) |
| Mary Shelley | Julie Cox | Big Finish Productions audios | The Company of Friends (2009) | Army of Death (2011) |
| Tamsin Drew | Niky Wardley | Big Finish Productions audios | Situation Vacant (2010) | To the Death (2011) |
| Molly O'Sullivan | Ruth Bradley, Sorcha Cusack | Big Finish Productions audios | The Great War (2012) | Rule of the Eminence (2014) |
| Liv Chenka | Nicola Walker | Big Finish Productions audios | The Traitor (2014) | Best Year Ever (2022) |
| Helen Sinclair | Hattie Morahan | Big Finish Productions audios | The Red Lady (2015) | TBC |
| Josie Day | — | Titan Comics | The Pictures of Josephine Day (2015) | A Matter of Life and Death (2016) |
| Bliss | Rakhee Thakrar | Big Finish Productions audios | The Starship of Theseus (2017) | Restoration of the Daleks (2020) |
| Tania Bell | Rebecca Root | Big Finish Productions audios | Lost Property (2020) | Best Year Ever (2022) |
| Andy Davidson | Tom Price | Big Finish Productions audios | Must-See TV (2020) | Best Year Ever (2022) |
| Alex Campbell | Sonny McGann | Big Finish Productions audios | Meanwhile, Elsewhere (2023) | TBC |
| Cass Fermazzi | Emma Campbell-Jones | Big Finish Productions audios | Meanwhile, Elsewhere (2023) | TBC |
| Audacity Montague | Jaye Griffiths | Big Finish Productions audios | The Devouring (2023) | TBC |

### War Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Cinder | — | New Series Adventures | Engines of War (2014) | Engines of War (2014) |
| Cardinal Ollistra | Jacqueline Pearce | Big Finish Productions audios | The Innocent (2015) | The Enigma Dimension (2017) |
| Case | Ajjaz Awad | Big Finish Productions audios | Consequences (2021) | Exit Strategy (2023) |
| Cora | Sheila Ruskin | Big Finish Productions audios | Morbius the Mighty (2024) | Morbius the Mighty (2024) |

### Ninth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Tara Mishra | — | Titan Comics | Official Secrets (2016) | The Bidding War (2017) |
| Nova | Camilla Beeput | Big Finish Productions audios | Sphere of Freedom (2021) | Food Fight (2021) |
| Liv Chenka | Nicola Walker | Big Finish Productions audios | Flatpack (2022) | Flatpack (2022) |
| Tania Bell | Rebecca Root | Big Finish Productions audios | Flatpack (2022) | Flatpack (2022) |
| Callen Lennox | Adam Martyn | Big Finish Productions audios | Red Darkness (2023) | The Green Gift (2023) |
| Doyle | Harki Bhambra | Big Finish Productions audios | Red Darkness (2023) | The Green Gift (2023) |
| Bernice Summerfield | Lisa Bowerman | Big Finish Productions audios | Ancient History (2024) | Ancient History (2024) |

### Tenth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Majenta Pryce | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | Thinktwice (2008) | The Crimson Hand (2009–10) |
| Heather McCrimmon | — | Doctor Who Adventures strips | The Chromosome Connection (2009) | Dead-line (2010) |
| Wolfgang Ryter | — | Doctor Who Adventures strips | Flight of the Giurgeax (2009) | Bad Wolfie (2009) |
| Matthew Finnegan | — | IDW Publishing comics | Silver Scream (2009) | Final Sacrifice (2010) |
| Emily Winter | — | IDW Publishing comics | Silver Scream (2009) | Final Sacrifice (2010) |
| Gabby Gonzalez | — | Titan Comics | Revolutions of Terror (2014) | The Good Companion (2018) |
| Cindy Wu | — | Titan Comics | Arena of Fear (2014) | The Good Companion (2018) |
| Anubis | — | Titan Comics | Breakfast at Tyranny's (2017) | The Good Companion (2018) |
| Anya Kingdom | Jane Slavin | Big Finish Productions audios | Buying Time (2021) | The Triumph of Davros (2021) |
| Mark Seven | Joe Sims | Big Finish Productions audios | Buying Time (2021) | The Triumph of Davros (2021) |

### Eleventh Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Kevin | — | IDW Publishing comics | When Worlds Collide (2011) | Space Squid (2011) |
| Decky Flamboon | — | Doctor Who Adventures strips | Meteorite Meeting (2012) | The Tail of Decky Flamboon (2013) |
| Alice Obiefune | — | Titan Comics | After Life (2014) | Without a Paddle (2018) |
| John Jones | — | Titan Comics | What He Wants... (2014) | The Scream (2017) |
| ARC | — | Titan Comics | Whodunnit (2014) | The Comfort of the Good (2015) |
| Abslom Daak | — | Titan Comics | The Then and the Now (2015) | Physician, Heal Thyself (2016) |
| The Squire | — | Titan Comics | The Then and the Now (2015) | Gently Pulls the Strings (2016) |
| The Sapling | — | Titan Comics | The Scream (2018) | Hungry Thirsty Roots (2018) |
| Valarie Lockwood | Safiyya Ingar | Big Finish Productions audios | The Inheritance (2022) | Victory of the Doctor (2024) |
| Roanna | Mia Tomlinson | Big Finish Productions audios | Daleks Victorious (2024) | Victory of the Doctor (2024) |

### Twelfth Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Hattie Munroe | — | Titan Comics | "The Twist" (2016) | "Beneath the Waves" (2017) |
| Jess Collins | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | "The Pestilent Heart" (2016) | "Doorway to Hell" (2017) |
| Maxwell Collins | — | Doctor Who Magazine strips | "Moving In" (2016) | "Doorway to Hell" (2017) |
| Jata | — | Doctor Who Adventures strips | "From the Horse's Mouth" (2016) | "Killer App" (2017) |
| Alex Yow | — | Big Finish Productions audios | "The Lost Angel" | "The Lost Flame" |
| Brandon Yow | — | Big Finish Productions audios | "The Lost Angel" | "The Lost Flame" |
| Keira Sanstrom | Bhavnisha Parmar | Big Finish Productions audios | "Flight to Calandra" (2021) | "You Only Die Twice" (2024) |

### Fugitive Doctor

| Companion | Actor | Series | First story | Last story |
| Taslo | — | Titan Comics | Origins (2022) | Origins (2022) |