John and Gillian John Who and Gillian Who ( PROSE : " Beware the Trods ! " ) were siblings . According to some accounts , they were the grandchildren of the Doctor and travelled with him during his first and second incarnations . ( COMIC : " The Klepton Parasites " to COMIC : " Invasion of the Quarks " ) According to other accounts , they never existed , but were either the dreams of the Doctor ( COMIC : " The Land of Happy Endings " ) or the creations of the Master of the Land of Fiction . ( PROSE : " Conundrum " ) Biography . As real beings . Some accounts held that John and Gillian were real , corporeal beings . According to these , John and Gillian first met their grandfather in 1960s England . They knew he was some kind of inventor , but had evidently never seen him or travelled with him when they found the TARDIS in an empty yard . They entered and he acknowledged them as John and Gillian . During their visit , John playfully touched a button on the console and the TARDIS took them to the 30th century , where they helped the Thain s defeat the invading Klepton s . ( COMIC : " The Klepton Parasites " ) John and Gillian travelled with the Doctor on many adventures , fighting enemies such as Captain Anastas Thrax ( COMIC : " The Hijackers of Thrax " ) , the Zarbi ( COMIC : " On the Web Planet " ) , the Gyro s robots ( COMIC : " The Gyros Injustice " ) the Pied Piper ( COMIC : " Challenge of the Piper " ) and the Trod s . ( COMIC : " Beware the Trods ! " ) The Doctor parted company from them , but reunited with them in his second incarnation . From their perspective , little time had passed . They resumed their adventures and fought other enemies , including the Dalek s and the Cybermen , until they reached their teen years , when the Doctor enrolled them in university on Zebadee to keep them safe from the Quark s . ( COMIC : " Invasion of the Quarks " ) John eventually became a professor and wrote a memo on the dangers of the Trods to Colonel Marc Forest of Special Space Security . At this time , John styled himself " Professor John Who " . ( COMIC : " Beware the Trods ! " ) As imaginary beings . One account claimed that the " Dr . Who " who had travelled with his grandchildren existed in the Land of Fiction . While visiting , the Seventh Doctor encountered a " John " and " Gillian " who claimed he was their grandfather in whose company they had fought the Kleptons and the Trods . They tried to make him remember that his name was Dr . Who , to which he flatly replied with denial . When they pressed further and asked if he remembered them , he said that he didn ' t . ( PROSE : " Conundrum " ) The Eighth Doctor had dream s in which he had adventures with John and Gillian . These dreams helped the Time Lord unwind by suggesting a less complicated reality where " villains are naughty , not evil " , " people never die " and " promises are never broken " . After one such dream , the Doctor awoke refreshed and re - energised . ( COMIC : " The Land of Happy Endings " ) Personalities . John could be known to be rather protective of Gillian , growing upset when she was accidentally left behind when he and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS . ( COMIC : " The Ordeals of Demeter " )