And another thing: While on Doctor Who, Troughton, Hines and Padbury were known by the nicknames Fluff, Cough and Fart respectively.
WELCOME ONBOARD
Companions join the Doctor for all kind of reasons, but which is the most popular?
HELLO, GOODBYE
The first and last things the Doctor ever said to his companions.
HAVEN’T I SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE BEFORE?
The role of the Doctor’s new companion is one of the most hotly contested parts on British television – but sometimes it’s a case of being in the right place at the right time… and just sometimes it’s enough to have already appeared in Doctor Who…
First: Morton Dill
Later: Steven Taylor
Blue Peter may have been a few years in the future for Peter Purves in 1965, but it was a matter of just weeks between the actor’s first Doctor Who appearance and his second. He was cast as American tourist Morton Dill in the third episode of The Chase, encountering the Daleks at the top of the Empire State Building. The young actor got on well with William Hartnell and Maureen O’Brien and was offered the part of new companion, space pilot Steven Taylor, appearing just three weeks after his original debut.
First: Bret Vyon
Later: The Brigadier
Nicholas Courtney’s first appearance in Doctor Who was as dashing Space Security Agent Bret Vyon in The Daleks’ Master Plan, opposite William Hartnell. He very nearly missed out on being cast as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in 1967 when the role went to future Upstairs Downstairs star David Langton, with Courtney booked to play Captain Knight. Langton was forced to pull out at the last minute due to other work commitments, leading to Courtney’s subsequent promotion to Colonel. One false moustache later and Doctor Who history was made!
First: Monsters
Later: Sergeant Benton
John Levene played uncredited roles in two Patrick Troughton stories – as a Cyberman in The Moonbase and a Yeti in The Web of Fear. He was scheduled to once again don a cyber-suit for The Invasion, but the tardiness of another actor saw him cast as Corporal Benton. The rest is history.
First: Lieutenant John Andrews
Later: Harry Sullivan
Ian Marter had narrowly missed out on playing the role of Captain Mike Yates in 1971, but producer Barry Letts later cast him as Andrews in Carnival of Monsters. In 1974, he became the Fourth Doctor’s first male companion.
First: Princess Astra
Later: Romana
Having decided to leave Doctor Who, Mary Tamm suggested Lalla Ward, who had appeared as Princess Astra in The Armageddon Factor, as her replacement. Two months later, Ward was cast as the new Romana.
First: Adeola Ashodi
Later: Martha Jones
Freema Agyeman so impressed the Doctor Who production team when she played Adeola in 2006’s Doomsday that she was invited back to audition for the role of Martha Jones – under the pretence she was testing for a role in Torchwood to maintain secrecy. When Martha appeared in 2007, her resemblance to Adeola was explained by revealing the two girls were cousins.
First: Soothsayer
Later: Amy Pond
Former model Karen Gillan had a small supporting role as a Soothsayer in 2008’s The Fires of Pompeii. Two years later, she was making her debut as the Doctor’s future mother-in-law.
And one more…
First: Commander Maxil
Later: The Sixth Doctor
Colin Baker feared that his guest appearance as Maxil in Arc of Infinity would prevent him from playing the Doctor. Thankfully this was not the case, and the Sixth Doctor stepped into the TARDIS on a full-time basis the following year.
RETURN PERFORMANCES
Sometimes former companions even come back as someone new!
First: Barbara Wright
Later: Lexa
Fifteen years after Barbara Wright, her first Doctor Who role, left the TARDIS, Jacqueline Hill returned to the series as high priestess Lexa in Meglos. To date she is the only companion who’s returned as a completely different character, although John Leeson also played Dugeen in The Power of Kroll while he was lending his vocal talents to K-9.
First: Tom Campbell
Later: Wilfred Mott
Veteran actor Bernard Cribbins was elevated to guest companion as Wilfred Mott for the Tenth Doctor’s final adventure, The End of Time after several semi-regular appearances. Bernard’s time playing Donna’s ‘gramps’ was his second brush with Who fame – although his first wasn’t a role in the BBC series. In the 1966 film Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. he played PC Tom Campbell, companion to Peter Cushing’s Dr Who. Forty-one years later, he appeared as a newspaper vendor in Voyage of the Damned – a role that was later expanded to become Wilfred Mott.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO WHO
A month-by-month guide to the companions’ birthdays.
JANUARY
Deborah Watling
2 January 1948
Richard Franklin
15 January 1936
Daphne Ashbrook
30 January 1963
FEBRUARY
Peter Purves
10 February 1939
MARCH
Freema Agyeman
20 March 1979
Bruno Langley
21 March 1983
Mary Tamm
22 March 1950
John Leeson
March 1943
APRIL
Mark Strickson
6 April 1959
Elisabeth Sladen
19 April 1946
Louise Jameson
20 April 1951