Back in 2005 when the new Doctor Who series began, I barely heard of the property, and had never seen it.

Now three seasons later, I am hopelessly addicted.

Unlike a lot of new programs (well, new to me), Doctor Who has some 26 seasons of new material to dive into. After watching a few episodes from various seasons (and Doctors), I decided to start fresh, and attempt to watch the entire Doctor Who “saga” in order, starting with the very first episode - “An Unearthly Child.” Along the way, it seemed logical to start to rank the various Doctors and Companions as I went along. Sure, this has been done before, but all the ones I have seen have been made by fans who followed the series before the 2005 series. Being a relatively new “Whovian,” I think I have a unique perspective.

So without further ado, the lists! With the exception of characters from the new series (for the sake of comparison), no character will appear on this list until I get to the episode in which they make their official exit from the show.

For discussion of these lists, and to see where I am in my “Doctor Who - in order” project, visit this thread!

(First / Final)

The Doctor Rankings

#1 David Tennant (10th) - I honestly think this was where Russell T. Davies started getting it right as a writer/producer, and Tennant puts a good concept over the top. He managed to capture the flavor of the character and bring to his incarnation his own memorable idiosyncrasies. He also seems more “in control,” where Eccleston’s Doctor seemed like he was going to snap at any minute. Tennant has just the right mix of seriousness and slapstick, and should be safe in the #1 spot for some time. At least until I get through Tom Baker… (though even that isn’t a lock)

#2 William Hartnell (1st) - I haven’t quite finished his run yet, but I decided to go ahead and include him anyway at the start (it seemed silly to just rank two Doctors). Clearly Hartnell gets a big boost from originating the role, but after watching one season, it is pretty clear why the concept stuck. He plays the cranky old man well - his Doctor was obviously extremely intelligent and quite competent, but he claimed to be more capable than he actually was. He is arogant and dismissive, but also compassionate - Hartnell definitely played a complex character.

#3 Christopher Eccleston (9th) - Eccleston’s Doctor isn’t bad - it was good enough to suck me into Doctor Who and all. But he definitely embodied two things which I don’t typically like - edginess and angst. Everything was so dark and morose with him. And the weird romance with Rose… just yuck! He did a decent job, and I was sad to see him go. It is easy to critique in retrospect, but he really did a passable job, and that smile was something memorable. I don’t think he will be stuck at the bottom forever.

Companion Rankings

#1 Ian Chesterton (An Unearthly Child / The Chase) - Ian was everything that companions today were not: independent, able, not a whore, and he almost always displayed a level of common sense that is virtually absent from today’s companions - including Martha. Granted, choosing to hide in a briefcase when you have been shrunken to 2 inches tall isn’t the smartest thing in the world, but who wouldn’t make that mistake?

As old as his appearances are, seeing him after being first exposed to Rose and Martha was refreshing. I never realized how maddening it was to have the Companions so dependent on the Doctor for everything. Ian fought his own battles, came up with his own plans, berated The Doctor when he deserved it, and often approached problems with a more down-to-earth approach that sometimes proved superior to The Doctor’s line of reasoning. Unlike today, it can be said that there were many troubling situations that The Doctor wouldn’t have survived had it not been for Ian. You just don’t see that much these days.

#2 Barbara Wright (An Unearthly Child / The Chase) - Those of you who that started watching Doctor Who with the new series, did you ever wonder what it would be like to have a Companion who was a normal woman? You know, one that wasn’t crippled by a maddening love for The Doctor, or one that didn’t try and sleep with someone, well - anytime she went anywhere. Or even one that wasn’t deliberately made annoying just so the idea of her and The Doctor having any physical chemistry would be abhorrent? Well, that would be Barbara. Of course, she is a product of the times - maybe if she was created today, she would be a little more sexual. Thankfully, with that in mind, she was created in a much earlier time. 

Despite the period, she was far from a helpless damsel in distress - she was quite strong and extremely independent. In the very first episode it was established that she was a History instructor (She and Ian were Susan Foreman’s teachers), and she had many occasions to make use of that knowledge as they traveled through time. Certainly there were times when she needed a “protector” (naturally, Ian almost always filled that role), and in the Crusade she got about as close to being an actual “damsel in distress” as you could get - but through it all she was independent, strong willed, able, and idealistic.

#3 Donna Noble (The Runaway Bride / Journey’s End) - Donna made quite an impact when we first saw her in The Bride, the 2006 Christmas special. She was coarse, “bitchy,” and many fans found her to be annoying. The episode was well received, and as a one-shot character, she seemed satisfactory. The announcement that she would be taking the place of Martha Jones as the Doctor’s primary companion in Series 4 left many fans a little upset. Donna couldn’t possibly carry the show the way Martha did, could she? “Annoying” was used to describe her time after time, but it was that trait that really set her apart from both Rose and Martha, and made her an even bigger success in her own right. While Rose was simply eye-candy, Martha took things an extra step farther and brought self-reliance to the job. But Martha was still pining after the Doctor, and continued the trend of making the Doctor a romantic lead. The sexual tension between The Doctor and both Rose and Martha was a major weakness in the new Doctor Who stories that Donna shattered. Once again, the Doctor’s companion was a friend - even an equal, who had no desire to “mate with the alien.” And instead of blindly following the Doctor’s will (as he was occasionally wrong on his own), Donna had her own ideas about how things should be done and had absolutely no problems making them known to anyone who would listen. She demanded respect and got it, no matter how outrageous the situation. Her final fate was a tragic one - finally having experienced greatness and wonder, proving herself to be everything her Mother never believed she could be, she was forced to forget it all to save her life. For all of Martha’s strengths as a companion, with Donna, Russell T. Davies finally got it right.

#4 Martha Jones (Smith and Jones / Journey’s End) - Martha is like a Rose Tyler do-over in many ways. While they still have the “hot chick” thing going, Martha is competent and self reliant, something Rose rarely ever was. And while she is obviously in love with the Doctor (there is not a thing wrong with a Companion being in love with the Doctor, it is the reverse that is a problem), she isn’t an unrepentant flirt. Martha really developed through her season, and finally crossed a barrier that Rose never could - she really became independent. Her instant attraction to The Doctor became a sore point here - it seemed like the infatuation was thrust upon the character in her first episode because they felt it was needed, and since they stuck with it. No matter how able or independent she became, she could never fulfill her potential since she always seemed like the little schoolgirl with a crush around The Doctor. This might change when she eventually makes her return, but for now she remains imperfect. Martha is a vast improvement over Rose, but not quite the perfect Companion.

#5 Captain Jack Harkness (The Empty Child / Journey’s End) - Displays one of the classic characteristics of a great character: he is completely hateable. I was not a Captain Jack fan when he first appeared, and though I have grown to really like and appreciate the character (especially through his Torchwood appearances), he still has the capacity to just exude slime. Like Rose (well, even moreso than Rose) Captain Jack is a complete slut, but it works for him (unlike Rose) since there are so many other great aspects of the character. He is confident and capable, and far from being a lapdog. His ongoing character development is extremely interesting, even if you just limit it to his Doctor Who appearances. The whole “Face of Boe” thing is a fascinating angle. If Captain Jack became a regular, recurring companion, he’d overtake Martha in a second. In fact, it is really tough to score him as a companion, since his character has become so interesting in Torchwood, yet we really haven’t seen that level in his appearances in Doctor Who.

#6 Vicki (The Rescue / The Mythmakers) - No last name was given for this companion, the first new companion added to the cast after one of the originals, Susan Foreman, departed. In her first appearance, she seemed little more than a copy of Susan, but she soon proved herself to be much more. In many ways she was a second attempt at crafting the character of Susan, filling the same niche as the young woman of an advanced time to serve as a daughter/granddaughter figure for the Doctor. Unlike Susan, however, Vicki showed a great deal of confidence and self reliance. The characters were in many ways interchangeable, but Vicki was confident and self-assured, asserted her own knowledge and experience when demanded, and rarely ever wilted and whined when faced with adversity, like her predecessor. Her departure from the TARDIS was nearly identical to Susan’s, but the differences made it all the more meaningful. Both left for a boy, but while Susan cried about her decision and had to be virtually kicked off the TARDIS, Vicki left of her own accord, facing the dangers of burning Troy and the rampaging Greeks to seek her love whom she had earlier urged to flee the city, but not without setting in motion the rescue of the Doctor’s other companion Steven, who had been severely wounded.

#7 Mickey Smith (Rose / Journey’s End) - This is all about character development here. When we first see Mickey, he is a real candy-ass. His girlfriend up and leaves with another man, and he just takes it! Like a good little puppy-dog, he stays close to Rose’s home, patiently waiting for her to return. Finally, though, he gets frustrated. He never totally kicks Rose to the curb like she deserves, but he has that “I’m not going to take it anymore!” moment and grows a spine, eventually earning the Doctor’s respect the hard way.

#8 Susan Foreman (An Unearthly Child / The Dalek Invasion of Earth) - The first companion - the Doctor’s granddaughter. A lot of Susan’s flaws as a character were a result of the time I think, and of being totally outshined by Ian and Barbara as companions. It seemed like all Susan managed to do was cry and scream, and sometimes both. She was knowledgeable enough to understand some of the workings of the TARDIS, but she rarely contributed anything positive to the group. This didn’t mean she was a bad character - but they didn’t really use her in a way that would make her a real addition to the show (possibly a reason the actress left). Her final episode was really a shining moment in her character’s history, especially since they finally started to do what they should have done with her all along, pushing the boundaries of her adulthood, and focusing on the eventuality that she would not be able to remain with her Grandfather forever. This is one character that they should bring back at some point. She is a Time Lady - it stands to reason that she would still be around after all this time. Well, unless she too perished in the Time War.

#9 Rose Tyler (The Christmas Invasion / Journey’s End) - Man, Rose is a tough one. She wasn’t terrible, there just wasn’t a lot to her. It seemed like her sole purpose was to stand there and look good, while occasionally playing the damsel in distress. Her constant flirtation could have made for an interesting character trait, but it was totally glossed over in the story. Outside one dig by the 9th Doctor (He’s your boyfriend!) about Adam Mitchell, no one ever seemed at all bothered by her flirtatious ways. Heck, even Mickey didn’t seem to take issue with it! The one real solid character trait Rose has that could provide for some conflict is virtually ignored. Such a pity. Much like the 9th Doctor, she isn’t a terrible character, she just doesn’t have a lot going for her.

#10 Adam Mitchell (Dalek / The Long Game) - Whoa boy, what a waste of space! Of course, Davies pretty well said that Adam was meant to be the “Companion that couldn’t,” so on that front the character was a wild success. Adam hitched along pretty much because Rose developed a liking for him. The character did really help to redefine what a companion is though - his inability to resist temptation showed all the things that a companion shouldn’t do. This really did a lot to show why those who are successful companions are extraordinary people.

#11 Jackie Tyler (The Christmas Invasion / Journey’s End) - Rose’s Mom - she isn’t really considered a proper companion, but since the Doctor practically cops to it in the Torchwood episode (”Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don’t tell people I traveled through time and space with her mother. “), I feel compelled to count her. I honestly find her to be a more interesting character than her daughter, for all the reasons Donna is interesting and more. Jackie seems to fit the mold of the aging widowed mother to a tee. She isn’t that much to look at, but she sometimes seems to think she is. In many ways she acts young - carefree and “on the prowl,” reacting almost violently when someone she finds attractive (like the Doctor) doesn’t really look at her the same way as her far more attractive daughter. In some respects she seems completely over the death of her “no-good husband,” but occasionally deep flashes of pain boil to the surface, and you see that despite all his flaws, she did love him. Not so much a great companion, but a heck of a character.

#12 Astrid Perth (Voyage of the Damned) - To be honest, I am not even sure why she is considered a companion, outside having her name appear in  the credits. She never actually travelled in the TARDIS after all . But she is one, officially, so it makes sense to comment on her briefly. Basically - she is a generic. Uninspiring - Astrid was yet another attractive female lead to cast in order to give the Doctor another woman to share a little romantic tension with. Her death was noble, and the final scene where the Doctor tries to save her somewhat inspiring - but that was more the strength of the story than her as a character. In fact, Voyage of the Damned was a good episode almost in spite of her - her character really wasn’t necessary at all. She was great as a supporting character, just not really worthy of the “Companion” status.

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