Which Doctor Who Companion Should have died?

[Paul Evans]

I'm curious who YOU would kill off if you were a Doctor Who writer.

Both Hartnell and Davison "suffered" through the death of a companion.

To my knowledge, none of the others really did. They still had to part with companions and say goodbye, but that's not the same as having one die.

I think some companions are "sacred" and therefore couldn't have been killed off. IMO companions like Jamie, Jo, Sarah Jane and Rose were just too important to lose.

I would have written off Victoria during the Troughton years. It's probably not real fair since I've seen little of her, but Troughton had so few companions to choose from and there's no way I'd part with Jamie or Zoe.

Liz Shaw could have easily been killed off during Pertwee's years. She was only on for a season. Jo and Sarah Jane were the only other choices unless you take out a Unit guy.

I hate to say Leela...but she would be the most logical choice to be killed off during the Tom Baker years. I'd put Tegan or Nyssa before Leela, but their time with Baker was too short to really count. Ramona?

I would have killed Mel for sure for Colin Baker or McCoy. She was another short termer.

David Tennant is a no brainer for me. Kill Donna. Please.

Input?

[Mikey]

Even though I hate Mel and think she's the most annoying companion ever I wouldn't kill her off because it would be like slaughtering a lamb

[samurainoir]

Definitely not Donna! I think she was one of the best. I'd kill Rose over Donna.

As much as I dig Leela, I think she would have gone out swinging and taken out whichever baddies were annoying her at the same time. She was too awesome to just go off and get married or whatever they did to write her off in such a contrived way.

I probably don't have a very good perspective since I've only ever really watched Tom Baker, Davidson and Tennant.

But if I could kill a Doctor, it would be Colin Baker.

Who died during the Hartnell years?

[david_b]

Definitely not Donna! I think she was one of the best. I'd kill Rose over Donna.

As much as I dig Leela, I think she would have gone out swinging and taken out whichever baddies were annoying her at the same time. She was too awesome to just go off and get married or whatever they did to write her off in such a contrived way.

I probably don't have a very good perspective since I've only ever really watched Tom Baker, Davidson and Tennant.

But if I could kill a Doctor, it would be Colin Baker.

Who died during the Hartnell years?

FUNNY, those are basically the only three I've watched through and through.., although I have watched a fair amount of Pertwee and perhaps one episode of the others.

Both Donna and Leela ROCKED. 'Face of Evil' and 'Sunmakers' are still my all-time favorites.

david_b

[Chris DVM]

Hey,
I have to agree on Donna. She was one of the best companions of the new series. No romantic ties, kept the Doctor grounded in reality by not being a fawning love struck person, funny and always had the right line. She was not smart, but made up for it with her determination.
Hate to say, but although I love Dr. Who, I really don't know much about it before this resurrection. Saw a bunch when I was a kid, but my memories are fuzzy at best. Baker stands out, of course, and remember bits of the third through seventh doctors, but am completely lost in the rest of this conversation.
Chris DVM

[Paul Evans]

I must admit I'm surprised at the number of Donna supporters here. I always felt that companions take a backseat to the Doctor and don't dare backtalk or lecture him. That was one of the most irritating things about Adric as well (smug little fool). While I'm not a fan of the fawning Rose or Martha either, I prefer that over the nagging Donna. I guess I'd take Captain Jack! (in a non-sexual way, that is)

I think Leela was written out by marriage to show us how much she'd "grown". I love the irony of her being a savage, yet staying on the technically most advanced world in the Universe. But I agree that I might have rather seen her go out with a knife in her hand taking on a group of Sontaraans or something.

Katarina and Sara Kingdom both died during the Hartnell Dalek's Master Plan story. Neither were long time assistants, making their deaths (I would think) less of an impact. In fact, Sara Kingdom isn't thought by many to be a companion since she was only in that one story.

You can find a nice Companion resource here:

Companion (Doctor Who) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[YANOULI]

Colin Bakers Doctor lost Peri ( i don't buy that rubbish about her marrying Brian Blessed ).
Ecclestone and Tennant lost Jack.
Not shown onscreen i know but i think McGann's Doctor lost someone.

I agree about Mel, she was very annoying.

Donna was great, kill off rose or Martha if you want but like the others said Donna kept him grounded and wasn't afraid to challenge him.

" Liz Shaw could have easily been killed off during Pertwee's years. She was only on for a season "

Caroline John ( Liz Shaw ) left because she was pregnant.

[samurainoir]

Hate to say, but although I love Dr. Who, I really don't know much about it before this resurrection. Saw a bunch when I was a kid, but my memories are fuzzy at best. Baker stands out, of course, and remember bits of the third through seventh doctors, but am completely lost in the rest of this conversation.
Chris DVM

Sound like there are more of us who "rediscovered" Doctor Who with the Tennant series. I hadn't seen any of those Baker or Davidson episodes since I watched them as a kid in the eighties. Can't remember most of them, but luckily the internet helps me jog my memories, but I probably don't have a real objective opinion on those old companions and monsters. It probably says a lot that the ones I remember best are the Jungle Girl and Robot Dog.

[wolfie]

Hands off Rose, Donna and Martha, they were all great.

I would have killed ACE in a heartbeat.

[Mikey]

Even though I was never a big fan of Adric I still always hated the way he died -- meaning the Doctor did not go back and save him.

It seems the new series might explain his actions with their "fixed point in time" theory.

Best companion that should have died would have been Turlough.
They should have had him die saving the Doctor from the Black Guardian in Enlightenment.

[Paul Evans]

When I saw Adric die, it was like a JFK moment for me. I still remember where I was (an uncle's house) at that moment. I spent alot of time disliking him, but still couldn't believe he was gone...

I like your Turlough idea Mike. It would have been perfect! Alas, Davison already lost Adric, so the writers probably weren't looking to kill off another Davison companion. Great idea though...

[Shleprok34]

If it were me. I'd kill Amy Pond. Sorry folks. I like Matt Smith. I think he's doing a great job, but Karen Gillan has got to go.

[LonnieFisher]

If it were me. I'd kill Amy Pond. Sorry folks. I like Matt Smith. I think he's doing a great job, but Karen Gillan has got to go.

I think Turlough should have died.
I really like Amy. I hope she stays on for a few seasons.
If they don't do something drastic with the story we only have a couple of Doctors left. Then what? Christopher's Doctor died pretty quick, taking another regeneration from the twelve.
I'd kinda like to see an old companion come back to the doctor. Just for a few episodes. Somebody old and quirky that he adventured with before who is the only one in the universe to be able to help type of story. Somebody who was young with an older doctor. Kind of an age reversal type of story spun off from an old story.
We've already seen what his last regeneration is (or was) supposed to be.

[samurainoir]

I'd kinda like to see an old companion come back to the doctor. Just for a few episodes. Somebody old and quirky that he adventured with before who is the only one in the universe to be able to help type of story.

How about Sarah Jane?

We've already seen what his last regeneration is (or was) supposed to be.

When did they show that one?


I'm really surprised that so many people wanted Turlough to die! Isn't that the biggest cliche ever? I think it was much more positive to have him redeemed and then be allowed to live a new kind of life coming through the other side of his experience with the Black Guardian and the Doctor.

It's been a quarter century since I saw those episodes, but didn't you guys kind of suspect that the Davidson Doctor knew something was up with Turlough, but saw the good in him?


On the flip side, Adric has become immortalized because he died! (quite stupidly IIRC, because his actions don't actually save the day) Here's a dude who would otherwise only be remembered because of his pajamas and merit badge.

For me, despite how crowded the Tardis was in those days, it seemed most of the companions were pretty interchangable (even the bikini girl), and Turlough was the only one to really standout because of his mission to take out the Doctor gave him a real story thread the others lacked.

[samurainoir]

Regarding the 12 regenerations... wasn't that a self imposed Time Lord rule rather than any kind of natural law of the Gallifreyan species? We've seen that Rassilon and The Master can choose to ignore those 12 regeneration rules, so I'm assuming that The Doctor can choose to regenerate as many times as he wants now that he's the last of the time-lords.

Getting back to the Who Should Have Died topic... how about Harry? My understanding with his situation was that he was cast before the Doctor and they had originally intended for an older Doctor once again, so they producers thought they needed a guy to do all the action type stuff. Which made him dispensible once Tom Baker was cast. As much as I loved the fact that the Baker Doctor and Harry played foils to one another in the Robot episode, you can't maintain that kind of relationship once Harry steps into the Tardis and needs to open his mind to aliens and time travel.

It seems to me that the death of Harry could have served the stories of the Baker Doctor and Sarah Jane well given where they did eventually end up character-wise... with Sarah Jane wanting to get off the TARDIS and go home. Tom Baker didn't really think the Doctor needed companions and it kind of showed, so the Death of Harry could have really played into that motivation in retrospect.