List of Doctor Who supporting characters

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Over the course of its many years on television, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who has not only seen changes in the actors to play the Doctor, but in the supporting cast as well. This is not an attempt to make a comprehensive list of all supporting characters or alien races in Doctor Who, but merely the most significant.

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Companions

The Doctor is usually accompanied in his travels by one to three companions (sometimes called assistants). These characters provide a surrogate with whom the audience can identify, and further the story by asking questions and getting into trouble. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home, or find new causes on worlds they have visited. Some companions (notably Katarina, Sara Kingdom and Adric) have died during the course of the series.

There is some disagreement over the definition of a companion. Most companions travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor for more than one adventure, although there are exceptions: Liz Shaw never traveled in the TARDIS in the television series, and Sara Kingdom died in the same adventure in which she made her debut. Fans also disagree on whether Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and other UNIT staff, who sometimes filled the companion's dramatic role during the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, should be counted as companons. Sometimes a guest character will take a role in the story similar to that of a companion: the most recent example is Lynda in Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways.

The new series (2005–) has slightly altered the significance of the companion status, partly due to a strong focus on the character of Rose Tyler and characters connected to her. For example, although Adam Mitchell was a companion by the standard definition, he appeared in only two episodes and was arguably a less significant part of the 2005 series than Rose's sometime boyfriend Mickey Smith, who was not technically a companion but appeared in five episodes (or six, including a brief appearance as a child in Father's Day).

See also Category:Doctor Who companions.

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with the First Doctor

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with the Second Doctor

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with the Third Doctor

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with the Fourth Doctor

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with the Fifth Doctor

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with the Sixth Doctor

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with the Seventh Doctor

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with the Eighth Doctor

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with the Ninth Doctor

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with the Tenth Doctor

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Notes

  1. Sara Kingdom died in the same story in which she first appears. Some fans define her as a companion and others do not. Similiarly, there is dispute over the companion status of Dr Grace Holloway from the 1996 telemovie, who is offered the chance to travel with the Doctor but declines, and therefore appeared only once. Another character from the telemovie, Chang Lee, is sometimes described as a companion as well, although to be accurate he was actually a companion of the Master.
  2. Susan, Jamie, Harry and Sarah Jane have guest-starred in later stories. Zoe, Liz, Adric, Tegan, Nyssa, Turlough and Kamelion have reappeared in cameo roles, played by the original actors rather than in stock footage or still photos. K-9 Mark III has also made a cameo.
  3. Among characters likely to have last names, but for whom none was ever established, was Vicki. Polly's last name is never given on-screen but her character outline gave it as "Wright". A mishearing of an audio recording led some to believe her surname was "Lopez". Mel's last name was never mentioned in the series, but comes from official background literature for the character. Turlough's first name was not established until his final story.
  4. Of the companions, Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric, Kamelion, Grace Holloway and Jack Harkness have died on-screen. Grace and Jack, however, were both almost immediately resurrected. Peri appeared to have died in The Trial of a Time Lord, but this was later revealed to be a deception by the Valeyard.
  5. Jamie was played by Hamish Wilson in The Mind Robber episode 2, as Frazer Hines was suffering from chicken pox during filming.
  6. Kamelion, an actual robotic prop, which had chronic technical problems on the set, appeared in only one story in Season 20 and a second in Season 21, in which it was destroyed. Because Kamelion could change shape into anyone, a number of actors played it. Since it only appeared in two stories (a third appearance was filmed but not aired), its status as a companion is a matter of debate.
  7. The series never establishes how The Doctor first meets Mel: she just appears mid-way through The Trial of a Time Lord, although it was recounted in the PDA Business Unusual.
  8. Spin-off media have established Ace's surname as McShane. The production team had intended that if revealed in the course of a story Ace would either have the last name Gale (an allusion to the movie version of The Wizard of Oz) or whatever would suit the story. Various novels and audio dramas have offered at least three possible explanations as to how Ace's life progressed after the end of the series.
  9. Billie Piper, who plays current companion Rose Tyler, was only seven years old when Doctor Who last aired as a weekly first-run series in 1989.
  10. Adam Mitchell was the first companion to be expelled by the Doctor for bad behaviour.
  11. Sarah Jane Smith is the only companion so far to have served at least two full seasons with two different Doctors. Sarah joined the Third Doctor in the first story of his final season (The Time Warrior) and left in The Hand of Fear, the middle of the Fourth Doctor's second season. It is expected that Rose Tyler, who was the Ninth Doctor's companion through his sole series, will stay with the Tenth Doctor at least through the 2006 series.
  12. Sarah Jane Smith will return in the 2006 series episode School Reunion. Early indications are that this will be a one-episode guest appearance, similar to her appearance in The Five Doctors, rather than a recurring role.
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Other recurring or important characters

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Notes

  1. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is thought to be a companion by some, though by others he is not. The argument over whether he is an acceptable companion continues to this day, although he is on the list of companions on the BBC's Doctor Who website.
  2. Some fans also consider UNIT era regulars Sergeant Benton and Captain Mike Yates to be "companions" although they do not fit the accepted definition. Benton and Yates appeared as regulars in Season 8, again making other appearances before and after.
  3. Lethbridge-Stewart appeared as a regular in Seasons 7 and 8 (as well as making guest appearances before and since). Nicholas Courtney, along with his role as Brett Vyon in The Daleks' Master Plan, his appearance in the charity special Dimensions in Time and his participation in the Eighth Doctor audio play Minuet in Hell, has the distinction of having acted with every screen Doctor before the Ninth.
  4. The Inquisitor and The Valeyard appeared in every episode of Season 23.
  5. Mickey Smith was a significant recurring character in the 2005 series, prior to becoming a companion in 2006.
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Recurring or significant villains

(See also Category:Doctor Who villains and List of Doctor Who villains)

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Notes

  1. The Master appeared as a regular in Season 8 and has many guest appearances in subsequent seasons and the television movie. The Valeyard appeared in every episode of Season 23, a season that comprised just one story (albeit split into four segments): The Trial of a Time Lord.
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Significant alien species

(See also Category:Doctor Who races and List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens.)

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Characters from Doctor Who spin-offs

The Doctor Who comics, novels and audio dramas have created companions, villains and supporting characters of their own. Some of these originated in one medium and later appeared in another. The lists below indicate where a character has appeared. The canonicity of these spin-offs is unclear.

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Companions

(See also List of Doctor Who spin-off companions)

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with the First Doctor

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with the Second Doctor

  • John and Gillian (TV Comic comic strip)
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with the Fourth Doctor

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with the Fifth Doctor

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with the Sixth Doctor

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with the Seventh Doctor

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with the Eighth Doctor

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Other recurring or important characters

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See also

Template:Doctor-who

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External links

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