Editing Doctor Who (section)

===Companions===
{{Main|Companion (Doctor Who){{!}}Companion {{(-}}''Doctor Who'')}}
The companion figure&nbsp;– generally a human&nbsp;– has been a constant feature in ''Doctor Who'' since the programme's inception in 1963. One of the roles of the companion is to be a reminder for the Doctor's "moral duty".<ref name="Overview">{{Cite news |date=19 November 2008 |title=Doctor Who (before the Tardis) |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7736130.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111180257/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7736130.stm |archive-date=11 January 2009}}</ref> The Doctor's first companions seen on-screen were his granddaughter [[Susan Foreman]] ([[Carole Ann Ford]]) and her teachers [[Barbara Wright (Doctor Who)|Barbara Wright]] ([[Jacqueline Hill]]) and [[Ian Chesterton]] ([[William Russell (English actor)|William Russell]]). These characters were intended to act as [[audience surrogates]], through which the audience would discover information about the Doctor, who was to act as a mysterious father figure.<ref name=Overview/> The only story from the original series in which the Doctor travels alone is "[[The Deadly Assassin]]" (1976).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Dan |date=14 June 2013 |title=The Deadly Assassin: Doctor Who classic episode #8 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/jun/14/deadly-assassin-doctor-who-classic-episode |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Notable companions from the earlier series include a [[Time Lord|Time Lady]] named [[Romana (Doctor Who)|Romana]] ([[Mary Tamm]] and [[Lalla Ward]]), and humans such as [[Jamie McCrimmon]] ([[Frazer Hines]]), [[Jo Grant]] ([[Katy Manning]]), [[Sarah Jane Smith]] ([[Elisabeth Sladen]]), [[Tegan Jovanka]] ([[Janet Fielding]]), [[Peri Brown]] ([[Nicola Bryant]]), and [[Ace (Doctor Who)|Ace]] ([[Sophie Aldred]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who companions in order: From Susan Foreman to Ruby Sunday |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-companions-in-order/ |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=Radio Times |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Jak |date=15 January 2022 |title=10 Classic Doctor Who Characters That Should Make A Return |url=https://screenrant.com/classic-doctor-who-characters-should-return/ |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref> Dramatically, these characters provide a figure with whom the audience can identify and serve to further the story by requesting exposition from the Doctor and manufacturing peril for the Doctor to resolve. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones;<ref name="Alien Companions">{{Cite web |last=Oakman |first=Emma Susan |date=24 March 2022 |title=Doctor Who Should Include More Alien Companions |url=https://gamerant.com/doctor-who-should-include-more-alien-companions/ |access-date=23 April 2024 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}</ref> sometimes they return home or find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. Some have died during the course of the series.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donaldson |first=Mark |date=25 October 2022 |title=It Took 40 Years, But Doctor Who Finally Honored Adric's Death |url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-adric-death-tegan-cyberman-reference/ |access-date=23 April 2024 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref> Companions are usually humans or humanoid aliens.<ref name="Alien Companions" />

[[File:Matt Smith and Karen Gillan at Salford (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Karen Gillan]] (pictured in 2010 with the Eleventh Doctor, [[Matt Smith]]) played the Doctor's companion [[Amy Pond]].]]
Since the 2005 revival, the Doctor generally travels with a primary female companion, who occupies a larger narrative role. Steven Moffat described the companion as the main character of the show, as the story begins anew with each companion and she undergoes more change than the Doctor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Paul |date=19 April 2012 |title=Steven Moffat: the companion is the main character in Doctor Who, not the Doctor |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-04-19/steven-moffat-the-companion-is-the-main-character-in-doctor-who-not-the-doctor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203120410/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-04-19/steven-moffat-the-companion-is-the-main-character-in-doctor-who-not-the-doctor |archive-date=3 December 2013 |access-date=28 November 2013 |website=Radio Times |publisher=[[BBC Magazines]]}}</ref><ref name="MoffatColeman">{{Cite web |last=Berkshire |first=Geoff |date=27 March 2013 |title='Doctor Who' returns: Steven Moffat talks new companion Clara and Jenna-Louise Coleman |url=http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/03/doctor-who-returns-steven-moffat-talks-new-companion-clara-and-jenna-louise-coleman.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002317/http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/03/doctor-who-returns-steven-moffat-talks-new-companion-clara-and-jenna-louise-coleman.html |archive-date=3 December 2013 |access-date=28 November 2013 |publisher=[[Zap2it]]}}</ref> The primary companions of the [[Companion (Doctor Who)#Ninth Doctor|Ninth]] and [[Companion (Doctor Who)#Tenth Doctor|Tenth]] Doctors were [[Rose Tyler]] ([[Billie Piper]]), [[Martha Jones]] ([[Freema Agyeman]]), and [[Donna Noble]] ([[Catherine Tate]]), with [[Mickey Smith]] ([[Noel Clarke]]) and [[Jack Harkness]] ([[John Barrowman]]) recurring as secondary companion figures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Orthia |first=Lindy A. |year=2010 |title="Sociopathetic Abscess" or "Yawning Chasm"? The Absent Postcolonial Transition in ''Doctor Who'' |url=http://jcl.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/2/207 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Commonwealth Literature |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=207–225 |doi=10.1177/0021989410366891 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219132743/http://jcl.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/2/207 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |access-date=28 November 2013 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10440/1261 |s2cid=142983255|issn = 0021-9894}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Box |first=Christy |date=2 December 2020 |title=Doctor Who: Why Captain Jack Harkness Never Met Eleven Or Twelve |url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-captain-jack-moffat-11-12-absent-reasons/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |website=ScreenRant}}</ref> The [[Eleventh Doctor]] became the first to travel with a married couple, [[Amy Pond]] ([[Karen Gillan]]) and [[Rory Williams]] ([[Arthur Darvill]]), whilst out-of-sync meetings with [[River Song (Doctor Who)|River Song]] ([[Alex Kingston]])<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 2018 |title=River Song's ridiculously complex timeline explained |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a855886/doctor-who-timeline-river-song-chronology-episodes-alex-kingston/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |website=Digital Spy}}</ref> and [[Clara Oswald]] ([[Jenna Coleman]])<ref name="MoffatColeman" /> provided ongoing story arcs that continued with the [[Twelfth Doctor]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elvy |first=Craig |date=12 July 2020 |title=Doctor Who: How Clara Became Immortal (& Still Died) |url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-clara-immortality-death-explained/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |website=ScreenRant}}</ref> The [[Doctor Who (series 10)|tenth series]] included the alien [[Nardole]] ([[Matt Lucas]])<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Collis |first=Clark |date=14 June 2016 |title='Bridesmaids' actor joins 'Doctor Who' cast |url=https://ew.com/article/2016/06/14/doctor-who-matt-lucas/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref> and introduced [[Pearl Mackie]] as [[Bill Potts (Doctor Who)|Bill Potts]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2016 |title=Doctor Who: Pearl Mackie named as new companion |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36111598 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424000033/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36111598 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |access-date=24 April 2016 |website=BBC}}</ref> the Doctor's first openly gay companion. Pearl Mackie said that the increased representation of LGBTQ people is important on a mainstream show.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hawkes |first=Rebecca |date=31 March 2017 |title=Bill Potts |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/doctor-new-companion-bill-potts-gay-actress-says-time/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101132249/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/doctor-new-companion-bill-potts-gay-actress-says-time/ |archive-date=1 January 2018}}</ref> The [[Thirteenth Doctor]] primarily travelled with [[Ryan Sinclair]] ([[Tosin Cole]]), [[Graham O'Brien]] ([[Bradley Walsh]]), [[Yasmin Khan (Doctor Who)|Yasmin Khan]] ([[Mandip Gill]]),<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 October 2017 |title=Doctor Who: Bradley Walsh among three new cast members |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41716877 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023125227/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41716877 |archive-date=23 October 2017 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=BBC}}</ref> and [[Companion (Doctor Who)#Thirteenth Doctor|Dan Lewis]] ([[John Bishop]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 2021 |title=Comedian John Bishop joins Doctor Who cast |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55509582 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101105713/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55509582 |archive-date=1 November 2021 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=BBC}}</ref> When David Tennant returned as the [[Fourteenth Doctor]], former co-star Catherine Tate joined him to reprise her role of Donna Noble for the 2023 specials.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mbimba |first1=Lizo |title=Doctor Who: David Tennant and Catherine Tate to return |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61455936 |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2022}}</ref> The [[Fifteenth Doctor]] travelled with [[Ruby Sunday]] ([[Millie Gibson]])<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=Tom |title=Doctor Who: Coronation Street star Millie Gibson announced as Ncuti Gatwa's companion |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-millie-gibson-b2228583.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=The Independent |date=19 November 2022}}</ref> in his first series and [[Belinda Chandra]] ([[Varada Sethu]])<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hibbs |first1=James |title=Doctor Who reveals who Varada Sethu will be playing |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-varada-sethu-character-newsupdate/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=Radio Times |date=27 July 2024}}</ref> in his second. The combination of Gatwa and Sethu was notable for being the first time the primary cast of the show consisted entirely of non-white actors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khomami |first1=Nadia |title='Woke' criticism of Doctor Who proves show on right track, says its newest star |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/01/woke-criticism-of-doctor-who-proves-show-on-right-track-says-its-newest-star |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=1 April 2025}}</ref>

Some companions have gone on to reappear, either in the main series or in spin-offs. Sarah Jane Smith became the central character in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' (2007–2011) following a return to ''Doctor Who'' in 2006. Guest stars in the series include former companions Jo Grant, [[K9 (Doctor Who)|K9]], and [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] ([[Nicholas Courtney]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who companions in order: From Susan Foreman to Ruby Sunday |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-companions-in-order/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |website=Radio Times}}</ref> The character of Jack Harkness also served to launch a spin-off, ''[[Torchwood]]'' (2006–2011), in which Martha Jones also appeared.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - Doctor Who - Martha Jones - Character Guide |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/characters/martha |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=bbc.co.uk}}</ref>