Across its sixty-plus-year history – and certainly since its 21st-century resurrection – the companion/assistant/fellow traveller role in Doctor Who has grown in significance and importance. Nowadays, there is often some mystery or particular relevance to the character that becomes a ‘hook’ to keep viewers intrigued by them and their growing relationship with the Doctor.
It wasn’t always that way, of course; back in the 1960s, the Doctor’s female companions were often dismissed as ‘screamers’ who would shriek with terror at the first sight of danger, and there was a period in the 1970s when the Doctor was accompanied by often scantily-clad, fulsome young ladies like Leela (Louise Jameson) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) who were openly described as being there as “something for the dads”. The Doctor’s companions, whether they’re wearing kilts or bikinis, or even if they’re robots, have become as fundamental a part of Doctor Who’s DNA as the Time Lord himself, and press notices announcing the casting of a new companion now often attract as much publicity as a new Doctor.
There have, over the years, been numerous books about the Doctor’s companions – even 1980s producer John Nathan-Turner wrote a fairly slim, glossy book on the subject – but none have been quite as impressively thorough as Philip Bates and Andy Frankham-Allen’s Companions – More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants. This doorstep volume – nearly 700 dense pages unsupported by photographic material for copyright reasons but with occasional illustrations by Terry Cooper – is surely the definitive tome on the subject, notwithstanding the fact that it’s slightly out-of-date by the time it’s even published as the Doctor’s current companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) is obviously not included. This is no slight on the authors or the publisher, of course; Doctor Who remains an unfolding text, and it’s inevitable that the adventures of a traveller in Space and Time are going to be one step ahead of those who attempt to chronicle them.
Beyond that, all the old favourites are here – plus one or two that might cause the odd raised eyebrow (is hotel manager Anita from last year’s Christmas special really a companion just because she spends a year with the Doctor not actually going anywhere? – answers on a time-postcard). The authors have adopted a commendable chronological approach, starting at 1963 with the first TARDIS incumbents – Ian, Barbara and the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan – and working through the lifetime of the classic series and the 21st-century version.
It’s an intricately detailed work that explores the characters in depth, how they grow and mature throughout the series, and what they learn in their travels. It’s familiar stuff to long-time fans, of course, but it’s rarely been presented with such a forensic attention to detail. They haven’t restricted themselves to the TV canon either; they’ve explored BBC-published books, comic strips and Big Finish audios, although some fans may find their “it’s not canon” gene triggered by the inclusion of companions from the “expanded universe” and alternative histories of characters such as Ace (Sophie Aldred), whose timeline across various media is the dictionary definition of bewildering.
Ultimately then, this is an absolutely comprehensive guide to the Doctor’s companions and, as a book likely to be lifted from the shelf and dipped into rather than read from cover to cover, it allows the reader to pick and choose what parts of Who lore they prefer to focus on; and it might even encourage some to broaden their horizons and explore new corners of the Whoniverse. A weighty and staggering publication that will be the definitive text on the subject for some time to come.
Companions – More than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants is published by Candy Jar Books on June 26th.
