Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Doctor Who - Top 50 Companions: Part 1

With various blogs and what not doing their own little things in relation to Doctor Who's upcoming 50th anniversary episode and with the second half of Series 7 finally aired and reviewed on my end, I've decided to do something else.

Namely a rundown of some of the fifty most interesting companions that the Doctor has traveled with or encountered for a certain period of time. However given the extensive media there is out, this list will also factor some of the companions that perhaps a mainstream audience isn't entirely familiar with but overall, I hope you enjoy it. Without further ado, here's 46-50 on the rundown  ...

46: Thomas 'Hex' Schofield (Philip Olivier)


The Eleventh Doctor wasn't the only incarnation to travel with a male nurse as the Seventh Doctor and Ace beat him to it as early as 2004 with the arrival of Hex Schofield. From the year 2021, Hex travelled with the Doctor and Ace for several audios over the years, being placed into many a danger before an interesting encounter with a former foe of the Seventh Doctor took him out of the mix quite permanently. Or did it?

47: Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables)


If ever there was proof (and we've had plenty in the show itself anyways) that an older companion works brilliantly within the show, then surely Evelyn Smythe proves it, doesn't she? A chocolate fixated, fifty something professor who proved to be more than a match for the softening Sixth Doctor and she got to meet the Seventh Doctor as well. More power to her.

48: Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane)


Maybe not always seen as the most fondly remembered of companions from the First Doctor era, but was Dodo Chaplet really that bad? Not even close to be honest. She might have gotten a terribly rushed non event of an exit (not the first time this'll happen to a companion) but her teaming up with the First Doctor and Steven was still fun to watch, especially during The Celestial Toymaker in particular.

49: Adric (Matthew Waterhouse)


Has there ever been a companion so polarised in fandom (cough Rose/River/Amy)? I'm not gonna pretend that Adric is the greatest companion ever or that Matthew Waterhouse gave a BAFTA winning performance during his two series on the show but he did work nicely with the Fourth Doctor and his death in the Fifth Doctor story, Earthshock still ranks as one of the series most shocking of moments. And he's not that bad in some parts too.

50: Kamelion (Gerald Flood)


I almost pity Kamelion as a character. Sure, he's made it into my Top 50 but at the same time, he felt like the show's attempt of another K9 and one that only made it to two stories before being conveniently taken out of the equation. On the plus side, at least in both stories he played a part in the Master's scheming going wrong, even if he was used in both stories by the Master. Maybe in another universe he would've been great.

Part 2 will be up next week.

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