Companion Retrospective: The First Doctor

 This is a new review category that I am definitely going to do (unlike the last one I tried out) where I am going to shine a light on the most important thing in Doctor Who, not the Doctor, monsters, TARDIS, or anything, no, you don't need those to tell a Doctor Who story. You need a companion, a character that's the audience's surrogate, and occasionally even takes the lead, the true unsung heroes of Doctor Who to truly tell a story. Want my proof? You need at minimum for a story, a companion. Doctor lite specials positively require it, and if you're a spinoff and you want to hold my attention, you need it even more! The show wouldn't work without them, (unless it's the Deadly Assassin) and in this series, I will be reviewing them.

Not in the usual format of course, I can't reliably put these fellows on a /10 scale. It'd be insulting to most of them, and wouldn't be enough for a few others. What I am going to do, is list how much I am familiar with them, how much I like them, a favorite story, (not always the best one they've been in, but one that reliably shows their strengths) and a paragraph on the companion. How many of these am I going to do? The endgoal is every companion, which will never happen, because I'm also doing Expanded Media and I don't want to buy everything. 

Let's open this up with the very first one.

Susan Foreman (First and Eighth Doctors) 

How Much Do I Know This Character: Most of her serials, 1DAS Volume 1 and 2, and A companion Chronicle or two. 

How much do I like This Character: Sorry Susan fans

A Good Susan Story: An Unearthly Child (Part One)

Susan Foreman, the very first companion of the Doctor (unless Chibnall gets his way) is certainly an interesting one, in that she's his Granddaughter, and she's a Time Lord too, and she's perhaps one of the most important companions ever. What really stands out is the variety in her character, depending on the writer. She's either a 60s hip chick, a screamer, or an intelligent and mysterious young woman who has unique gaps in her knowledge and is wonderfully alien (guess which one of these traits got dropped) The one standout thing about Susan is she is The Doctor's granddaughter, yet this grandfatherly aspect between them is better explored in other companions (i.e. Vicki, Dodo) and the mentor relationship has been done trillions of times, and about every one is better. Nonetheless, when the writers remember they're supposed to be writing an alien with little understanding of human culture, Susan can be fabulous. This also never happens. Susan is too whiny and miserable to truly want to be with as a companion - people are just unwilling to admit it because she's the first one.

F

Ian Chesterton 

How much do I know this character: Slightly more than Susan

How much do I like this character: Actually like him 

A Good Ian Story: The Daleks, I suppose, he never really stands out incredibly, but I always enjoy his presence, and any early serial will certainly give you some good Ian moments

Move over, Hartnell, this guy is the show's REAL protagonist, and for a 60s archetypal hero, he's rather commendable, and isn't even sexist. Bravo. As a result, Ian may be somewhat dull-ish on first glance, but he really isn't, with some great characterization from William Russell. The best thing about Ian is his actual purpose, in that at the time, the audience didn't trust Doctor Who, but Ian was the ultimate identification figure, the first of his kind, and ultimately, the show's first true hero, being the first step in moving good ol' Hartnell from "I'll bash your neck in with a rock" to "humans are lovely" 

If that isn't a commendation, I don't know what is. 

C

Barbara Wright

How Much Do I Know This Character: As much as Ian

How Much Do I Like This Character: More than Ian or Susan by a longshot

A Good Barbara Story: The Invention of Death, coincidentally a Masterpiece, is a huge piece for Barbara, but failing that, The Aztecs is also all about her, and I don't like it that much but everyone else does

Barbara is a rare kind of companion, a not all that young history teacher (a kind of character we wouldn't get again until Evelyn, who is basically exaggerated Old Barbara) which makes her interesting, in that she knows history, but what I like about Barbara, is she's smart, and rational. She's not a screamer who freaks out at danger, although travelling in the TARDIS is not her choice, she's incredibly adept at it. She's the perfect balance to Ian, and her relationships with both The Doctor and Susan are also incredibly well done. If Evelyn's the grandma, Barbara is team Mom and I am here for it

B

Vicki Pallister 

How Much Do I Know This Character: The Rescue, The Romans, The Time Meddler and a good bit of Big Finish 

How Much Do I Like This Character: Absolutely love them

A Good Vicki Story: The Crash of The UK-201 is literally two hours of Vicki with barely any Steven or The Doctor, but at the same time The Empire of Glass exists, as well as The Rescue and I can't choose

Vicki is Susan but better. I said it. She's simplistic, in terms of characters, but endearing, and certainly a functional character, that also benefits from being the first new addition to the cast of Doctor Who, and what did the writers know? For a change to the status quo like that, they had to sell it, and as a result, The Rescue is an absolute masterpiece of a story with sharp modern pacing that introduces Vicki admirably, and from then on, she's just as good. She's young, but she's also incredibly adult, if that makes any sense, and her relationship with Hartnell is pure gold. Especially worth seeking out in Big Finish. 

B+

Steven Taylor (First and Fifth Doctors)

How Much Do I Know This Character: About the equal amount of stories as Vicki 

How Much Do I Like This Character:  A Good Deal

A Good Steven Story: Mother Russia or once again, Empire of Glass

Steven Taylor, similar to Vicki, as Vicki is a Susan replacement, Steven is an Ian replacement, and I like him about the same amount as Ian, while I note that I prefer his stories slightly. I probably wouldn't care for Steven as much as I do if it wasn't for Peter Purves' natural charisma and love for the show, (and his incredible first doctor voice for the chronicles and early adventures, but that doesn't enter into Steven) and you know what? That's fine. I'm never going to put Steven on any top 10 list ever, but he's absolutely solid in every term of the word, without getting annoying, and he's host to some pretty great tales as well. 

B

Sara Kingdom

How Much Do I Know This Character: Almost every story she's been in

How Much Do I Like This Character: my queen

A Good Sara Story: Everything this woman does is peak 

Sara Kingdom, despite having a grand total of one television story, is the true proto-companion. If it were not for this woman, we would not have any of the best companions we do have on television. As much as I'm a Vicki fan, her characterization is 60s girl, and indeed, most of the other 60s companions slit into spots. Sara Kingdom's closest relatives are both intellectual characters like Martha Jones and Liz Shaw and the badass ones like Leela and Ace. She fits both sections brilliantly - and quite honestly, was too good to truly last. 

A

Dodo Chaplet

How Much Do I Know This Character: Admittedly, not very much

How Much Do I Like This Character: A begrudging understanding of why she was made and not much more

A Good Dodo Story: The Gunfighters might be her best outing, but really, I'm unsure

Even I'm not immune to making fun of Dodo. No Doctor Who fan really is, but speaking objectively, Dodo was conceived at a point where the writers didn't really want much to do with her. Dodo is an inbetween companion, quickly made, because the writers had discovered the Doctor Who formula at this point, and because they didn't want to create a new companion, they took an actor who was the runner up for Susan, and cast her, with in universe, because the Doctor thinks she looks like his granddaughter. Unlike Vicki, Dodo didn't get much time to distinguish herself from Susan, she was the screaming girl for a few stories, and then she was promptly dropped, because the writers literally didn't care. Jackie Lane didn't even show up to say goodbye, and she never returned to Doctor Who either, frustrated at how little people cared for her. But I like Dodo - she has sass, more personality than Susan does, and whilst I'm unsure truly how I think of her in a positive light, I do, and I'm really excited to see how she evolves in the future. Even if she's bland, she is likable,

C-

Ben and Polly (First and Second Doctors)

How Much Do I Know These Characters: Power of The Daleks, Early Adventures and bits of Tenth Planet

How Much Do I Like These Characters: I accept them

A Good Ben/Polly Story: Power of The Daleks

Ben and Polly are not really that amazing as First Doctor companions, and as soon as Jamie shows up in the Second Doctor era, they sadly sort of get sidelined, Ben especially. They're a little too bland in their quest to be identification figures at times, but in truth, they're also really comfy to be around, truly unimposing as companions. I like them most with early Two before Jamie barges in and takes the world by storm. Their intital development in Power of the Daleks is unparalleled stuff when it comes to companions. I'm just unsure as to how much they really rise above beyond that.

Up Next: The Sixth Doctor

(What, you aren't going in order? No, I'm not. You have to live with this pain)