I fell in love with Doctor Who pretty quickly. Time travel, distant alien worlds, adventure and a quirky protagonist with some of the best dialogue in television? Yes, please! But the Doctor and crazy space adventures are just two aspects of this amazing show … his Companions play a huge part of why this show is so great. There are a few that I really thought I had pegged from their very first episode, only to have them completely surprise me. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
Mickey Smith — Yep, Doctor Who was surprising me from the start … because I was sure Mickey Smith had been killed off. I mean, he was eaten by a huge trashcan. What else was I supposed to think? Actually, my exact words were, “I can’t believe they killed off the black guy first. What is this, a crappy slasher flick?”
Of course, Mickey survived the Autons, only to be unceremoniously dumped by Rose at the end of the episode for a life of adventure through space and time. That could have been the end of his character, but he ended up joining the Doctor himself in the next season and ends up leaving Rose to fight for human independence in another universe. When we see him back in our own universe a few years later, Mickey Smith has become a post-apocalyptic warrior, taking down a Dalek without even blinking. Staying in his original universe, Mickey was last seen engaged to fellow freelance bad-ass Martha Jones. Not bad for a guy almost eaten by a living dumpster in his first episode.
Truth be told, he is arguably the least liked character on this list. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with him, but his bad-assery felt maybe just a little bit tacked on. Plus, he’s the poster boy for 2nd choice love interests, so much so that “Mickey” is a Whovian term for such a character. However, he needed to be on here because as I stated before, I really did think they were killing him off via living trash can in the first episode.
Harriet Jones, Prime Minister — Alright, I realize that Harriet Jones doesn’t really travel with the Doctor (and I’m not even sure she went inside the Tardis), but I’m including her thanks to how complex her character was compared to her first appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her first storyline (especially how she surprised us with her strength and bravery by the end), but she was portrayed as a perfect good. We are charmed by her indomitable spirit pretty quickly, as is the Doctor. We’re even told by the Time Lord that Harriet would go on to be one of UK’s greatest leaders.
But when faced with her first alien encounter as Prime Minister, Harriet Jones makes the choice that goes against everything the Doctor believes. I can’t say I blame her for choosing what she did and standing up to the Doctor, but it had dire consequences. Forced out of office, she left the way open for Saxon and his devastation, not to mention the years of prosperity left shattered. And considering Torchwood is technically part of the Doctor Who universe (even if the Doctor possibly has no idea of the awful stuff going on in that show), the TW “Children of Earth” storyline might have gone quite differently if she was in charge.
But that’s not why Harriet Jones is on this list. Despite of the Doctor’s actions (well, action) against her, the former Prime Minister made the decision to help him and save the world one last time in “The Stolen Earth.” Working with the other former companions to form a signal the Doctor could follow back to the lost Earth, Harriet also made herself a great big target for the Daleks. She died a hero … a quiet hero, but a hero all the same, and I couldn’t help but smile when Captain Jack saluted her. I really didn’t see her coming.
Clacked by Katie Schenkel 
on Oct 10, 2011 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I adored Harriet Jones, Prime Minister and I never really forgave the Doctor for destroying her just because she took her duties seriously and did what she believed she had to do. I also adored here because she continued to protect the human race and help the Doctor even after he treated her so shabbily.
Donna is one of my top three companions, possibly number one. I HATED the end of her story. It was a cruel ending to take away her most treasured memories. I will love Donna forever and I will hope that in this newly made universe of Amy’s maybe Donna can get her memories back safely.
Rory, I love more than Amy. He has completely stolen my heart as a companion. He doesn’t put the Doctor on a pedestal and is every bit as strong and intelligent as any companion. I will miss him on the Tardis.
I have to say that for the longest time, Mickey was my all time favorite Doctor Who companion. Mostly because he actually went on a journey that allowed his character to grow. From the moment when he refused the Doctor’s offer to join him and Rose, because he realized it wasn’t for him, to joining the battle against the cybermen, to his return afterwards… He was the character that grew the most, and organically at that.
I honestly can’t see how anyone could not love Mickey, he’s awesome.
So my hope is that someday they return to Donna Noble by having her die and regenerate, restoring her memories. If they ruled out the possibility of that, I missed it. I found her abrasive at first, but by the end of Series 4 she had really grown on me.
Similarly, I enjoyed Rory and Mickey more and more the longer they were around. I’m actually hoping we have an opportunity to see a male primary companion in the next series (along with River, probably), just to see some new character dynamics. But whatever we end up with, I trust these writers enough to believe that they’ll give us something good.
I don’t think I’ll ever like Mickey. He was always so whiney! I think Mickey 2.0 (after he returned from the alt world) was like a totally different character.
I also hated Donna Noble the first time I saw her, and I still don’t care for that episode. But she, too, grew on me.
I adored Jack from the get-go. I never cared one way or another about Harriet Jones. And Rory took an episode or two to grow on me, but I like him now, too.
Great Post! I haven’t been the greatest fan of Amy Pond, but the episode “The girl who waited” really impressed me. I kinda wish older kick-ass Amy was allowed to travel with the group.
Fantastic post. I agree so hard on Donna and Rory. A little bit for Mickey as well though I didn’t start to really like him until late S2.
As a Classic Who fan I can say an underestimated companion for me would be Jo Grant. When she turns up she’s clumsy, ditsy, softly-spoken and such a step backward from the brilliant Liz Shaw before her. Even the Doctor is openly annoyed with her when he first meets her and his reaction after finding out that she’s Liz’s replacement is an unashamed; “Oh no!”. LOL. But Jo, like Rory and Mickey, was a lot more capable than she looked. She wasn’t that clever but she had her own skills and ended up rescuing the Doctor a lot more times than vice versa. Her sweet personality also worked great to balance Pertwee’s rather arrogant portrayal of the Doctor. And much like Rose with Eccelstone, Jo had a positive effect on the Third Doctor who came to really adore her. His reaction to her wanting to leave him in her final episode compared to when he first met her says everything about how much he underestimated her as much as I did.
Another would probably be the original companions themselves; Ian and Barbara. Merely two humble middle-aged school teachers? At first, maybe. But these two both had serious badass moments; especially Barbara.