Answering the Call: The Mark of a Companion
First, kindly satisfy my curiosity:
During my review of Voyage of the Damned I mentioned that I consider both Astrid and Lynda companions for very similar reasons and that I would expound on this later.
It's later. :)
NOTE: For the purposes of this essay, I'm only looking at the "on screen" companions - those from the series and TV movie. My reasons are not academic snobbery but practicality: I'm not familiar with the books, comics, or Audio plays, and so can't speak to the companions therein - though I'm sure there's a great many there who still fit under the criteria I state here. I'd also like to add the caveat that I'm working purely from memory here - so if I get some of my details slightly off, please forgive me.
What makes a companion? I've heard various criteria: you must have traveled in the TARDIS, you must have had an adventure with the Doctor, the Doctor must refer to you as his companion/associate/best friend, you must be "special" - nearly all of these are problematic in some way. If traveling in the TARDIS is required, Jackie is a companion - and I'm sorry, I just can't cotton to that. Having an adventure with the Doctor would include just about every guest star ever. There are many companions who are clearly companions who the doctor never refers to as such - usually the male ones but we're just not getting into that here. And as for "special" - good grief, how do you define "special"? Are companions like porn (wait for it!) - you can't explain them, but you know one when you see one?
For whatever it's worth, I have a fairly solid criteria governing what makes a companion: you must be called, and you must answer. In many cases this is a straight forward proposition: the Doctor asks you if you'd like to come along, and you say yes (Jaimie, Leela, Adric, Ace, Rose and Martha, to name a very few). But many people have blundered into the TARDIS by accident (Ian, Barbara, Tegan), stowed away (Sarah Jane), been "assigned" to the doctor (Liz, Romana, Turlough), or merely hitched a lift (Nyssa) - and yet have stayed, hung around, and are solidly considered companions. Some would say this means a second and/or different criterion is required: tenure, perhaps. You need to have stuck around, traveled with him awhile. This clearly rules out cases like Lynda and Astrid - who were clearly asked, and clearly accepted, but never got a chance to set foot in the TARDIS - they're the "might have been companions". I say differently; all you need is the call and answer – Lynda and Astrid are “might have been” companions.
First of all, you must understand that I don't mean you need an explicit request and response on the part of the Doctor. It's nice, but unnecessary. It's the call of Adventure I'm talking about. What you must do to be a companion is to be presented with an opportunity to break free of your hum-drum, everyday life and take your place among the stars, braving the terrible dangers and reaping the wondrous rewards. Every companion, in one way or another, has done this. Even Tegan, who just wanted to get to Heathrow and get on with her life, when she was given the opportunity decided to stay. Does this mean all that time she was in her stewardess outfit, just looking for a way home doesn't count? No, I think that was just formalizing something that was already true - when Teagan stepped up during her first adventure stealing an ambulance to save the doctor's life, and ever action she took to help her fellow TARDIS travelers - THESE made her a companion. She was called to do the extraordinary, to be brave, to be a companion - and she answered. The call is the thing; it's what makes you one of the few, the chosen.
Taking that as our criteria, there's still a few problematic cases. Donna, for example - Donna is not only not with the Doctor voluntarily, when she is outright asked, she refuses. Does this mean Donna is not actually a companion? Well, to be totally honest, as of The Runaway Bride - yes. Any more than Mickey is a companion before School Reunion (when he finally accepts the offer the Doctor made back in World War Three). I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that in the very first episode of season 4 Donna will earn her stripes in spades, but right now she is waiting – perhaps to be ready for the Doctor, perhaps for the Doctor to be ready for her. (It could be argued, BTW, that during the course of her adventure she answered the call in other ways - accepting the absurdity of what was happening and laughing on the segway, or the very symbolic gesture of the ring - and her refusal at the end was for the Doctor's sake, sensing that he wasn't ready for her; looked at that way it no more invalidates her as a companion than Teagan when she asked to be left home - saying that "it wasn't fun anymore". Both are examples of a companion using the denial of their presence as a way of snapping the Doctor to attention when he badly needs it. It depends on whether you feel Donna's situation is more analogous to Tegan's - or Mickey's. But I digress.)
Another tricky case is that of Adam - a problem by anybody's standards. Adam was asked, and accepted - and then he screwed up. He used the opportunities in being a companion for selfish, wrong goals - and the Doctor caught him at it, dumped him back home and told him "I only accept the best". So - can we consider his companiondom revoked? If so, are others whom the doctor have left behind and refused entry to the TARDIS not to be considered companions retroactively? Personally, I consider Adam to be a very special case - no other companion the Doctor has left behind has been as summarily REJECTED as Adam. When Susan was locked out of the TARDIS - it was out of love and concern for her best interests. When Sarah Jane was left, it was forced upon the Doctor by the Time Lords at great reluctance on his part. Every other companion who has left has left willingly, having found a new calling. But Adam, Adam - he accepted the call, but he I think was confused as to what call he was accepting, and when he was actually called upon to be a companion and act as one - he failed, and the Doctor took him back to where he got him. Adam is NOT a companion.
There still remains the biggest problem case in the question of what makes a companion: UNIT. The Doctor was exiled to earth, stuck in one place, and during that time was taken on as an advisor to UNIT. But do the key characters in the UNIT stories count as companions? Did they answer the call? The Doctor's various "assistants" during this period, and the people who actually go and travel with him when he regains the ability (Liz, Jo, Sarah Jane and Harry) are definitely companions - but where does that leave Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, and Captain Mike Yates? On one hand, they certainly answer the call to adventure time and again, but on the other hand - they have to. It's their duty as military officers; their association with the Doctor is arbitrary and somewhat involuntary. They certainly accepted death and danger when they agreed to serve their country - especially on a taskforce dedicated to alien contact - but does that make them companions? Does that make *everyone* in UNIT companions? How specific does the call need to be? Where does one draw the line? To be honest, for myself I don't know. The fine men of UNIT are certainly brave, special, heroic, and good friends to the Doctor - perhaps that's enough.
Perhaps at the end of the day, what makes a companion is not found in the action of answering the call, but in the strength of heart that makes them answer the call.
Thanks for listening to me blither, comments and criticisms very welcome.
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.
-The Doctor, Survival
Which of the following people do you consider companions?
Sarah Kingdom
27(12.6%)
Brigadier
46(21.5%)
Sgt Benton
27(12.6%)
Mike Yates
24(11.2%)
Kamelion
22(10.3%)
Adam
22(10.3%)
Lynda
7(3.3%)
Sally Sparrow
10(4.7%)
Astrid
20(9.3%)
someone else not usually listed among companions
9(4.2%)
During my review of Voyage of the Damned I mentioned that I consider both Astrid and Lynda companions for very similar reasons and that I would expound on this later.
It's later. :)
NOTE: For the purposes of this essay, I'm only looking at the "on screen" companions - those from the series and TV movie. My reasons are not academic snobbery but practicality: I'm not familiar with the books, comics, or Audio plays, and so can't speak to the companions therein - though I'm sure there's a great many there who still fit under the criteria I state here. I'd also like to add the caveat that I'm working purely from memory here - so if I get some of my details slightly off, please forgive me.
What makes a companion? I've heard various criteria: you must have traveled in the TARDIS, you must have had an adventure with the Doctor, the Doctor must refer to you as his companion/associate/best friend, you must be "special" - nearly all of these are problematic in some way. If traveling in the TARDIS is required, Jackie is a companion - and I'm sorry, I just can't cotton to that. Having an adventure with the Doctor would include just about every guest star ever. There are many companions who are clearly companions who the doctor never refers to as such - usually the male ones but we're just not getting into that here. And as for "special" - good grief, how do you define "special"? Are companions like porn (wait for it!) - you can't explain them, but you know one when you see one?
For whatever it's worth, I have a fairly solid criteria governing what makes a companion: you must be called, and you must answer. In many cases this is a straight forward proposition: the Doctor asks you if you'd like to come along, and you say yes (Jaimie, Leela, Adric, Ace, Rose and Martha, to name a very few). But many people have blundered into the TARDIS by accident (Ian, Barbara, Tegan), stowed away (Sarah Jane), been "assigned" to the doctor (Liz, Romana, Turlough), or merely hitched a lift (Nyssa) - and yet have stayed, hung around, and are solidly considered companions. Some would say this means a second and/or different criterion is required: tenure, perhaps. You need to have stuck around, traveled with him awhile. This clearly rules out cases like Lynda and Astrid - who were clearly asked, and clearly accepted, but never got a chance to set foot in the TARDIS - they're the "might have been companions". I say differently; all you need is the call and answer – Lynda and Astrid are “might have been” companions.
First of all, you must understand that I don't mean you need an explicit request and response on the part of the Doctor. It's nice, but unnecessary. It's the call of Adventure I'm talking about. What you must do to be a companion is to be presented with an opportunity to break free of your hum-drum, everyday life and take your place among the stars, braving the terrible dangers and reaping the wondrous rewards. Every companion, in one way or another, has done this. Even Tegan, who just wanted to get to Heathrow and get on with her life, when she was given the opportunity decided to stay. Does this mean all that time she was in her stewardess outfit, just looking for a way home doesn't count? No, I think that was just formalizing something that was already true - when Teagan stepped up during her first adventure stealing an ambulance to save the doctor's life, and ever action she took to help her fellow TARDIS travelers - THESE made her a companion. She was called to do the extraordinary, to be brave, to be a companion - and she answered. The call is the thing; it's what makes you one of the few, the chosen.
Taking that as our criteria, there's still a few problematic cases. Donna, for example - Donna is not only not with the Doctor voluntarily, when she is outright asked, she refuses. Does this mean Donna is not actually a companion? Well, to be totally honest, as of The Runaway Bride - yes. Any more than Mickey is a companion before School Reunion (when he finally accepts the offer the Doctor made back in World War Three). I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that in the very first episode of season 4 Donna will earn her stripes in spades, but right now she is waiting – perhaps to be ready for the Doctor, perhaps for the Doctor to be ready for her. (It could be argued, BTW, that during the course of her adventure she answered the call in other ways - accepting the absurdity of what was happening and laughing on the segway, or the very symbolic gesture of the ring - and her refusal at the end was for the Doctor's sake, sensing that he wasn't ready for her; looked at that way it no more invalidates her as a companion than Teagan when she asked to be left home - saying that "it wasn't fun anymore". Both are examples of a companion using the denial of their presence as a way of snapping the Doctor to attention when he badly needs it. It depends on whether you feel Donna's situation is more analogous to Tegan's - or Mickey's. But I digress.)
Another tricky case is that of Adam - a problem by anybody's standards. Adam was asked, and accepted - and then he screwed up. He used the opportunities in being a companion for selfish, wrong goals - and the Doctor caught him at it, dumped him back home and told him "I only accept the best". So - can we consider his companiondom revoked? If so, are others whom the doctor have left behind and refused entry to the TARDIS not to be considered companions retroactively? Personally, I consider Adam to be a very special case - no other companion the Doctor has left behind has been as summarily REJECTED as Adam. When Susan was locked out of the TARDIS - it was out of love and concern for her best interests. When Sarah Jane was left, it was forced upon the Doctor by the Time Lords at great reluctance on his part. Every other companion who has left has left willingly, having found a new calling. But Adam, Adam - he accepted the call, but he I think was confused as to what call he was accepting, and when he was actually called upon to be a companion and act as one - he failed, and the Doctor took him back to where he got him. Adam is NOT a companion.
There still remains the biggest problem case in the question of what makes a companion: UNIT. The Doctor was exiled to earth, stuck in one place, and during that time was taken on as an advisor to UNIT. But do the key characters in the UNIT stories count as companions? Did they answer the call? The Doctor's various "assistants" during this period, and the people who actually go and travel with him when he regains the ability (Liz, Jo, Sarah Jane and Harry) are definitely companions - but where does that leave Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, and Captain Mike Yates? On one hand, they certainly answer the call to adventure time and again, but on the other hand - they have to. It's their duty as military officers; their association with the Doctor is arbitrary and somewhat involuntary. They certainly accepted death and danger when they agreed to serve their country - especially on a taskforce dedicated to alien contact - but does that make them companions? Does that make *everyone* in UNIT companions? How specific does the call need to be? Where does one draw the line? To be honest, for myself I don't know. The fine men of UNIT are certainly brave, special, heroic, and good friends to the Doctor - perhaps that's enough.
Perhaps at the end of the day, what makes a companion is not found in the action of answering the call, but in the strength of heart that makes them answer the call.
Thanks for listening to me blither, comments and criticisms very welcome.
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.
-The Doctor, Survival