companion n.
in the British television series Doctor Who: any of the usually human characters who (regularly) travel with the Doctor
Used more often in reference to the show than on the show itself, which often used words like assistant or friend. There is no formal explanation of which characters are designated as companions; various characters who travelled with the Doctor are not so regarded.
Wikipedia
Doctor Who
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1963 Radio Times 19 Dec. 8
Dr. Who and his three companions in the space-time ship Tardis have extricated themselves from the grim and precarious society of prehistoric man on earth.
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1964 Radio Times 12 Dec. 3 (headline)
A New Companion for Dr. Who?
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1974
Gerry Davis
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Who else has seen them except for the Doctor and his two companions?
Doctor Who & the Cybermen vi. 69 -
1984
Peter Haining
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A new companion is introduced in Peter Purves—playing Steven—who sees his role as that of ‘a together, headstrong young man’. Ibid. 63/1 The Doctor loses his two companions, Ben and Polly…. With their departure, a new companion is announced.
Doctor Who: The Key to Time 38/1 -
1994
Mark Gatiss
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I don’t see what you’re doing rampaging around the galaxy in a battlecruiser got up as a cathedral, why you imprisoned my companion,…and who the devil you think you are.
St Anthony’s Fire (Doctor Who New Adventures) 180 -
2005 Guardian 25 Mar.
‘The thing about Doctor Who,’ explains Clayton Hickman, editor of Doctor Who magazine, ‘is that someone needs to be captured, or wander off and meet the rebels. The companion is there for that, and to be the eyes and ears of the audience, to ask ‘Where are we? How do we get there?’ This can, he concedes, result in the bimbofication of the female sidekick.
8/3 -
2016 Starburst (#431) Dec. 34/1
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‘The Doctor won’t have a temporary companion this Christmas and essentially that space will be taken by Nardole,’ said a BBC source. ‘He’s not a companion as such but it’s not as if he doesn’t play a similar role.’
Last modified 2021-03-15 16:43:17
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