All The Tropes

Doctor Who/Characters/Companions and Supporting Cast/Classic Series Companions: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Doctor Who/Characters/Companions and Supporting Cast/Classic Series Companions (view source)

Revision as of 07:50, 29 December 2014

49 bytes added ,  9 years ago
m
update links
VisualWikitext
m (update links)
m (update links)
Line 11:
* [[It Runs in The Family]]
* [[Long Bus Trip]]: Returns briefly in the 20th anniversary special ''The Five Doctors'' and the [[Big Finish Doctor Who|Big Finish audio]] ''An Earthly Child''.
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Done at the end of the serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S2 E2/E02 The Dalek Invasion of Earth|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]" where the Doctor leaves her behind so she can marry a nice young resistance fighter and have [[Home, Sweet Home|some stability in her life]]. She would have stayed with her grandfather out of a sense of obligation if he hadn't.
** [[Bus Crash]]: The Doctor stated he was the [[Last of His Kind]] as early as "The End of the World". In the later episodes "The Empty Child", "Fear Her" and "The Doctor's Daughter", the Doctor reminisces about having had children once, and confirms that he considers every last Time Lord dead.
* [[Screaming Woman]]: The original screamer. That was why the actress left the show after only one season - she got tired of this role.
Line 33:
* [[Hot Librarian]]: Barbara.
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Ian.
* [[Mistaken for Gods]]: Barbara, in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S1 E6/E06 The Aztecs|The Aztecs]]".
* [[Official Couple]]
 
Line 48:
* [[Even Heroes Have Heroes]]: One of the rare companions with literal [[Squee]] moments, notably when she realizes that she's about to meet Nero.
* [[No Name Given]]: Her last name is never revealed on screen. The [[Expanded Universe]] has established her full name is Vicki Pallister.
* [[Plucky Girl]]: In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S2 E8/E08 The Chase|The Chase]]" she ''stows away aboard a Dalek time machine'' and when confronted by armed Saxon villagers, tells them to hurry up and make up their minds whether she and Steven are spies or not.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: For Susan.
* [[Teen Genius]]: She can talk to the Doctor at close to his own level about time travel theory.
Line 85:
{{quote|Played by: Jean Marsh (1965)}}
 
Outside of the [[Expanded Universe]], she appared in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S3 E4/E04 The Daleks Master Plan|only one, twelve episode long, story, for seven of its episodes]]. She was intentionally written to serve in a companion role (taking over from Katarina) but was never intended to be a permanent character. Sara broke the normal companion mold (then and now) and worked as an agent for a sinister solar system-wide governmental security agency run by the human [[Big Bad]]. Once she realized her error, she joined the crew of the TARDIS.
 
* [[The Atoner]]: After she kills her own brother and realizes she has worked for the [[Big Bad]] all along, leads to her transitioning into a more normal [[Action Girl]].
Line 103:
{{quote|Played by: Jackie Lane (1966)}}
 
Rather a forgotten companion, she waltzed off in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S3 /E10 The War Machines|The War Machines]]" and left a note saying she was staying on her native Earth.
 
* [[Break the Cutie]]: The [[Expanded Universe]] thrives on this trope ''anyway'', but Dodo comes in for more than her share. She comes away from her travels with a venereal disease and a nervous breakdown. [[It Got Worse|And that's just the start of it...]]
Line 167:
* [[I Choose to Stay]]
* [[Identical Grandson|Identical Daughter]]: She "looks just like" her late mother, and there's a portrait to prove it.
* [[Letting Her Hair Down]]: She's a proper Victorian woman at the beginning with all the baggage that entails. She loosens up quickly around the other two. She doesn't even seem to have any religious hang-ups, unusually for her time and background - in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S5 E5/E05 The Web of Fear|The Web of Fear]]", she even wears a mini-skirt.
* [[Proper Lady]]
* [[Punny Name|Punny First Name]]: Even if it wasn't intentional.
Line 182:
* [[Agent Scully]]: Has a tendency to keep this up even when up to his eyeballs in aliens. First time in the TARDIS, he dismissed the inside view as "some kind of optical illusion".
* [[Anti-Hero]]: Type IV. Normally he's clearly on the good team but he dives headlong into this in ''Doctor Who and the Silurians'' where he orders the total genocide of a hibernating race, and showed no hesitation about gunning down an unarmed prisoner in Battlefield.
* [[Ascended Extra]]: Appeared as simply Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S5 E5/E05 The Web of Fear|The Web of Fear]]". Brought back the next season and given a bonus promotion.
* [[Badass Beard]]: In old age.
* [[Badass Mustache]]: Ironically, a fake one in almost all of his appearances outside "[[Doctor Who/Recap/20th AS the Five Doctors/Recap|The Five Doctors]]". This allowed the actor to turn [[The Brigadier]] into the "Brigade Leader" in the [[Mirror Universe]] tale "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E4/E04 Inferno|Inferno]]". There, the character sported an [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|Evil Scar]]-and-[[Eyepatch of Power|Eyepatch]] combo. Quite jarring.)
* [[Badass Normal]]
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Despite his constant politeness, stiff upper lip and occasional goofy moments he's probably the most ruthless regular character in televised Who canon.
* [[The Brigadier]]: [[Trope Namer]]!
* [[The Character Died with Him]]: He is stated to have passed away offscreen in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 /E13 The Wedding of River Song|The Wedding of River Song]]", Nick Courtney having died a couple of months before Series 6 began.
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Before his promotion to [[The Brigadier]].
* [[Cool Old Guy]]: After he retired.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[The Eeyore]]: He can snark and be irritated by the Doctor and whatever catastrophe he now has to deal with, but it's clear that beneath it all, he's secretly having the time of his life.
* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: His scary alternate-universe self in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E4/E04 Inferno|Inferno]]".
* [[Five Rounds Rapid]]: Also the [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Good-Looking Privates]]
Line 204:
* [[The Snark Knight]]
* [[Stiff Upper Lip]]: No matter whatever weird menace the Universe throws against him, the Brig takes it completely in stride.
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Nicholas Courtney played Bret Vyon in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S3 E4/E04 The Daleks Master Plan|The Daleks' Master Plan]]" before he got the role of the Brigadier, making him the ''only'' actor to act alongside all seven (eight if you count the audio drama "Minuet in Hell") of the original Doctors at some point in his career.
 
=== Zoe Heriot (Second Doctor) ===
Line 227:
* [[Little Stowaway]]
* [[Long Bus Trip]]: Much like Jamie above, Zoe is returning to the franchise for a [[Big Finish]] story ''27'' years after her last appearance in the franchise and about ''41'' years after the actual character left the TARDIS. Like Jamie, this has to be some sort of a record. <ref>Unlike Jamie, though, this was the ''real'' Zoe. But [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|she doesn't remain.]]</ref>
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Her [[Everything's Better with Sparkles|sparkly catsuit]] is particularly fondly remembered, especially that bit in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E2/E02 The Mind Robber|The Mind Robber]]".
* [[Photographic Memory]]
* [[Real Women Don't Wear Dresses]]: In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E1/E01 The Dominators|The Dominators]]" (and the novelisation of "The Mind Robber"), she thinks dresses are impractical and doesn't wear them by choice. In "The Invasion", Isobel introduces her to miniskirts, which she seems to like better.
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Heriot or Herriot? [[Word of God|The original script]] used the single-R version.
* [[Straw Vulcan]]
* [[Teen Genius]]
* [[Vague Age]]: Depending what source you consult, she's anything from 12 to 21, though [[Word of God]] tends towards 15 or 16. The only onscreen mention of her age is in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E3/E03 The Invasion|The Invasion]]", where the Brigadier estimates it as 19.
* [[Waif Fu]]
 
Line 239:
[[File:minibentonicon_6670.jpg|frame|link=http://www.redscharlach.co.uk/]]
 
{{quote|Played by: John Levene (1968-75)<ref>a ''very'' young Darren Plant played the baby incarnation of Benton in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S9 E5/E05 The Time Monster|The Time Monster]]''.</ref>}}
 
One of two recurring characters during the UNIT years who were subordinate to the Brigadier, Benton was down-to-Earth and often had common sense that others around him seemed to lack. Apparently [[Doctor Who/Recap/S13 E4/E04 The Android Invasion|killed in action]] by an android duplicate, it turns out that he retired from UNIT in 1979 and has since become a used car salesman.
 
* [[The Fettered]]: He even lets the Doctor knock him out in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S11 E2/E02 Invasion of the Dinosaurs|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] so he doesn't have to break the law to help him.
* [[Good-Looking Privates]]
* [[Number Two]]: The Brigadier often confers to Benton when he needs something done, even though Mike Yates outranks him.
* [[Only One Name]]: John Benton was only "Sergeant Benton" until the 1987 spin-off video ''Wartime'', though his first name was decided upon back in the 1970s. The name was simply not used until then, but has subsequently appeared in the [[Expanded Universe]] as his name.
* [[Rank Up]]: [[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E3/E03 The Ambassadors of Death|Happens]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S12 E1/E01 Robot|twice]].
* [[Sergeant Rock]]: Eventually became UNIT's Regimental Sergeant Major, and often served as the Brig's senior enlisted man in the field.
* [[Those Two Guys]]: With Yates.
Line 282:
* [[Combat Stilettos]]: Combat Platforms, really; she spends most of her serials tackling mountains, quarries, and open fields in three-to-four-inch platform boots.
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S8 E2/E02 The Mind of Evil|The Mind of Evil]]" most prominently.
* [[Cute Clumsy Girl]]
{{quote|"I've really got off to a terrific start haven't I? I find the man everybody's looking for, I forget where he is, and I end up by trying to blow you all sky-high."}}
Line 307:
{{quote|Played by: Richard Franklin (1971-74, 1983)}}
 
A recurring character during the UNIT years, Mike Yates was one of several subordinates to the Brigadier over the years. He left UNIT in shame, however, after being brainwashed and forced to assist with the destruction of the modern era with [[Doctor Who/Recap/S11 E2/E02 Invasion of the Dinosaurs|dinosaurs]] of all things. Yates returned once more for [[Doctor Who/Recap/S11 E5/E05 Planet of the Spiders|the final Third Doctor tale]], but it is currently unknown if he rejoined UNIT after or simply faded into obscurity.
 
* [[Aborted Arc]]: Franklin currently believes that the original intention of the serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S11 E2/E02 Invasion of the Dinosaurs|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]" was to kill off Mike Yates. This is indeed quite possible, though his appearance in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S11 E5/E05 Planet of the Spiders|a subsequent story]] might suggest otherwise.
* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Whether or not he's straight, gay, or bi depends both on how you interpret his behavior and on [[All There in the Manual|which spinoff material you think is canon]].
* [[Brainwashed]]
Line 327:
A journalist from South Croydon, who met the Doctor while posing as her virologist aunt Lavinia. Perhaps the most archetypal companion (many older fans grew up with her as their companion), and the longest-serving if you count by number of serials. So popular that she got ''two'' spinoffs: the didn't-go-anywhere ''[[K-9 and Company]]'' (1981), and the much more successful ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' (2007-2011).
 
* [[Brainwashed]]: Holds the companion record for most times hypnotized. It seemed like she was hypnotized in ''every'' episode. Lampshaded in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S14 E2/E02 The Hand of Fear|The Hand of Fear]]" and ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''.
* [[Brick Joke]]: One that took around 30 years to land. When we last saw her in [[Tom Baker]]'s day, he'd dropped her off in a place he assured her was Croydon. We find out in [[David Tennant]]'s time that it was actually Aberdeen, Scotland.
* [[The Bus Came Back]]
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: After "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/NS/S2 E3/E03 School Reunion|School Reunion]]".
* [[Going for the Big Scoop]]: She typically runs into danger in order to get the story, especially early on.
* [[Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!]]
Line 338:
* [[Older and Wiser]]: She's become increasingly Doctor-like.
* [[Plucky Girl]]
* [[Rummage Sale Reject]]: The Andy Pandy outfit from "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S14 E2/E02 The Hand of Fear|The Hand of Fear]]".
* [[Straw Feminist]]: In her early appearances; this got toned down later.
* [[The Watson]]
Line 359:
* [[Quintessential British Gentleman]]: "I say!"
* [[Straw Misogynist]]: Can be pretty sexist and condescending towards Sarah Jane. Although this was deliberate by the production team in order to contrast with Sarah Jane's [[Straw Feminist]] traits.
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Ian Marter had a minor part in the Third Doctor serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S10 E2/E02 Carnival of Monsters|Carnival of Monsters]]" before being cast as Harry.
 
=== Leela of the Sevateem (Fourth Doctor) ===
Line 398:
* [[Badass Automaton]]; With a dash of [[Badass Adorable]].
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Affirmative." "Negative." "Master/Mistress?"
* [[Do-Anything Robot]]: Laser beam, hacking computers, defensive protocols, [[Doctor Who/Recap/S15 E4/E04 The Sun Makers|beating the Doctor]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S16 E4/E04 The Androids of Tara|at Chess]], being a [[Deus Ex Machina]]...
* [[Family-Friendly Firearms|Family Friendly Firearm]]: K-9's ever-convenient laser beam has a kill option, but is always set on [[Stun Guns|stun]].
* [[The Nth Doctor]]: Largely subverted in that each K-9 unit is essentially the exact same thing as the previous model (except the version in the ''K-9'' spinoff, which looks drastically different).
Line 480:
* [[Dead Little Sister|Dead Older Brother]]: Varsh. He keeps his belt as a memento.
* [[Dying Alone]]: On a crashing spaceship, thinking he just failed to save the world.
* [[Fake Defector]]: And '''HOW.''' Considering he does this ''three times'' over the course of his time in the TARDIS ("[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18 E4/E04 State of Decay|State of Decay]]", "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E1/E01 Castrovalva|Castrovalva]]," and "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E3/E03 Kinda|Kinda]]"), it's not surprising that a lot of fans accuse him of "always siding with the villain."
* [[Famous Last Words]]: "Now I'll never know if I was right..."
* [[A God Am I]]: In [[Big Finish]]'s ''The Boy That Time Forgot.'' Courtesy of [[Good with Numbers|applied mathematics]], [[Timey-Wimey Ball|timey-wimey stuff]], and alien technology that helps Adric ''bend an alternate reality to his will.''
Line 488:
** [[Senseless Sacrifice]]
** The [[Expanded Universe]] audio adventures by [[Big Finish]] ''did'' wind up giving him one, though.
* [[Healing Factor]]: You'd think it'd be a massively useful trait for a companion to have, given the scrapes they get into, but Adric's [[Healing Factor]] is only mentioned twice - in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18 E3/E03 Full Circle|Full Circle]]" (his introductory story) and again in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E4/E04 The Visitation|The Visitation]]".
* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Towards [[Affably Evil|Monarch]] in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E2/E02 Four to Doomsday|Four to Doomsday]]." [[Utopia Justifies the Means|Turning the entire population of Earth into androids to rid them of disease]] sound like a ''good'' idea to you?
* [[Human Aliens]]: Adric's species has three forms, only one of which is humanoid.
* [[Iconic Item]]: His mathematical excellence badge. Seeing it shattered on the floor of the TARDIS at the end of "Earthshock" makes the [[Silent Credits]] all the more powerful.
Line 512:
{{quote|Played by: Sarah Sutton (1981-83)}}
 
Daughter of Tremas, who got his body possessed by the Master at the end of Fourth Doctor serial ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18 E6/E06 The Keeper of Traken|The Keeper of Traken]]''. Famous for the skirt removal bit in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E4/E04 Terminus|Terminus]]'', which the actor herself has described as "[[Fan Service|a gift to the fans]]". One of the more accomplished TARDIS pilots among the companions; she was even able to fly it solo (with assists from Tegan in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E1/E01 Castrovalva|Castrovalva]]'' and Adric in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E4/E04 The Visitation|The Visitation]]'').
 
* [[Eighties Hair]]
* [[Angst? What Angst?]]: The implications of her tragic backstory are barely mentioned in the show, but the [[Expanded Universe]] would make use of all her emotional baggage.
* [[Ascended Extra]]: Was never intended to be a companion, until producer John Nathan-Turner decided otherwise.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E1/E01 Arc of Infinity|Arc of Infinity]]". She ''pulls a gun'' on the ''Time Lord President,'' amongst many others. Sarah Sutton notes in the DVD commentary how unusually trigger-happy Nyssa was in this story.
* [[Brainy Brunette]]
* [[The Bus Came Back]]: She rejoins Five, Tegan, and Turlough for a few audio adventures 50 years later (for her) and immediately after the events of "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E5/E05 Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]" (for them).
* [[Women Are Wiser]]
* [[Died in Your Arms Tonight]]: In her [[Big Finish Doctor Who|Companion Chronicle]] ''The Darkening Eye.'' With Tegan.
Line 526:
* [[Hot Scientist]]
* [[Human Aliens]]
* [[I Choose to Stay]]: She leaves the TARDIS crew to stay on [[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E4/E04 Terminus|Terminus]] and try to restructure it into a proper hospital.
* [[Innocent Aliens]]
* [[Last of His Kind|Last Of Her Kind]]: The rest of Traken died in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18 E7/E07 Logopolis|Logopolis]]".
* [[Nice Girl]]
* [[Odd Friendship]]: With Tegan, who is almost her polar opposite.
Line 572:
* [[Deal with the Devil]]
* [[Dude in Distress]]: Done often because the writers couldn't figure out what to do with Turlough.
* [[Fan Service]]: He sure took a lot of clothes off in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E5/E05 Planet of Fire|Planet of Fire]]"...
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: He starts out plotting to kill the Doctor for the Black Guardian, but eventually becomes the Doctor's loyal friend.
* [[Thicker Than Water]]
Line 592:
{{quote|Voiced by: Gerald Flood (1983-84)<ref>Over 6 episodes.</ref>}}
 
A shape-changing robot that the Master acquired as a sort of souvenir from the planet [[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E7/E07 Time-Flight|Xeriphas]], this character quite literally vanished into the TARDIS rather than becoming a Companion, and is almost always forgotten. This, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. Showed up in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E6/E06 The Kings Demons|The King's Demons]]" as a ''villain'' and puppet of the Master, got cut from an appearance in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E2/E02 The Awakening|The Awakening]]" and [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|made a final appearance]] in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E5/E05 Planet of Fire|Planet of Fire]]".
 
* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]
Line 621:
* [[Absolute Cleavage]]: Just ask [[Peter Davison]]. Some of her wardrobe is actually modest though.
* [[Break the Cutie]]: The [[Expanded Universe]] seems to delight in doing this to poor Peri. One tale winds up killing off her entire family. And not just that, but it was an utter afterthought in a story's epilogue where Peri had ''already'' lost some people who were like family to her.
** Another "perfect" example deals with the alternate possibilities coming from her final appearances. {{spoiler|Resurrected from [[Doctor Who/Recap/S23 E2/E02 Mindwarp|her death on Thoros Beta]] by the Time Lords and accidentally copied from her ending with King Yrcanos. Now, Peri was returned to her life on Earth with [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|only the memories of her first trip with the Doctor]]. ''This'' Peri wound up marrying her high school sweetheart... and is abused repeatedly by her 'perfect husband.' Unable to have children, Peri slowly gets used to the idea of having a messed-up life... only to have it dragged out by a run-in with her old self. It's a real mood-switcher. For those who care, there are four others out there - including the Peri who wound up with King Yrcanos}}. Not only does the EU like screwing with Peri, but [[Big Finish]] likes messing with continuity.
* [[The Ditz]]: Season 22, mostly. Luckily, she improved drastically in her last season, not to mention her [[Big Finish Doctor Who|audio adventures]].
* [[Form-Fitting Wardrobe]]
Line 673:
** [[Badbutt]]
* [[Broken Bird]]: The girl had "issues".
* [[Butch Lesbian]]: [[Word of Gay|According to writer Rona Munro, anyway.]] Ace occasionally has chemistry with male guest stars (notably Captain Soren in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S26 E3/E03 The Curse of Fenric|The Curse of Fenric]]"), but it's much more common with the ladies.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Enjoyed shouting "Ace!" (meaning "cool"). Since this is also her nickname, it almost seems like she is engaging in [[Pokémon-Speak]].
** She said "Wicked!" so often that the Doctor himself was inspired to say it once.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1211161"