Now available from Candy Jar, Companions: More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants is an in-depth guide to every companion to have accompanied the Doctor in the programme’s long history. The DWC’s own Philip Bates is the writer tasked with updating Andy Frankham-Allen’s 2013 original – no small undertaking considering this latest volume includes all the new companions introduced since then, updates what we know about earlier companions, and greatly expands on the, well, Expanded Universe characters.
In this interview to accompany the new edition, Philip talks about who counts as a companion and who doesn’t, the thorny matter of River’s timeline, and why the book comes with a playlist…
How did Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants come about?
Shaun [Russell, Candy Jar Head of Publishing] approached me to work on this amazing project years ago. I’ve been the editor of a site called The Doctor Who Companion since 2016, so through that, I got to know Shaun – and of course, Andy [Frankham-Allen], who wrote the original Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants more than ten years ago. They wanted to revisit Companions and Andy always has a lot of work on his plate, so it was a real honour to be asked to update it.
Has that much been added in a decade then?
A massive amount. Massive! Everyone was shocked at how much more. We’ve gone from around 300 pages [in 2013] to 700 pages. We’ve widened our criteria for who counts as a companion, so we’ve added new people or gone into greater detail in the intervening years as well. Every chapter and companion has been added to, and whereas the page count ten years ago was stricter, now, Shaun gave me free rein, meaning I could fully explore every companion.
The Expanded Universe parts really grew because of this. The Eighth Doctor chapter is huge now! We’ve got sections on Charley Pollard, C’rizz, Molly O’Sullivan, Liv Chenka, Compassion, Izzy Sinclair, Destrii, and more.
So how did you decide which companions to include? Were there any tricky conversations about who “counts” as a companion and who doesn’t?
Ah, there’s a new essay that opens the book asking that question. I think most people have a gut instinct about who’s a companion and who isn’t, and there’s not a set criteria. Because some people would say that only companions travel in the TARDIS, but that would exclude Liz Shaw and instead include much of the cast of Earthshock. That would be insane.
We’ve covered who our instincts say and perhaps then some. We’re generous with it, and largely base it on who the Doctor is close to and who spends a lot of time with the Time Lord. So River Song has been added; so too Grace Holloway. Adelaide Brooke, much as Lindsay Duncan and The Waters of Mars are fantastic, doesn’t count. You’re always going to annoy someone for any exclusions, but there has to be a cut-off point.
Not all the companions are featured on the cover then?
I think it’d be impossible to include everyone, but then, I don’t think you really appreciate how many companions there have been until you actually do a deep dive. It’d be like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to the nth degree. You can’t give all the companions a starring role on the cover, sadly, much as we might like to.
I love the cover. It’s a new composition by Colin Howard, who worked on many covers for the VHS range in the 1990s and lots more besides. I remember seeing his artwork when I first got into Doctor Who and adoring it – now, Col’s done a cover for a book that I’ve written! That’s mindblowing to this Who fan.
If you’ve included River Song, how did you approach her timeline?
Carefully! When I wrote 100 Objects of Dr Who, I wanted to cover River in a really unusual way, so I did it chronologically, i.e. from her graffitiing the cliff-face on Planet One, the oldest planet in the universe [seen in The Pandorica Opens], then tracking her through time. That fitted the irreverence of 100 Objects, but not Companions. I needed something more… well, authoritative and useful for anyone reading, whether they’re a long-term fan or brand new.
So River gets TV chapters with the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors, and each details her adventures in order of her life. So The Time of Angels/ Flesh and Stone, for example, takes places, for River, after The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang. I think that’s most helpful for anyone who can’t always get River’s chronology in their heads. Then her Expanded Universe stories are covered with their respective Doctors, meaning River features throughout.
What about companions for whom real-life scandals have perhaps tainted our views of the characters themselves?
Yeah, that was a difficult one. Generally, however, the book is in-universe, so we’ve covered those characters because this is the story of Doctor Who as a narrative, largely speaking. Plus, I think it’s unfair that a character is excluded based on the actions of, say, an actor, whereas that character is also a product of showrunners, writers, directors, producers, etc. You risk devaluing the work of other people based solely on one person. So we’ve asked if a character is a companion, and if we think the answer is “yes,” then we include them, no matter what’s happened behind-the-scenes.
Do you have any favourite chapters or companions to write about?
Hmm, not really, in truth. I think whenever you approach something like this, you’ve got to find the joy in every character you’re writing about. Of course, I have favourite eras, but hopefully, readers won’t be able to tell – my aim is to cater for fans of every companion.
Has writing the book made you appreciate any era of Doctor Who more?
Yes, actually, and this really surprised me. I appreciated the Thirteenth Doctor era a bit more. I didn’t typically think some of her companions were fleshed out enough, or written consistently enough, but then, working on the section for Yasmin Khan particularly made me question whether her police training and faith were handled better than I initially thought.
Other eras I’ve always loved have gone further up in my estimation too, especially the Second, Fifth, and Eleventh Doctors’ eras. And I loved writing about Bill Potts and Nardole: during Series 10, I didn’t think Nardole was really well utilised, but looking back, he added a lot to the Twelfth Doctor’s tenure.
Are there any surprises in Companions?
Ah, if I told you, they wouldn’t be surprises! But yes, I think the book has quite a lot that a lot of readers won’t expect necessarily. The War Doctor’s companions have a nice little section, for instance; the Fugitive Doctor too.
The book comes with a playlist as well. Each companion is represented by two songs – Fox on the Run and Paint It Black for Turlough, for example – forming this long list of tunes to accompany your reading. I reckon a few song choices will surprise. As soon as I thought of the right songs for Kamelion, I was giggling to myself, so it’s a mix of tongue-in-cheek tracks and more heartfelt ones.
Companions: More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants is available from Candy Jar Books, priced £20 plus P&P.
