COMPANION ROLL CALL: THE 1990s

played by DAPHNE ASHBROOK

Doctor Who appearance: Doctor Who (1996)

A familiar face on US television, Long Beach-born actress Daphne Ashbrook scored two firsts in Doctor Who. Not only was she the first and – to date – only American to be cast as a companion, she was also the first to lock lips with the Doctor. Prior to the 1996 TV movie, she appeared in many classic cult television shows including The A-Team, The Fall Guy, Falcon Crest and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In 2012, she joined the cast of Hollywood Heights, a new teenage drama for Nickelodeon.

Dr Grace Holloway was enjoying a performance of Madame Butterfly when she was called back to Walker General Hospital to operate on the victim of a gangland shooting. Grace resigned after losing her patient, only to discover that the man she’d seen die the previous night had regenerated into the Eighth Doctor. After helping defeat the Master, the Doctor offered to show Grace the universe, but the feisty surgeon refused.

And another thing: If the 1996 TV movie had resulted in a full series, producer Philip David Segal planned to bring Grace back as the ongoing companion.

KISSING COMPANIONS

‘Trust me, it’s this or go to your room and design a new screwdriver. Don’t make my mistakes.’

The Doctor, A Christmas Carol

As a general rule, there’s never any kissing in the TARDIS. Every now and then, however, things happen, and companions lock lips with the Doctor. Here’s the full rundown of amorous allies:

Nyssa (well, on the cheek) – Terminus

Dr Grace Holloway – Doctor Who

Captain Jack Harkness – The Parting of the Ways

Rose Tyler – The Parting of the Ways, New Earth (sort of), Journey’s End (sort of)

Martha Jones – Smith and Jones

Astrid Peth – Voyage of the Damned

Donna Noble – The Unicorn and the Wasp

Lady Christina de Souza – Planet of the Dead

Amy Pond – Flesh and Stone

Rory Williams – Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Clara Oswin Oswald – The Snowmen

AND THE REST

It isn’t just companions that get to snog the Doctor:

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, aka Madame de Pompadour, aka Reinette – The Girl in the Fireplace

Jackie Tyler – Army of Ghosts

Joan Redfern – Human Nature / The Family of Blood

Marilyn Monroe (there was lipstick!) – A Christmas Carol

River Song – Day of the Moon, Let’s Kill Hitler, The Wedding of River Song

COMPANION ROLL CALL: THE 2000s

played by BILLIE PIPER

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Rose (2005)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Journey’s End (2008)

Final guest Doctor Who appearance: The End of Time, Part Two (2010)

Swindon-born Billie Piper joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School at the age of 12. Three years later, after modelling for a poster campaign for Smash Hits magazine, she was signed to Innocent Records and reached number one with her first single, Because We Want To, in 1998. In 2001, Billie retired from music and returned to acting in the BBC’s 2003 retelling of Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale. Following her departure from Doctor Who, Piper played Hannah Baxter in ITV2’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl and made her stage debut in a tour of Christopher Hampton’s Treats which ended in London’s West End in 2007.

Shop assistant Rose Tyler unwittingly first met the Doctor on 1 January 2005, when she came across the dying Tenth Doctor. Less than three months later, the Ninth Doctor rescued her from Autons hiding in the basement of Henrik’s department store. Accepting the last Time Lord’s invitation to join him, Rose stayed on board the TARDIS until she was trapped in an alternative universe, seemingly for ever. However, when Davros threatened to destroy all of reality, Rose found a way to cross the dimensional divides.

And another thing: Billie Piper’s performance as Rose won her the National Television Award for Most Popular Actress two years running.

played by BRUNO LANGLEY

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Dalek (2005)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Long Game (2005)

Bruno Langley knew little of Doctor Who before being cast as the Ninth Doctor’s would-be male companion – he even walked straight past the TARDIS set without knowing what it was. The actor’s big break came in the Linda Green comedy series, although he would become better known as Todd Grimshaw, Coronation Street’s first gay character. Following Adam’s expulsion from the TARDIS, Langley appeared in The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse and Dalziel and Pascoe, before making a return to Weatherfield in 2011.

Adam met the Doctor and Rose in Henry van Statten’s secret Vault in Utah. A self-professed genius, Adam had what he considered the best job in the world – cataloguing van Statten’s collection of alien artefacts. After a solitary Dalek killed everyone in the Vault, Rose asked the Doctor if Adam could join them, although his adventures in Time and Space were cut short when he foolishly tried to send information about the future back to the 21st century.

And another thing: Adam had an info-spike computer interface implanted into his head as well as a complementary Vomit-O-Matic nano-termite device.

played by NOEL CLARKE

First regular Doctor Who appearance: Rose (2005)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Journey’s End (2008)

Last guest Doctor Who appearance: The End of Time, Part Two (2010)

Following appearances in Metrosexuality and Judge John Deed, Noel Clarke won the role of Danny Oldfield in Casualty in 2001. The following year saw him cast at Wyman Norris in an Auf Wiedersehen, Pet revival and in 2003 Clarke walked away with the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Where Do We Live at the Royal Court. Following his departure from the TARDIS, Clarke made his writing debut with 2006’s Kidulthood, also writing, directing and starring in the film’s 2008 sequel, Adulthood.

Brought up by his grandmother, Mickey Smith had known Rose since they were kids. When she left with the Doctor, Mickey was suspected of her murder, but that was nothing compared to the pain of realising that she was alive but would constantly flit in and out of his life whenever the TARDIS brought her back to Earth. His initial distrust of the Doctor eventually turned to respect and, after alerting the time travellers to strange goings on at Deffry Vale High School, Mickey joined the TARDIS crew. After fighting Cybermen in an alternative reality, Mickey eventually returned home where he married Martha Jones.