Talk:List of Doctor Who supporting characters

Sorting the list

Does this really need a separate list? Could we put it in another Dr Who page?2toise 05:12, 20 Oct 2003 (UTC)

What page would you suggest? The main Doctor Who page is quite long enough as it is. —Paul A 05:23, 20 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Fair enough, why not, there are sillier lists!2toise 08:47, 20 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Why is sil on important villains section. he isnt that important only within his own story and he nevers appears again

Sil appears twice - Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp. -khaosworks 16:21, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Are Mars Ambassadors the same as the Ice Warrior Delegates (from Mars) sent to Peladon

Nope, they refer to The Ambassadors of Death. -khaosworks 16:21, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Shouldnt the enemies section be sorted somehow, either in alphabetical order or by first appearances because it needs sorting like

• 100,000 BC - and the enemies in that
• The Daleks - and enemies ect. in episode order

I've never liked the organization of this page, but to list it in serial order would be messier. Far better to put it in alphabetical order. -khaosworks 16:21, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I knows this sounds stupid but is there a way to automatically put something in alphabetical order or do you have to do it manually?

Manually, AFAIK. -khaosworks 18:36, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Page cleanup

As the recent edit by anonip show, this page desperately needs some kind of organization and criteria for inclusion. This is one of the Doctor Who pages I've never liked - the Cyberman page being another - because it just looks wrong. A page of mere lists never strikes me as useful. Should we be spinning off sub-pages? Aliens, villains, companions, etc.? The concept of companions alone (especially given the discussion about who is or isn't a companion) might be deserving of its own page.

I'd like to hear what the other editors think before I eventually snap and start slashing. -khaosworks 16:32, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Suggestion

I've often tried to "get into" Doctor Who, but when I get to see an episode, I never understand who it is he's with. This is why I look for lists such as this one. Here, on Wikipedia, I expected a short story of who each companion is, how they get to meet the Doctor and why they leave. This would indeed make the page more useful than the way it is now, if anyone has the time and courage to write about that. — Eje211 23:21, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Other Media

Doctor Who is much more than just a TV show now. Shouldn't lists such as these mention non-TV characters (Benny, Fritz, Charley, Frobisher, Stacy, etc)?

No major objections, since Benny and Frobisher already have their own entries, but I still think this page is getting unwieldy. I might spin-off a separate companions page once I get the time together in the next few weeks. -khaosworks 15:34, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

As for right now, I put in a subsection for characters from spin-offs. Just a starting selection of characters right now, nothing definitive. BTW, speaking of non-definitive, the Historic Characters section is fairly dire... Logotu 20:42, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I honestly hate the way this page exists at the moment, and would gladly eliminate many of the sections, especially useless ones like Historic characters. As far as I'm concerned, unless characters have appeared more than once, or are otherwise especially significant, they shouldn't be here. I've raised my concerns before, but I don't want to tread on any other editor's toes, and nobody has voiced any other opinions against or in support. -khaosworks 01:31, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

---

Is it worth organizing the "characters from Doctor Who spin-offs" further? It could be done chronologically by first appearance, or by medium of first appearance, or by the Doctor the character is primarily associated with... actually, I'm beginning to see why it's been left as is. Never mind. :^) --Josiah Rowe 20:25, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

I've made a stab at this - I separated by "companions" and "other recurring;" then separated the companions by Doctor. I tried to "cluster" the companions from the same medium together, and then put those in order chronologically. I also included which media they've appeared in. Feel free to revert if it's found unwieldy, I won't be hurt! (Although it did make me think John and Gillian should be added, plus wasn't there a Telos companion named Catherine? I haven't read those.) --Brian Olsen 00:19, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

Catherine Broome, from Companion Piece. There's also some more minor companions from the comic strip like Sir Justin and Gus for the Fifth Doctor and Ulla for the Seventh that I'll get around to Real Soon Now^TM. John and Gillian actually show up in a Telos novella as well as classmates of Susan's. I'm toying with the idea of a List of minor Doctor Who companions. --khaosworks (talk • contribs) 00:55, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

I was thinking the same thing: certainly List of minor Doctor Who companions or something similar is better than having pages for Catherine Broome and John and Gillian, et cetera. Josiah Rowe 01:11, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

There's quite a few "one off" companions for such a list: Catherine (Companion Piece), Antimony (Death Comes to Time), Will (The Awakening/The King of Terror), Alison Cheney (Shalka) + others listed here. Tim! (talk) 07:15, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

There are pictures of Sam and Fitz on that page. Any idea where they came from? --Brian Olsen 16:39, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

I think they're from a DWM feature on the EDAs. —Josiah Rowe 17:29, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

Semicolons?

Why are semicolons used instead of commas to seperate mutiple actors in the same role? "The Master (Roger Delgado; Peter Pratt; Geoffrey Beevers; Anthony Ainley; Gordon Tipple; Eric Roberts)" Is this done on every page and I've just never noticed it before? Ravenswood 22:23, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

Not sure, actually. I think it's a legacy from early, early edits on this page. --khaosworks 22:38, May 15, 2005 (UTC)

Note episodes

Should we put which episodes each companion appeared in.
e.g.
===with the Ninth Doctor===

• Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) (Series 1, 2005, all episodes)
• Adam Mitchell (Bruno Langley) (Series 1, 2005, episodes 6-7)
• Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) (Series 1, 2005, episodes 9 onwards)

--Jawr256 19:25, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

I would be leery of this, because it's already covered in their character articles. Besides, how are you going to deal with the other companions? --khaosworks 19:29, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

An ultra-pedantic question

Should the listings for the Doctor Who Magazine characters reflect what the magazine was actually called when they appeared in it? That is, should Sharon say Doctor Who Weekly, and Sir Justin Doctor Who Monthly, et cetera? Or does that just muddy the water? —Josiah Rowe 17:00, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Companion description?

Is there merit in a short paragraph or two at the top of the "Companions" section explaining what a companion is in the context of Doctor Who? I know it's already covered in the main Doctor Who article. Can we assume that's sufficient? I was thinking of something like this, slightly expanded from the main article:

The Doctor is usually accompanied in his travels by one to three companions (sometimes called assistants). These characters provide a surrogate for audience members to identify with, and further the story by asking questions and getting into trouble. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home, or find new causes on worlds they have visited. Some companions (notably Katarina, Sara Kingdom and Adric) have died during the course of the series.

There is some disagreement over the definition of a companion. Most companions travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor for more than one adventure, although there are exceptions: Liz Shaw never traveled in the TARDIS in the television series, and Sara Kingdom died in the same adventure she debuted in. Fans also disagree on whether Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and other UNIT staff, who sometimes filled the companion's dramatic role during the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, should be counted as companons. Sometimes a guest character will take a role in the story similar to a companion's: the most recent example is Lynda in Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways.

That ended up being wordier than I intended, but maybe someone can pare it down. The only reason I'm not being bold and putting it in is that I'm not sure whether this sort of content is appropriate for a "list" page. —Josiah Rowe 17:24, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

I think it's good to make lists as informative as possible, otherwise we might as well just use the category system and have done with. So, yes I think it's a good idea to add those paragraphs as context. Tim! (talk) 17:33, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Good enough for me. —Josiah Rowe 17:40, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

From the Sixth Doctor onwards, each Doctor has tended to be associated with a single female companion: Peri, Ace, Grace, and Rose filled this role for the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Doctors respectively—or so note 15 would have us believe. Yet, I can't help thinking that's not true, or at least awkwardly phrased. It misses Mel entirely (which I might agree with on quality grounds, but not factual ones), perhaps to intentionally make the point that the sixth and seventh Doctors were associated with only one female companion. The Ninth Doctor certainly wasn't associated with only a female companion, as fully half his episodes also contained a male companion, irrespective of how you treat Mickey. In light of the 2006 series, though, both Jackie and Mickey became companions by virtue of taking a trip in the TARDIS and being fully involved in the "A"-story of at least one adventure that lasted for more than episode.

Saying that the Eighth Doctor is associated with a "single female companion" is, however, the biggest sin here, because there was only the one adventure, and really we'd have to call Lee as much of a "companion" as she. Who are we to disagree with whom the TARDIS herself restored to life? Besides she clearly declines the invitation to further adventures, so she's the anti-companion, if anything. (And of course focusing only on filmed adventures completely ignores the bulk of what most people would consider the Eighth Doctor's "era".)

I'm therefore re-working the language.—CzechOut 19:51, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

On second thought, I'm just deleting it. The point of the original sentence is a) wrong and b) hardly notable, even if it were true. CzechOut 00:55, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Updating

Someone really needs to update this page. Quote: "It is expected that Rose Tyler will stay at least through the 2006 season." That's not quite a direct quote, but it's close. --MorwenofLossarnarch 14:29, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

What is a companion? I would classify the Brigadier, Mike Yates and SGT Benton as 3rd Doctor companions I would not consider Adam a companion being on the show for 2 straight epsiodes does not make a companion Nor would I consider Katrina, Sarah Kindom or Kamelion companions for the same reason MagicKirinMagicKirinMagicKirin 15:42, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Description Detail

• 'The new series (2005–) has slightly altered the significance of the companion status, partly due to a strong focus on the character of Rose Tyler and characters connected to her. For example, although Adam Mitchell was a companion by the standard definition, he appeared in only two episodes and was arguably a less significant part of the 2005 series than Rose's sometime boyfriend Mickey Smith, who was not technically a companion during the 2005 series, but appeared in five episodes (or six, including a brief appearance as a child in Father's Day).'

Whilst I agree with the point about the strong focus on Rose, is the Mickey/Adam bit valid? It's only the same as the relationship between recurring UNIT characters, (the Brigadier et al.), and Liz, Jo, Sarah and Harry. Yes, Adam did less than Mickey, so I think my issue is with the implication that this explains the change in the significance of the companion in the 2005 series. The strong focus on Rose was seemingly RTD's way to allow a new, (and indeed the old), audience to relate to the show, (the traditional role of a companion, just more overtly here), and the characters relating to her were an attempt to inject some reality and domesticity to the series. See what you think. Wolf of Fenric 23:19, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Duplicated information

Since a more detail article on the "Companion" has been created at Companion (Doctor Who), there's no need to duplicate the information here, so I've made a link to that other article. 23skidoo 13:04, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Edit links misaligned

Under Other recurring or important characters, the Edit links don't correspond for each subsection after "recurring Time Lords" (because "characters from UNIT" data shows up in the "recurring Time Lords" subsection?), i.e. the edit link across the subsection directs to the following subsection instead of the one it is across from. I don't know how to fix this. Hopefully I'm making sense. Tehr 19:12, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Rassilon

Should Rassion be included in "reccuring Time Lords"?

Reporter

Surely the fact that the reporter played by Lachele Carl has now made 4 appearances in Doctor Who, ("Aliens of London"/"World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Sound of Drums") and an appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures, (Revenge of the Slitheen - Part Two) - the only character to make a crossover from Doctor Who other than Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 Mark IV thus far - warrents her a place on the list? I really do not see why people object to this extra person on the list. Wolf of Fenric 20:28, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

In a nutshell, because the role is completely non-notable. We've no proof it is even the same character, as opposed to a generic, unnamed character. --Ckatz^chat_spy 07:54, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

I think the fact that the character has been depicted as a reporter on each appearance and is played by the same actress is an indication that the character is the same person, despite being credited in alternative forms. I mean, no one claims that Doctor Who, Dr Who, The Doctor and The Old Doctor are four different people... Wolf of Fenric 20:18, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Plus, I would think the fact the character has crossed-over merits some notability. Wolf of Fenric 20:19, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Merge discussion

I really think we can just delete Francine Jones and not include her at all, but for the sake of people who disagree (and so no one shouts at me) I'm putting this a merger discussion. There is no assertion of real-world notability, and the sources that there are are just the episodes she appeared in, rather than, say, concept and creation by producers/developers/etc. The televised history is just WP:PLOT imo. Harry Blue5 (talk) 19:23, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

I just went ahead and redirect Francine Jones to this page. Harry Blue5 (talk) 21:07, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

'Recurring' is the key word

I just deleted one character (Oliver Morgenstern) who appeared in only a single episode. If we're going to include all one-off characters this list will contain hundreds of names. Discounting those one-off characters identified as companions by the BBC, of course, other one-offs shouldn't be included. 68.146.64.9 (talk) 21:37, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Recurring Time Lord?

Should Susan Foreman and Romana be added as recurring Time Lord characters? I know they are listed under the suitable companion lists, but should they also appear in this section too, as I feel that they do qualify. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nutster (talk • contribs) 23:38, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Recurring alien species, monsters or robots

These ones should stay on the list for there many apperances in my opion because they have bin in the most serials or a few serials and more in spin-offs or both or revived or still recurring to this day, or even iconic these ones seem the most important -

• Autons and the Nestene Consciousness
• Cybermen and Cybermats
• Daleks
• Ice Warriors
• Judoon
• Macra
• Ogrons
• Ood
• Raxacoricofallapatorians (the Slitheen family's species)
• Silence
• Silurians and Sea Devils
• Sontarans
• Thals
• Weeping Angels
• Yeti and the Great Intelligence

Note: the ones gone are -

• Cats
• Demons
• Draconian
• Eternal (Doctor Who)
• Kaled
• The Pel
• Rutans
• Robotic Santa Clauses and Christmas Trees
• Sea Devils alone (now listed next to Silurian, witch is there link!)
• Vortisaur
• Werewolf
• Weevils
• Zygons

If you agree with this ones to keep then good, if you have any arguments post them here (I don't want an edit war)— Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.139.104 (talk) 14:50, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

The Face of Boe

The Face of Boe is listed under both "Other recurring humans", and "Recurring or significant aliens, robots or characters of an unknown race".

I think it would be most appropriate to remove him from the list of "Other recurring humans", and perhaps place a comment that he is possible human.

210.48.101.90 (talk) 10:30, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Sophie Owens?

I don't actually recall Sophie and Craig's marital status, but her page on the Doctor Who wiki says "Sophie was Craig Owens's girlfriend and the mother of their son, Alfie Owens, though they were not married". So she's probably not Sophie Owens.

Come to think of it, why's she considered a "main character", when Craig isn't listed at all? 86.138.253.238 (talk) 12:15, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

What is this article supposed to be?

Is it "every guest star on Doctor Who ever"? Wouldn't it make more sense to only list non-companion recurring characters who've appeared in multiple stories? john k (talk) 20:33, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

This article needs some serious work

As of right now, this article is just a list of names and actors with no description of who the characters are. There is no inclusion criteria, and the list includes a large number of one offs. We also have a whole section on Companions, despite there being an article for that already? The article should really have inclusion criteria figured out, because this is just very messy right now. Pokelego999 (talk) 19:27, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

Agreed. There are also already articles for List of Doctor Who universe creatures and aliens which covers 'Recurring alien species, monsters, or robots', UNIT recurring characters, and List of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs.

It seems to me that the page is not particularly notable and poorly sourced, making it a potential candidate for AfD. Irltoad (talk) 08:27, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

Major vs secondary recurring aliens

What exactly divides major and secondary alien species?

Why are Ice Warriors, Silurians, Sontarans, etc considered major, while Zygons, Oods, Silence, etc are considered secondary? The Silence were quite significant species during The Eleventh Doctor stories.

In my opinion, the only ones that should be considered major are The Dalek, Cybermen, and the Time Lords. SirSX3 (talk) 13:44, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

I'm moving them down. Please discuss here if anyone disagrees. SirSX3 (talk) 10:22, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

The Time Meddling Monk

If we're just going by television serials, there is NOTHING to suggest that the character played by Peter Butterworth in The Time Meddler and The Daleks' Master Plan is a Time Lord.

He is clearly a HUMAN time traveller from the future. All the artefacts in his timeship are from Earth history. All his schemas involve Earth history. He speaks of himan history the same way we do, NOT as some non-human alien would.

Crucially, he never refers to his timeship as a "tardis"(that word was used exclusively by the Doctor and his companions), and he has a Mark 4. (So, the Doctor's timeship was the Mark 1, NOT a "Type 40".) The Doctor and the Time Meddler are "from the same place", NOT "the same alien planet". That place is never implied to be a non-human alien world. Quite the opposite. The "Meddling Monk" only makes sense as a human from the future who is interfering in human history.

In Season 6 the Doctor became an alien. In The War Games he became a Time Lord who had stolen his TARDIS, rather than invented it. In time Gallifrey, Omega, Rassilon and the rest would be added to the lore. But, in 1965-1966 the Monk was a human being, just like you and me. Did he retroactively become A Time Lord? Many took it for granted, with many (including yours truly) suggesting that he was a pre-Delgado Master. But, going entirely by contemporaneous sources and evidence The Time Meddling Monk was no more a Time Lord than Steven or Vicki were. He only became a Time Lord in a 1980s comic(4-Dimensional Vistas), and then in books like No Future and audios like The Book of Kells. But No Time Lord appeared during Seasons 2 or 3 of Doctor Who. Saying "The Doctor was always a Time Lord" is one level of retconning. Saying Butterworth's character was too leads to whole other levels of trying to "explain away" simple facts as Things They Were Never Meant To Be.

For Seasons 1-5: The Doctor did invent the Tardis. Susan did come up with the acronym "Tardis". The Doctor, Susan and the Monk are all homo sapiens. The Doctor didn't regenerate in The Tenth Planet. He was renewed by a function of the Tardis.

Applying MODERN spin-offery to 1960s television serials leads us to nonsense like "Season 6B"... 197.87.143.164 (talk) 10:41, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

Its not " MODERN spin-offerY" at the time the series was made no clear idea of what the Doctor was had been formed (this would not actually start to happen till the Wargames). But the Monk (to quote Vicki) "Has a Tardis" and the Doctor explicitly says they are of the same race (that race is established (in Cannon) as the Time Lords). This is repeated in the Dalek Master Plan. Slatersteven (talk) 10:50, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

The OP is now blocked, does anyone else have an objection to the Monk being called a Time Lord? Slatersteven (talk) 12:35, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

Again, Vicki calls it a "Tardis". Butterworth's character himself never uses the word "Tardis". Ever.... And the Doctor never says anything at all about "the same race". Or "the same planet" either. The Doctor says that the two of them are from the same place. Which means something very different to what you want it to mean... But, it appears that this article was tidied up recently, and all the nonsense and fan fiction has been removed by productive editors. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 197.87.143.164 (talk) 15:02, 11 October 2024 (UTC)