Listening to the 8th Doctor recite his list of companions in Night of the Doctor got me to wondering about how many non TV companions have died in the Big Finish plays or the Novels.



In the TV show there are usually only 3 companions listed as having died (Katarina, Sara Kingdom and Adric) though Kamelion probably should be counted as well.*





However just in his list of 5 names of Big Finish Companions the 8th Doctor has had three of them die


So is the 8th Doctor just unlucky when it comes to his companions or do the other Doctors also have a high casualty rate in the Audio's and Novels as well?




*I won't count one episode companions such as Astrid, Adelaide Brooke and Victorian Clara.

Well, it's more (voice of the pepperpots/Big Finish producer) Nic Briggs writes his beloved Daleks as being much more of a threat in BF than they're written in tv land, I'm sure Briggs enjoys exterminating everyone. As he can't exterminate any of the tv companions, it's the ones BF created that tend to be up for the chop.

'To The Death' may be my least favourite Who story ever as Briggs just took it too far, although in fairness, in some cases, like 6th Doctor story Patient Zero, the fact the Daleks are put over strongly works well.

I disagree, he didn't take it too far at all. And the reviews and feedback on that story are very positive. Years of the Daleks shouting exterminate and never really doing anything. That story allowed them to be a real threat, in a way they never could be on TV.

And to be fair; C'rizz brought it on himself, Tamsin wasn't his companion at the time, Lucie was heartbreaking and yes did die as his companion.

Charley and Molly are still around and both back (Dark Eyes 2 and Charley's spin off) early next year.

What about the other Doctor's? Have they lost companions in the Audio's or Novels?


Of course even the TV Companions aren't safe in the spin off media with poor Dodo being killed off in a Novel.

Sometimes the audios, plus the novelistations, do go too far. It's why I'm not a major fan of them, they're not quite Doctor Who in feel.

More than that I feel. Lucie went down with the ship as it were, In much the same way we've just witnessed the Doctor do.

I think her death could be seen as the inspiration for his actions in dying to try and save Cass

I've not yet delved into the world of Big Finish, though I will someday. This is my biggest concern though...and it's the exact same reason why I don't like comics either. The writers say that they can do things that the television format was too restricting for, but then it goes against the nature and feel of the original concepts we see on TV.

I like that Big Finish has gone down the route it has with Eight, all dark and depressing, because it's not dark and depressing for the sake of it; it has a point.

For a while now, I've come to think that Big Finish was pushing towards their own Time War, something that could coincide with the show, slowing breaking down the Eighth Doctor until he could become a man that could do the things we've been told he would do.

Hearing the names of the BF companions in "The Night of the Doctor" was wonderful, because knowing those name, suddenly makes everything so much more real, and we know what we're dealing with; The Doctor has been worn down, and broken by the adventures he's had. A tired man who can't help anyone anymore.

The only thing he can do, it become a man who is willing to the things that the Doctor would never do.

Really, I think the character arc that Eight went through it maybe one of the best I've seen.

I actually think the opposite is true, at least of Nic Briggs produced Big Finish. In the days when Gary Russell was producer certainly there were differences from the 1963-89 run, and several of the first 50 or so main range plays were aimed squarely at adults and have a level of horror that simply wouldn't be done on tv (e.g release 49, Master, has the Geoffrey Beevers Master murdering prostitutes for no reason and is about as far removed from the John Simm version possible, and that's arguably not even the most horrific story) but under Briggs the stories stick much more closely to the classic series Doctor Who story type. This isn't necessarily a criticism, as the stories are aimed at hardcore fans, and Briggs probably doesn't see the point of trying to reinvent the wheel at this point

Of course it depends on the writer and there are some, Nev Fountain, Paul Magrs etc. who have a distinct style, but the key releases that drive the plot forward for the range tend to be quite formulaic, in my 'umble opinion.

Of the Big Finish Companions who may be considered to have been killed off dependent on your views:

1st Doctor: Oliver Harper (3 Stories - Perpetual Bond to First Wave) -

5th Doctor: Robert McIntosh (1 Story - The Haunting of Thomas Brewster

6th Doctor: Evelyn Smythe (20+ Stories - Marian Conspiracy to Death in the Family)

7th Doctor: Thomas 'Hex Schofield (20+ Stories - The Harvest to Gods and Monsters)

Thanks.


Just listening a my first Hex story at the moment on Radio 4 Extra.