which guest stars would have made good companions?

Heres a few i think:
Astrid(Enmy of the world)
Ann Travers(Web of Fear)
Todd(Kinda)
Chris/Claire(Shada)
Will Chandler (The Awakening)
Ray(Delta and the bannerman)
Duggen(City of Death)
janet(Terror of the vervoids)
Rita(the god Complex)

James cordon was pretty surprising good as Craig Owens I must say...

Not quite related to the OP, but saw this on youtube today : http://youtu.be/qEJu-GRlRMU

Interesting idea!
I would choose.....
Altos (a handsome dude, from Keys of Marinus)
Duggen (a typical ham-fisted bufoon!)
Will Chandler (the dim-witted medieaval boy - but better than Adric!)
Ray: (such a nice innocent welsh girl)
Sally Sparrow: ( Well, she was special at the time!)

I also imagine what Rula Lenska, Beryl Reid and Ken Dodd would have been like in the Tardis!!

Definitely Rita from The God Complex.

Definitely Janet and Ray.

Rita for sure. Great actress, interesting character. Ray only if the actress worked very hard on her Welsh accent!

Richard Mace could've been fun. Good rapport with Davison.

And how about those delightful kids from Nightmare in Silv....no. Maybe not.

Even Womulus and Wemus would have been better than them.

Ray from Delta and the Bannermen. She was saucy.

Undoubtably Rita, from the God Complex. She would have been fantastic.

Sarah-Jane Smith, School Reunion
I would have loved to have seen her actually go off with The Doctor at the end of School Reunion...give her a final caper around the Universe before she returned to Bannerman Road.

Reinette, The Girl in the Fireplace
Classy, endearing and a historic figure. It would have been something totally different.

Ida Scott, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
To this day I don't think there's been anywhere near as interesting an interaction between The Doctor and a human in NuWho. This was a genuinely interesting character who wasn't wrapped up in prophecies and destinies - she was an ordinary human, and she managed to keep us captivated by thought-provoking conversation and a genuine love for exploration.

Sally Sparrow, Blink
The infamous RTD-era example, and it was always going to be near-impossible to ever actually see this happen. But Sally was a great character with a classic debut story. I'm not as fond of her boyfriend, but Sally's success was in how actress Carey Mulligan managed to carry a whole episode by herself without once making it feel like The Doctor was sorely missing.

River Song, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Hear me out with this one. In retrospect, opinions on this character have been very mixed and while I absolutely love her I think they could have done something a whole lot more fascinating. If it were me, I'd have loved the teasing appearance here in Series 4. I'd have teased another appearance in The Specials...even perhaps a mere cameo. I'd have kept her for one story in Series 5, one story in Series 6 and then had her as a companion for Series 7, an anniversary series with some of the most grand stories of all... she would have been the Anniversary companion. Her main story wouldn't have been the whole Melody thing, instead I would have had the big revelation that she was an entirely normal human who ends up entering The Doctor's time stream at the end of Series 7 and becoming part of his every incarnation. It would more convincingly explain the romance between her and The Doctor, would have been a neater and bigger sacrifice for her character to make and would have been a hell of a way to plant seeds for a big 50th Anniversary Story that would have seen her become one of the companions that we genuinely see killed off. All of that was a mere idea, and of course we never got it. I was originally against the idea of her being a companion, but in retrospect she seems to fit the criteria for the 'Impossible Girl' rather nicely and I would have loved some escalation to that, rather than Clara (by no means a dig at the wonderful Jenna Coleman).

Nasreen Chaudhry - The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
Admittedly Meera Syal could have simply played herself and she would have been wonderful...to be honest, it wasn't far off that. But she remains the only thing from this story I actually liked...and I liked her a lot.

Rita - The God Complex
The infamous Moffat-era example, I feel, but Rita was absolutely wonderful and her fate was tragic. A strong, memorable character in a very decent episode stands out as the cream of the crop of guest stars from Series 6. She is essentially the new Sally Sparrow, and were it not for her untimely death then I feel we'd have the same amount of talk about her, demanding some kind of return.

Ada - The Crimson Horror
A blind companion might be a bit difficult to work with, but she was the only companion-worthy character of the same calibre as the rest I've mentioned from Series 7, I feel. I felt sorry for her situation and she would certainly be a step away from the typically pretty companions the Doctor seems to go for.

[quote=Mauriman;70801427]which guest stars would have made good companions?

Heres a few i think:
Astrid(Enmy of the world) - better as a recurring character. Way too confident to keep asking the Doctor questions.
Ann Travers(Web of Fear) - yeah she would be just as good as Zoe.
Todd(Kinda) - loved her and with the precedent of Catherine Tate in New Who I am inclined to agree.
Chris/Claire(Shada) - Both of them together would be a great Ian/Barbara variant.
Will Chandler (The Awakening) - hated this story and he was one of the main reasons IMHO.
Ray(Delta and the bannerman)- yeah, think the actress would be at least as good as Sophie/Ace.
Duggen(City of Death) - cool character but again I would like him to recur, maybe in different locations across Earth.
janet(Terror of the vervoids) - Oh yes, lovely lady.
Rita(the god Complex)- potential yes, but .

>>
Sarah-Jane Smith, School Reunion
- she had a very generous innings and was in plenty of all time great stories, so no.

Reinette, The Girl in the Fireplace
Classy, endearing and a historic figure. It would have been something totally different.

- perhaps some timey wimey could give us some more of her lifespan intersecting with the latest Doctor. But I think Tennant's chemistry with her was unique

Ida Scott, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
To this day I don't think there's been anywhere near as interesting an interaction between The Doctor and a human in NuWho.

- The episodes were solid enough - especially compared to the gruesome twosome that immediately followed. But I can't remember much about this woman off the top of my head.

Sally Sparrow, Blink
The infamous RTD-era example, and it was always going to be near-impossible to ever actually see this happen. But Sally was a great character with a classic debut story. I'm not as fond of her boyfriend, but Sally's success was in how actress Carey Mulligan managed to carry a whole episode by herself without once making it feel like The Doctor was sorely missing.

- I'm really in a minority here in that I think Blink is overrated and Carey Mulligan is just one of those people who got lucky in her career. Now Joan Redfern played by Jessica Hynes would have been up there with Rose for an endearing love interest that joined the Doctor.
Last edited by TimeMyRelative : 15-01-2014 at 18:27

Lynda with a Y (Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways).
Elton (Love and Monsters) - awful episode but great character.
Gwyneth (The Unquiet Dead).
Handles (Time of the Doctor).
19th century Clara (the Snowmen).
Oswin Oswald (Asylum of the Daleks).
Canton Delaware (Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon).
Chantho (Utopia).
Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

adelaide brooke from waters of mars.Now there's a companion who would take no crap from the doctor

The adipose 😊

What's with this Rita thing? She was only developed as a character to the point of providing pathos when she died. If she was built to be a companion she would have been characterized differently, and things like her religious views certainly would not be touched upon. None of the traits she was given would have paid off without the character dying. So as an ongoing character she really had no more potential than anyone else.

The truth is that the companion is such a prescribed role that it requires a pretty generic set of characteristics that most characters could have if the writer chose to give them to them. I know that's a boring answer, and is something like saying 'pointless thread', but a one-off character has a set of traits that work for their role in that one story. In that sense, none of them could work as an ongoing character without being altered... and that rather defeats the initial purpose of prolonging the character.

Tom, I think part of the point is to imagine companions that would not fit the prescribed mould and would shake things up a bit. Although you are right in that companions do often have a generic set of characteristics, there is no reason this template has to be strictly adhered to. I think any of the characters I listed (and many of the ones that other people have mentioned) could work as companions without being greatly altered, but would make the companion role a little different to usual.

Edited to add: obviously some of these characters story arcs would have to altered so that they don't die (Rita, for example) but I see no reason that their character arcs couldn't be resolved or developed in other ways.

I think Canton would have been a brilliant addition to the cast. Not as a main companion but as a Captain Jack like figure. He sparked with the main cast and was a very likeable character with a good backstory. Ideal to travel in the Tardis.

That said in general I agree with Tom Tit. Most of the characters mentioned worked because they were temporary and suited the particular episode they were in. I loved Lindsay Duncans performance in WOM but don't think she had much potential beyond that. Same with Rita. I think it speaks volumes for the quality of the performances that because the character stands out from just being standard supporting cast fodder they stick in the memory but it doesn't make them companion material.

And often the reverse is true. I liked Rory in TEH but wouldn't have predicted that he would play such a significant part in the show based on that episode. And yet he proved to be a vital and integral element of 5, 6 and 7.

I would also add that Lorna from 'A Good Man...' felt like a companion who could have been and they played it as such.

Loved Canton (the younger one)

I loved Ida, and I love this.

One thing I'd rather like, is I want to fill that TARDIS up. I know you couldn't have an alien companion, the sheer amount of time in makeup would utterly destroy the budget, but if you put some in the TARDIS, just giving them homes there, they certainly wouldn't join in with every adventure, and don't even need to appear in every episode. Give the Doctor a bit of a crew, on hand, as and when he needs them. Daleks abound? "Strax, get your coat, I think we might need you."

Also echoing Canton. It's one of those things where he's the fourth most trusted companion... because he's the fourth most trusted companion! As in, the Doctor only writes to Canton because he knew his future self wrote to Canton? It would have been nice to have seen Canton again. I'd have done that adventure episode 12, rather than revisiting (the also marvellous!) James Corden for Closing Time.

Isobel from The invasion

I would certainly agree with the ones I've chosen from your list. Will certainly had an endearing quality about him that some other Fifth Doctor companions lacked. And Dr Todd certainly seemed more of a natural companion than the Fifth Doctor's usual ones as well, as indeed did was Richard Mace, whom I thought was superb.

In fact Kari(Lisa Goddard)from Terminus is another one off companion sort of character whom again worked better with The Fifth Doctor than his usual ones, despite the crap nature of the story.

As for Ray, sexy, action-packed girl on a motorbike with a gorgeous Welsh Accent to match, she would have been perfect.

As for New Who, agree with above posters that Lynda(with a Y) and Sally Sparrow would have made great companions.

I really love this idea.

Ooh, forgot about Lynda with a Y! Very good choice and obviously she was written as a potential new companian to a)make people think Rose was a goner in 'Bad Wolf' and b)to make her death more impactful on the Doctor at an important stage in the story. Shame that story saw hints of jealousy in Rose that was going to become rather irritating in the following Series.

As regards Todd, Kari and indeed Jane from 'The Awakening' (the great Polly James) the Fifth Doctor seemed to work very well with slightly more mature one-off characters....it was a break from the kids he had to put up with, I guess!

A number of people (including me) have probably chosen Rita because they liked the character/performance. I'm sure they also get the point of the character in the story and this is all a hypothetical bit of fun, Tom_Tit. Sorry if that sounded condescending.