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Category Archives: Companion Tropes
Kazran the Christmas Ghost
Companion Tropes Extra 10 Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is such a popular and well-known story that it has become a writing trope in itself. It would be possible to compile a fairly extensive list of television series that have … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, Kazran Sardick
1 Comment
The Ascended Astrid
Companion Tropes Extra 8 Doctor Who tends to shy away from religion. It’s probably a subject that’s a bit too emotionally charged on a personal level for a family series, and whatever it did would upset somebody. But that’s not … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Astrid, Voyage of the Damned
1 Comment
The Chickified Sarah Jane
Companion Tropes 41 Often when the Doctor regenerates there is an attempt to provide a contrast with the previous incarnation. The same thing applies, perhaps to an even greater extent, with the companions. In particular, we seem to veer back … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Sarah Jane Smith
1 Comment
Sergeant Rock Benton
Companion Tropes Extra 7 When I wrote about Mike Yates for this series I touched upon how Yates and Benton gloriously subvert the “Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough” character tropes, instead more of a Captain Smooth and Sergeant Cuddly. However, … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Benton
3 Comments
The Flanderized Brigadier
Companion Tropes 40 I’m not a huge fan of The Simpsons, but I could probably have a good stab at naming most of the characters and listing their defining traits. When it comes to Homer’s neighbour Ned Flanders, I would … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Brigadier
4 Comments
Rose the Friend Influence
Companion Tropes 39 When you look at the Doctor Who companions who were present for a regeneration, an interesting pattern emerges. In the company of Ben and Polly, the Doctor becomes much younger and more energetic, with a Sixties mop … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Rose
2 Comments
Missy the Anti-Villain
Companion Tropes Extra 6 “What have you got to do with it? I’m his friend. You’re just… You’re the puppy.” It might seem odd to hear Missy describe the Doctor as her friend, after so many centuries of being his … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Missy
3 Comments
Dorium the Oracular Head
Companion Tropes Extra 5 “You know, you could’ve told me all this the last time we met.” “It was a busy day and I got beheaded.” After he gets beheaded in A Good Man Goes to War, Dorium Maldovar becomes … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Dorium Maldovar
1 Comment
Villain Decay Victim Strax
Companion Tropes Extra 4 Do not attempt to escape or you will be obliterated! May I take your coat? The Sontarans were once a big name villain in Doctor Who, somewhere around #4 on most people’s list of big hitters, … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Strax
1 Comment
The Modern Prometheus’s Ashildr
Companion Tropes Extra 3 When the Doctor makes Ashildr immortal he creates his own monster, hence my reference to the “Modern Prometheus”, the subtitle of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In Greek myth, the original Prometheus created man from clay, and then … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Ashildr
3 Comments
Handles the Wilson
Companion Tropes Extra 2 We always celebrate October as our scary Halloween month in the Junkyard, and this year is no exception. So, although I haven’t quite exhausted the list of Doctor Who companions for my “Companion Tropes” series, I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Handles
5 Comments
Zoe: All Brain and No Heart
Companion Tropes 38 Many years ago I was on a family holiday when we had a medical emergency and needed help. Thankfully it turned out to be nothing serious. I set off to find help at a brisk walk, knowing … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Zoe
3 Comments
Kamelion the Un-robot
Companion Tropes 37 There have been plenty of missed opportunities in the history of Doctor Who, but Kamelion probably stands out as the most wasteful of all. He had an introductory story and then almost precisely one year later he … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Kamelion
1 Comment
Vicki the Mentor Companion
Companion Tropes 36 We have arrived at the person who I consider to be the most important ever Doctor Who companion, and she is such an unusual character that there isn’t really an existing trope that will fit the bill. … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Vicki
3 Comments
Genki Girl Mel
Companion Tropes 35 The English language is an amazing thing. There are probably more than a million words, with the Oxford English Dictionary listing over 170,000 of them, added to which there are a multitude of slang and obsolete words. … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Mel
1 Comment
Robot Buddy K9
Companion Tropes 34 “Robot Buddy” might seem like a blindingly obvious character trope to discuss for K9, but it is actually a very important and interesting kind of character, ubiquitous in science fiction. This is also the best place to … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged K9
1 Comment
Constantly Curious Bill
Companion Tropes 33 What’s that? A police telephone box? Did you build it from a kit? Then how did you get it in here? Why pick on me? What do I call you? Doctor what? Just about the first thing … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Bill
2 Comments
Sara the Atoner
Companion Tropes 32 No, not Sarah. Sara Kingdom, from First Doctor story The Daleks’ Master Plan, and the most debatable companion from the lists of those who are generally considered “official” ones. She is unique among the Doctor’s companions, a … Continue reading
Posted in Companion Tropes, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Science Fiction, Television
Tagged Sara
3 Comments
The View from the Junkyard 