Definitive Companion for each Doctor?

[Christopher]

See your point, Christopher. And yep, you can't really speak of a companion defining a Doctor if we haven't really seen them with anyone else. Hence my feeling that really Pertwee/Jo (or Pertwee/UNIT, though then Liz does begin to stake a claim... but as someone who saw late Pertwee but really grew up on the novelisations, Liz really was just a footnote till I saw and loved grotty pirate VHSes of season 7) is the only time you can really say any companion defines their Doctor.

Does Jo define the Third Doctor or his era? In a lot of ways she's a fairly standard companion from the era -- contemporary human female, not anywhere close to an intellectual match for the Doctor, often frightened -- and she didn't embody the UNIT era in the same way Liz or the Brigadier did.

But on a more intangible level, yes, Jo became very important to the Third Doctor. They had a close, loving, father-daughter relationship, and I don't think I'd seen the Doctor show quite so much devotion to anyone since Susan. It really hurt him when she left. So she defined his more compassionate side, his love for humanity and for his friends. Yet he could often be dismissive and condescending toward her, and that illustrated his arrogance, the way he cared for humanity but didn't seem to respect it much. And yet she also showcased the Doctor's own imperfection and vulnerability, because he needed her to save him almost as often as the reverse. (In "The Daemons," Jo Grant singlehandedly saved the world with her love and self-sacrifice, while the Doctor and the Brig were expending futile efforts against heat barriers and animated gargoyles. And it's always annoyed me that she never got so much as a thank-you for it. She's also the only companion I can think of, at least from the classic series, who could resist the Master's hypnosis through sheer willpower.)

So yeah, I guess she does define the Third Doctor in a lot of ways. And you could say she defines that transitional, early-70s era; she was sort of a counterculture hippie type, liberated in principle but still with the vulnerability of companions from an earlier era, yet able to find the strength to overcome that vulnerability and be an invaluable partner.

I've heard it argued that Rose Tyler was a second Jo Grant in a lot of ways. I'm not sure I entirely see it, but I think I get the general idea: the ordinary girl who's elevated through her association with the Doctor and fulfills a greater potential, the deeply emotional companion who wins the profound, if platonic, affection and devotion of a Doctor who might otherwise have been cold, bitter, and aloof.

 

[DWF]

I think for a companion to be definitve for a given Doctor they have to able compliment that Doctor and both the actor and character need have good chemistry with that Doctor. That being said, I would have to pair them up like this.

Ian and Barbara-First Doctor
Jamie-Second Doctor
Jo and the Brig-Third Doctor
Sarah Jane-Fourth Doctor
Tegan-Fifth Doctor
Peri-Sixth Doctor
Ace-Seventh Doctor
Grace-Eighth Doctor
Rose-Ninth Doctor
Donna-Tenth Doctor
Amy-Eleventh Doctor

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Frobisher (bite me)

Much as I like Dr. Evelyn Smythe (and as well as she plays off the sixth Doctor), Frobisher is the ur-sixth Doctor-companion.

Ace

A case could be made for Benny.

Lucie Miller

Or Fitz. Particularly post-Interference Fitz who is, basically, the Platonic ideal of Fitz than a real person.

Rose (like there's actually any choice!)

I'd argue Hermoine Grainger, but that's based entirely on a fanfic I read a long time ago about a pre-"Rose" ninth Doctor.

Amy

I'd make a case for Kazran.

 

[diankra]

So yeah, I guess she does define the Third Doctor in a lot of ways.

Basically, I agree with all the stuff I 'snipped'.
The odd thing about Jo being the definining companion for the 3rd Doctor for me is that his patronising (but loving, I'll admit) attitude to her is one reason why he's one of my least favourite Doctors, despite being my first Doctor, the one I watched when I was five (but I am now warming to him again. Must be getting middle-aged).
I love Pertwee'n'Liz, but Pertwee-with-Jo just makes me wish Roger Delgado could win!!!

 

[JRoss]

1- Ian
2- Jamie
3- Jo
4- Sarah Jane
5- Tegan
6- Peri
7- Ace
8- Grace
9- Rose
10- Rose/Donna
11- Amy

 

[sidious618]

1- Susan
2- Zoe
3- Jo
4- Romana II
5- Nyssa
6- Evelyn
7- Ace
8- Fitz
9- Rose by default
10- Rose
11- Can't say until his tenure is done

 

[Davros]

Are we limited to TV companions?

Because 8 goes with Charlie.

That means I'm putting 6 with Frobisher.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

1. Has to be Ian & Barbara. For most of William Hartnell's run, it wasn't really the Doctor's show. It was the Ian & Barbara show with the Doctor as the mysterious instigator that often got everyone into trouble.

2. Jamie & Zoe. (But then, maybe I'm just biased because so few of Victoria's stories and none of Ben & Polly's stories survive intact.) It strikes me that Patrick Troughton was far more approachable than most of the other Doctors. I feel like this was best demonstrated by the relationship he had with Jamie & Zoe. While the Doctor was the ostensible "leader" of their group, Zoe is often thought to be smarter. And Jamie could be just as stubborn & headstrong as the Doctor and the two of them could just go on for hours gently ribbing each other.

3. Jo Grant. But then, I really need to give the Jon Pertwee years a more thorough watching. Most of the ones I've been seeing lately have been non-UNIT stories ("Colony in Space," "The Curse of Peladon," "Frontier in Space," "Planet of the Daleks," & "The Monster of Peladon").

4. K-9. His humanoid companions often seemed to be a distraction. Really, Tom Baker seemed happiest hamming it up in front of an empty room. In lieu of an empty room, a largely immobile robot dog prop was the next best thing. And he did do a great job of imbuing K-9 with a great deal of life & personality. Somehow, I have a hard time imagining most of the other Doctors being able to even take him remotely seriously.

5. His defining companion was the general crowdedness of the TARDIS during his tenure. If I had to pick a single person, I would say Tegan, who, along with Peri, significantly defined the tone of much of the John Nathan-Turner/Eric Saward era.

6. Peri, unfortunately. Much of the JNT/Saward era seemed to be defined by unpleasant, combative companions. And I don't think there was ever a single companion that the Doctor had a more unpleasant, more emotionally abusive relationship with than Peri. (Well, the 1st Doctor bickered a lot with Ian & Barbara but they could both give as good as they got.) It's a shame that Mel didn't get more of a chance with Colin Baker. She showed a lot of promise in "Terror of the Vervoids."

7. Dorothy "Ace" McShane. All of Sylvester McCoy's best episodes are centered around his relationship with Ace: how much he cares about her, how much he pushes her beyond what she thinks her own limits are. And I love how they both have such a mischevous streak in them. The Doctor is always roping Ace into his complicated masterplans without letting her know what he's doing. Meanwhile, Ace is always disobeying the Doctor's orders to not bring explosives. The Doctor knows this, and often ends up taking advantage of it in stories like "Remembrance of the Daleks," "Silver Nemesis," & "Battlefield."

8. Charley Pollard. However, I haven't really listened to any of Paul McGann's post-Charley audios.

9. Rose Tyler, of course.

10. Rose Tyler, unfortunately. Like others have said, she left a strong imprint, not only in the episodes that she was in, but also in the many episodes after she left.

11. Tough to say. Amy was clearly the central figure in Season 5. River totally hijacked the story in Season 6. I don't think we'll get a clearer picture until after Season 7, when we see what the disposition is of Amy & Rory, how much River continues to appear on the series, and what kind of chemistry Matt Smith has with the new companion. (After getting so acclimated to the 11th Doctor with Amy & Rory, I'm expecting a big culture shock when they leave. Kinda like how the William Hartnell years felt like a completely different show after Ian & Barbara left.)