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Favorite companion parents/relatives?

Mr. Sin

Commander
Here and there, we've seen companion's families. The new series has done a good deal with this, but it happened in the old series too. One could technically count the Doctor himself in this(Because he's Susan's grandfather). Any favs.
 
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Let's see ... Wilf (Donna), Luke (Sarah Jane), Alan (Maria) ... I can't think of any other companion's relatives that I can stand. At least, from the modern era. Other than the Doctor/Susan, I can't think of anyone who stood out from the classic series, other than Tegan's forgettable cousin.
 
Definitely Wilfred.

Jackie was funny, but she didn't serve much of a purpose besides being a foil for the Doctor (same goes for Mickey).

All of Martha's family was annoying.

And I hated Donna's mum (and her dad didn't make enough of an appearance to care about one way or the other).

Out of the whole series, I'd say Wilfred was the best since I would actually watch a Wilf show. :rommie:
 
Wilf takes the prize, but I have certain fondness for Kathleen Dudman, Ace's grandmother.
 
Wilf and Jackie Tyler my picks.

Why Wilf? Two words: Bernard Cribbins. Nuff said.

As for Jackie, I got a kick out of how Camille Coduri (an actress I've liked she since was in King Ralph - as well as Hawks with Timothy Dalton now I think about it) played the role. It was in some ways a throwback to those great (and not so great) UK sitcoms of the 1970s the way she did it. But then the character evolved from being comic relief to basically being a companion in all but name, so I thought they did a great job growing her character.

Alex
 
Yup, much like Mickey I started out hating her and grew to love her...not to mention finding her disturbingly hot in 1987...
 
Wilf and Jackie Tyler my picks.

Why Wilf? Two words: Bernard Cribbins. Nuff said.

As for Jackie, I got a kick out of how Camille Coduri (an actress I've liked she since was in King Ralph - as well as Hawks with Timothy Dalton now I think about it) played the role. It was in some ways a throwback to those great (and not so great) UK sitcoms of the 1970s the way she did it. But then the character evolved from being comic relief to basically being a companion in all but name, so I thought they did a great job growing her character.

Alex

^Alex said exactly what I would!
 
Hmmm, I don't know if it's a cultural thing or something else. But, I just do not get the Wilf appeal. Yeah, he was cool and all, but that's it. Barely a blip on the Who radar, as far as I'm concerned. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that some of his doddery acting or whatever it was kind of annoyed me at times. And he teared-up about as much as Tennant did. Just didn't work for me, I guess.

I'll take Jackie Tyler each and every time. Great actress, great character. :techman:
 
Maybe you do have to be British but he's Bernard Cribbins! The guy was a legend before Wilf, Wilf just cemented it. I'm trying to think who a comparable American actor might be but I don't know the US entertainment arena nearly well enough.
 
Maybe you do have to be British but he's Bernard Cribbins!
Absolutely not. I'm not British and I adore Bernard Cribbins (as does my mom). Outside of Doctor Who (I haven't seen the Peter Cushing films), the only thing I've seen him in is FawltyTowers but he was utterly hysterical there, too. Kept up with John Cleese very well.
 
I'm not British -- born and raised in Ohio, and I've only left the United States once, for five minutes, when I was on the Canadian side of Niagra Falls when I was 8 -- and I've never seen Bernard Cribbons in anything other than Doctor Who, and I adore Wilf.

Though I'm not sure if Wilf really counts as a character who is primarily a companion's relative, since he's now become a genuine companion in his own right.

After Wilf, Jackie. Absolutely. I love that character to death; Camille had wonderful comedic chemistry with both Eccleston and Tennant. "You're a doctor? Well, stitch this, mate!" Love it. :)
 
Funny thing about the Nu-Who relatives, is that they actually live. Too often in the classic series, bad things happen to companion's relatives-even the audios did this to an extent. Davison's first set of companions are a prime example-Nyssa's parents were killed by the master, and the Master killed Tegan's aunt. I'm pretty sure Adric's brother died as well.
 
Tegan's other relatives (cousin in Arc of Infinity and grandfather in The Awakening) did all right, though.

FUN FACT: Until Martha, Tegan was the companion with the largest number of on-screen relatives.
 
Funny thing about the Nu-Who relatives, is that they actually live. Too often in the classic series, bad things happen to companion's relatives-even the audios did this to an extent. Davison's first set of companions are a prime example-Nyssa's parents were killed by the master, and the Master killed Tegan's aunt. I'm pretty sure Adric's brother died as well.

In fairness all their relatives actually died on the 4th Doctor's watch.

Although obviously Adric died on Davison's...:lol:
 
Maybe you do have to be British but he's Bernard Cribbins!
Absolutely not. I'm not British and I adore Bernard Cribbins (as does my mom). Outside of Doctor Who (I haven't seen the Peter Cushing films), the only thing I've seen him in is FawltyTowers but he was utterly hysterical there, too. Kept up with John Cleese very well.

I think what I was trying to say is that he's an institution over here, one of those actors who always seemed on the telly when I was growing up...and obviously he voiced the wombles too!!
 
I'm gonna go with the flow here and say Wilf. Wilf was just so awesome, and it was great to see him bumped up to an actual companion for Tennant's final bow.

As for Jackie, I got a kick out of how Camille Coduri (an actress I've liked she since was in King Ralph...
Holy crap, that was her? It's been forever since I saw King Ralph. I used to watch that movie all the time.
 
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