Fantasy Casting - Companions for 11 Doctors

[OmahaStar]

Which *one* companion would you choose to bring back to represent each Doctor in your dream Eleven Doctors 50th anniversary special?

Note - Both the character and the actor must still be with us. That rules out Adric, Sara Kingdom, Harry Sullivan, etc.




My choices ...

One - Susan Foreman
Two - Jamie
Three - Brigadier Benton
Four - Romana II
Five - Tegan
Six - Peri (unless Evelyn can come along for the ride...)
Seven - Ace
Eight - Grace (by default)
Nine - Mickey
Ten - Donna Noble
Eleven - Oswin/current companion

 

[Sindatur]

Which *one* companion would you choose to bring back to represent each Doctor in your dream Eleven Doctors 50th anniversary special?

Note - Both the character and the actor must still be with us. That rules out Adric, Sara Kingdom, Harry Sullivan, etc.




My choices ...

One - Susan Foreman
Two - Jamie
Three - Brigadier Benton
Four - Romana II
Five - Tegan
Six - Peri (unless Evelyn can come along for the ride...)
Seven - Ace
Eight - Grace (by default)
Nine - Mickey
Ten - Donna Noble
Eleven - Oswin/current companion

I'm good with that list. Would be a blast to see Teagan facing off with Six

 

[OmahaStar]

I'm good with that list. Would be a blast to see Teagan facing off with Six

Again.

Though now it is sort of tinged because of the host, there is still that mini episode where the two of them pair up with Gareth Jenkins of Earth to save the world from the evil Sontarans. It's on the Two Doctors dvd, and is doubtless on youtube as well.

 

[Peacemaker]

One - Susan
Two - Jamie
Three - Jo
Four - K9
Five - Nyssa
Six - Peri
Seven - Ace
Eight - alone
Nine - Rose
Ten - Donna
Eleven -River

 

[Sindatur]

I'm good with that list. Would be a blast to see Teagan facing off with Six

Again.

Though now it is sort of tinged because of the host, there is still that mini episode where the two of them pair up with Gareth Jenkins of Earth to save the world from the evil Sontarans. It's on the Two Doctors dvd, and is doubtless on youtube as well.

??? OK, this is brand new to me, off to check YouTube

ETA: that was fun. Not quite as acerbic as I was expecting, but fun nonetheless. I hate to be judgmental, but, it's kinda tough to place this in Tegan's timeline, where she's got a legitimate reason to be wearing the Stewardess outfit. Does her life suck so bad she plays dress up as a Stewardess, or does she get hired back again? Her hair is longer, so, it's obviously after she stopped traveling with 5.

I got ahold of a clip that titled A Fix With The Sontarans/Where it should've ended (And missed the last 2 minutes) so, I'll have to watch it again in full some time. Thanks for pointing it out

Who is Gareth Jenkins? was he a famous child actor in the UK, or was this some kind of a Contest winner that got a part on Doctor Who?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

One - Ian (I'm sorry as great as it would be for The Eleventh Doctor to see his granddaughter again, I want to see the juxtaposition of ages between Smith and Russell even more)
Two - Jamie
Three - Benton (I didn't realize how...empty...the choices are until just now )
Four - Romana II
Five - Tegan
Six - Peri (or Evelyn if at all possible)
Seven - Ace
Eight - Grace (or, again, Charley if at all possible)
Nine - Mickey
Ten - Donna Noble
Eleven - Oswin/current companion

 

[VDCNI]

I'm good with that list. Would be a blast to see Teagan facing off with Six

Again.

Though now it is sort of tinged because of the host, there is still that mini episode where the two of them pair up with Gareth Jenkins of Earth to save the world from the evil Sontarans. It's on the Two Doctors dvd, and is doubtless on youtube as well.

??? OK, this is brand new to me, off to check YouTube

ETA: that was fun. Not quite as acerbic as I was expecting, but fun nonetheless. I hate to be judgmental, but, it's kinda tough to place this in Tegan's timeline, where she's got a legitimate reason to be wearing the Stewardess outfit. Does her life suck so bad she plays dress up as a Stewardess, or does she get hired back again? Her hair is longer, so, it's obviously after she stopped traveling with 5.

I got ahold of a clip that titled A Fix With The Sontarans/Where it should've ended (And missed the last 2 minutes) so, I'll have to watch it again in full some time. Thanks for pointing it out

Who is Gareth Jenkins? was he a famous child actor in the UK, or was this some kind of a Contest winner that got a part on Doctor Who?

The show was called Jim'll Fix It and was basically about kids writing in to say what thing they really wanted to do - so could be work in a zoo for a day, appear with the Doctor etc and were given a chance to do these things then they got a medal at the end from the host Jimmy Saville who used to be a BBC Radio DJ and present the UK's biggest music show - Top Of The Pops.

Unfortunately its recently been revealed that Saville was a child abuser on a extremely large scale so this clip isn't top of people lists to watch right now.

 

[OmahaStar]

Again.

Though now it is sort of tinged because of the host, there is still that mini episode where the two of them pair up with Gareth Jenkins of Earth to save the world from the evil Sontarans. It's on the Two Doctors dvd, and is doubtless on youtube as well.

??? OK, this is brand new to me, off to check YouTube

ETA: that was fun. Not quite as acerbic as I was expecting, but fun nonetheless. I hate to be judgmental, but, it's kinda tough to place this in Tegan's timeline, where she's got a legitimate reason to be wearing the Stewardess outfit. Does her life suck so bad she plays dress up as a Stewardess, or does she get hired back again? Her hair is longer, so, it's obviously after she stopped traveling with 5.

I got ahold of a clip that titled A Fix With The Sontarans/Where it should've ended (And missed the last 2 minutes) so, I'll have to watch it again in full some time. Thanks for pointing it out

Who is Gareth Jenkins? was he a famous child actor in the UK, or was this some kind of a Contest winner that got a part on Doctor Who?

The show was called Jim'll Fix It and was basically about kids writing in to say what thing they really wanted to do - so could be work in a zoo for a day, appear with the Doctor etc and were given a chance to do these things then they got a medal at the end from the host Jimmy Saville who used to be a BBC Radio DJ and present the UK's biggest music show - Top Of The Pops.

Unfortunately its recently been revealed that Saville was a child abuser on a extremely large scale so this clip isn't top of people lists to watch right now.

Yep. As you found, the mini episode is called A Fix With Sontarans. Gareth Jenkins was a young boy whose grandmother had made him a Sixth Doctor costume. He wrote in asking if he could meet the Doctor because of the coat. Instead, they wrote a whole episode about the boy.

It was filmed sometime around the Two Doctors story, but Nicola Bryant (Peri) was not available. At the time, Janet (Tegan) did work behind the scenes, in casting and such, and they brought her in as a replacement.

The idea is that there are two Sontarans running around inside the Tardis. Six needs help and the Tardis materializes Tegan, who was working as a stewardess again. Somehow, the Tardis also brought Gareth on board.

In the future, an adult Gareth Jenkins led a battle against the Sontarans, which they lost. The Sontarans now think if they eliminate him as a child, the future battle will be a success. Do we really think the Doctor is going to let a kid get murdered by giant mashed taters, precious? (oh, sorry. middle-earth on the brain)

In the last few minutes, Jim appears in the Tardis and gives Gareth loads of gifts. Knowing what we do now, that part is dang creepy. But if you ignore that part, it's a cute fun little bonus story, putting Tegan and Six together, if briefly.

 

[diankra]

Three - Brigadier Benton

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

 

[Sindatur]

Three - Brigadier Benton

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

It is Canon (Even if not British Army Accurate) from The Five Doctors (I think). Though UNIT is United Nations Task force, so, perhaps they don't don't follow British Army Regulations?

 

[diankra]

Three - Brigadier Benton

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

It is Canon (Even if not British Army Accurate) from The Five Doctors (I think). Though UNIT is United Nations Task force, so, perhaps they don't don't follow British Army Regulations?

Ehh? Don't recall Benton even getting a mention on Five Doctors (and Mawdryn Undead says he's already left the army to become a used car salesman). Or you thinking of the reference in Robot where Benton explains that as the UNIT budget can't afford the captain and major who ought to be the Brig's assistants, he's been promoted to fill the gap (but still as a an NCO - an RSM/Warrant officer).
That he's assigned to UNIT doesn't really make any difference, as all UNIT personnel are on loan from their home country's military, and the UK has split rank structure, with recruits coming in as enlisted men or officers (as do almost all others, aside from a few countries which dropped the traditional rank structure after revolutions).
You can transfer across, more often in wartime (so Benton's UNIT experience might make him a candidate), but for someone of Benton's age to then make his way up the officer's rank structure to Brigadier would be pretty difficult (seven promotions from starting as an officer cadet).

 

[Sindatur]

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

It is Canon (Even if not British Army Accurate) from The Five Doctors (I think). Though UNIT is United Nations Task force, so, perhaps they don't don't follow British Army Regulations?

Ehh? Don't recall Benton even getting a mention on Five Doctors (and Mawdryn Undead says he's already left the army to become a used car salesman). Or you thinking of the reference in Robot where Benton explains that as the UNIT budget can't afford the captain and major who ought to be the Brig's assistants, he's been promoted to fill the gap (but still as a an NCO - an RSM/Warrant officer).
That he's assigned to UNIT doesn't really make any difference, as all UNIT personnel are on loan from their home country's military, and the UK has split rank structure, with recruits coming in as enlisted men or officers (as do almost all others, aside from a few countries which dropped the traditional rank structure after revolutions).
You can transfer across, more often in wartime (so Benton's UNIT experience might make him a candidate), but for someone of Benton's age to then make his way up the officer's rank structure to Brigadier would be pretty difficult (seven promotions from starting as an officer cadet).

Wasn't Benton the Brig, at the beginning of The Five Doctors when Two showed up and met up with Brig Lethbridge-Stewart, just prior to being Time Scooped?

 

[diankra]

Wasn't Benton the Brig, at the beginning of The Five Doctors when Two showed up and met up with Brig Lethbridge-Stewart, just prior to being Time Scooped?

No, that was Colonel Crichton (played by the actor who'd previously been Lt Carstairs in The War Games, and a scientist who Benton - well, UNIT in general - failed to protect from the Axons in Claws of Axos, by coincidence). ISTR that in Terrance Dicks's script Benton was supposed to be the sergeant who has to identify the Doctor for Crichton at the end of the scene (continuity mangling though that would have been).

 

[OmahaStar]

Three - Brigadier Benton

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

We don't have that many choices, though. Liz and Sarah Jane are gone. Can't stand Useless. The Brig is gone. There was something with Mike Yates ... being a traitor or something, so that rules him out. By default, Benton is pretty much the only possibility left. And since it's fantasy, and not reflecting what they will actually do over in Cardiff, I'm saying he's the new Brig.

 

[diankra]

Three - Brigadier Benton

Benton can't become a Brigadier without rewriting most of British army regulations - he's not an officer (though I suppose there's someway he could get a field commission).

We don't have that many choices, though. Liz and Sarah Jane are gone. Can't stand Useless. The Brig is gone. There was something with Mike Yates ... being a traitor or something, so that rules him out. By default, Benton is pretty much the only possibility left. And since it's fantasy, and not reflecting what they will actually do over in Cardiff, I'm saying he's the new Brig.

Mike was one of the Operation Golden Age conspirators in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. After that the Doctor and the Brig arranged for him to get an honourable discharge on medical grounds (because of what had happened to him in Green Death), because they understood his reasons for it, even if they didn't agree. Which means he's still eligable for reserve service (honourable discharge).
On TV, he then redeemed himself a bit in Planet of the Spiders. And in semi-canon he's been recalled to UNIT duty at least once. Forgetting about the stage play Recall UNIT (also featuring Benton, but it's not entirely serious. Not even 10% serious, what with the Dalek Supreme helping UNIT foil the Master's plan to kidnap Margaret Thatcher), he been back in the BBC Audio 4th Doctor CDs, and in the most recent season headed the UNIT force working with another incarnation to take control of the situation in Hexford.
So, basically, there's a lot more semi-canon to let Mike come back with UNIT than there is for Benton... and they can both come back as civilians anyway!

 

[Davros]

One - Susan
Two - Jamie
Three - Jo
Four - Leela
Five - Peri
Six - Frobisher
Seven - Ace
Eight - Charlie
Nine - Rose
Ten - Wilf
Eleven -Amy

 

[Professor Zoom]

Four - Romana II

Methinks this one would remain a fantasy... From what I understand, their divorce was anything but amicable. Perhaps things have changed... but...

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

ISTR that in Terrance Dicks's script Benton was supposed to be the sergeant who has to identify the Doctor for Crichton at the end of the scene (continuity mangling though that would have been).

Well, that really only would have mangled to continuity of "Mawdryn Undead," which has so severely mangled the continuity of nearly everything else it touches (and is rubbish to boot). I think that ship has already sailed.

But then, it could still have been in continuity if Benton had been a civilian in that scene like Lethbridge-Stewart.

In some cases, we don't have a lot of great choices left. But here goes:

One-- Ian. (I agree that the age juxtaposition would make this one more interesting than Susan. I keep having this vision of a recast 1st Doctor sitting on a bus bench next to Ian, the two of them slowly realizing who the other one is.)
Two-- Zoe. (As iconic as Jamie is, I somehow feel like Zoe would be a better fit.)
Three-- Not a lot of good choices here. I wouldn't mind Yates, Benton, or Jo. Barring that, bring in Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter.
Four-- alone.
Five-- Nyssa. (Or maybe Tegan. Tegan was more interesting generally but Nyssa had much more chemistry with the 5th Doctor.)
Six-- Frobisher. (Because the show needs more talking penguins generally.)
Seven-- Bernice Summerfield. (She can call out River Song for being a total rip-off.) Or maybe that Nazi scientist from "Colditz."
Eight-- Iris Wildthyme. (It gives us a way to use Katy Manning without bringing back Useless.)
Nine-- Captain Jack Harkness.
Ten-- alone.
Eleven-- Rory. (I think it would be funny if, in retrospect, Rory realized that he'd met several of the Doctor's previous incarnations before while living as the Lone Centurion. Like, when he sees the 1st Doctor, "Isn't the Maximus Pettulian, the famous Roman lyre player?")

 

[diankra]

ISTR that in Terrance Dicks's script Benton was supposed to be the sergeant who has to identify the Doctor for Crichton at the end of the scene (continuity mangling though that would have been).

Well, that really only would have mangled to continuity of "Mawdryn Undead," which has so severely mangled the continuity of nearly everything else it touches (and is rubbish to boot).

Plus, there is a fan theory (based largely on Nick Courtney sporting a full head of hair in Five Doctors, thanks to a toupee, whereas he had a bald patch in the 'late' bits of Mawdryn) that the Brig in the Five Doctors was at his retirement party, in between season 13 and the 'early' bits of Mawdryn.

IIRC, John Levene was asked to do that scene, but didn't want to do a one-line cameo (there's a few other characters in Terrance's script who were supposed to be established characters in minor roles, but mainly Time Lords from Arc of Infinity, including Commander Maxil - Terrance having written the book version of Arc just as he was commissioned for 5Docs. In the event, the Castellan was the only actor who returned).

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

IIRC, JNT nixed Commander Maxil because he was already considering Colin Baker for the 6th Doctor and didn't want to confuse the issue by bringing Maxil back.

But then, coming back in a subsequent Time Lord story is almost never a good move. The rule seems to be that, if you come back, you eventually die or go evil. Granted, it took several times for Borusa to finally fall into the villain slot but it seems to happen to everyone if they last long enough. (IIRC, the 8th Doctor notes in "Neverland" all of the various "noble" Time Lords who inevitably fell from grace-- Borusa, Hedin, Morbius, Omega, Rassilon, etc.)