A historic person as a future companion

[Joe Washington]

Would they ever try having a famous historic person be a future companion of the Doctor that travels with him in the Tardis and has adventures alongside him? Then they can make up some story in the end that the person kept his or her travels a secret for the rest of his or life or that his or her memory was wiped of the experiences for his or her own good.

 

[Atticus]

Not on TV but Big Finish are about to release three audio adventures with Mary Shelley as the Eighth Doctor's companion, following a one-off episode last year.

 

[23skidoo]

One of the Eighth Doctor novels (or possibly one of the audios) also suggested that Agatha Christie at one point also travelled with the Doctor (probably after the events of The Unicorn and the Wasp).

Also, the emergence of one-off companions like Astrid Peth and Jackson Lake also opens the door for individuals such as HG Wells ("Timelash") and Charles Dickens to be retroactively considered companions to a degree as well. We also have yet to learn the extent of the Doctor's friendship with Winston Churchill; certainly ol' Bulldog seems quite familiar with the TARDIS...

Alex

 

[Australis]

In the past, the Second Doctor had Jamie McCrimmond, that he met during the '45 rebellion. Good companion too. At the end, he was dropped back right where he was picked up.

 

[Rosalind]

I would love to have a companion from Earth's history, but I would prefer someone not famous, because then we'd have more to learn. Jamie is one of my favourite companions, and in audio I love Erimen, the Egyptian Princess, because she had some (to us) very strange concepts and ideas, which got me to think about our values and ideas.

 

[David cgc]

We also have yet to learn the extent of the Doctor's friendship with Winston Churchill; certainly ol' Bulldog seems quite familiar with the TARDIS...

The Doctor specifically said he never let him inside of it, though.

Nixon, on the other hand, made multiple trips in the TARDIS, so he probably counts as a Companion more than most.

 

[JRoss]

Salvador Dali.

 

[Guartho]

Young, community organizer Barrack Obama.

No, I don't really want to see him on-screen as a regular companion, but a reference to an off-screen adventure or two could be fun. It would help to explain Obama's real life meteoric political career and it would explain why a speech by the President of the US should be such a big friggin deal on a UK show.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

After reading Edmund Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, I became utterly convinced that the young Roosevelt should have been a Doctor Who companion.

Not quite historical, but I'd love for Sarah Bolger's Princess Mary from The Tudors to travel in the TARDIS.

 

[JRoss]

As someone who would have been sterilized/castrated due to that looney's views on eugenics, I'd have to vote against Roosevelt.

 

[Guartho]

Not quite historical, but I'd love for Sarah Bolger's Princess Mary from The Tudors to travel in the TARDIS.

That would definitely be fun, but I don't see her 16th century X-TREME CATHOLICISM!™ meshing well with the Doctor for very long.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

First person that comes to mind would be Amelia Earhart... hm, second Amelia onboard the TARDIS.

 

[Sindatur]

First person that comes to mind would be Amelia Earhart... hm, second Amelia onboard the TARDIS.

Yea, that could be fun to paly with, someone who disappeared one day, becomes a companion, and gets left somewhere on their travels with the Doctor.

 

[Kelthaz]

I don't like the idea. The problem with using an historical character is that you know how his story arc is going to end. If Abe Lincoln joins the TARDIS crew you pretty much know that he's not going to go down fighting the Daleks.

 

[Sindatur]

I don't like the idea. The problem with using an historical character is that you know how his story arc is going to end. If Abe Lincoln joins the TARDIS crew you pretty much know that he's not going to go down fighting the Daleks.

But, if it was someone like DB Cooper or Amelia Earhardt, who just disappeared one day, that mystery is still there. They may have been killed by Daleks, or decided to stay in 25th Century Earth...

 

[Guartho]

I don't like the idea. The problem with using an historical character is that you know how his story arc is going to end. If Abe Lincoln joins the TARDIS crew you pretty much know that he's not going to go down fighting the Daleks.

This is Doctor Who we're talking about. Abe Lincoln could absolutely go down fighting the Daleks. His last few days/weeks in office could be played out by a Teselecta or a ganger with his actual body swapped back in after the assassination. I'm pretty sure the Doctor is capable of fooling a 19th century autopsy.

 

[JRoss]

^NO MOAR TESSELECTA!

 

[captcalhoun]

BO SELECTA!

 

[Guartho]

^NO MOAR TESSELECTA!

Indeed. But the point is that history just has to look like history and that's been done plenty of times on Who, historically speaking.

 

[Kelthaz]

But, if it was someone like DB Cooper or Amelia Earhardt, who just disappeared one day, that mystery is still there. They may have been killed by Daleks, or decided to stay in 25th Century Earth...

I suppose that would work, but Earhart brings back bad Voyager memories. Let's steer clear of that.

This is Doctor Who we're talking about. Abe Lincoln could absolutely go down fighting the Daleks. His last few days/weeks in office could be played out by a Teselecta or a ganger with his actual body swapped back in after the assassination. I'm pretty sure the Doctor is capable of fooling a 19th century autopsy.

Please don't give Moffat any ideas.