Doctor Who: 10 Most Embarrassing Classic Series Companions

By Mike Morgan /

2. Adric

Adric was an Alzarian played by Matthew Waterhouse in Tom Baker's final season and Peter Davison's first season (plus a couple of later ghostly cameos). The character was meant to be a sort of Artful Dodger type but came off more as an insufferable prig, complete with a gold star for mathematical excellence that only cemented his status as a swot. When Adric wasn't being rude or toying with the idea of betraying the TARDIS crew (State of Decay), he was acting like a right sulky brat. In his defence, he did sit on K-9 in Warriors' Gate and anyone who uses the tin dog as a piece of furniture can't be that bad. In fact, fans felt sort of guilty that he got blown to pieces in Earthshock, but at the same time they were kind of glad he was gone. Before he made his explosive exit, Adric got to leave an indelible mark upon the memories of countless Whovians. There's a brief scene in Castrovalva in which the Master is holding Adric in a Hadron web and... well, there's no delicate way of putting this, but Matthew Waterhouse's tackle is, erm... well, just take a look at the above picture. At the risk of quoting George Takei, ohhhhhh my. There's a sight no one ever wanted to see.