Doctor Who: 7 Ways Clara Could Die

By Tom Nicholson /

7. Pointless Heroism

The most famous of the companion deaths from classic Who, Adric was an intergalactic maths nerd who hung out with the Fourth and Fifth Doctors and once made a deeply unsuccessful pass at Ace, who threatened to kneecap him, in the comic Time & Time Again. Adric met his end in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock, during which he was in an escape pod hurtling toward Earth, which the Doctor realises is actually the €˜meteorite€™ which wiped out the dinosaurs. It€™s a pretty crucial juncture in the story of humanity, in short. So, Adric attempts to save Earth by changing the craft€™s trajectory, despite the fact that he could completely ruin human evolution in doing so. Nice one Adric. Fortunately, a Cyberman mushed up the flight controls before he could do so. That said, it€™s narratively dim to have a character launch themselves into the line of fire for no apparent reason, not to mention needlessly distressing for a viewer to have to stare at the lifeless body of a beloved character and, figuratively speaking, ask it: €œWhy on earth did you do that, you massive idiot?€ Fortunately nobody really did that with Adric, as he was a bit too earnest and moany, and because he dressed like he€™d wandered in from the set of Blake€™s 7. Anyroad, people actually like Clara, so having her cut down in her prime for absolutely no reason doesn't seem particularly likely.