10 Doctor Who Characters Who Died For No Reason
2. Adric (Earthshock)
After the Series 12 episode Praxeus aired in 2020, Adric's death became a huge topic of debate in Whovian circles.
In that episode, the Thirteenth Doctor rescues a man from a crashing ship by materialising the TARDIS around him. This was a similar scenario to the one that Adric faced in 1982's Earthshock, only, in that case, his ship blew up, and the Doctor didn't even try to save him.
For years, fans have wondered why the Fifth Doctor couldn't rescue his doomed companion by materialising the TARDIS around him, and Praxeus brought that question to the forefront by demonstrating that, yes, that would've been possible.
To play devil's advocate though, the serial does offer an explanation for why the Fifth Doctor didn't act: in the closing moments, he mentions that the TARDIS console has been damaged, and thus, he can't pilot it to Adric's side.
However, looking back, this excuse is rather flimsy. The TARDIS gets damaged all the time, and its performance never seems to be affected. It's also a throwaway line, and many viewers don't catch it - which explains the Praxeus outrage - so it's understandable why some fans maintain the belief that Adric's death would've been easy to prevent.