10 Doctor Who Fan Theories That Make Too Much Sense To Ignore

It’s always difficult to come up with good reasons for companions to depart. After all, if you were offered the chance to travel in all of time and space, would you be able to give it up?

In the case of fan-favourite Sarah Jane Smith, the production team came up with the contrivance that the Doctor had been summoned back to Gallifrey, where Sarah Jane wasn't allowed.

Looking back, it’s a pretty lame excuse. And even if we do take it at face value, there’s no reason why the Doctor couldn’t have gone back for Sarah Jane once his business on Gallifrey was complete.

There is, however, another more palatable explanation: that the Doctor was lying.

And no, we don’t mean that he was deliberately trying to get Sarah Jane out of the way (though Tom Baker was keen to do a story without a companion).

On the contrary, he was trying to protect her from the Time Lords – who had, by this point, put him on trial, forced him to regenerate, exiled him to Earth, and, perhaps most significantly, erased the memories of two of his past companions.

From that perspective, it’s totally understandable why the Doctor would want to keep his best friend as far away from his people as possible.