Doctor Who: Remembering The First Doctor's Companions

1. Ben Jackson And Polly Wright (1966)

Last but not least, it's Ben and Polly. Ben Jackson was a Royal Navy sailor living in swinging 1960s London and Polly Wright (no known relation to Barbara) was a young, single girl doing the same. They were a great team but somewhat saddled with an odd situation. You see, the two of them were created to travel with the First Doctor but, in the end, they did twice as many stories with the Second. They weren€™t bad with Patrick Troughton but they were very quickly overshadowed by the greatness that was the chemistry between the Second Doctor and Jamie, but that's for another article. Ben and Polly were, as said, from "contemporary" London. Ben was something of the stereotypical gallant young sailor, always gunning for a fight and given to calling Polly "Dutchess", while Polly was... well, not quite a hippie yet, but definitely someone headed in that direction. She was a bit older and more sophisticated than Dodo, and, frankly, a much better character overall. But then, who isn't? The two also had the great privilege of being there when the Doctor regenerated for the first time. It was new for them, new for the Doctor and new for the audience. It€™s such a shame that their final appearance alongside the First Doctor, as well as their first alongside the Second, no longer exist, though the DVD release of The Tenth Planet contains an animated version of the last episode. Ben and Polly were also clearly destined to be a couple, just about as much as Ian and Barbara. In fact, in The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Death of the Doctor, it's mentioned that they now run an orphanage together in India. Not a bad fate, really, given some of the stuff that's happened to the Doctor's other companions, and it's one that the Time Lord himself would certainly approve of. What did you think of this list? Let us know your memories of the First Doctor's companions in the comments section below.