2. Adric
Adric is, without a doubt, one of the most loathsome companions that the Doctor has ever had. Whiny, stuck-up and prone to selling himself to the nearest villain at the slightest provocation he was easy to hate from start to end. And, even now, I get a strange feeling of rage in the pit of my stomach when I think of him. ...Despite this, however, his ending is one of the best endings that the show has ever produced. Dark and sudden, it's given the perfect amount of time to play out. And it feels like there are actual consequences after it, the Fifth Doctor and his other two companions visibly shellshocked for the rest of the episode and the following story. Doctor Who is often at its best when it chooses to go for the completely heartbreaking angle, and it gets it perfectly with Adric's death. I've met nobody sane who likes Adric, but his departure seems to be fairly wrenching to almost everybody. He sacrifices himself to stop the Cybermen and save his friends, and is oddly noble in a way that his character never managed before. In his death he almost, but not really, becomes tolerable a feat quite hard to pull off with a character as truly loathsome as his. His departure is mainly heartbreaking, though, because of outside factors. The performances of the other actors, for example none of them liked Adric, but you could never guess it from how they react. They all look absolutely broken, and it visibly takes them a while to get back to their old selves. This emotional effect is only aided by the credits they ran without the traditional theme music, to give a sense of the impact, and it truly works. It was an audacious and well-judged move, and could never be pulled off in the modern times of running fifty-billion trailers before the programme is even concluded. ...Adric's departure is not just heartbreaking, though, but also manages to be completely glorious. Not because of his brave manner of going or because of the acting or even because of the way everything seemed to be perfectly constructed no, it's glorious because he's finally gone. The bane of the screen, departed at last. He was fled! Banished! Absolutely never to return! I know a few people who applauded after they were done being traumatized, and I can fully understand why. The final departure of the beast also known as Adric deserves a little celebration. Adric was one of the worst companions in Doctor Who history, but his departure was one of the best. Due to brave, well-judged decisions he was given a goodbye that was both meaningful and surprisingly touching. His departure was the best thing that he ever did, and that's the closest to a compliment that I'm ever going to give him.