Every Classic Doctor Who Companion Ranked From Worst To Best

5. Ian And Barbara

Doctor Who Ian And Barbara
BBC Studios

Ian and Barbara have the somewhat dubious honour of being the first kidnapped companions to travel in the TARDIS. The pair were teachers at Coal Hill, the school at which Susan Foreman was attending. Susan, of course, was the First Doctor's companion and granddaughter. The pair's curiosity caused them to follow Susan back home, discovering the girl lived in a junkyard with her grandfather. There, in the middle of the yard, was a mysterious blue box...

Together with the Doctor and Susan, they were somewhat thrust into the early adventures. They were present for the Doctor's first meeting with the Daleks, arriving on Skaro as they attempted to poison the planet's atmosphere. They believed that they watched the Daleks die, when in fact Susan would later leave the group after the events of the Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Barbara in particular enjoyed the history of the Aztecs, to the point that she attempted to impersonate an Aztec god when the Doctor brought them there. She failed, with the group barely escaping in time. She did however figure out that she and Ian could use the Dalek time machine to return home to London. They elected to do this, travelled back and safely disembarked - two years after they had left, leaving them with some explaining to do!

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"