Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants (36 page)

It is odd that the Doctor should treat Adam in such a way, since what Rose does in the next story (
Father’s Day
) is arguably much worse than trying to make a quick buck with knowledge of the future. Rose tells the Doctor the story of her father’s death in 1987, and asks him to take her back there so that he will not die alone. The Doctor is a little unsure, but soon agrees – an unusual move for him, since it must be clear to him what is going to happen. In the first instance Rose freezes, and is unable to do anything but watch Pete Tyler get mowed down by a car, but once she has recovered from the shock she asks to try again. The Doctor warns her against this. It will be even more dangerous this time as there will be two versions of Rose. Rose says she understands, but that doesn’t stop her from running out and pushing her dad out of the way – watched by the earlier Rose and Doctor, who promptly vanish from existence. The Doctor is very angry at her, since she has made a radical alteration to the timeline, but Rose fails to see how having Pete alive is a bad thing. The Doctor confronts her, accusing her of planning this as soon as she learned the TARDIS was a time machine; she refutes the accusation of course, saying that the Doctor just doesn’t like the idea that there is someone else more important to her than him. It is a scathing comment, born of anger and hurt, probably because the Doctor is right. Nonetheless, when the Doctor storms off, having taken the TARDIS key from her, Rose pushes aside her hurt in favour of the joy of being with her dad. Seeing the reality of her parents’ marriage is a shock to her – they are not the happy, hopelessly in love couple Jackie always told her about, but rather two people who are lumbered with each other, constantly arguing, her mother bitter at Pete’s get-rich-quick schemes. Pete’s existence threatens the timeline and calls forth the Reapers, creatures who eat the chronon energies created by the rupture in the timeline. The Doctor returns. Rose is so happy to see him and there is no doubt how much she loves him. It takes Pete a while to work out who Rose is, and when he does, Rose is overwhelmed at finally meeting her dad properly – just calling him ‘dad’ brings her to tears. Pete realises the only way to fix things is for him to die – despite Rose pretending he is still alive in the future; the story she tells him is of a man that he will never be – and so he runs out in front of the car, restoring the timeline. Rose holds his hands while he dies, watched from a distance by Jackie who, we later learn (in
The Parting of the Ways
), doesn’t remember any of the events of this story save that a strange blonde girl held Pete’s hand while he died.

Arriving in 1941 at the height of the London Blitz, having followed a Chula spaceship to Earth, Rose is disappointed that the Doctor will not give her a ‘bit of Spock’ and scan for alien tech, instead of doing his usual hands-on kind of search. It seems a bit odd that she should be so concerned about such a thing at this point in her travels, having seen how effective the Doctor’s standard method is. She finds herself hanging from a barrage balloon, having wandered off to follow the cries of a child in the darkened back allies, with a Union Flag t-shirt on full display. Fortunately, as the planes come towards her, she is saved by Captain Jack Harkness, a former Time Agent from the fifty-first century, who is responsible for throwing the Chula ship at them in the vortex. She responds to Jack’s easy ways with some outrageous flirting; she even unintentionally prints his psychic paper with ‘
very
available’, even though she considers Mickey an occasional boyfriend. Once more she is uncontrollably fickle. It is easy to see why in this instance, since Jack’s charm and easy nature completely bewitches her – such is the way of this fifty-first century guy. While discussing terms of sale (in truth a con run by Jack – as he later admits once the Doctor explains to him the reality of what Jack’s unleashed on Earth) – they share a dance atop Jack’s invisible Chula ship which is tethered to Big Ben. When Jack uses his multi-purpose vortex manipulator to scan for alien technology Rose is impressed – finally a professional. She is amused later when, after the Doctor and Jack meet, they argue over the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and Jack’s sonic ‘squareness’ gun – sonic envy – but it is Rose that saves the day, using Jack’s gun to create a hole by which they can escape. The Doctor displays a little jealousy over Rose’s appreciation for Jack, and is annoyed that she assumes he doesn’t ‘dance’ (a euphemism for being sexually active), but is later amused by Rose’s dismay at learning that Jack ‘dances’ with everyone regardless of gender or species. Among all this innuendo and flirting, Rose shares a quiet moment with Nancy, a young woman who helps the homeless kids of London, and reassures her that the future will work out fine – indeed, that Germany will lose the war. It is a nice moment and somewhat reminiscent of a moment between Ace and Wainwright in
The Curse of Fenric
, also during World War II, when Wainwright worries about the outcome of the war. After saving everyone, the Doctor and Rose save one final person – Jack, and invite him to join them, which he does, standing aside laughing as the Doctor and Rose dance around the control console in the TARDIS.

When we next see her, in
Boom Town
, it is quite clear that some time has passed since they rescued Jack. The three of them have settled into a camaraderie that only comes from much time spent together – indeed, so strong is it, that when Mickey arrives at the TARDIS in Cardiff Bay he is very much an outsider and out of his depth. Later, Rose confirms the passage of time with stories of the places she visited with the Doctor (and possibly Jack), places we have never seen or heard about. Mickey only comes to Cardiff because Rose has asked him to bring her passport, but she later reveals that she wanted to see him. Once again she is keeping him on hold, the ‘occasional boyfriend’. After listening to her rabbit on about the Doctor, and their adventures together, Mickey blurts out that he is dating Trisha Delaney. Rose reacts as if she has been slapped and accuses him of lying. He would never be attracted to such a girl, she says. It turns out Mickey is lying; trying to make Rose jealous, but when it doesn’t work out, he tells her that she ‘makes [him] feel like nothing, Rose. Nothing.’ Rose promptly confirms his accusation by running straight back into the TARDIS when an earthquake strikes Cardiff Bay – really the Rift becoming violently active. It is only after Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen is defeated and the Rift is closed that Rose thinks of Mickey again. She rushes off to find him, but in the chaos around the Bay she cannot see him, although he watches her from a distance. He walks away before she can notice him, finally accepting the truth of the situation. For her own part, Rose realises that Mickey deserves better than her, a fact that upsets her and she tries to hide a tear.

After a couple more off-screen adventures Rose is hijacked from the TARDIS by a transmat beam of unknown origin (revealed to be Daleks) in
Bad Wolf
, and ends up at the Game Station, the former Satellite 5. There she takes part in a distorted version of
The Weakest Link
wherein after the immortal line, ‘you are the weakest link, goodbye’ is uttered by the Anne Droid, the loser is apparently vaporised. At first, after some initial confusion, Rose is amused to be on the game show; bombarded by questions she cannot possibly know the answers to. Her amusement continues, until the loser of the first round reacts in utter terror – Rose doesn’t understand the problem, until she sees the loser vaporised before her. Horror soon sets in, but Rose has no choice other than to continue and manages to survive until the final head-to-head round with fellow contestant Roderick, which she loses. The Doctor, Jack and a young woman called Lynda Moss join Rose only to see her vaporised in front of them! The Doctor and Jack are convinced she is dead. The Doctor is shocked, while Jack responds with anger and rage, threatening to kill those responsible. In truth, Rose has merely been transmatted to the Dalek mothership, one of two hundred ships on the outer-most limits of the Solar System. The Daleks try to intimidate Rose with fear, but she is resolute that the Doctor will save her. The Daleks attempt to use her against the Doctor, and after a direct confrontation with the Emperor, Rose is stunned to see the defeat on the Doctor’s face. She is disconsolate about the presence of Lynda; she sees her as a rival and is annoyed by Lynda’s obvious enthusiasm for the Doctor. When the Doctor explains how he will build a Delta Wave and use the Game Station as a transmitter to wipe out the entire Dalek fleet, Rose is resentful of Lynda’s response. ‘What are you waiting for?’ she says, a split second before Rose. Jealousy and distaste vie for dominance on Rose’s face.

Later the Doctor convinces Rose to get into the TARDIS and he returns her to 2006. She is angered and hurt by this apparent betrayal, and tries everything to stop the TARDIS, but it doesn’t respond to her, and she finds herself stranded back home, ‘enjoying’ chips with Mickey and Jackie – both of whom are happy to be reunited with her. Rose finds it difficult to just sit there while the Doctor is fighting to save them all. Mickey doesn’t understand this, until she tells him that there is nothing left on Earth for her. For Mickey this is the final nail in the coffin, and he accepts his relationship with Rose finally is over. Having a quiet moment with her mother, Rose discloses that she met her dad in the past. She also reveals that
she
was the unknown blonde girl Jackie remembers seeing by his dying body, ‘That’s how good the Doctor is,’ she says. This convinces Jackie to help Rose get back to the Doctor.

Fortuitously Rose realises the true meaning of the words ‘Bad Wolf’ and is convinced it is a link between her and the Doctor. As messages go it is obscure, but Rose’s guess is correct; staring into the heart of the TARDIS she absorbs the time vortex and becomes Bad Wolf, scattering the words throughout time and space, and thus creating a message that only she can decipher. Using the power of the time vortex, Rose returns to the future and disperses the atoms of the entire Dalek fleet, thus ending the Time War. However the pain burns in her mind – she can see
everything
that has ever happened. She defies life itself and brings Jack back from the dead (having been killed during the Dalek assault on the station). The Doctor removes the vortex from her, saving her life, and dispelling it safely. As Rose awakes in the console room, she finds the Doctor talking about how he is going to change. She remembers nothing about being Bad Wolf – the last thing she recalls is looking into the heart of the TARDIS. Rose is then shocked to see the Doctor regenerate before her…

Adam Mitchell, although not technically regarded as a companion, is designed to show why not everyone can work as a companion, to
prove how wonderful Rose is. And how wise the Doctor is, not selecting his crew cos he fancies them
(from Russell T Davies’ pitch document). Ironically, based solely on what we see on television, he proves the direct opposite. He is intelligent, inquisitive and uses his initiative – all key elements of a companion. His only crime is trying to make money from the knowledge he has gained while visiting Satellite 5. Does this actually warrant the Doctor dumping him back on Earth? Based on the evidence presented in
Father’s Day
, during which Rose’s actions almost destroy all life on Earth, the answer would be ‘no’. Rose gets a slapped wrist whilst Adam gets dumped with no chance to improve. What would have become of Adam had he remained is something we will never know, since the Doctor doesn’t seem to regard him even worthy of mention again. As a result Adam’s not so much the companion who couldn’t, rather the companion who didn’t get a chance.

Therefore the next companion is Jack Harkness, one of the earliest conceived characters for the 2005 revival of
Doctor Who
(according to
The Inside Story
[written by Gary Russell and published by BBC Books in 2006] he was conceived and cast before the outline of the series was even confirmed). He is created to be the soldier and do things the Doctor will never ordinarily do. His travelling days with the Doctor, however, are slightly different to what was originally planned, due to the creation of spin-off show
Torchwood
, for which he became the lead character.

Jack Harkness – John Barrowman
(
The Empty Child
to
The Parting of the Ways
)

Destined to be one of the most complex and long-serving characters in
Doctor Who
history, Jack begins simply enough. He is introduced into the series under an assumed identity, stolen from RAF Captain Harkness (as revealed in
Torchwood: Captain Jack Harkness
). Jack is an ex-Time Agent from the fifty-first century, who for some reason had two years of his life stolen from him. No longer working for the Time Agency, Jack is now a conman using his knowledge of Earth’s history for his own personal ends. Jack is happy to flirt with everyone he meets; indeed flirting is often his way of saying hello. It is inferred that Jack is having a secret sexual relationship with Algy, a British Army Officer. Yet he is also very impressed with Rose, but mistakes her for a Time Agent, until he later meets the Doctor whom he calls ‘Mister Spock’ initially due to Rose’s use of the name. Despite his sizeable knowledge of Earth history, it seems Jack has some curious gaps – popular television and terminology being most prominent. Jack has a carefree attitude, with much joking and sarcasm, never taking anything too seriously. His biggest character flaw, as he later mentions to the Doctor in
The Parting of the Ways
, is his cowardice.