How Much did the Doctor Kidnap their Companions? · 12:07am Dec 9th, 2018
With the recent occurrence of the thirteenth Doctor’s accidental kidnapping of her companions bringing up some conversations on how almost all of the companions had been kidnapped to some degree, I thought I would make a little graph of how much each of the companions had to be kidnapped before they chose to keep traveling with the Doctor. Companions to the left were less kidnapped than companions to the right.
Note: Obviously, I couldn’t include all of the companions. I included all of the TV companions who stayed with the Doctor for more than a single episode. Companions from the audios, novels, and comics were chosen based on personal preference and whose entry into the TARDIS I could remember. This data is therefore incomplete, and the conclusions drawn are imperfect.
Leela: 0.3. Literally forced her way into the TARDIS against the Doctor’s wishes and made it take off.
Zoe: 1.1. Tried to stow away on the TARDIS and refused to leave even after being shown the Doctor’s last encounter with the Daleks.
Frobisher: 1.3. Disguised himself as the central console to try and turn the Doctor in for reward money. They did a heist together and became friends.
Adric: 1.5. Stowed away.
Sarah-Jane: 1.7. Stowed away on the TARDIS without knowing what it was.
Brigadier: 2.2. Willingly hired the Doctor at UNIT, to his later chagrin.
Turlough: 2.25. Blackmailed by the Black Guardian into trying to murder the Doctor.
River: 2.4: Literally overcame her brainwashing by the Silence to travel with the Doctor. The only reason she’s so high is because she got kidnapped by the Silence to start with,
Liz: 2.45. It’s her job now.
Donna: 2.6: After originally being accidentally kidnapped, purposefully sought the Doctor out again.
Jo: 3.0. Came to UNIT and traveled with the Doctor of her own volition.
Clara: 3.25. Traveled with the Doctor after a night’s consideration after being saved from being uploaded to the Internet.
Mel: 3.25. Nightmarish timeline problems prohibit complete assessment, but she seemed quite delighted to travel with the Doctor.
Romana II: 3.6. Elected to remain with the Doctor even after being technically no longer kidnapped by the White Guardian.
Amy: 3.75: While technically she came of her own accord, the Doctor did kinda try and kidnap her as a seven-year-old.
Kamelion: 4.0. Freed from the Master’s control and invited aboard by the Doctor.
Evelyn: 4.25. The Doctor purposefully tracked her down and slightly stalked her to fix her timeline and took her back to the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. Then she just stayed on.
Erimem: 4.4. Traveled with the Doctor to further her education. She thought Greece, the Doctr thought the Braxiatel Collection, and the TARDIS just sort of decided to keep her until she stepped off on Peladon.
Fitz: 4.6. Came aboard after his mother died from alien experimentation. Or after he was brainwashed by Communists. Later kidnapped by Faction Paradox.
Bill: 4.8. Definitely originally came aboard under false pretences, but had to beg the Doctor to let her keep traveling and not wipe her memory.
Ace: 5.0.Technically she only came aboard because she was kidnapped by Fenric, but she definitely leapt at the chance to keep traveling and not return to Perivale anytime soon.
Charley: 5.2. Wanted to keep adventuring. The only thing she was really kidnapped from was death.
Martha: 5.4. Certainly didn’t mind her ‘one trip only’ turning into a longer series of travels. Well, not usually, anyway.
Peri: 5.6. Came aboard after nearly drowning, stayed of her own volition. The Time Lords had to ‘kill her’ to make her leave.
Susan: 5.9. We don’t know much about if or how Susan chose to accompany her grandfather in their flight from Gallifrey. She certainly seemed happy to travel, but upset that she couldn’t return home again.
Nyssa: 6.1. The Doctor offered her a home after her planet was destroyed by the Master.
Victoria: 6.25. The Doctor offered her a home after Daleks killed her father.
Rory: 6.25. Chose to join the Doctor to be with Amy.
Rose: 6.3. Chose to join the Doctor after mild convincing.
Mickey: 6.8. Chose to join the Doctor to spend time with Rose.
Nardole: 6.85. River made him do it.
Tegan: 6.9. Mistook the TARDIS for an actual police box and went in as it took off. Stayed on after the Master killed her aunt, but really desperately wanted to get to Heathrow.
Katarina: 7.3. Came aboard the TARDIS under the misapprehension that the Doctor was a god. Quickly and terminally proved wrong.
Polly: 7.35. Mistook the TARDIS for a police box and entered as it took off.
Ben: 7.4. Unwillingly dragged into the TARDIS by Polly.
Jack: 7.4. Entered the TARDIS so he wouldn’t get exploded.
Yaz: 7.6. Accidentally kidnapped.
Graham: 7.6. Accidentally kidnapped.
Ryan: 7.6. Accidentally kidnapped.
Romana I: 7.65. Taken aboard the TARDIS under false pretences, but not the Doctor’s; the White Guardian, in guise as the Lord President, ordered her aboard the TARDIS.
Dodo: 8.15. Mistook the TARDIS for a police box and entered as it took off. Rated higher than Ben and Polly on grounds that she entered possibly under more duress, and without having met the Doctor previously.
Lucie: 8.85. Forced on the Doctor by the Time Lords’ Witness Protection Program.
K-9: 9.2. Given to the Doctor as a gift, which seems a little weird to me. I guess he isn’t properly alive, but still…
Jamie: 9.4. Lured aboard by Polly, Ben, and the Doctor, without knowing what was inside.
Steven: 9.75. Passed out on the TARDIS floor. The Doctor decided to take off while he was still there.
Harry: 9.8. Tricked into entering the TARDIS by Sarah-Jane and the Doctor, who then took off with him.
Mrs. Wibbsey: 9.8. Taken into the future to be kept with everything else that had been infected with the wasps, became the Doctor’s housekeeper.
Ian: 10.0. Doctor took off while he was in the TARDIS, no intention to let him return home.
Barbara: 10.0. Doctor took off while she was in the TARDIS, no intention to let her return home.
Doctors’ Scores
These scores reflect how much each Doctor kidnapped their companions on average, based on taking an average of the scores of the companions who begantraveling with that Doctor.
First Doctor: Mean score 8.2, median score 7.8
Second Doctor: Mean score 5.6, median score 6.2
Third Doctor: Mean score 2.3, median score 2.4
Fourth Doctor: Mean score 6.0, median score 7.6
Fifth Doctor: Mean score 4.7, median score 4.4
Sixth Doctor: Mean score 2.9, median score 3.8
Seventh Doctor: Mean score 5.3, median score 5.3
Eighth Doctor: Mean score 6.2, median score 5.2
Ninth Doctor: Mean score 6.9, median score 6.8
Tenth Doctor: Mean score 4.9, median score 5.4
Eleventh Doctor: Mean score 3.9, median score 3.5
Twelfth Doctor: Mean score 5.8, median score 5.8
Thirteenth Doctor: Mean score 7.6, median score 7.6
Final Analysis
The average companion falls at 5.9 on the kidnapping scale. The median companion is Nyssa, at 6.1 on the scale. The third Doctor is the least likely to kidnap you, while the first Doctor is the most likely. The fourth Doctor had the greatest range, and thirteen had the smallest range.
*Cybermen
4978536
No, she fought the Cybermen, but after the Doctor and Jamie found her stowed away, the Doctor showed her a 'thought projection of his most recent encounter with the Daleks' according to the TARDIS wiki.
4978603
Ah, just double-checked, you're right. It's been a while since I've seen Troughton.