The 10 Greatest Doctor Who Companions Of The Modern Era

10) Rory Williams/Mickey Smith

Over the past ten seasons of the new Doctor Who, there have been two similarly-conceived “boyfriend companions.” Namely, Mickey Smith and Rory Williams. Though their only reason to travel in the TARDIS was their connection to the main female companion at the time – Rose Tyler and Amy Pond, respectively – they both grew from out-of-their-depth comic relief characters into badass heroes in their own right.

Noel Clarke’s Mickey began as little more than a dopey coward – so it was no surprise that Rose quickly switched her affections to the Doctor. Though he failed to win her back, Mickey moved on and eventually became a gun-toting enemy of the Cybermen. Or, as he put it, “Mickey Smith, defending the Earth.”

Introduced three seasons later, Rory took the basic template of Mickey’s story and ran with it. Unlike Mickey, however, Rory was able to win over his beloved Amy and continually proved that he was the man for her with his impressive feats of heroism. Most notably, he protected her for 2000 years when she was trapped inside the Pandorica.

9) Sarah Jane Smith

As Doctor Who fans of a certain age will testify, Sarah Jane Smith is the companion of the classic era of the show. Serving with two of the most popular Doctors ever – Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker – the feminist investigative journalist became an icon to Whovians everywhere. It was a wonderful surprise for longtime lovers of the show, then, when Sarah Jane returned to the modern series.

Beginning in 2006, she formed a bond with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and appeared in several episodes across his era. Though she was never a full time companion of his incarnation, the character’s long established history with the show means that Jane still deserves a place on this list. Her presence in the modern series really helped cement the connection between the original run and its 21st century follow-up.

Her return to the world of Doctor Who proved so popular that Sarah Jane was granted her own spinoff show, The Sarah Jane Adventures. This series, aimed at younger audiences, was set to continue for years and years but sadly, it came to an untimely end in 2011 with the tragic death of actress Elisabeth Sladen.