“I thought we might need a gang,” says the Doctor in ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’. “Never really had a gang before. It’s new.”

He’s totally lying, of course. Although it may feel that the enduring Doctor Who line-up is that of the Time Lord and a single, feisty female companion, there have actually been various combinations on board the good ship TARDIS.

The Doctor began his on-screen travels with his granddaughter and her two school teachers in tow, and in fact rarely had just a single companion in town until after the Pertwee years.

When you include friends and associates, there have been some terrific TARDIS teams, so here is a rundown of the Doctor’s best gangs, as voted by our readers…

 

15. The Sixth Doctor, Peri, Jamie and the Second Doctor in ‘The Two Doctors’

Brought together for just one tale, this meeting of eras brought the ever youthful highlander Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and his Doctor (Patrick Troughton) into a three-part story in 1985.

With the Second Doctor abducted and brought to Seville to be experimented on, so the Sontarans could gain the secret of time travel, the Sixth and Jamie had to break him out.

 

14. The Tenth Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jackie and Pete in ‘Doomsday’

Finally brought together as a gang in 2006’s season finale, this loose team of Rose and her extended family had been slowly teased throughout two whole seasons.

With Mickey having had time to man-up in the alternate universe, working for Torchwood with Pete Tyler, together they were able to assist the Doctor and Rose in defeating both the Dalek and Cyber threats at the battle of Canary Wharf… and can be glimpsed together in the back of the Tenth Doctor’s infamous goodbye at Bad Wolf Bay.

 

13. The Second Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie

With Jamie joining the TARDIS in Troughton’s second story, this was the team that surrounded the second Doctor for his initial season.

With the delightful double-act of cockney seaman Ben Jackson and his “Duchess” Polly being the experienced time-travellers, having seen the Doctor through his first change of body, good old 17th Century born Jamie tried to make sense of all he was seeing.

 

12. The Seventh Doctor, Mel, Ace and Glitz in ‘Dragonfire’

Visiting the dark side of the planet Svartos, host to Iceworld (basically a branch of Iceland in space), the Doctor hooked back up with Sabalom Glitz. A sort of cosmic Del-Boy, Glitz had been involved with events in the Sixth Doctor’s Trial.

Adding incoming companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) to the mix led to an explosive combination and, while she and Mel (Bonnie Langford) got on, it was probably best that Mel and Glitz parted company with the TARDIS at the end of the story. There’s doubtless a spin-off in the making…

 

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