Companion Stats: Ben Jackson and Polly Wright

Names: Ben Jackson and Polly Wright
Actor/Actress: Michael Craze and Anneke Wills
Doctor/s: First and Second
Years: 1966 - 1967

Coming in right at the end of the Hartnell era, Ben and Polly traveled with the Doctor, and were the first companions to help the Doctor through his regeneration. The two intuitive and brave citizens of the swinging 60s were swept off in the TARDIS by accident, in The War Machines and stayed on until The Faceless Ones, one season and one Doctor later.

Episode Ranking

1. The Tenth Planet (9.5/10)
2. The War Machines (9/10)
3. The Moonbase (9/10)
4. The Highlanders (9/10)
5. The Power of the Daleks (8/10)
6. The Macra Terror (8/10)
7. The Smugglers (7.5/10)
8. The Underwater Menace (6/10)
9. The Faceless Ones (5/10)

These average out to make...                                                                            7.89/10

With a range of...                                                                                                  4.5

We can also break this down into meaning Ben and Polly starred in...

4 Amazing Stories (9+/10)
2 Great Ones (8+/10)
1 Good One (7+/10)
1 Okay One (6+/10)
1 Bad One (4+/10)

In my opinion Ben and Polly are at their best in their debut, The War Machines, where they show their bravery and resourcefulness, displaying their suitability as companions.

Here is a graph showing the performance of Ben and Polly's run:

The red line represents their average (7.89/10). Click to enlarge.

Comparison

We can see the young pair come in at third place in terms of quality of episodes:

1. Vicki Pallister - 8.08/10
2. Steven Taylor - 8/10
3. Ben Jackson and Polly Wright - 7.89/10
4. Susan Foreman - 7.7/10
5. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 7.65/10
6. Dodo Chaplet - 7.5/10

And again, at third place, with consistency! Remember the lower the consistency the better!

1. Dodo Chaplet - 2.5
2. Steven Taylor - 3
3. Ben Jackson and Polly Wright - 4.5
4. Susan Foreman - 5.5
5. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 8
6. Vicki Pallister - 8

These results could differ (extremely so in Steven and Dodo's case) when I finally get round to reviewing the missing Hartnell episodes, so these standings are temporary.

Join us in two days time for the review of the Season 4 finale, The Evil of the Daleks!

Companion Stats: Dodo Chaplet

Names: Dodo Chaplet

Actress: Jackie Lane

Doctor/s: First

Year/s: 1966

Only properly in 4 serials, (with two the only remaining) Dodo is a highly overlooked companion, but for a good reason. Far too similar to Susan, Dodo didn't really bring anything new to the show (if accents that change half way through an episode don't count). In my opinion Dodo was fun and acted well along side Hartnell, and unfairly suffered the worst exit of any Doctor Who companion: no exit at all!

Episode Ranking

1. The War Machines (9/10)
2. The Gunfighters (7/10)
3. The Ark (6.5/10)

N.A. The Celestial Toymaker

N.A. The Savages

Note: I haven't included The Massacre as she was only in it for the last episode, for a few minutes at the end.

These add up to give Dodo an average episode rating of...                               7.5/10

And a range of...                                                                                                  2.5

This can be broken down into:

1 Amazing Episode (9+/10)

1 Good Episode (7+/10)

1 Okay Episode (6+/10)

In my opinion, of the surviving episodes, Dodo is best in The Gunfighters where she displays both her feisty and also her cute side.

Here is a rather pointless graph showing her run of episodes:

As usual the red line shows the average.

Comparison

We can see Dodo comes in last place in terms of quality of episodes:

1. Vicki Pallister - 8.08/10
2. Steven Taylor - 8/10
3. Susan Foreman - 7.7/10
4. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 7.65/10
5. Dodo Chaplet - 7.5/10

But she has the best consistency of episodes (remember: the lower the range, the better the consistency of quality of episodes):

1. Dodo Chaplet - 2.5
2. Steven Taylor - 3
3. Susan Foreman - 5.5
4. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 8
5. Vicki Pallister - 8

And thus concludes the final companion to leave during the Hartnell era! Join us tomorrow for a breakthrough blog announcement! (Don't get too excited)

Companion Stats - Vicki Pallister

Names: Vicki Pallister

Actress: Maureen O'Brien

Doctor/s: First

Year/s: 1964 - 1965

Replacing Susan, The Doctor's granddaughter, Vicki is a great improvement, thanks to O'Brien's superior acting and the character's badass-ery (I'm never using that word again).

Episode Ranking

1. The Time Meddler (10/10)
2. The Romans (10/10)
3. The Rescue (9/10)
4. The Space Museum (9/10)
5. The Chase (8.5/10)
6. The Web Planet (2/10)

N/A. The Crusade (?/10)

N/A. Galaxy Four (?/10)

N.A. The Myth Makers (?/10)

Averaging these out means she has an average rating of...                          8.08/10

And she has a range of...                                                                                   8

This means Vicki stars in:

2 Perfect Episodes (10/10)

2 Amazing Episodes (9+/10)

1 Great Episode (8+/10)

1 Terrible Episode (2+/10)

Unfortunately this doesn't include the three stories that are missing: The Crusade, Galaxy Four and The Myth Makers.

In my opinion, Vicki is at her best in The Space Museum as she encourages revolution on the planet Xeros and has a romance with one of the natives. I reckon this would have been The Myth Makers if it survived.

Here's a graph (remember the red line in the average):

Comparison

Compared to previous companions Vicki comes out on top in terms of quality of episodes:

1. Vicki Pallister - 8.08/10
2. Susan Foreman - 7.7/10
3. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 7.65/10

And ties with Ian and Barbara in last place for the range (remember, the lower, the more consistent the quality of episodes):

1. Susan Foreman - 5.5
2. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 8
3. Vicki Pallister - 8

Companion Stats: Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright

Names: Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright

Actor/Actress: William Russell and Jacqueline Hill

Doctor/s: First

Year/s: 1963 - 1965

The first two speaking roles in Doctor Who history, Ian and Barbara have a legacy unlike any other companion to this date, kickstarting this wonderful adventure in space and time that we all adore to this day.

Episode Ranking

1. The Romans (10/10)
2. The Aztecs (9.5/10)
3. The Rescue (9/10)
4. The Reign of Terror (9/10)
5. The Space Museum (9/10)
6. The Keys of Marinus (9/10)
7. The Daleks (8.5/10)
8. The Chase (8.5/10)
9. Planet of Giants (8/10)
10. An Unearthly Child (7.5/10)
11. The Dalek Invasion of Earth (7/10)
12. The Edge of Destruction (7/10)
13. The Sensorites (4/10)
14. The Web Planet (2/10)

N/A. Marco Polo (?/10)

N/A. The Crusade (?/10)

These average out to make...                                                                            7.65/10

With a range of...                                                                                                   8

We can also break this down into meaning that Ian and Barbara starred in:
1 Perfect Story (10/10)
5 Amazing Ones (9+/10)
3 Great Ones (8+/10)
3 Good Ones (7+/10)
1 Bad One (4+/10)
1 Terrible One (1+/10)

In my opinion Ian's best episode is The Daleks as he was great when encouraging a revolution from the Thals and Barbara's best episode is The Aztecs as she was amazing throughout, which Jacqueline Hill pulled off wonderfully.

Here is a graph showing Ian and Barbara's episodes as companions:

Comparison

So far we can see Barbara and Ian don't have as good of a episode average as Susan, despite them being better companions by a longshot.

1. Susan Foreman - 7.72/10
2. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 7.65/10

In terms of range they also come out worse thanks to The Web Planet.

1. Susan Foreman - 5.5
2. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 8

Join us tomorrow for the review of Season 2's final story, The Time Meddler and the day after that for the Season 2 overview and stat fest!

Companion Stats: Susan Foreman

Name: Susan Foreman

Actress: Carole Ann Ford

Doctor/s: First

Year/s: 1963 - 1964

Susan Foreman was the very first companion on Doctor Who, the granddaughter of the Doctor. She was played by Carole Ann Ford from 1963 to 1964 alongside the First Doctor and Ian and Barbara, her two school teachers from Coal Hill School.

Episode Ranking

1. The Aztecs (9.5/10)
2. The Reign of Terror (9/10)
3. The Keys of Marinus (9/10)
4. The Daleks (8.5/10)
5. Planet of Giants (8/10)
6. An Unearthly Child (7.5/10)
7. The Dalek Invasion of Earth (7/10)
8. The Edge of Destruction (7/10)
9. The Sensorites (4/10)

N/A. Marco Polo (?/10)

These average out to make...                                                                                7.72/10

With a range of...                                                                                                    5.5

We can also break this down into meaning that Susan starred in:
3 Amazing Stories (9+/10)
2 Great Ones (8+/10)
3 Good Ones (7+/10)
1 Bad One (4+/10)

In my opinion the best story for Susan, rather than by rating, is The Dalek Invasion of Earth as I feel she shows real development, growing out of The Doctor in this story, tying into her exit in the final episode.

Here is a graph showing her episodes as a companion

Come back tomorrow for the review of The Rescue, the third story of Doctor Who's second season.