LogFAQs > #968628132

5) Zoe Heriot (Jamie and Zoe together are perhaps the best multi-character companion cast, and admittedly, they do overshadow Troughton a lot for me, which is part of why he ranks so low on my list. But Zoe is so clever and fun, and she doesn't usually wind up in the traditional "screaming damsel" role that a lot of the early female characters ended up in. I feel like Zoe is what Peter Davison THOUGH Nyssa could be when he fought for her to stay on the show. Zoe just really fits well with the Doctor, being able to bounce off him intellectually, while still deferring to his considerable wisdom.)

4) Barbara Wright (The original trio of companions had Ian in the bruiser role, and Susan in the screaming damsel role, but Barbara stands out compared to those two. She almost feels like a good friend to the Doctor, rather than a companion. Sure, he knows more than her, but she's also willing to stand up to him somewhat, and she has the historical know-how that keeps her from needing him to explain each and every thing they experience. It's a fun dynamic, especially when Hartnell's Doctor is otherwise very curmudgeonly. As with several of my other high-ranking companions, having someone who didn't immediately kowtow to the Doctor's forceful personality goes a long way, and it helps that Barbara gets a boost from being one of the originals.)

3) Ace (Two seasons with the seventh Doctor, and I love Ace. She is vulnerable, and you can tell that her punk aesthetic is meant to compensate for her personal fears, but that also means she's a lot braver than most companions. The Doctor is mostly a pacifist, so having a companion who eagerly uses explosives--and just happens to carry copious amounts of C4 with her at all times--and whacks Daleks with a baseball bat, is an amazing change of pace. 7's run as the Doctor who wackier and goofier to counter the storylines with 6, and Ace helped sell that tone extremely well.)

2) Leela (Everything I just said about Ace applies to Leela, but Leela's just a little bit funnier, because of how alien she is compared to Ace. Leela is a tribal warrior who honestly make every episode she's in better. There are some outright terrible Baker episodes that are better just because you have Leela punching people out, or stabbing people, or just generally doing judo flips. But then you also get the hilarity of scenes where the Doctor is trying to mask Leela's tribal heritage, like dressing her up like a proper lady. It all works extremely well, and Leela just serves perfectly as a counterpoint to Tom Baker's wacky quirks, what with her noble warrior tendencies.)

1) Donna Noble (Yeah, I love Donna. I've COSplayed as Donna Noble. She is a perfect companion. She is a great audience surrogate because she's your average person and isn't particularly "special", which allows her to be a secondary character to be in awe of the Doctor's magnificence. BUT, she's also extremely forceful and emotional, which means she's more willing to call the Doctor out when he's getting too big for his britches. She keeps the Doctor grounded, and Turn Left is an amazing episode in showing JUST how important Donna is, just by being there to counterbalance the Doctor. Plus, she's extremely funny in her own right, and as a professional comedian, Catherine Tate does an amazing job of bringing this character to life and making the audience love her whenever she's on-screen.)