January 13th, 2025 14 comments

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Companions More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants

Available to order from www.candy-jar-store.co.uk

Companions: More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants has expanded to a massive 700 pages, and is now available to buy from Candy Jar Books.

The original Companions book by Andy Frankham-Allen was released in 2013, and came to just over 300 pages. This new edition, updated by Philip Bates, is a whopping 700 pages long, covering every companion from Susan, Barbara Wright, and Ian Chesterton, to Ruby Sunday – and brings us right up to date with a section on Anita Benn, who stayed with the Fifteenth Doctor for a year in the most recent Christmas special, Joy to the World!

Candy Jar Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, says: “Companions is like a whole new book. Philip’s added to every single chapter, looking at not only the TV adventures of all the companions, but also their travels in comics, audio, and novels. And then there are all the companions who are exclusive to other media – Charley Pollard, Professor Bernice Summerfield, Majenta Pryce, Constance Clarke, Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu… and so many more.

“When it became clear how much more we wanted to cover this time around, we knew the page count was going to swell, but I think it’s surprised everyone to learn by how much!”

Companions: More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants now includes:

• Updated sections dedicated to every single regular TV companion, including Jamie McCrimmon, Sarah Jane Smith, Peri Brown, Rose Tyler, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, Bill Potts, and Yasmin Khan.
• Expanded chapters on the multimedia adventures of TV companions, featuring details of what happened to them after they left the TARDIS, and bringing each one up to date to form a definitive guide to their journeys on screen and off.
• Companions exclusive to the Expanded Universe, including Jeremy Fitzoliver (introduced in The Paradise of Death); Mrs Wibbsey (from the Nest Cottage audio series); Doctor Who Magazine original characters like Sharon Davies, Sir Justin, Kroton, and Fey Truscott-Sade; Stacy Townsend and Ssard from the Radio Times; Big Finish companions like Oliver Harper, Anya Kingdom, Hebe Harrison, Elizabeth Klein, Lucie Miller, Nova, and Valarie Lockwood; characters who feature in novels such as Fitzgerald ‘Fitz’ Kreiner, Princess Freydis of Trondheim and Henrik, Chris Cwej, Cinder, and Grant Markham; and other comic companions like Alice Obiefune, Josephine ‘Josie’ Day, Heather McCrimmon… and even a robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex called Kevin!
• New chapters for the companions of the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Doctors, as well as sections for the War Doctor and Fugitive Doctor.

· A brand-new chapter on the Eighth Doctor’s companions like Grace Holloway, Molly O’Sullivan, C’rizz, Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair, Lady Audacity Montague, Compassion, Izzy Sinclair and Destrii, Cass, Samantha Jones, and more.

• Sections throughout about River Song, noting down her meetings with numerous Doctors.
• An essay asking what makes a character into a companion.
• An examination of Ace’s various timelines and endings, and how they tally with her inclusion in The Power of the Doctor, alongside updated entries for Tegan Jovanka, Donna Noble, Wilfred Mott, and Melanie Bush to account for their adventures with the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Doctors.
• An updated look at the roles of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and his daughter, Kate Stewart – and of UNIT – in the Doctor’s life.
• A new cover and afterword by Doctor Who artist, Colin Howard.

Philip Bates, who has previously written 100 Objects of Dr Who for Candy Jar Books, says: “This has been a real labour of love. It’s taken about two years to write because once you start digging deep into Doctor Who, there’s so much more than meets the eye. The original plan was to add around 80 pages. In the end, we’ve added nearly 400.

“My favourite bits were uncovering Expanded Universe lore I knew little of. I run the Doctor Who Companion website, so pride myself on knowing a lot about the show; nonetheless, I had no idea, for instance, that the Twelfth Doctor got a temporary companion in his first-ever licensed short story, published in the Doctor Who Official Annual 2015!

“And of course, I had a great deal of fun tracking River Song as she met the Doctor again and again and again…”

Doctor Who was never really about the Doctor. This is the story of the Time Lord’s companions – friends through all time and space.

Discover the journeys of every one of the Doctor’s assistants, from Susan, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright, to Fifteenth Doctor companion, Ruby Sunday; including their adventures off-screen, in novels, comics, and audio.

Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants is an in-depth account of each companion, examining their arcs, significance in the TV series, and how they traversed different times, places, and mediums. Relive their travels on television. Learn what companions did after they left the TARDIS. And meet the Doctor’s wider network of friends, from Evelyn Smythe to Liv Chenka, Professor Bernice Summerfield to his grandchildren, John and Gillian.

See the universe anew through their eyes.

Companions: More Than 60 Years of Doctor Who Assistants is available from the Candy Jar website, for £20 (plus p&p).

Categorised under: Books, Reference books