FormerDoctor Whoshowrunner Steven Moffat breaks down why he feels the modern era of the sci-fi series has seen many of its companions face tragic but definitive endings. The writer first joined production on the television series with season 1 of the revival, and would take over from initial showrunner Russell T Davies in helming the show in 2010 until 2017. Moffat returned to writing forDoctor Whoupon Davies returning to the role of showrunner, penning “Boom” forDoctor Whoseason 14and the 2024 Christmas special “Joy to the World”.
With another Moffat-pennedDoctor Whoadventure concluding with a bittersweet self-sacrifice from Nicola Coughlan’s Joy,RadioTimesreports that the writer explained why so many companions face a tragic fate in the series. According to Moffat,he and Davies felt that they should offer a definitive reason to explain why anyone would decide to leave the TARDIS:
In general terms, in the modern show we’ve always, and Russell [T Davies]’s done this too, [tried] to work out why they aren’t seeing the Doctor anymore.
While past companions in the classic era saw several companions depart the show on their own terms, he and Davies often questioned why they would wish to leave, leading to them coming up with stronger reasons for them to part with the Doctor. Check out Moffat’s explanation below:
In the old show they used to say, ‘I’m not gonna travel with you.’ Yeah. What? You’re never gonna come around for dinner? I mean, what’s the matter with you? You have to have a reason that they have the parting of the ways, you might say.
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For the majority ofDoctor Who’s core modern companions,their departures from the TARDIS have been against their wishes, with them either losing their lives when facing evil as seen with Joy, Clara (Jenna Coleman), and Bill (Pearl Mackie) or being left in a situation where the Doctor cannot reunite with them, as seen with Rose (Billie Piper), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill), and Donna’s (Catherine Tate) first departure. This aligns with their foreboding take on the Doctor as a larger-than-life figure who needs companions to keep him grounded, but whose life inevitably means they cannot travel forever.
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Not all modernDoctor Whodepartures have been tragic, as a select few have left the TARDIS on their own accord. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Graham (Bradley Walsh) left when they realized their priorities and goals had changed. Dan (John Bishop) on the other hand left the TARDIS after realizing the danger was too much for him. Even the Doctor’s latest companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) left the TARDIS to finally reconnect with her family, though herDoctor Whoseason 15return could still leave room for a tragic farewell.
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It is hard to deny that both Moffat and Davies' tenures onDoctor Whohave offered some of the most heartbreaking companion exits depicted on-screen. While many classic companions left the TARDIS before they were ready in the original run, few had painful exits that meant they would never travel again, with the most tragic twists being Adric’s (Matthew Waterhouse) chilling self-sacrifice, Tegan (Janet Fielding) being too traumatized to carry on, and Peri’s (Nicola Bryant) faked death.
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Doctor Who is an outstanding TV series that has been on the air for many decades, and featured some incredible companions along the way.
While both writers have added caveats to each companion’s departure that ensure they can have a happier, potentially even long lives after leaving the TARDIS, a common trend has clearly formed around what is to be expected when a companion decides to leaveDoctor Who. However, with the reintroduction of UNIT seeing companions either outright join or take on consulting roles, or connect with others to share their experiences, perhaps less tragic fates can be given to the Doctor’s friends after their time in the series concludes.
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Doctor Who: Released on July 23, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
