And so we continue with an examination of what I have affectionately dubbed "the Three Companion Dynamic". We've covered the occasions where the Doctor travelled with three people during the 60s. We now have a long period in the show's history where it's either one or two other companions only. Eventually, of course, we'll hit the 80s and another attempt will be made to crowd up the TARDIS a bit. If I don't ramble on too long about that, we might even look at the companions of the Chibnall era, too, before this entry's over.
In the meantime, however, you should definitely have a look at Part One of this essay. I will be referring to it quite heavily. So, if you haven't read it - here's the link:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/04/analytical-threes-company-what-makes.html
Here's Part Two if you missed it. Not quite as significant of an entry but you might still enjoy it.
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/04/analytical-threes-company-what-makes_7.html
Many fans claim that the only period in the show where the three companion dynamic worked all that well was during those first two seasons of Ian, Barbara and Susan (and, later, Vicki). They tend to find quite a degree of disdain with the attempt in Season Nineteen to try that particular combination again.They maintain that the chemistry between Tegan, Nyssa and Adric just didn't work.
Once more, the Great Contrarian must rear his ugly head. I thought this was a very good TARDIS team. As strong as the one we had in Seasons One and Two? Not quite. But still more-than-passable.
Now I could just end the essay, here, by stating this is purely an opinion issue. That you can feel whatever way you want about this era of the show and I can have my own views on the matter. And we can happily disagree. But that would leave me feeling hollow inside. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't take the time and trouble to thoroughly prove how right I am!
"STYLE FLEXING"
If you've bothered to read Part One of this essay, you'll have seen that I list Five Essential Ingredients for a successful three companion dynamic. I based these components on things we saw over and over again throughout the reign of the TARDIS crew that lasted from Unearthly Child to the final episode of The Chase. In Part Two, I showed how the Jamie, Ben and Polly combination didn't work very well because they often ignored those elements. Or, when they did employ them, they used them poorly.
Nearly twenty years passed until three companions were used again. Television had changed a lot during that time. Its most obvious transformation was a need for a faster pace. In the 60s, it did almost feel like we were watching "a play on TV". The plot would frequently stop for long discussions to take place between characters. Audiences of the 80s, however, had little patience for such moments, anymore. Things needed to feel like they're moving a lot more quickly or our attention would waver.
Doctor Who, itself, was a very different Beast by the 80s. As I had mentioned in Part Two of this essay, the show was putting a stronger emphasis on the Doctor being the protagonist. He was now, most definitely, the central character of the series and was given far more attention than he got during those first two seasons. It would be difficult to go back to a format where three other leads would require some substantial screentime.
The show had also gone through a huge change in episode structure. During those early days, we had lots of six-part stories. An adventure that ran for so long gave plenty of time for the "character moments" that a three-companion dynamic required. By the 80s, however, they were mainly producing four-parters. Finding places in a story to slow down for the sake of characterization was going to represent a challenge.
Naturally enough, the show adapted. It still used those core ingredients I described whenever it could. But it also came up with a new recurring element or two to help the three companion dynamic gel better with the times the program was being made in. For lack of a better term, we'll refer to these special modifications as "style flexing". We'll not only see this going on in Season Nineteen, but the Chibnall era also contains examples of this. As we progress along, I'll try to point these style flexes out wherever possible.
SETTING UP THE SEASON NINETEEN TARDIS TEAM
The first time we see a modification to a three companion combination happens before the crew even comes together. Back in the 60s, two of the three companions tended to climb aboard the TARDIS at the same time. In the first team, it was Ian and Barbara (although we did still get introduced to all three companions at once). During Troughton's first season, it was Ben and Polly (who, technically, first joined when he was still Hartnell).
Having two companions join at once like that had several advantages. With Ian and Barbara, it created a bit of shorthand with chemistry. The two school teachers knew each other quite well already - so this made it easier to bestow them with a sense of familiarity. The writers didn't have to go to the trouble of trying to build a rapport between them over a series of episodes. It was already there. With Ben and Polly, it made introducing the characters easier. If all three companions had joined at once, getting us acquainted with them would have been far more complicated. Instead, we met Ben and Polly first and then Jamie joined later.
But our 80s trio took a very different tact. In fact, I found their approach to be quite brilliant. For the better part of Season Eighteen, Adric was established. We were given quite a few stories to get to know him. Then, as the season neared conclusion, Nyssa was brought in for Keeper of Traken.
But the smartest choice made by the production team of that time was to not have Nyssa join the TARDIS at the end of her introductory story. She's left behind on Traken and only re-unites with the Doctor and Adric towards the end of Part Two of Logopolis. Which gives us two whole episodes to become familiar with Tegan. This was a great way to assemble the team. Rather than have to learn about everyone at once, it's a much more gradual process.
In my opinion, there was no better way to bring three companions together. It's a great bit of style flexing right in the setting up of the dynamic.
THE CORE INGREDIENTS USED BY THE SEASON NINETEEN TEAM
Yes, there is some style flexing going on even before Nyssa, Tegan and Adric assemble. But, once they are together, we do see tonnes of those elements needed for a good three companion dynamic. Even as early as Logopolis, Nyssa and Adric break off on their own a few times during its last two episodes. This continues throughout all of Season Nineteen. Sometimes, the crew is kept together for quite a while. The Visitation, for instance, sees the Doctor and his three friends stay united for all of Episode One. But most stories of that season create a division in the crew within the first few minutes of a new adventure. In many instances, smaller teams are formed rather than solo missions. Four to Doomsday is probably the best example of this. For most of the story, everyone is working in teams of two.
We see a bit of a style flex going on with the idea of giving certain characters some time off. In some cases, it's pretty obvious. It's quite blatant at the beginning of Kinda that Nyssa is getting written out of the story. However, this device is much more subtle in other episodes. If you're watching carefully, Tegan gets a break during Episode Three of that same story. We cut to her once or twice lying unconscious in the jungles of Deva Loka. Otherwise, she's left alone. Adric has a very small presence during the last three episodes of Castrovalva. Most of the time, he is trapped in the Mathematical Web that is hidden behind the Portreeve's Tapestry. He only makes brief appearances here and there. His argument with the Doctor at the start of Earthshock also gets him significantly out of the story for the first two parts. He wants to be alone in the TARDIS while the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan explore the caves they've landed in. These are great examples of a more subtle use of the "giving characters time off" technique. Essentially, it comes to the same results: other characters are given an opportunity to shine more for a bit. But it's considerably less obvious than the examples we saw with the original companion trio. Where a lead would be almost, forcibly, written out of an episode or two (ie: Barbara staying on the spaceship in The Sensorites). Which is why I consider this a bit of a style flex.
Regenerating the Doctor just as the three companions assemble was another great example of the production team using a good sense of timing. Tom Baker was always, very much, the center of attention during his stories. To suddenly have to give him a bit more of a back seat would have been far too jarring. But, since we didn't really know what Peter Davison's interpretation of the role was going to be like, it made it easier to accept a Doctor who was less central. A similar choice would be made with Jodie Whitaker's Doctor.
We do also get a few decent character arcs among the companions. The biggest one being Tegan struggling back and forth with whether or not she truly wants to leave the TARDIS. That very nice scene with Nyssa during the beginning of The Visitation (and the subsequent berating of the Doctor when they've landed three centuries early) really cement the conflict she's going through.
We also get Adric having all sorts of trouble with social awkwardness. Which causes him to butt heads with Tegan's strong personality on several occasions. To the point where she even renders him unconscious during Part Three of Four to Doomsday. But it's not just Tegan that he gets in fights with. Let;s not forget the huge row he has with the Doctor during Earthshock. Or even the smaller battle he has with the Time Lord at the beginning of The Visitation where he's being reprimanded for using the TSS at the end of the previous story.
Nyssa probably gets a bit less attention in this department. But we still see her dealing with the loss of her stepmother and father and then the destruction of her entire homeworld.
A BIT MORE STYLE FLEXING
There is one more adaptation that the production crew makes with this particular situation. I've actually touched upon it a bit, already, in the last section. In order to heighten some of the drama between the companions they were made very argumentative. Certain fans complained about this. Before Season Nineteen, TARDIS crews tended to get along with each other. Suddenly displaying a crew that bickered a lot was probably a bit unsettling for fandom to see after so many years of the "we're all friends who love each other" formula that had existed previous to this era.
Personally, I felt this decision really worked. I actually found all the fighting quite entertaining. It was also very realistic. These were three people who had only gotten to know each other very recently and were now travelling together. It was almost inevitable that they would have problems getting along. Particularly since both Tegan and Adric had pretty strong personalities. It's for that same reason that I think the fights between Sixie and Peri worked. Again, it just seemed realistic. She had started travelling with one version of the Doctor that she found quite agreeable (even "sweet"). But then all that abruptly changes at the end of Caves of Androzani. Once more, two very strong personalities were forced together. In both these situations, it made sense that there would be conflict. So I'm glad these relationships could, on occasion, go in more volatile directions.
MOVING ON TO CHIBNALL...
Well, that's about all we needed to say about Season Nineteen. My word count isn't too high yet so let's move on to the last era that features three companions. One that has also suffered some heavy criticism. I'm sure, however, that my opinion won't surprise you. So I'll just state it nice and clearly:
I absolutely adore Ryan, Yaz and Graham.
In fact, they're my favorite companions in New Who. I really do feel that, overall, they've been handled magnificently. I'll even be controversial enough to claim that they were particularly excellent in Series Eleven.
The character arcs that we're getting these days are what impress me the most. Even though I usually go through the core elements in the order I listed them in Part One, I'll skip ahead a bit this time and get straight to the good stuff.
Ryan actually gets the best treatment in this area. In his first season, he has to deal with the death of his grandmother, the building of a genuine friendship with Graham and reconciling with his father. It's a lot to give one character to do but it all happens quite organically. Particularly the way he deals with Graham. I love that he finally calls him "Grandad" in the penultimate episode but the fist-punch only happens in the season finale.
Graham, of course, is dealing with a lot of the same stuff Ryan is.. His grief over Grace is beautifully depicted during several scenes of Arachnids in the UK and It Takes You Away. People even love to point out that slight look of sadness in his eyes during Praxeus where he's having a discussion with the astronaut's husband about love.
Some have complained that Yaz was handled poorly during Series Eleven. I just think she was written differently. Graham and Ryan had so many arcs going on that it would have felt artificial if Yaz had been give a whole bunch too. Instead, she is treated more like a female companion of the RTD era. We see a lot more of her life outside of the TARDIS. We get to know her family and even dip into her ancestry a bit in Demons of Punjab (in much the same way as a bit of Rose's family history is revealed in Father's Day). We do see some really good growth in her, nonetheless. It's just less apparent. Throughout both of her seasons, we witness how badly impacted Yaz was by bullying. How the experience has moved her towards a career in law enforcement. Travelling with the Doctor has made Yaz even more dedicated to seeing justice carried out. But, as I said, none of this is as blatant as the arcs the other two companions are moving through. It's still there, though. I particularly love how, in The Timeless Children, she charges through the spatial anomaly to Gallifrey far faster than anyone else. Such small gestures say so much about her character.
OTHER THREE COMPANION CONVENTIONS
The other major ingredients from Seasons One and Two that we see in great abundance is the separation of the TARDIS crew (or "fam" as they are more frequently referred to) and the use of smaller teams. It is interesting to note that, because Yaz doesn't get such big blatant arcs, she seems to get more solo missions. This, of course, gets her more attention and screentime. It's a nice way to compensate for the fact that she's being handled differently from Graham and Ryan.
Just like Davison, Whitaker's Doctor appears at the same time as a new three companion dynamic is formed. This time, though, we don't get that gradual introduction like the one that took place over Season Eighteen. We meet Graham, Yaz and Ryan all at once. But Chibnall took a bit of a page from those Early Days by giving all the companions a history with each other before they board the TARDIS. But that adjustment of giving the Doctor more of a back seat in the story can happen more naturally because it takes place at a regeneration. Although, admittedly, the Doctor is pushed much more to the forefront during Series Twelve. This does result in less break ups into separate plot strands. Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror and The Haunting of Villa Diodati both see all three companions sticking together quite a bit. This does create some complicated scenes like the ones we saw during the Ben, Polly and Jamie era. This might be my only valid complaint about this particular group of companions. They do tend to stick together a bit too much in Series Twelve. But, in many ways, it's justifiable. The Doctor really gets put through Hell in this season and she needed the extra attention. And it does result in that really awesome scene during Villa Diodati where the Doctor highlights that the team structure isn't always so flat.
About the only ingredient that gets completely ignored is the "giving characters an episode off here and there" device. Chibnall always wants the fam to be active together. In order to accomplish this, he does some very interesting style flexing.
Which leads us to....
STYLE FLEXING FOR THE FAM
There's two significant adjustments that I see Chibnall make that allows for a modern day version of a three companion dynamic to work:
1) Teamwork makes the Fam work
There's a very nice sequence at the beginning of Rosa that establishes that the Doctor is having a hard time getting Graham, Yaz and Ryan home. Basically, since Ghost Monument, they have taken quite a few trips in the TARDIS to incorrect destinations. This establishes that the three humans currently travelling with her have become familiar with who she is and, more importantly, what she's about. They know the Doctor is always on the side of justice and are happy to assist in any way they can.
This is immediately reflected in the actual adventure that they have in Rosa. They aren't just forced apart - as is often the case when separation occurs in a three companion team - instead, they are sent off on missions. Quite frequently, they are eager to undertake these tasks because they know it will be accomplishing something good.
I don't really think we've ever seen a TARDIS crew that works better as a team than this one. Over and over, they willingly accept special tasks that they know will help to create a solution to the central conflict of the story. Praxeus probably exemplifies this best. The fam is sent all over the world to investigate various problems that will, eventually, present an ultimate solution to the latest doom that is about to befall the Earth. It really shows just how well-oiled of a machine this current TARDIS team is.
There are countless other instances like this throughout both seasons. Look at how well they work together just a few episodes later to set up a defence system against the Cybermen in Ascension of the Cybermen. Or go back to an earlier story like Kerblam! and see how well they gather intel as they work in different departments. We see this sort of teamwork in almost every story. The sense of unity that exists between these three characters really helps us to appreciate them. Such an endearing trait makes a crowded TARDIS like this more pleasant and engaging.
2) Lengthening the episodes
Chibnall made several alterations to Doctor Who when he took the helm. There is one change that, without a doubt, I appreciate the most: giving the episodes a longer run-time.
So often, episodes in the RTD or Moff era felt like they moved too quickly. The stories, in general, felt too "light" because of this. Multiple episode stories didn't have this problem so much - but those one-parters could really seem like they were lacking something, sometimes. I loved the Classic Series as much as I did because they weren't afraid to take some interesting digressions in the writing. There was plenty of time for interesting side-plots, character moments or deeper explorations of certain themes.
Chibbers, bless his heart, chose to reduce the number of episodes but make them several minutes longer. Once more, the stories have time to "breathe". This, I feel, has benefited the show enormously. Particularly when you have a three companion team.
There have been an endless array of moments where two companions stop to have an insightful conversation. Previous to this era, the New Series never had much time to do this. But we now get this type of interaction in great abundance.
There are countless examples: Ryan and Yaz's discussion about racism during Rosa. Graham pointing out to Yaz how incredible it is to be able to travel in time during Demons of Punjab. Graham praising Yaz for her courage during Timeless Children. And my absolute favorite: Ryan admitting to Yaz in Tsuranga Conundrum that he understands a bit better, now, why his Dad acts the way he does.
I absolutely love all these little sidebar conversations that occur. They let us see more vulnerable sides to our lead characters and make them far more three-dimensional than most New Who companions have been.
All because the episodes are just a few minutes longer than they used to be.
FINAL CONCLUSION:
In summary, I will say that the three companion dynamic we had in the first two seasons of Doctor Who was still the best one. All other companion combinations of this type are measured against its standard.
Having said that, however, the only trio that falls viciously short of that standard would be Ben, Polly and Jamie. Other fans may claim that Adric, Nyssa and Tegan and Yaz, Graham and Ryan all have too many problems - but I beg to differ. If you really take the time to examine these eras like I have, you'll see that they're not as strong as Ian, Barbara and Susan (and, later, Vicki) but they still stand up quite well. Should you have an extensive DVD collection like I do (or something else of that nature) go back and watch Keeper of Traken to Earthshock. Then watch Series Eleven and Twelve in one huge binge. You'll see all the nice little nuances that have been worked into the characters.
If you take a proper look, I think you'll find the Three Companion Dynamic works far better than you think.
Nothing feels better than completing a nice multi-part ANALYTICAL essay!
I think what I enjoy most is all the research that has to be done. Watching old episodes over with a special eye for certain details does great things for my Fan Heart. I will even admit that I really do think the Three Companion Dynamic, when properly handled, is the best formula for the show. The stories feel so much richer when you have so many lead characters to deal with. A lesser number of companions just doesn't work as well.
In my opinion, at least.
More ANALYTICAL essays:
Fixed Points in Time (my very first ANALYTICAL essay):
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/03/analytical-robll-fix-it-study-in.html
The Quality of Mercy (a look at the Doctor's sense of compassion)
Part 1:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/10/analytical-quality-of-mercy.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/11/analytical-quality-of-mercy-honest-look.html
Progressive Doctors 2: The First Doctor -
Part 1:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/04/progressive-doctors-2-first-doctor-part.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/01/analytical-progressive-doctors-first.html
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