Ryan Sinclair worked as a warehouse worker, earning money while studying for his NVQ so that he could become a mechanic.
History
Early life
Ryan was born in 1999. As a child, he attended Redlands Primary alongside Yasmin Khan, (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth) and was placed in a class named for Rosa Parks. (TV: Rosa)
In 2012, Ryan's mother passed away and he was raised by his paternal grandmother Grace. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
Ryan suffered the effects of racism and noted that he was stopped more often by the police than his white peers. (TV: Rosa)
Meeting the Doctor
In September 2018, whilst trying to learn to cycle with Grace, and her husband, Graham O'Brien, Ryan fell off and threw the bicycle away into the nearby woods out of anger. After his grandmother and Graham left him to calm down, Ryan went to retrieve it.
Whilst retrieving it from a tree, he discovered a glowing symbol and, upon touching it, summoned a strange blue pod. He touched the pod only to find it freezing, burning his hand. Calling the police to investigate, Ryan was reunited with Yasmin Khan, a classmate from school who now worked as a police officer, when she arrived to investigate the scene. Ryan confessed it wasn't a prank, making Yasmin confirm such by touching the pod. Walking away, Ryan received a call from his grandmother asking for help on the nearby train.
The pair raced to it, where they met the Thirteenth Doctor and were subsequently electrocuted by a coil creature. Ryan helped the Doctor track down the pod's occupant, Tim Shaw and prevented him from claiming Karl Wright as a trophy. However, Grace died via electrocution when disabling the gathering coil. Devastated, her death motivated Ryan to battle his dyspraxia in her honour. He later helped the Doctor make a teleport so she could reach her TARDIS only to be teleported with her. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
Believing the pair to be bonuses in the Rally of the Twelve Galaxies, Angstrom scooped Ryan and Graham out of deep space and transported them aboard her ship.
On Desolation, he found Yasmin and the Doctor, who had been similarly saved by Epzo, Angstrom's rival in what would become the final stage of the rally. The rivals, with the Doctor and her friends in tow, were tasked by Ilin, master of the rally, to race across the planet; the first to reach the finish line at the Ghost Monument would win 3.2 million krin and salvation from planet's hostile surface. The Doctor discovered that the Ghost Monument was, in fact, her TARDIS, phasing in and out of reality. After the Doctor stabilised the TARDIS, Ryan entered it for the first time and the Doctor attempted to take them home. (TV: The Ghost Monument)
Attempting to land the TARDIS back in 21st century Sheffield, the Doctor failed several times to bring Yasmin home. Explaining that the TARDIS had latched onto nearby Artron energy and that they were in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, Ryan appeared excited to begin his first historical adventure. However, when he tried to return a dropped glove to a passerby, Lizzie, he was slapped by her husband and ordered to get his "filthy black hands" off her, and was threatened with the possibility of lynching were he to disturb a white woman in Montgomery. After Rosa Parks helped to smooth things over with the man, she explained to Ryan that outsiders were not safe from racism in segregated US states and told him of the death of the northern Emmett Till in Mississippi.
Ryan continued to experience the effects of segregation. He was denied service at Slim's Bar and labelled a "negro", and had to discretely enter the "whites-only" Sahara Springs Motel. He had to enter through the back door of the buses and sit at the back.
Ryan was not knowledgeable of all the details of Rosa Parks's defiant move, but knew that her actions started the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King. When he met King at Parks's house, he was astonished and explained how his grandmother Grace idolised him.
Attempting to stop Krasko's plot to alter history, Ryan and Graham came to James Blake's fishing spot. Blake was shocked that the black Ryan was the grandson of Graham and was told by Ryan of a staged event by black citizens in Montgomery that night, causing Blake to resume his place in history as the driver of Parks's bus. Later, he would board Parks's bus to ensure it was crowded enough for her moment of defiance to take place. He would witness Parks refusing to move for the white passengers' space and her historic arrest. Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor told Ryan of how Parks was honoured by President Clinton in 1999, which Ryan thought took too long. He was taken to see Asteroid 284996, also named Rosaparks, in space. (TV: Rosa)
Personality
Ryan was skilled with social media. He had his own YouTube account called RyanS and chose to search Twitter when asked by the Doctor to look for any unusual recent events. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
Ryan's studies as part of his NVQ meant that had some understanding of mechanical engineering. He was able to fix a solar-powered boat, enabling the group to navigate the waters of Desolation. His qualification also meant he knew basic facts about acetylene. (TV: The Ghost Monument)
Ryan had dyspraxia, a coordination disorder, which often frustrated him. He struggled to ride a bike and lost his footing while climbing a crane. He was also scared of heights. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
Behind the scenes
- He is the third companion of the Doctor to have the surname Sinclair and the first not to travel with the Eighth Doctor. Both Izzy Sinclair and Helen Sinclair travelled with the Eighth Doctor.