Forum:Request for a mod to edit First and Second Doctor Companions template

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some of these just don't belong

these have a couple of characters described as television companions who don't belong. I mean Travers, Morco Polo, Sabetha and others.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Companions_of_the_First_Doctor http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Companions_of_the_Second_Doctor

I could not edit this myself, presumably because I lack mod privileges (or don't have an account here). --74.94.186.19^{talk to me} 23:21, May 8, 2012 (UTC)

I'm not certain, but I'd guess that those characters are listed in that template so that List of companions can be both comprehensive and logical. The problem, as noted at Companion#What does the word "companion" actually mean?, is that there's no real definition of the word within Doctor Who itself, and no complete consensus in the real world either. On what grounds can we include the Brigadier and exclude Travers? Or include Jackson Lake and exclude Marco Polo? We can try to come up with rules — indeed, people on this wiki have tried before — but ultimately it's an arbitrary and insoluble problem. So the template lists people who shared multiple adventures with the Doctor ("multi-story") and people who accompanied him in a single adventure but acted like a companion ("single adventure"). It's not a perfect solution, but I don't think there's a better one, really. —Josiah Rowe ^{talk to me} 03:39, May 9, 2012 (UTC)

On what grounds can we include the Brigadier and exclude Travers?

well, I actually would exclude the Brigadier.

to answer your question, though, a mixture of a) accepted consensus within and outside of fandom (official BBC site, DWM articles), b) publicity (i.e. did the actor appear in at least one photocall and have press articles about them as "the new companion") (I realize that a couple of companions did not have photocalls) and c) narrative logic. last one gets subjective, but Travers never appeared in the TARDIS.

so Travers fails a), b) and, in my opinion, c).

Or include Jackson Lake and exclude Marco Polo?

see above. in terms of c), the Doctor shared an adventure with Jackson Lake and ::Rosita, whereas in the case of Marco Polo, he had four companions already. --::66.31.31.107^{talk to me} 17:27, May 9, 2012 (UTC)