User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-188432-20140713043536/@comment-1293767-20140718015158

Now Bold Clone is no longer just moving names around, s/he is removing companions from Template:Companions of the Eleventh Doctor who have been on the template for over a year and a half.

Vastra has had at least one unseen encounter with the Doctor prior to the events of AGMGTW, she's been picked up by Eleven and traveled in the TARDIS far outside her time period, she repeatedly refers to the Doctor as her "friend" or "old friend" when talking to and about him, a claim that he never disputes. She's also been a recurring character since season six, having appeared in three out of the thirteen episodes of season seven (one less than River Song in season five, but season five had two-parters while season seven did not) and has had an increasing presence in non-TV media.

Nearly everything for Vastra also applies to Strax, though the circumstances of his first meeting with the Doctor were different than Vastra's. The Doctor also says this of Strax, Vastra, and Jenny in The Name of the Doctor: "I have to save Vastra and Strax. Jenny too, if it's still possible. They, they cared for me during the dark times. Never questioned me, never judged me, they were just kind. I owe them. I have a duty." It speaks of a very strong bond and that's only reinforced by the fact that the Whispermen and the GI also refer to them as the Doctor's friends and hold Strax, Vastra, Jenny, and Clara under the threat of death to force Eleven into opening his tomb.

The Doctor's friendship with Jenny isn't as strong as the one with Vastra or Strax as evidenced by the quote above, but she's been in just as many on screen/page media as the other two, she's taken part in the same adventures/TARDIS trips, and still nevertheless has a friendship with the Doctor and certainly fills a companionate role while Clara's incapacitated in The Crimson Horror.

Dorium has been picked up in the TARDIS by Eleven on at least two different occasions, he played an important role in the Doctor's Army in AGMGTW, and given the Doctor's action of taking his head onto the TARDIS the second time and then planning to pick up the Brig, it implies Eleven had plans to keep Dorium on the TARDIS for a while.

Madge, Lily, and Cyril were also added at the same time. The Doctor spends most of the episode with Lily and Cyril acting in the role of companions even more than Madge, but Claire Skinner is the one with her name listed before the title.

I see that Bold Clone last edited the page in June and did not take any time to remove these characters at that time, but now that I've reverted edits that I recently noticed removed these characters that have been longstanding on this template (and answer yes to multiple of the above questions), they've suddenly become something s/he insists on removing from the template.