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

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). --74.94.186.19talk 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, 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 because he did not hop from planet to planet with the Doctor and get all the "where have we landed this time?" dialogue. (Liz Shaw never did, but the Doctor did have access to a functioning TARDIS at the time, rendering that pretty moot.)


 * 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. --::66.31.31.107talk to me 17:27, May 9, 2012 (UTC)


 * But of course Liz Shaw never appeared in the TARDIS either (at least, not on television). Any set of rules one attempts to use is going to have exceptions and cases which are subject to argument. —Josiah Rowe talk to me 01:37, May 10, 2012 (UTC)