Doctor Who Centenary Special's Returning Companions Explained
Two classic Doctor Who companions are returning for the Centenary Special - here's everything viewers need to know about Ace and Tegan Jovanka.
The upcoming Doctor Who Centenary Special is bringing back classic companions Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and here's what audiences need to know about them. Current Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall grew up as a fan of the classic series in the 1980s, and as a result his tenure has increasingly felt as though it capitalizes on nostalgia. That's set to culminate in the Doctor Who Centenary Special, which has been described as something of a love-letter to the BBC - with plenty of Easter eggs for long-term Whovians.
Classic Doctor Who companions Tegan Jovanka and Ace will return in the upcoming Doctor Who Centenary Special, Jodie Whittaker's final episode as the Thirteenth Doctor. The precise nature of their return is unknown, although dialogue suggested neither companion has heard from the Doctor in decades; it's possible the two are connected to events in the newly-launched audio-drama Doctor Who: Redacted, in which old friends and allies of the Doctor are being erased from history. If that is indeed the case, the BBC is essentially using the free audio drama as a way to continue the story in spite of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Those familiar with the classic Doctor Who series will undoubtedly be delighted to see Tegan and Ace return. Many others, however, won't actually know who the women are - not least because they've only been alluded to by the show since its 2005 relaunch. Here's everything viewers need to know about these classic companions ahead of their return.
There's a sense in which Sophie Aldred's Ace was the first modern Doctor Who companion because she did a lot more than just scream and ask questions. Introduced in the 1987 story "Dragonfire," Ace was a mystery for Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy to solve, a teenage girl from Perivale who'd been whisked away to the planet Iceworld by a mysterious time storm. The Doctor gradually learned that she'd been planted there by one of his ancient enemies, Fenric, but Ace successfully overcame Fenric's influence and became one of his closest allies. The relationship between the Doctor and Ace was a complex one, however, because the Seventh Doctor was a manipulative chess player who frequently used Ace as one of his pawns, and who she sometimes suspected would sacrifice her without a second thought should he deem it necessary.
Ace's story came to an abrupt end when the BBC canceled Doctor Who in 1989; she was last seen in the classic story "Survival," with the production team hurriedly putting together an optimistic conclusion when they realized the show hadn't been renewed. The next few years saw Doctor Who reinvent itself, however, with the franchise kept alive through tie-ins. Ace's tale continued in the popular New Adventures range, where she became a catsuit-wearing Dalek-killer. More recent novels have told a different story, though, with Aldred's own book At Childhood's End revealing she left the Doctor to run a charity that would help improve the world. Apparently, she'd used her time in the TARDIS as an opportunity to make some shrewd investments that matured in the present day, making her a wealthy philanthropist. The Doctor Who Centenary Special trailer hinted this particular story may well have been dropped, however, because it included dialogue in which Ace claimed not to have met the Doctor for 30 years - and in the book, she worked alongside Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor for a time. Aldred has taken to Twitter to agree with fans that this story does not erase other accounts from out of existence, it simply means there are different (equally valid) timelines.
The trailer hinted at the return of one of her trademark items, a super-charged baseball bat, serving as a nice symbol of her character. In the story "Remembrance of the Daleks" - appropriately enough, another anniversary adventure - the Doctor gave Ace a baseball bat he'd charged with power from an ancient Gallifreyan artifact known as the Hand of Omega. She promptly used it to destroy Daleks, proving Ace is definitely not to be underestimated. The baseball bat was itself destroyed as Ace used it with far too much enthusiasm, but presumably, the Doctor repaired it, and she kept it after leaving the TARDIS.
Played by Janet Fielding, Tegan Jovanka made her debut in the 1981 story "Logopolis." This was Tom Baker's regeneration story, and it saw Tegan, an airline stewardess from Australia, stumble into the Doctor's life when she entered the TARDIS hoping to call the police for help after a car breakdown (amusingly, this is the only time anyone has entered the TARDIS trying to make use of it as a police box). Tegan was promptly whisked away on a series of adventures alongside fellow companions Nyssa and Adric, and developed a strong friendship with Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor. Tegan left the TARDIS when the Doctor finally managed to get her back to Heathrow, only to cross paths with the Doctor again when her cousin got caught up in various Time Lord machinations. This time she became a willing traveler.
Tegan had one of the most heartbreaking departures of the classic series. An encounter with the Daleks left her exhausted and broken, and she shared a difficult and painful farewell with the Doctor in which she told him she'd had enough. The Doctor left his companion without a proper goodbye, leaving Tegan standing looking at the vanishing TARDIS and speaking to the air; "Doctor, I will miss you." It's interesting to note both the Doctor Who Centenary Special's returning companions had a troubled relationship with the Doctor, perhaps indicating the episode will shine a light on the Doctor's often harsh treatment of companions.
There is, however, one further connection between Ace and Tegan. Ace's farewell story, "Survival," featured lesbian subtext in response to then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's anti-gay policies, although costume decisions unfortunately obscured it. Meanwhile, longtime viewers have long believed Tegan and her fellow companion Nyssa were in a lesbian relationship, and Russell T. Davies confirmed this romance theory in a short story published in 2020 during the pandemic. Doctor Who: Flux launched an LGBTQ+ companion romance arc for Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor and her current companion Yaz, one that was developed a little in the Spring Special, so it seems quite appropriate for Chibnall to bring back two classic companions who are tied to LGBTQ+ themes. Only time will tell whether he'll actually develop them in his final Doctor Who special, though.