The Original Time Travelling Youth Hostel!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Whilst the tradition of the Doctor having three companions had been established from the early days of Ian and Barbara travelling alongside first Susan and subsequently Vicki before settling into the one boy, one girl pattern for the remainder of the Hartnell era, the arrival of Jamie briefly brings the number of companions up to three and, for the only time in the series history, two of them are young men.
I've often thought of season 19's tempestuous trio of companions combined with a youthful Doctor as turning the TARDIS into a time travelling YMCA but how do we think this earlier trio of young companions and their newly rejuvenated impish Doctor compare?

[SiHart]

I love Ben and Polly. They're a great time- full of gusto for their adventures, and make a great team. They fot together so well because they're opposites, so that gives them a sparkiness to play off that turns into a very respectful and loving friendship. Polly might be a bit snooty, but Ben brings her down to earth and Polly equally smoothes out the rough edges of Ben's character.

The introduction of Jamie upsets the balance. Suddenly Ben and Jamie are competing for Polly and it doesn't feel right, not as right as Ben and Polly did together. This may be because the first few stories weren't planned to include Jamie, and it took a while for the team to gel. By The Macra Terror it works OK, because they all get interesting things to do, but that's it... Ben and Polly are off suddenly.

I like the team, and they're not one that's often mentioned.