Ever since poor old Trojan handmaiden Katrina met her fate exiting an airlock in The Dalek’s Master Plan, death has been a very real threat to the Doctor’s companions. Sure, every week they’re threatened with extermination, death by slimy green maggots, or face the prospect of being devoured by giant rats in the sewers of Victorian London.
That, after all, is the point of a cliffhanger, surely? But with Katrina’s death (and Sara Kingdom swiftly after — that is, if you consider her a proper companion) the stakes were upped considerably. Sadly, some companions who deserved to meet with a sticky fate (take a bow, Melanie Bush, and then die in a hail of hot lead death) clearly didn’t.
Adric, of course, had it coming in spades — and his death at the end of Earthshock hardly caused many to shed tears of grief, despite the closing credits of Episode 4 running in silence. As a mark of respect, no doubt, but they hardly did much to blot out the howls of delirious laughter from those who found the Alzarian maths prodigy a tedious waste of space.
Anyway, we also lost roboboy Antimony (in the Radio 4 series, Death Comes To Time — is he canon? Buggered if I know).
And, of course, pint-size cutie Astrid Peth in Voyage Of The Damned; some considerable loss for those of who recognise Kylie as a post-modern Warholian icon with the infinite capacity for reinvention to rival Bob Dylan.
Anyway, apparently someone dies tomorrow. Will it be Rose..? Will it be Martha..? Will it be Sarah-Jane..? Will it be Donna..? Or — gasp — The TARDIS..? Well, assuming the pics of The Doctor and Rose on what looks suspiciously like Bad Wolf Bay are real, I doubt Billie goes. Martha, reportedly, is heading to Torchwood, so I guess that counts her out.
Season 2 of the Sarah-Jane Adventures is underway soonish, so similarly — I reckon she survives. Donna..? With all that foreshadowing going on, you’d think it’d be her, wouldn’t you..? But isn’t RTD such a tricksy old sausage that mebbe — jess mebbe — you might wonder if he’s being all counterintuitive on us? The TARDIS, I think, is due some kind of refit for the Specials. Make of this what you will. All, I’m sure, will be revealed in, ooh, just a little over 24 hours. Excited? Us..? Just a tad.