The Age of the Companion Actors in Doctor Who

After making a list of the age of the actors who played the Doctor, I thought what better use of my time could I possibly have than to make a list of all the companion actors ages as well? So, here’s a lovely long list! It’s less detailed than the Doctors one due to there being a heck of a lot more companions.

I’ve used the broadcast date of their first episode to determine age, and the list is in chronological order from oldest to youngest at time of broadcast. As before, there will undoubtedly be errors, and the definition of companion is variable depending on the fan. Obviously, this list contains who I consider to be a companion. There’s a shorter list at the end with some of the other characters commonly considered companions.

Some Exciting Random Facts:

The only companion actor to be born in the 1990s is Tosin Cole, in 1992.

The only companion actor to be born in the 1970s is Freema Agyeman, in 1979. (Slightly more if you have a different definition of companion: if you count Mickey Smith, Noel Clarke was born in 1975; if you count Nardole, Matt Lucas was born in 1974)

The Chibnall era has the two oldest companion actors at time of broadcast: Bradley Walsh, who was 58, and John Bishop, at 54.

Catherine Tate is the oldest woman at her debut, 37 or 38, depending on what episode you count. The second oldest is Jacqueline Hill, at 34.

The actor born closest to the start of Doctor Who is Daphne Ashbrook on 30^th January 1963. (Or, if you consider River Song a companion, Alex Kingston, on 11^th March 1963.)

The youngest actor to play a companion is Matthew Waterhouse, at 18.

Millie Gibson is the first actor born in the 21^st century to play a companion.

The first companion actor born was William Russell, born in 1924.

The most common ages at time of broadcast are 23, 24, and 28, with four companions each.

The List:

Bradley Walsh – Graham O’Brien

Birth date: 4^th June 1960

First episode broadcast: 7^th October 2018 (The Woman Who Fell to Earth)

Age at broadcast: 58 (4 months, 3 days)

John Bishop – Dan Lewis

Birth date: 30^th November 1966

First episode broadcast: 31st October 2021 (The Halloween Apocalypse)

Age at broadcast: 54 (11 months, 1 day)

David Brierley – K-9

Birth date: January 1935

First episode broadcast: 27^th October 1979 (The Creature from the Pit, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: ~44

William Russell – Ian Chesterton

Birth date: 19^th November 1924

First episode broadcast: 23^rd November 1963 (An Unearthly Child, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 39 (4 days)

John Barrowman – Jack Harkness

Birth date: 11^th March 1967

First episode broadcast: 21^st May 2005 (The Empty Child)

Age at broadcast: 38 (2 months, 10 days)

Catherine Tate – Donna Noble

Birth date: 5^th December 1969

First episode broadcast: 25^th December 2006 (The Runaway Bride)/5^th April 2008 (Partners in Crime)

Age at broadcast: 37 (20 days)/38 (4 months)

John Leeson – K-9

Birth date: 16^th March 1943

First episode broadcast: 1st October 1977 (The Invisible Enemy, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 34 (6 months, 15 days)

Jacqueline Hill – Barbara Wright

Birth date: 17^th November 1929

First episode broadcast: 23^rd November 1963 (An Unearthly Child, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 34 (6 days)

Daphne Ashbrook – Grace Holloway

Birth date: 30^th January 1963

First episode broadcast: 12 May 1996

Age at broadcast: 33 (3 months, 12 days)

Jean Marsh – Sara Kingdom

Birth date: 1^st July 1934

First episode broadcast: 4^th December 1965 (The Daleks’ Master Plan, episode 4)

Age at broadcast: 31 (5 months, 3 days)

Mandip Gill – Yasmin Khan

Birth date: 5^th January 1988

First episode broadcast: 7^th October 2018 (The Woman Who Fell to Earth)

Age at broadcast: 30 (9 months, 2 days)

Ian Marter – Harry Sullivan

Birth date: 28^th October 1944

First episode broadcast: 28^th December 1974 (Robot, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 30 (2 months)

Pearl Mackie – Bill Potts

Birth date: 29^th May 1987

First episode broadcast: 15^th April 2017 (The Pilot)

Age at broadcast: 29 (10 months, 17 days)

Caroline John – Liz Shaw

Birth date: 19^th September 1940

First episode broadcast: 3^rd January 1970 (Spearhead in Space, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 29 (3 months, 14 days)

Mary Tamm – Romana I

Birth date: 22^nd March 1950

First episode broadcast: 2^nd September 1978 (The Ribos Operation, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 28 (5 months, 11 days)

Adrienne Hill – Katarina

Birth date: 22^nd July 1937

First episode broadcast: 6^th November 1965 (The Myth Makers, episode 4)

Age at broadcast: 28 (3 months, 15 days)

Lalla Ward – Romana II

Birth date: 28^th June 1951

First episode broadcast: 1^st September 1979 (Destiny of the Daleks, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 28 (2 months, 4 days)

Freema Agyeman – Martha Jones

Birth date: 20^th March 1979

First episode broadcast: 31^st March 2007

Age at broadcast: 28 (11 days)

Elisabeth Sladen – Sarah Jane Smith

Birth date: 1^st February 1946

First episode broadcast: 15^th December 1973 (The Time Warrior, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 27 (10 months, 14 days)

Arthur Darvill – Rory Williams

Birth date: 17^th June 1982

First episode broadcast: 3^rd April 2010 (The Eleventh Hour)

Age at broadcast: 27 (9 months, 17 days)

Janet Fielding – Tegan Jovanka

Birth date: 9^th September 1953

First episode broadcast: 28^th February 1981 (Logopolis, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 27 (7 months, 19 days)

Jenna Coleman – Clara Oswald

Birth date: 27^th April 1986

First episode broadcast: 30rd March 2013 (The Bells of Saint John)

Age at broadcast: 26 (11 months, 3 days)

Peter Purves – Steven Taylor

Birth date: 10^th February 1939

First episode broadcast: 26^th June 1965 (The Chase, episode 6)

Age at broadcast: 26 (4 months, 16 days)

Tosin Cole – Ryan Sinclair

Birth date: 23^rd July 1992

First episode broadcast: 7^th October 2018 (The Woman Who Fell to Earth)

Age at broadcast: 26 (2 months, 14 days)

Louise Jamieson – Leela

Birth date: 20^th April 1951

First episode broadcast: 1^st January 1977 (The Face of Evil, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 25 (8 months, 12 days)

Sophie Aldred – Ace

Birth date: 22^nd August 1962

First episode broadcast: 23^rd November 1987 (Dragonfire, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 25 (3 months, 1 days)

Jackie Lane – Dodo Chaplet

Birth date: 10^th July 1941

First episode broadcast: 26^th March 1966 (The Massacre, episode 4)

Age at broadcast: 24 (8 months, 16 days)

Billie Piper – Rose Tyler

Birth date: 22^nd September 1980

First episode broadcast: 26^th March 2005

Age at broadcast: 24 (6 months, 4 days)

Katy Manning – Jo Grant

Birth date: 14^th October 1946

First episode broadcast: 2^nd January 1971 (Terror of the Autons, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 24 (2 months, 19 days)

Anneke Wills – Polly

Birth date: 20^th October 1941

First episode broadcast: 25^th June 1966  (The War Machines, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 24 (8 months, 5 days)

Mark Strickson – Turlough

Birth date: 6^th April 1959

First episode broadcast: 1^st February 1983 (Mawdryn Undead, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 23 (9 months, 26 days)

Michael Craze – Ben Jackson

Birth date: 29^th November 1942

First episode broadcast: 25^th June 1966 (The War Machines, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 23 (6 months, 27 days)

Carole-Ann Ford – Susan

Birth date: 16^th June 1940

First episode broadcast: 23^rd November 1963 (An Unearthly Child, episode 1)

Age at broadcast:  23 (5 months, 7 days)

Nicola Bryant – Peri Brown

Birth date: 11^th October 1960

First episode broadcast: 23 February 1984 (Planet of Fire, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 23 (4 months, 12 days)

Karen Gillan – Amy Pond

Birth date: 28^th November 1987

First episode broadcast: 3^rd April 2010 (The Eleventh Hour)

Age at broadcast: 22 (4 months, 6 days)

Bonnie Langford – Melanie Bush

Birth date: 22^nd July 1964

First episode broadcast: 1^st November 1986 (Terror of the Vervoids, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 22 (3 months, 10 days)

Frazer Hines – Jamie McCrimmon

Birth date: 22^nd September 1944

First episode broadcast: 17^th December 1966 (The Highlanders, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 22 (2 months, 25 days)

Maureen O’Brien – Vicki

Birth date: 29^th June 1943

First episode broadcast:  2^nd January 1965 (The Rescue, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 21 (6 months, 4 days)

Wendy Padbury – Zoe Herriot

Birth date: 7^th December 1947

First episode broadcast: 4^th May 1968 (The Wheel in Space, episode 2)

Age at broadcast: 20 (4 months, 27 days)

Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday

Birth date: 19^th June 2004

First episode broadcast: Late 2023 (?)

Age at broadcast: 19 (?)

Deborah Watling – Victoria Waterfield

Birth date: 2^nd January 1948

First episode broadcast: 27^th May 1967 (The Evil of the Daleks, episode 2)

Age at broadcast: 19 (4 months, 25 days)

Sarah Sutton – Nyssa

Birth date: 12^th December 1961

First episode broadcast: 7^th February 1981 (The Keeper of Traken, episode 2)

Age at broadcast: 19 (1 months, 26 days)

Matthew Waterhouse – Adric

Birth date: 19^th December 1961

First episode broadcast: 25^th October 1980 (Full Circle, episode 1)

Age at broadcast: 18 (10 months, 6 days)

Bonus Not Companions, But Some Fans May Disagree

Bernard Cribbins – Wilfred Mott

Birth date: 29^th December 1928

First episode broadcast: 25 December 2007 (Voyage of the Damned)

Age at broadcast: 78 (11 months, 26 days)

Gerald Flood – Kamelion

Birth date: 21^st April 1927

First episode broadcast: 16^th March 1983 (The King’s Demons, episode 2)

Age at broadcast: 55 (10 months, 23 days)

Alex Kingston – River Song

Birth date: 11^th March 1963

First episode broadcast: 31^st May 2008 (Silence in the Library)

Age at broadcast: 45 (2 months, 20 days)

Matt Lucas – Nardole

Birth date: 5^th March 1974

First episode broadcast: 25^th December 2015 (The Husbands of River Song)

Age at broadcast: 41 (9 months, 20 days)

Nicholas Courtney – Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

Birth date: 16^th December 1929

First episode broadcast: 17^th February 1968 (The Web of Fear, episode 3)

Age at broadcast: 38 (2 months, 1 day)

Noel Clarke – Mickey Smith

Birth date: 6^th December 1975

First episode broadcast:  26^th March 2005 (Rose)

Age at broadcast: 29 (3 months, 20 days)