Valentine’s Day has once again passed us by, so what should you be doing now? Watching Doctor Who, of course! The iconic show about time and space is also about love. As companions have come and gone, they’ve introduced us to many beautiful love stories.
Let’s rank the best ones and explore why they touched so many hearts.
6. Madame Vastra and Jenny
“Good evening. I’m a lizard woman from the dawn of time, and this is my wife,” intones Madame Vastra in the Doctor Who Christmas special “The Snowmen.” Vastra and Jenny were already fan favorites at that point, but that line just cemented the love for them even more.
The Madame Vastra/Jenny relationship, as written by Steven Moffat, wasn’t a perfect piece of representation. They don’t kiss, for a start—they lock lips only to exchange air in a perilous situation. And there’s one quite mean fake-out in “The Name of the Doctor” where Jenny appears to be murdered in front of her wife. But all in all, it’s a very sweet and fun relationship between two of Who’s most beloved side characters.
5. Donna Noble and Shaun Temple
Donna’s grandfather Wilf seemed uncertain about the Donna/Shaun marriage. In “The End of Time,” he tells the Doctor that Donna is “making do” and Shaun is “sweet enough.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Sorry, Wilf, but Donna and Shaun became a fantastic couple in the end. When we catch up with Donna in the 2023 specials, it’s clear she married the perfect man for her. Shaun is totally chilled out about Donna’s outer space shenanigans, isn’t jealous of her relationship with the Doctor, and is a wonderful dad to his and Donna’s trans daughter, Rose.
Shaun frequently talks about how lucky he is to have Donna and Rose, but honestly, they’re lucky to have him, too.
4. The Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan
At first, it was easy to read the “Thasmin” relationship as just queerbaiting, but Doctor Who is better than that. Yaz and the Thirteenth Doctor grew closer and closer during the events of “Flux,” and in the end, Yaz was forced to confront her feelings. “I’ve never told anyone,” she confessed to fellow companion Dan. “Not even myself.”
Eventually, Thirteen was made aware of Yaz’s feelings. She loved Yaz too … but seemingly not quite in the same way. After all, she was a Time Lord, and Yaz was a mortal human. “I think it’s an unrequited love story,” then-showrunner Chris Chibnall told the WHO Corner to Corner podcast in 2023. “I don’t know whether that’s the right decision, but it is an unrequited love story.”
Sadly, Yaz didn’t get the happy ending with the Doctor she dreamed of, but then again, very few of the Doctor’s love interests have. And her coming out gave the show another sapphic main character, which is always good.
3. The Doctor and River Song
This was a Doctor Who love story so epic it spanned the eras of several different Doctors. It was Ten who first met River, but she died right after that meeting, sacrificing herself for a version of her husband who didn’t even know her.
The Eleventh Doctor continued to meet up with River Song, who had no idea of her impending doom, and he fell in love with her. They married in “The Wedding of River Song” (although the Doctor was inside a robot body at the time—don’t ask), and then after that came the Twelfth Doctor and “The Husbands of River Song,” where River and the Doctor finally get a happily ever after. It’s a happily ever after that lasted “only” twenty-four years … but that’s enough.
2. The Doctor and Rose Tyler
The Ninth Doctor was a grumpy, traumatized man, but he really loved Rose Tyler. In fact, he loved her so much that he saved her life with a passionate kiss during the events of “The Parting of the Ways.”
After that, Nine became Ten, and Rose adored Ten just as much, if not more. She wanted to stay with him forever and told him so—but we all knew it couldn’t happen. The Doctor just doesn’t work that way.
However, he almost worked that way, just once, for the young human woman he loved. After lots of heartbreaking moments between Rose and the Doctor, Rose eventually took up residence on a parallel world with a human version of Ten, and she seemed to be happy with how things turned out.
1. Amy Pond and Rory Williams
It wasn’t hard to picture the Amy/Rory relationship crashing and burning around the time of “Flesh and Stone.” Amy was supposed to be marrying Rory, but she seemed far more interested in the Eleventh Doctor. Surely a normal human relationship wouldn’t ever be enough for her?
But it was. Rory really loved Amy, you see—enough to wait for her for two thousand years—and gradually, Amy stopped running from her problems and accepted she was worthy of that love. There were major bumps along the way, including an almost divorce caused by trauma and poor communication, but in the end, Amy was willing to rip the world apart for Rory.
(featured image: BBC)
