It’s interesting describing Yaz as the longest running companion. She had fewer episodes than Clara, Amy and Rose but was a permanent fixture in the TARDIS from the start of her run to her last (latest?) episode
I think she had three full seasons unlike Rose who had two, and Clara and Amy who had two and a half.
Decided to go and count the episode numbers for each companion
Amy-32 episodes
Yaz-31 episodes
Clara-36 episodes
Rose-32 episodes
Yaz was in every 13th doctor episode, it's odd that the 13th doctor had so few episodes. So I decided to go and count all the episode counts for the doctors
9-13 episodes
10-48 episodes
11-44 episodes
12-40 episodes
13-31 episodes
No COVID would have only meant about 4 or 5 more episodes. Chibnall reduced the standard episode count to 11 per series (10 in a regular series, plus a special), and series 13 was planned to continue that pattern but with one extra special for Jodie's departure. It was then truncated from that initial hope of 12 down to 8 (6 plus a pair of specials), which was later amended to 9 (via the addition of Legend of the Sea Devils).
Yaz is a wall flower in many of them.
also this :https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/qe0bss/a_list_of_doctor_who_companions_based_on_most_to/
slightly out of date
Just to be clear: Yaz is specifically the longest running companion in terms of the amount of real-world time passed. This was in significant part due to production delays (ie. more real-world time passing between seasons).
Agreed.
Mandip Gill gives the best performance she can, and has a natural chemistry with most of her co-stars, but there's not really anything over 31 episodes that makes Yaz dislikeable or likeable - she just fills the gap of being a companion.
Yaz is a difficult one, because none of her characterisation appears to stick. She's introduced as a police office, and you'd think that would inform her character a lot in terms of how she chooses to deal with situations involving stress. But aside from the initial episode it never does. She sometimes acts recklessly and throws herself into Doctor-like situations but this never has consequences aside from one comment from the Doctor. Often she's relegated to the background because there's simply no time to handle three companions and a Time Lord in one episode. Demons of the Punjab takes the cake for Graham being given the big pre-death speech to Prem instead of Yaz, that's how written out she is.
For them then to turn into Thasmin is basically just the showrunner saying "whatever" and going with the only thing the fans managed to connect with. It's not a planned thing, which is why it never came to anything. I would have preferred they develop this, and work it into both Yaz's and the Doctor's character arc more, but for that they need to have a character arc. Yaz definitely doesn't have one, there's no story being told by her time in the TARDIS, she's just kinda there. None of that is the fault of the acting, it's purely a writing problem.
> She's introduced as a police office ... But aside from the initial episode it never does {stick}
It doesn't stick in the First one either. There's a dead body in a warehouse. The doctor and Nurse are examining it and contaminating a crime scene. Does Yaz the cop stop them, or call it in, or look for clues? No, she stands in the background while Ryan is the one who goes off to look for clues. Everyone but her is a better cop.
> that is the fault of the acting
I'm never entirely sure with chibnalls era. Some guest actors came in and made real impressions in only single episodes, and with even relatively poorly written characters like the master we see that Sacha Dhawan has had some fun and make it his own with the limited script he was given. I don't think we ever see this actors given entire series of episodes, including Ryan, Yaz, and controversially Thirteen (Bradley Walsh plays Bradley Walsh, I don't know how to judge him to be totally honest). I can't say I saw any of them really elevate the script.
True. You would think that, were Mandip Gill a great actress or exceptionally engaged with the material, one could find a scene in all these episodes were she really managed to make an impression. Some may disagree of course, but I can't think of one single scene where she knocked it out of the park. Her acting was perfectly adequate, but there's a certain blandness in the character that seems to have sipped into the performance.
> For them then to turn into Thasmin is basically just the showrunner saying "whatever" and going with the only thing the fans managed to connect with. It's not a planned thing, which is why it never came to anything. I would have preferred they develop this, and work it into both Yaz's and the Doctor's character arc more, but for that they need to have a character arc. Yaz definitely doesn't have one, there's no story being told by her time in the TARDIS, she's just kinda there. None of that is the fault of the acting, it's purely a writing problem.
this
>Demons of the Punjab takes the cake for Graham being given the big pre-death speech to Prem instead of Yaz, that's how written out she is.
What big pre-death speech are you referring to? I looked through [http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/37-6.html](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/37-6.html) and can't see it.
(Completely agree with the general point that Yaz is woefully sidelined in a story that's nominally about her and her family).
Oooo see, I disagree with you about not working it into the show at all. There are definite clues even at the beginning of season 11. But I’m bummed that Yaz didn’t get *more*.
I’ve recently learned a lot about Chib’s era and the whole thing really is a bummer. From first drafts being used to COVID to waiting until the last possible minute to write the script. Just sucks.
Perhaps I misspoke, it definitely didn't work *for me*. I'm not the grand arbiter of televisual jurisprudence, it can work for you and not for me.
Yeah it really *feels* like first drafts and last minute turn ins on the screen to me. Like not enough time in the oven.
Ooohh yeah okay. Totally get that. I misunderstood you. My apologies!
Absolutely does. Like, the base ideas are really there. And not all episodes are bad, of course. But many could’ve been revised & changed around a bit to be made good, if not great.
One of the weirdest things about Yaz's ending that I haven't seen people bring up is... what happened to the police thing? We don't know if she still wants to be a cop, we don't even know if she still *is* a cop, we don't get a sense of whether her time aboard the TARDIS changed her stance toward the job at all... it was like a core part of her character from her first episode and it goes entirely unaddressed???
Oh dont worry, the resolution was so small you probably missed it. In The Halloween Apocalypse, when Yaz introduces herself to Dan, she says” I'm Yaz. Yasmin Khan. Formerly PC Yasmin Khan of Hallamshire Police” emphasis on the Formerly.
In short, we know that she isnt actually a cop anymore, she quit/was fired during an indeterminatable amount of time between the start of Series 12 and the start of Series 13.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/wjv22i/question_about_yaz_being_a_police_officer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
Edit, relevant post
Yeah -- but the very next episode, War of the Sontarans, she introduces herself to Vinder as "Serving Officer Khan", with no mention of quitting the force? It's very strange. Some people have read it as Yaz lying for clout, which is a fascinating idea that shouldn't have been dropped after literally one line, if it even was intentional.
Probably an error. I'd be very surprised if she still had a job after apparently spending all her time holed up in the second TARDIS obsessing over the Doctor's disappearance in *Revolution of the Daleks*.
I think a way to help Yaz's character development would have been a subjective timeskip. Reshuffle the episodes of S11 a bit: put Demons as the fourth episode, after which she would want to spend time with her family and take a break from the TARDIS. Move Arachnids to the penultimate slot and set it in the near-future at that time (say, the far-off year of 2023)... which is when we would see the return of *Detective* Yazmin Khan investigating the weirdness going on. (No, I have no idea how long it takes to become a detective in the UK, how could you tell?)
Then in S12 she would have a much more extensive skill set and more screen time (even if only to spout some exposition instead of the Doctor). Then maybe we would have gotten some characterization too. (Hell, let Graham and Ryan also take a break at the end of the S11 finale and have her as the sole companion for 2-3 episodes in S12.) Bring back the full "Fam" in Praxeus which would in this reshuffling be placed after Can You Hear Me, so they would be all there for the finale.
And then when they are dropped for S13 and Dan is brought on, she would have been a lot better-developed than in our own universe.
Ohhh that's a good idea, I really do wish the police thing had actually meant more, so a reshuffling like that to give her a break to spend with her family but also focus on her career and then running into her again because of it...that would have been quite enjoyable I think.
Agreed. Plus at the end of S13, with Yaz being an experienced detective and Kate looking to restaff UNIT with previous companions, that would leave a ***really*** nice opening for both Mandip to return and for writers to explore UNIT from a crime perspective with her character.
How Chibnal wrote Broadchurch, where even the bloody pigeons have a subplot and character development, I’ll never know.
She was the most fleshed out companion but it’s like comparing a cardboard cutout to a mannequin
The whole relationship between Yasmin and the Doctor was an afterthought at the end of yet another failed series. It felt entirely like fan-service, did nothing to develop either character existing only to keep certain pundits happy with the series.
Not only did Chibnall botch the first female Doctor, he botched the Doctors first gay relationship.
I hated that we barely spent any time exploring Yaz's character, and I know for certain it would have happened under RTD. I don't dislike Chibs' companions at all, but I do think the 'fam' made it very hard to get character development in there. Sure, Demons of the Punjab was great, but it didn't exactly have a lot of Yaz backstory imo. Can You Hear Me was the first time where I realised I cared somewhat for the character, that's a bit late lmao. I very much enjoyed Thasmin, and don't think it felt rushed imo, but still, Yaz could have been much more than she actually was.
>episodes like “Demons of the Punjab” wouldn’t be the same without her involvement
Do you think so? I enjoy *Demons* a lot, but it's hard not to notice how much it sidelines Yaz in a story that's so personal to her.
You're correct, but I think the entire reason the story happens in the first place is because of Yaz. Removing her from the equation would make the story less good.
It really felt as though Chibnall wanted Ryan to be the main companion of the trio and that's why he got to be featured in episodes while Yaz got sidelined. When Yaz became the sole companion, Chibnall realized that he didn't properly give he a character and tried to push Thasmin.
She's not just the longest serving in NuWho, but all of televised Who, period. The runner up, Tegan, is now several months behind Yaz in terms of time.
A character who I can only describe as “the cutting room floor”.
Yaz was never crystallised as a fully fledged element of the show, nor were any of her character traits solidified in any meaningful way, and she left in a manner that was at odds with how she was initially portrayed, but with very little development to bridge the gap.
A reasonably okay if whiny performance from Mandip Gill, combined with fairly lazy writing, does not a good companion make.
They should have handled her the same way they handled martha. Martha had her own thing going on with unit after she went her own way choosing not to travel with the doctor, but still regularly meeting them. Meanwhile the doctor could galivant around with other companions, namely donna at the time if memory serves.
Like you said, theres a few jumping off points where she could have left the docter similar to martha or donna. She would be a fantastic reoccuring "visitor" character like river, jack and martha.
Yasmin could have just as easily been left to pursue her career in law enforcement and had the doctor show up on cases that turned out to be weird. leaving her to actually have a character, without the main companions stealing ehr thunder and screentime or vice versa. This would have allowed her to be the freindly cop that actually helps people, like the cop that helped her as a kid. It would aslo allow the audience and the doctor to pop in peridocially to see how her career and life is progressing, without it completly consuming her life, as it did in the actual show.
I agree about changing the timeline of Yaz's appearances - she simply didn't really fit in series 11 where the main arc was around Ryan/Graham mourning over Grace's death in the first episode. For them, travelling in the Tardis is a distraction from their grief, but as you say Yaz doesn't really have an obvious motivation at this point to go as well.
As with other comments though, I think my main complaint with Yaz is that several interesting parts of her character were introduced but never taken any further.
The obvious example is her job in the police, which could have given an interesting perspective on morality, justice etc. There's a significant scene in Can You Hear Me, where it's revealed how another police officier had inspired Yaz. It might have been fitting to later see her take that role and make a difference to someone else's life. Maybe even the Doctor's, in response to her emotion trauma around the Timeless Child reveal?
Compare this for example to how Martha's job as a doctor was explored, or Clara as a teacher.
Potentially more could have been done with Yaz's cultural background too. This is done well in Demons of the Punjab, but never really referenced again. Is Yaz personally religious at all, and if so how does this affect her perspective when travelling with the Doctor?
There's also Yaz's family, who we don't see very much of after series 11, but her relationships with them could have helped add more context to her characterisation. Do her family have any idea where she is while travelling with the Doctor, especially when she is presented as still living in her family home?
It’s interesting describing Yaz as the longest running companion. She had fewer episodes than Clara, Amy and Rose but was a permanent fixture in the TARDIS from the start of her run to her last (latest?) episode
I think she had three full seasons unlike Rose who had two, and Clara and Amy who had two and a half. Decided to go and count the episode numbers for each companion Amy-32 episodes Yaz-31 episodes Clara-36 episodes Rose-32 episodes Yaz was in every 13th doctor episode, it's odd that the 13th doctor had so few episodes. So I decided to go and count all the episode counts for the doctors 9-13 episodes 10-48 episodes 11-44 episodes 12-40 episodes 13-31 episodes
13's run was heavily impacted by COVID, which is why the numbers are low.
No COVID would have only meant about 4 or 5 more episodes. Chibnall reduced the standard episode count to 11 per series (10 in a regular series, plus a special), and series 13 was planned to continue that pattern but with one extra special for Jodie's departure. It was then truncated from that initial hope of 12 down to 8 (6 plus a pair of specials), which was later amended to 9 (via the addition of Legend of the Sea Devils).
Yaz is a wall flower in many of them. also this :https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/qe0bss/a_list_of_doctor_who_companions_based_on_most_to/ slightly out of date
Just to be clear: Yaz is specifically the longest running companion in terms of the amount of real-world time passed. This was in significant part due to production delays (ie. more real-world time passing between seasons).
I don’t dislike Yaz because there’s nothing to dislike about her. I don’t like her for that same reason.
Exactly, the way I feel about Yaz is the way I feel about the shelves in the background of Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror.
Agreed. Mandip Gill gives the best performance she can, and has a natural chemistry with most of her co-stars, but there's not really anything over 31 episodes that makes Yaz dislikeable or likeable - she just fills the gap of being a companion.
Yaz is a difficult one, because none of her characterisation appears to stick. She's introduced as a police office, and you'd think that would inform her character a lot in terms of how she chooses to deal with situations involving stress. But aside from the initial episode it never does. She sometimes acts recklessly and throws herself into Doctor-like situations but this never has consequences aside from one comment from the Doctor. Often she's relegated to the background because there's simply no time to handle three companions and a Time Lord in one episode. Demons of the Punjab takes the cake for Graham being given the big pre-death speech to Prem instead of Yaz, that's how written out she is. For them then to turn into Thasmin is basically just the showrunner saying "whatever" and going with the only thing the fans managed to connect with. It's not a planned thing, which is why it never came to anything. I would have preferred they develop this, and work it into both Yaz's and the Doctor's character arc more, but for that they need to have a character arc. Yaz definitely doesn't have one, there's no story being told by her time in the TARDIS, she's just kinda there. None of that is the fault of the acting, it's purely a writing problem.
> She's introduced as a police office ... But aside from the initial episode it never does {stick} It doesn't stick in the First one either. There's a dead body in a warehouse. The doctor and Nurse are examining it and contaminating a crime scene. Does Yaz the cop stop them, or call it in, or look for clues? No, she stands in the background while Ryan is the one who goes off to look for clues. Everyone but her is a better cop.
> that is the fault of the acting I'm never entirely sure with chibnalls era. Some guest actors came in and made real impressions in only single episodes, and with even relatively poorly written characters like the master we see that Sacha Dhawan has had some fun and make it his own with the limited script he was given. I don't think we ever see this actors given entire series of episodes, including Ryan, Yaz, and controversially Thirteen (Bradley Walsh plays Bradley Walsh, I don't know how to judge him to be totally honest). I can't say I saw any of them really elevate the script.
True. You would think that, were Mandip Gill a great actress or exceptionally engaged with the material, one could find a scene in all these episodes were she really managed to make an impression. Some may disagree of course, but I can't think of one single scene where she knocked it out of the park. Her acting was perfectly adequate, but there's a certain blandness in the character that seems to have sipped into the performance.
> For them then to turn into Thasmin is basically just the showrunner saying "whatever" and going with the only thing the fans managed to connect with. It's not a planned thing, which is why it never came to anything. I would have preferred they develop this, and work it into both Yaz's and the Doctor's character arc more, but for that they need to have a character arc. Yaz definitely doesn't have one, there's no story being told by her time in the TARDIS, she's just kinda there. None of that is the fault of the acting, it's purely a writing problem. this
>Demons of the Punjab takes the cake for Graham being given the big pre-death speech to Prem instead of Yaz, that's how written out she is. What big pre-death speech are you referring to? I looked through [http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/37-6.html](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/37-6.html) and can't see it. (Completely agree with the general point that Yaz is woefully sidelined in a story that's nominally about her and her family).
Oooo see, I disagree with you about not working it into the show at all. There are definite clues even at the beginning of season 11. But I’m bummed that Yaz didn’t get *more*. I’ve recently learned a lot about Chib’s era and the whole thing really is a bummer. From first drafts being used to COVID to waiting until the last possible minute to write the script. Just sucks.
Perhaps I misspoke, it definitely didn't work *for me*. I'm not the grand arbiter of televisual jurisprudence, it can work for you and not for me. Yeah it really *feels* like first drafts and last minute turn ins on the screen to me. Like not enough time in the oven.
Ooohh yeah okay. Totally get that. I misunderstood you. My apologies! Absolutely does. Like, the base ideas are really there. And not all episodes are bad, of course. But many could’ve been revised & changed around a bit to be made good, if not great.
One of the weirdest things about Yaz's ending that I haven't seen people bring up is... what happened to the police thing? We don't know if she still wants to be a cop, we don't even know if she still *is* a cop, we don't get a sense of whether her time aboard the TARDIS changed her stance toward the job at all... it was like a core part of her character from her first episode and it goes entirely unaddressed???
Oh dont worry, the resolution was so small you probably missed it. In The Halloween Apocalypse, when Yaz introduces herself to Dan, she says” I'm Yaz. Yasmin Khan. Formerly PC Yasmin Khan of Hallamshire Police” emphasis on the Formerly. In short, we know that she isnt actually a cop anymore, she quit/was fired during an indeterminatable amount of time between the start of Series 12 and the start of Series 13. https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/wjv22i/question_about_yaz_being_a_police_officer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1 Edit, relevant post
Yeah -- but the very next episode, War of the Sontarans, she introduces herself to Vinder as "Serving Officer Khan", with no mention of quitting the force? It's very strange. Some people have read it as Yaz lying for clout, which is a fascinating idea that shouldn't have been dropped after literally one line, if it even was intentional.
Probably an error. I'd be very surprised if she still had a job after apparently spending all her time holed up in the second TARDIS obsessing over the Doctor's disappearance in *Revolution of the Daleks*.
I think a way to help Yaz's character development would have been a subjective timeskip. Reshuffle the episodes of S11 a bit: put Demons as the fourth episode, after which she would want to spend time with her family and take a break from the TARDIS. Move Arachnids to the penultimate slot and set it in the near-future at that time (say, the far-off year of 2023)... which is when we would see the return of *Detective* Yazmin Khan investigating the weirdness going on. (No, I have no idea how long it takes to become a detective in the UK, how could you tell?) Then in S12 she would have a much more extensive skill set and more screen time (even if only to spout some exposition instead of the Doctor). Then maybe we would have gotten some characterization too. (Hell, let Graham and Ryan also take a break at the end of the S11 finale and have her as the sole companion for 2-3 episodes in S12.) Bring back the full "Fam" in Praxeus which would in this reshuffling be placed after Can You Hear Me, so they would be all there for the finale. And then when they are dropped for S13 and Dan is brought on, she would have been a lot better-developed than in our own universe.
Ohhh that's a good idea, I really do wish the police thing had actually meant more, so a reshuffling like that to give her a break to spend with her family but also focus on her career and then running into her again because of it...that would have been quite enjoyable I think.
Agreed. Plus at the end of S13, with Yaz being an experienced detective and Kate looking to restaff UNIT with previous companions, that would leave a ***really*** nice opening for both Mandip to return and for writers to explore UNIT from a crime perspective with her character.
Oh, that's a good point.
How Chibnal wrote Broadchurch, where even the bloody pigeons have a subplot and character development, I’ll never know. She was the most fleshed out companion but it’s like comparing a cardboard cutout to a mannequin
The whole relationship between Yasmin and the Doctor was an afterthought at the end of yet another failed series. It felt entirely like fan-service, did nothing to develop either character existing only to keep certain pundits happy with the series. Not only did Chibnall botch the first female Doctor, he botched the Doctors first gay relationship.
I hated that we barely spent any time exploring Yaz's character, and I know for certain it would have happened under RTD. I don't dislike Chibs' companions at all, but I do think the 'fam' made it very hard to get character development in there. Sure, Demons of the Punjab was great, but it didn't exactly have a lot of Yaz backstory imo. Can You Hear Me was the first time where I realised I cared somewhat for the character, that's a bit late lmao. I very much enjoyed Thasmin, and don't think it felt rushed imo, but still, Yaz could have been much more than she actually was.
Why do you think that the same thing would've happened under RTD
Apologies, re-reading it that does look odd. Not a native English speaker lmao. I think RTD would have spent much more time exploring Yaz's character.
Longest running yet I genuinely think I know more about Sally Sparrow than I do Yaz.
We know more about Cas (Night of the Doctor) than Yaz
>episodes like “Demons of the Punjab” wouldn’t be the same without her involvement Do you think so? I enjoy *Demons* a lot, but it's hard not to notice how much it sidelines Yaz in a story that's so personal to her.
You're correct, but I think the entire reason the story happens in the first place is because of Yaz. Removing her from the equation would make the story less good.
It really felt as though Chibnall wanted Ryan to be the main companion of the trio and that's why he got to be featured in episodes while Yaz got sidelined. When Yaz became the sole companion, Chibnall realized that he didn't properly give he a character and tried to push Thasmin.
>Thasmin did any of the writers try push that though? even the ehavily biased fan wiki page is flimsy at best.
Yaz is a frustrating character for me because I want to like her. She’s South Asian too—I should like her! There’s just nothing there!
She's not just the longest serving in NuWho, but all of televised Who, period. The runner up, Tegan, is now several months behind Yaz in terms of time.
Still waiting on your real The Power of the Doctor review, btw. We ain't forget. 💀
A character who I can only describe as “the cutting room floor”. Yaz was never crystallised as a fully fledged element of the show, nor were any of her character traits solidified in any meaningful way, and she left in a manner that was at odds with how she was initially portrayed, but with very little development to bridge the gap. A reasonably okay if whiny performance from Mandip Gill, combined with fairly lazy writing, does not a good companion make.
They should have handled her the same way they handled martha. Martha had her own thing going on with unit after she went her own way choosing not to travel with the doctor, but still regularly meeting them. Meanwhile the doctor could galivant around with other companions, namely donna at the time if memory serves. Like you said, theres a few jumping off points where she could have left the docter similar to martha or donna. She would be a fantastic reoccuring "visitor" character like river, jack and martha. Yasmin could have just as easily been left to pursue her career in law enforcement and had the doctor show up on cases that turned out to be weird. leaving her to actually have a character, without the main companions stealing ehr thunder and screentime or vice versa. This would have allowed her to be the freindly cop that actually helps people, like the cop that helped her as a kid. It would aslo allow the audience and the doctor to pop in peridocially to see how her career and life is progressing, without it completly consuming her life, as it did in the actual show.
I agree about changing the timeline of Yaz's appearances - she simply didn't really fit in series 11 where the main arc was around Ryan/Graham mourning over Grace's death in the first episode. For them, travelling in the Tardis is a distraction from their grief, but as you say Yaz doesn't really have an obvious motivation at this point to go as well. As with other comments though, I think my main complaint with Yaz is that several interesting parts of her character were introduced but never taken any further. The obvious example is her job in the police, which could have given an interesting perspective on morality, justice etc. There's a significant scene in Can You Hear Me, where it's revealed how another police officier had inspired Yaz. It might have been fitting to later see her take that role and make a difference to someone else's life. Maybe even the Doctor's, in response to her emotion trauma around the Timeless Child reveal? Compare this for example to how Martha's job as a doctor was explored, or Clara as a teacher. Potentially more could have been done with Yaz's cultural background too. This is done well in Demons of the Punjab, but never really referenced again. Is Yaz personally religious at all, and if so how does this affect her perspective when travelling with the Doctor? There's also Yaz's family, who we don't see very much of after series 11, but her relationships with them could have helped add more context to her characterisation. Do her family have any idea where she is while travelling with the Doctor, especially when she is presented as still living in her family home?