TV Couples
7 Best ‘Doctor Who’ Couples, Ranked
For over 60 years now, Doctor Who, with its many adventures through time and space, relationships between The Doctors and companions, aliens, and so much more, has been delighting viewers. And just as timey wimey as the trips through space and time are its romances. So when better than Doctor Who Day—the first episode of the long-running sci-fi show aired on November 23, 1963—to take a look at those?
To say that it’s been complicated when it comes to love for The Doctor and those around him is an understatement. After all, you have the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper), whose eventual reunion includes another version of him. There’s the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi)—and a bit of the Tenth—with River Song (Alex Kingston); each always knows more than the other about their history and future when they cross paths. There’s one that’s (hopefully) just getting started (Ncuti Gatwa‘s Fifteenth Doctor and Jonathan Groff‘s Rogue) and one that never had the chance to be anything (Jodie Whittaker‘s Thirteenth Doctor and Mandip Gill‘s Yaz).
Below, we’re ranking the best Doctor Who romances. (Note: We said the best. We love all of them, just some more than others.) Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
7. Clara and Danny (Jenna Coleman and Samuel Anderson)
In some ways, it almost feels like these two didn’t get the chance to shine before he was killed, uploaded to the Nethersphere, and became a Cyberman. But there was real love there, we watched Clara grieve him, and he sacrificed his chance at life again for a young boy. We got to see the early days of Clara and Danny’s relationship, and just like she had a hard time letting go of him (“Last Christmas”), we wish we’d gotten more of it.
6. Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue (Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff)
We have a feeling that once (if) we get more of them, they’ll move higher up on the list. The Doctor crossed paths with the bounty hunter in the Bridgerton-esque episode featuring a classic misunderstanding, a sweet dance, a fake proposal, an almost kiss, and a heartbreaking separation. Rogue took Ruby’s (Millie Gibson) spot in a trap and was transported to a random, barren dimension but left The Doctor with a kiss and his ring, and we’d be shocked if these two didn’t find each other again.
5. Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz (Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill)
Oh, what could have been! This one hurt. It was no secret even before it was said aloud that they had feelings for each other, but for The Doctor, no matter how much she wanted to “fix [herself] to somebody,” she knew it would hurt. They did have ice cream on top of the TARDIS before Thirteen’s regeneration, but it just made what we could have had with these two all the more bittersweet.
4. The Doctor and River Song (David Tennant/Matt Smith/Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston)
The Tenth Doctor (Tennant) was the first to meet River onscreen (their final encounter), and the Twelfth (Capaldi) spent their last night together with her, but it was with the Eleventh (Smith) that she spent the most time—and they married! There was always the concern for “spoilers, sweetie,” for the two, with them meeting at different moments in their timeline, needing to compare journals, and he could be a “sentimental idiot” for her (“The Angels Take Manhattan”).
3. Madame Vastra and Jenny (Neve McIntosh and Catrin Stewart)
You know what they say: The couple that slays together… The Silurian and human weren’t just fun allies of the Eleventh Doctor but also a great example of a strong relationship. The wives balanced each other out—Jenny was the bridge between Madame Vastra and the rest of the world—and who doesn’t love a couple who can take time to check on one another while keeping the enemy subdued (“A Good Man Goes to War”)?
2. Amy and Rory (Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill)
“Together or not at all.” To be fair, we weren’t introduced to Amy and Rory’s relationship in the best way: They were engaged, but she had no qualms about running off with—and kissing!—The Doctor on their wedding night. But amidst their adventures, losing and finding their daughter (River Song!), his deaths, and her in a box for thousands of years, they chose each other time and time again—until the sad end, thanks to the Weeping Angels (“The Angels Take Manhattan”). How could we not fall in love with their love?
1. Tenth Doctor and Rose (David Tennant and Billie Piper)
Oh, this one’s complicated. Rose was the first companion of The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston‘s Ninth) when the show was revived in 2005, and despite her relationship with Mickey (Noel Clarke), it was clear to everyone that there was love there. But then came “Doomsday,” at the end of which Rose was trapped in a parallel world, and her farewell with The Doctor (Tennant) was cut off when their connection ended—and before he could respond to her, “I love you.” She fought her way back to him, and the two did get a happily ever after together in that parallel world—but it was with the metacrisis (part-human) version of The Doctor (due to a regeneration twist) who could finally say that “I love you.” To be honest, we’re kind of torn about this one when it comes to the versions of The Doctor and who got to stay with Rose, but there was something so special about their relationship.
