We meet Polly when she’s out at the Inferno nightclub, where she meets Ben, a sailor who’s shipping out the next day. They become embroiled in the Doctor’s battle against WOTAN when he comes looking for Dodo at Inferno and at the end of the story, they end up entering the TARDIS just before it takes off, becoming Companions. Polly is a contemporary young woman who is very fashionable and, for the time, independent.
Zoe is an astrometricist, astrophysicist, and computer genius aboard the titular Wheel in Space when she meets the Doctor. Seeking adventure, and the chance to develop more than just the skills she’d honed on the Wheel, she stows away aboard the TARDIS.
Ben is a Cockney sailor set to ship out with the Royal Navy when he meets Polly and, later that night, the Doctor at a club. Ben is a contemporary young man, designed to pair with Polly and follow on from Ian and Steven as the Male Action Hero of the series, given the First Doctor’s advanced age and failing health.
Victoria is a teenager living with her father in England when she becomes embroiled in his dealings with the Daleks and, later, the Doctor. After her father’s death, she joins the Doctor and Jamie on the TARDIS, having nowhere else to go. She is a girl of her time, making her at times rather unsuited to life on the TARDIS.
The Second Doctor is wily, silly, and thoughtful. He’s happy to play the clown or sit quietly in the background, allowing others to underestimate him. He has no interest in recognition or praise, often slipping away with his Companions after saving the day as soon as those he’s just helped start trying to celebrate him or rope him into assisting them further. Unlike the First Doctor’s early grouchiness and avuncular grandfather persona, the Second Doctor is more of a crazy uncle, less interested in educating or otherwise bettering his Companions and more focused on them as individuals and friends. He opts for disguise and deception over outright confrontation when it comes to gathering information and defeating his foes and the Second Doctor is perhaps best known for his close bond and comedy duo rapport with Jamie, the longest-running Companion in the series.
Jamie is a Scottish highlander, a piper for Clan McLaren, who meets the Doctor, Ben, and Polly in the aftermath of a battle with the English. He decides to join them in the TARDIS after their adventure, remaining vocal about and extremely proud of his heritage throughout his journeys with the Doctor.
Professor Edward Travers is a British explorer and anthropologist who is searching for Yeti in Tibet when he encounters the Doctor. He later returns to London and eventually helps the Doctor and UNIT, led by Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, fight the Great Intelligence (and the Yeti) in the Underground.