Everybody has seen the classic "Which Doctor are you?" surveys, and the BBC even has an official one, but there are several other creative ways to connect with the world of Doctor Who. A staple of fandom activity is connecting songs to TV shows, and there are plenty of great songs that fit the themes, characters, and plotlines of the sci-fi giant.
Perhaps one of the best ways to play with this idea is by looking at what songs best fit the companions, as they tend to have the most obvious emotional journeys. For this purpose, there's no better place to look than at Taylor Swift, whose discography includes 274 songs that range from relatively shallow party music to deep explorations of love, grief, and finding purpose in life.
When The Tortured Poet's Department and its extended version, The Anthology, were first released, fans pointed out that several songs seemed to line up eerily well with Doctor Who characters. Look up any fan edit of "Clara Bow," and you'll be shocked by how perfectly the lyrics fit. But older songs like "happiness," "The Lucky One," and "Superman" feel equally applicable as reflections of the companion experience.
Here, we look for the Taylor Swift song that best captures each companion, either reflecting their personalities, their time with the Doctor, or their emotional journey across the show.
Rose: The Very First Night
"I drive down different roads, but they all lead back to you"
While the most obvious song choice for Rose Tyler might be "Down Bad," given the themes of love, alien abduction, and abandonment, I believe that "The Very First Night" does a better job of capturing her full arc on Doctor Who. The song is from the point of view of a woman after losing the love of her life, trying to go on despite being stuck mentally when she was with him.
The lyrics include references to going back in time, running with the other person, dancing, and sharing a love that nobody else understands. All of this perfectly captures the devotion Rose felt toward the Doctor. They were deeply in love, bringing each other back to life, and every time he left her, she fought to get back to him. Her mother and Mickey never understood that connection, so when she had to build a life in the parallel universe, they took care of her basic needs while being unable to comprehend how much she had lost.
Martha: Say Don't Go
"Cause you kiss me and it stops time. And I'm yours, but you're not mine"
There are multiple songs that could capture parts of Martha's time on Doctor Who, but "Say Don't Go" perhaps does the best job of capturing her mindset throughout. She wanted the Doctor to love her the way she loved him, to see her for the amazing person she was, but he never did. Arguably, "White Horse" might be a better representation of her finally gaining the strength to leave, but it's hard to deny that each adventure saw her "holdin' out hope" for him to change his mind.
While the Doctor was incapable of loving her back properly, he did lead her on, tossing out praise and special moments, just to make her literally serve him in the "Human Nature" storyline. Martha learned her self-worth, but the Doctor didn't affirm it. She practically told him she loved him, and he was unresponsive. If he'd given her a fraction of the attention and affection other companions got, she probably would have stayed. But he wouldn't, and she knew that, so she moved on to a life and a partner who would.
Donna: Long Live
"I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you"
Although the line "I'm harder to forget than I was to leave" from "I Bet You Think About Me" came to mind, there really is no song that better captures Donna Noble than "Long Live." It's a celebration of someone coming from obscurity and insecurity into a place of power, honor, and joy. Much of the song works for Donna's contributions throughout Series 4, but it particularly works for her transformation into the Doctor Donna.
The chorus is full of triumph, but the repeated refrain that "we will be remembered" is particularly painful, given Donna's original ending. The bridge fits Donna's hopes of being with the Doctor forever, as well as the promise that, even if they are parted, she won't be forgotten. Given Donna's return in the 60th anniversary, the final chorus can be seen as the return of her memories, her confidence, and her joy that came from her time as a companion.
Amy: Peter
"But the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light"
While there could be an argument that all companions are just the newest Wendys flying off with Peter Pan, Amy Pond especially captures that feeling, and this song, as the Girl Who Waited. The chorus of "Peter" is an almost childish, painful repetition that 'Peter' said he would come back for her, but that he never did. While the Doctor did come back for Amy, it was only after a long time, where she was left to fantasize about him and turn him into a fairytale.
However, the song is not just about waiting. It starts with an apology to Peter because she had to move on and grow up. No matter how much she wanted to be wth him, he was unreliable and flew away when things got hard. One of Amy's most important arcs was moving on from the Doctor, which she did a little more every time she chose Rory instead. She had to learn to stop believing in him, to stop waiting for him to rescue her, which is the same journey the song documents.
Rory: Timeless
"Even in a different life, you still would've been mine"
Although Rory became the Doctor's friend (and father-in-law), his world always centered around Amy, which is why "Timeless" works so well for him. The song imagines the narrator and their lover finding each other in different time periods and lives, but Amy and Rory got to live out many of those situations. Whether it was their normal life, a Dream world, or a timeless world, they always found their way to each other.
Rory would (and did) die for Amy, just as the singer fantasizes. He loved her when they were growing up together, when she had grown old, when he was a plastic soldier. No matter the time, no matter the circumstances, Amy was his guiding light. And despite the show playing up the love triangle with the Doctor, Amy always chose him too. True to the title, they were a "timeless" pairing, happily building a life together even after being sent to the past by a Weeping Angel.
Clara: Illicit Affairs
"And you know damn well, for you, I would ruin myself. A million little times"
The Doctor and Clara had an intimate, romantic friendship that pushed both to betray themselves and their principles. It was passionate and dangerous, beautiful, and destructive, which makes "Illicit Affairs" the perfect song. The singer alludes to the relationship as an addiction, just as Clara questioned if traveling with the Doctor was. He was her hidden secret, her great escape, but their relationship was ultimately full of "lies" and "dies."
But the bridge and the outro are where the connections hit strongest. Clara fought for the Doctor not to "call me kid," to see her as an equal. She tried to find meaning in a life beyond him, but was hypnotized by "colors you know I can't see with anyone else" and "a secret language I can't speak with anyone else." And, ultimately, they both destroyed themselves for each other, over and over, until Clara finally forced the Doctor to give her up.
Bill: Sad Beautiful Tragic
"Words, how little they mean, when you're a little too late"
Bill is a hard companion to pin down, because her time with the Doctor was so complicated. She was constantly being tested and tormented, forced to prove her loyalty to him and her moral strength. I was tempted to use "Mad Woman" because she was repeatedly put in painful situations, only to be told that she couldn't get upset about them. But while that song is appropriate, it minimizes how Bill herself saw her time with the Doctor.
Between her desire to save the Doctor in "The Doctor Falls" and her praise for him in "Twice Upon A Time," it's clear that Bill saw the Doctor as a hero. Her time with him was worthwhile, despite how it ended. That's what makes "Sad Beautiful Tragic" the perfect match for her time as a companion. While the line "hopeful they'll be and long they will wait" lines up well with the repeated dialogue about her waiting for the Doctor (and its tragic use in the finale), it doesn't negate that they had a very real "beautiful magic love."
Yasmin: Only Me When I'm With You
"Well, you drive me crazy half the time. The other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true"
While the Thirteenth Doctor had four companions, Yasmin was the only one there the whole time, bonding with the Doctor in a deeper way than any of the others. She complemented the Doctor's strengths and weaknesses and was constantly looking for opportunities to get closer. While the romantic elements of that were made more apparent in Series 13, their connection as a whole is what makes "Only Me When I'm With You" such a good fit.
The song talks about the different ways two true friends can connect, from flying to sitting in silence, a dynamic that Yaz and the Doctor built over the course of three seasons. Though the Doctor refused to fully open up to any of her companions, Yaz definitely got the closest, and the Doctor was the only one who got to see all of her deepest dreams and fears. Critical lyrics include the idea of two people "trying to figure out what is and isn't true," as Yaz and the Doctor did throughout the Timeless Child arc, and the general idea that Yasmin's identity as a whole was tied up in her time and relationship with the Doctor.
Ryan: Change
"These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down"
While Ryan didn't have nearly as much personality as any of the other companions, he had several clear character arcs about change throughout his time on Doctor Who. From the beginning, we see him struggling with his dyspraxia, trying and failing to ride a bike, and the lyric "repeating history and you're getting sick of it" feels like a pretty great read on his starting personality.
He was tired of fighting his own body, grieving his Nan, angry at his father, and trying to find his place in the universe. While several of these struggles weren't things that could be 'fixed,' they were things he learned to live with. Ryan grew his confidence, finally able to win battles even when "the fight ain't fair," which eventually gave him the strength to leave the TARDIS and defend the Earth on his own.
Graham: marjorie
"And if I didn't know better, I'd think you were talking to me now"
In "The Ghost Monument, " Graham tells Ryan that he gets through his grief and anxiety by asking himself, "If Grace was here, what would she say?" That is precisely the sentiment behind the song "marjorie," which makes it the perfect fit for him. Graham embodies the various traits praised throughout the song, being both kind and clever, polite and powerful, and those values make him a strong companion.
Grace had the most sense of adventure in the family, but Graham travels with the Doctor in her honor, living out her "closets of backlogged dreams" as best as he can. Just like the song says, she was the dreamer while he was the complainer, but he is ultimately better for having known her and for keeping her "alive in my head." With her best advice as his guiding light, Graham offered emotional strength to every member of the TARDIS team, protected the Earth with Ryan after leaving, and created a companion support group so nobody had to suffer that loss and abandonment alone.
Dan: A Place in This World
"Don't know what's down this road; I'm just walking"
When he first appears on the show, Dan is kind of drifting from one thing to another, unofficially guiding tours at the Museum of Liverpool, volunteering at the Food Bank, but never really having a concrete life of his own. Even when he gets abducted by Karvanista, he just goes with the flow and joins the Doctor on her adventures. He's willing to play an active role but doesn't have a clear direction for his life, which is why he matches up with "A Place in This World."
The song is from Taylor Swift's first album, and it portrays someone who doesn't have a plan but who isn't necessarily upset by that fact. As the song says, "I'll be strong, I'll be wrong. Oh, but life goes on." That feels like it could be a motto for Dan, who seems mostly concerned with living a life that makes other people happy, however that works out. He's going on these great adventures, fighting terrifying foes, and yet he just decides at a certain point that he's ready to return to normal life. For Dan, "tomorrow's just a mystery," and he's happy to find out what secrets it holds as it comes up.
Ruby: Holy Ground
"Darling, it was good. Never looking down"
Ruby and the Doctor were good friends, and they worked because they were both excited by the same things. Ruby loves the thrill of a new adventure, the dressing up, the new worlds, and she fully embraces the joy that comes from traveling with the Doctor. While she didn't fall in love with him, their time together was a shining period of her life that I believe she would think of as "Holy Ground."
Their adventures truly "Took off faster than a green light, go," changing Ruby's entire understanding of the world—"And that was the first day." While there was pain and confusion mixed in, it feels accurate to describe her time in the TARDIS as "Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress," eagerly flying from one adventure to another. The partnership ended (for a time, at least), but it feels fitting for Ruby to have the upbeat pop song of this list.
Belinda: Wonderland
"Didn't you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile?"
Belinda Chandra is the newest companion, and maybe it isn't fair to judge her just three episodes into the season, but those three episodes have been clear about her character. Like Alice, Belinda was swept out of her real life into a "Wonderland," even if she doesn't quite trust the person she's in it with. From the first episode, she was scolding the Doctor, telling him that he was dangerous, which fits into the song's claim that she "should've slept with one eye open at night."
But even as audiences can see her trying to stay cautious, to not give into her curiosity, she is absolutely getting caught up in the thrills. As the song says, "Didn't it all seem new and exciting?" The Doctor nudged her into each adventure, and though she "knew [she] had to go back home," Belinda started giving into it. The idea that "life was never worse but never better" is a common one for companions, and only time will tell if Belinda gets as lost in the Wonderland that is time travel as everyone who came before her.