Rogan Clark expresses their love for the ending of Series Eleven’s Arachnids in the UK.

Companions have joined the Doctor in many ways over the years. Ian and Barbara, of course, were kidnapped. There have been stowaways, rescues, and the Doctor making a travel offer to a particularly helpful human played by an actor whose name appears in the opening credits. Arachnids in the UK reverses the status-quo of New Who with the three companions-to-be petitioning to join long term, after their accidental departure from Earth three episodes earlier.

Graham O’Brien cannot stand to stay home without Grace. Her memory haunts him, haunts his house, but it does not haunt the TARDIS. There’s a universe out there without her, and maybe he can find his place in it. Much like the Doctor herself, he chooses to run, to give himself time to heal and hopefully deal with his trauma in a place where he isn’t haunted by it. You could call it irresponsible, but is staying at home and wallowing any more so? 

Ryan Sinclair cannot go back to working in that warehouse. He’s had an initial taste of the universe, and wants to see more. With Grace’s death, there’s little tying him back to Earth, his relationship with his dad established as fractured earlier on. But with the Doctor, he sees a chance to experience things beyond imagination, help people along the way, and potentially also keep an eye on his granddad.  

And Yasmin Khan cannot stay. Much like Ryan, she wants more than the mundanity of her life at home. She acknowledges her family, her earlier desire to come home, but the horrors and wonders of the universe are much more alluring. Speaking of alluring, she’s the only one of the trio to put explicit emphasis on wanting more time with the Doctor. “You’re like the best person I’ve ever met”, in her own words. With hindsight, it’s nearly impossible not to see this as Yaz’s own nascent attraction showing through, even if (much like how Chris Chibnall wasn’t writing with this intent) she herself doesn’t quite realise. Yaz therefore joins Martha in the inglorious club of “joining the TARDIS to get your heart broken by a 1000 year old alien”.  

The Doctor, of course, tries to tell them how dangerous it is, but the speech is token. We, the audience, know that. The trio know that. Even the Doctor seems to know it, as the group affirms they’re aware of the danger. They know they’ll change, as companions inevitably do, and they want that. Otherwise, they could stay at home and continue to be who they are. They want to grow, to be better. And so, our new group of protagonists forms. As much as the Doctor rejects the term “fam”, that’s what will stick through to when the group dissolves in two series’ time. In an episode that focuses on how families can be dysfunctional, at the end, the group chooses to become one. 

To quote the Doctor’s closing line, “I love this bit.”