Ranking Doctor Who’s modern day companions
By Lacy Baugher
Yasmin Khan
Yasmin (“Yaz”) Khan is one of the Thirteenth Doctor’s trio of companions, traveling through space and time with a boy she knew in primary school (Ryan) and his grandfather (Graham). However, despite being a woman of color with an interesting job in her own right, she’s the season 11 companion who is most often underwritten as a character.
Part of this is because Ryan and Graham have a preexisting relationship prior to their time on the TARDIS and go through something tragic together just as the season begins. So naturally, it’s easier to play to that existing dynamic rather than develop new ones that involve Yaz. But as a result, she’s often left out of stories, getting little to do in most adventures.
After a season’s worth of trips through time, it’s still hard to tell who Yaz is or what she wants from her time with the Doctor. We know, thanks to the season 11 premiere, that Yaz is an ambitious policewoman determined to prove herself. But those aren’t character traits that have popped up much in the season’s subsequent adventures. And even though we met various members of her family on two different occasions, we still don’t know much about her. What are her favorite things? Where does her ambition come from? Hopefully these issues will be explored more fully in season 12, because on the surface, Yaz seems generally delightful, with wonderful chemistry with both Thirteen and Ryan. It’s just time to let us see a bit more of what makes her tick.
Best episode: “Demons of the Punjab.” This historical story took us back to meet a younger version of Yaz’s grandmother Umbreen, and allowed the companion to get to know a different side of her beloved relative. A bittersweet, romantic tale set during the partition of India, Yaz learns of her grandmother’s secret heartbreak, a first love she got to marry for only a few moments before he was killed. The events give Yaz new respect for Umbreen, and remind us all that people contain multitudes, carrying stories within them that we can’t possibly know.