Jo Grant
Portrayed by: Katy ManningTravelled with: Third Doctor
Series: Classic
Josephine “Jo” Grant was a companion of the Third Doctor when she met him at UNIT while working as a civilian employee. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart decided that Jo would serve as the Doctor’s assistant in his research while he was exiled on Earth by the Time Lords. Jo replaced Liz Shaw after she returned to Cambridge. Jo encountered the Master numerous times during her adventures with the Doctor, becoming the companion who is the most familiar with the Time Lord, even learning how to resist his direct hypnotism attempts in Frontier in Space (Classic Series). Jo got the job at UNIT because of her uncle’s influence after she failed an A-Level in science. Jo first met the Doctor in Terror of the Autons (Classic Series) when the Master was using the Nestene Consciousness to conquer Earth, and began her adventures soon after. On one evening, Jo was preparing herself for a night out with Captain Mike Yates, getting dressed up, which proved fortunate when she ended up on the planet Peladon, where the King took a fancy to her, later proposing marriage. Though Jo grew to like the King, she chose to return home to Earth instead in The Curse of Peladon (Classic Series). In a later adventure, Jo aided the Solonions in their persecution as well as alerting the crew of the Hyperion of the Marshal of Solos’ misdoings in The Mutants (Classic Series). During her adventured with the Doctor, Jo’s intelligence increased as she learnt well with him. When he was unwilling to finish the Time Ram, Jo was able to finish it; and though she realised why the Doctor was reluctant, she also saw the potential outcome if they didn’t complete it in The Time Monster (Classic Series). When UNIT, along with the Doctor and Jo, arrived in Llanfairfach, Jo met Professor Clifford Jones. Though UNIT were only in the area for a short time, Jo and Clifford fell in love, agreeing to marry each other and departing from the TARDIS crew. The Doctor was devastated about Jo’s decision to leave the TARDIS and UNIT, draining his champagne in one gulp before leaving on his own at the party after giving Jo a blue crystal from Metebelis III.
Jo’s initial meeting with the Doctor did not bode well for the future. When she first met the Third Doctor, she mistook an important experiment for an accidental fire and extinguished it, earning her the Doctor’s wrath. However, despite this initial clumsiness, Jo’s failures only fuelled her enthusiasm, becoming determined to prove people wrong about her. For example, after recovering from the Master’s hypnosis, Jo disobeyed orders and followed the Doctor to Lugi Rossini’s Circus, where she proved her competence by rescuing the Third Doctor. When she next met the Master, she managed to resist his hypnosis attempts by reciting nursery rhymes. Though Jo claimed to be a qualified agent, this may not be entirely accurate, as she did exaggerate the extent of her A-Levels, saying she took them, though later admitting that she hadn’t said that she’d passed.” However, there can be little doubt of Jo’s escapology skills, as well as being able to use karate, pick locks, ride a motorbike, pilot a helicopter and abseil, abilities which came in very useful during her time as the Doctor’s companion and these as well as her enthusiasm proved her to be an asset to UNIT. Jo did not believe that the Doctor was a time traveller when she first met him, believing his tinkering with the TARDIS to be pointless. When she was taken away from Earth for the first time, she was extremely tentative and begged to be taken home. Though Jo was a member of the UNIT team, her individualism made her stand out, while her desire to follow her own instincts and to speak her mind brought Jo and the Doctor close. When Jo neared her end at UNIT, she informed the Brigadier of her intention of going to Llanfairfach, even if it meant resigning in The Green Death (Classic Series).