Graham O'Brien

Graham O'Brien is a retired bus driver from Sheffield, newly remarried and newly widowed in almost the same breath, doing his awkward best to bond with his wife's grandson Ryan. Steady, unglamorous and quick with a dry joke, he gets swept into an alien mystery he never asked for and simply decides to help.

Bradley Walsh brings his easy comic timing, but the show uses him for something rarer: an older companion who's ordinary, grieving and completely unembarrassed about being scared. His warmth toward Ryan, his blunt common sense, and his genuine wonder at the universe give Doctor Who a grounded, adult heart.