text: adam mitchell ( doctor who ) adam mitchell is a fictional character in the british science fiction television series doctor who , played by bruno langley . adam is introduced in the first series of the programme 's revival as the second television companion of the ninth doctor ( christopher eccleston ) . however unlike the ninth doctor 's primary companion , rose tyler ( billie piper ) , who provided an effective human contrast to the doctor 's centuries - old alien , adam was created to provide an example of an inept time traveller . the character is introduced as a boy genius from the year 2012 who attracts the attention of the doctor 's traveling companion rose after she and the doctor meet him in his place of work . despite rose 's willingness to accept adam as a fellow traveller , the doctor is skeptical . after adam attempts to use information from the future for his own gain he throws adam out of his time machine , the tardis . this was the first example of the doctor forcing a companion to leave because of negative behaviour . adam was created during executive producer russell t davies original pitch to the bbc as part of his plans to revive doctor who for the channel . though established early in the series ' planning , adam was always intended to be a short - term character . though reviewers generally reacted negatively to the character , adam 's role as a foil to the stock companion figure has been praised alongside the moral lessons of his departure . appearances adam first appears in the first series episode " dalek " as a young researcher under the employ of henry van statten ( corey johnson ) , who is the owner of a museum of extraterrestrial artefacts in an underground bunker in utah . adam mentions that he is a genius , having successfully hacked into the united states department of defense computers when he was eight years old . he quickly forms a mutual attraction with the doctor 's companion rose tyler ( billie piper ) and informs her of his desire to see the stars . when a live dalek manages to break free and slaughter its way through the base , adam finds himself fleeing along with rose . at the end of the episode , when van statten 's museum is closed down , rose asks the doctor ( christopher eccleston ) to take adam along with them in the tardis . the doctor is reluctant , but rose convinces him to let adam follow them into the tardis . in the next episode , " the long game " , the doctor , rose , and adam arrive on a space station in the year 200 , 000 , and adam is overwhelmed by culture shock . tempted by the wealth of information and technology available to him , he has an advanced computer interface port , activated by a click of the fingers , installed in his head that allows him to access the future 's computer system . he attempts to transmit information back to 21st century earth using rose 's modified mobile phone , but this backfires when the villains running the station attempt to extract information on the doctor directly from adam 's brain . as punishment of adam 's breach of trust , the doctor returns him home , despite his pleading , and destroys his answering machine . when adam 's mother ( judy holt ) returns home , she reacts with shock and horror after inadvertently activating the implant installed in his forehead . in the comic book series prisoners of time , released to celebrate the 50th anniversary , adam is the main antagonist . after his mother dies he acquires a vortex manipulator and plans to kidnap the doctor 's companions for revenge due to the doctor preventing him from acquiring technology that could have saved her , tracking down all eleven doctors and abducting their companions at various points in their lives . at the end of the story , adam is revealed to have allied himself with a past version of the master as the two confront the eleventh doctor , adam offering to spare one companion of the doctor 's choice while killing the others . however , the doctor turns the tables on adam by summoning his past selves to aid him , as well as arranging for frobisher to be captured while posing as peri , allowing him to escape captivity and sabotage adam 's equipment . when the master reveals his true goal of channeling energy through the tardis to destroy the universe , adam is given a unique chance at redemption as he sacrifices himself to destroy the master 's equipment . in his last moments , he is reconciled with the ninth , tenth and eleventh doctors and fellow companion rose tyler and acknowledged as a " true companion " on his gravestone , receiving posthumous validation by the eleven doctors and his fellow companions . conceptual history the character of adam mitchell was first conceived , along with henry van statten , during russell t davies ' 2003 pitch to the bbc , in a story heavily based on robert shearman 's audio play jubilee , which would later form the base for the episode " dalek " . it was always the intention of the production team for adam to join the tardis after rose developed a liking for him . to play this role langley was chosen , mostly because of his role on coronation street as todd grimshaw . he had auditioned for the role on the same day as doing publicity for his leaving storyline in coronation street . reacting to his casting langley , remarked that " i couldn 't have asked for a better next role because doctor who is another great institution . " langley describes adam as " a bit nerdy " and states of his character 's attraction to rose that " she 's a very pretty girl and adam hasn 't seen any girls for a long time . " since 1963 , the perennial companion figure in doctor who generally serves to remind the doctor of his " moral duty " . however , adam was never meant to be a long - term companion . in the behind - the - scenes book doctor who : the inside story davies explains that he " always wanted to do a show with someone who was a rubbish companion " and dubs adam " the companion that couldn 't " . in an episode of doctor who confidential he characterised adam as " a little bit ambitious and " a little bit too clever for his own good . " langley added that the character ends up " on the wrong side of the tracks " because he likes " meddling with things " and that " him thinking he 's a genius gets him into bother " . explaining adam 's downfall , davies states that he " doesn 't realize he 's out for his own good until he 's put in a situation of temptation , where knowledge , information and power are put in front of him . " davies felt that adam 's story provided " a chance to see someone starting on that path " before the doctor cuts his ambitions short . originally , there were several aspects of the character that were cut before appearing on screen : in early drafts , he was the son of henry van statten . in the dvd commentary for " the long game " director brian grant and actor bruno langley discuss adam 's scripted motive of bringing future medical knowledge back home to cure his father , who was suffering from ill health , though this motive did not remain in the final episode . to promote the character during the week " the long game " was first broadcast , the in - universe tie - in website " who is doctor who ? " announced that " 14 year - old adam mitchell from nottingham " had won a competition arranged by van statten the previous week . adam 's winning essay on " why i want to meet an alien " mentions a desire to acquire advanced knowledge from them with the explanation " i don 't think it 's cheating , really . it 's just a shortcut " . reception dek hogan of digital spy reacted negatively to adam 's introduction in " dalek " stating he " didn ’ t really see the point of todd grimshaw out of corrie popping up . " he suggested it would have been more entertaining had the episode featured langley 's screen mother from coronation street instead . ian hyland of the sunday mirror also disliked adam 's introduction , describing " the introduction of a puppy - love sequence between rose and a cute english boy " as " very , very irritating " . sfx magazine commented on the similarity between adam 's introduction to the future and that of rose in " the end of the world " stating " it was clearly a deliberate parallel on russell 's part , as part of his scheme to contrast and compare the reactions of rose and adam " . their website reviewer observed that adam 's " comedy faint " marked him out as an unsuitable traveller . marc edward of the university of oklahoma notes that adam 's role in " the long game " is to provide satire on the media and to function as " a condemnation of those who cannot stop immersing themselves in television , the internet , ipods , and other nonstop broadcasters of what the doctor calls " useless information . " " fraser mcalpine , reviewing adam 's appearances as companion for bbc america 's blog describes him as a " craven " and a " social climber " . by virtue of his failures , adam becomes " the companion that proves the worth of all of the other companions " . in their book who is the doctor , graeme burk and robert smith described adam in " dalek " as " somewhat annoying " . burk referred to him in " the long game " as " arrogant and narcissistic " , which made rose appear shallow for insisting he travel with them , but felt that langley did " a superb job " conveying the character 's flaws . he stated that it was " a shame " that the backstory of adam 's motivations were cut from the script , as it would have made his character more believable . the two found a logical flaw in the doctor 's decision to drop adam off , as it was a possibility that someone could get their hands on the future technology . radio times reviewer patrick mulkern gave a positive overview of adam , describing the character as " bumptious yet likeable " and his departure as " literary precision " . he commented that adam " adds an interesting dynamic , subtly different " from mickey smith and captain jack harkness , who also worked with rose and the ninth doctor . instead of threatening the doctor and rose 's relationship , adam " serves to strengthen it " . in 2010 mark harrison of den of geek listed the character 's exit from the tardis as the tenth greatest companion farewell scene stating that it was " great to get a glimpse of the doctor outright booting someone out . " he felt that the character " struck out in spectacular fashion " by attempting to steal future technology and that his eventual fate was an example of poetic justice . charlie jane anders also praised the concept of adam 's story arc positioning his departure as the seventh most depressing exit from a companion in doctor who 's history . she felt that to have " a companion who out " was one of davies ' " cleverest ideas " as executive producer of the series and that adam 's human flaws made him relatable . in 2010 readers of the radio times voted adam the 45th most popular companion , out of forty - eight viable options .